Life is beautiful

Life is beautiful – By Ayushman Sinha

Her smile. Yes, it was her smile that had appealed to me the most when I had first seen her. There was an instant connection between me and her – as they say. I had made it a point to spare my five minutes almost every day to stop over at her shop (or to be factual her road side spread gamcha) just to see her smile. It was like a good omen and almost as a consequence my whole day went by good. And on the days her elder brother took her place at the shop, I was a grumpy guy. As the days went by my love for her got boundless. I remember clearly it was a rainy day when all the pieces starting falling in place.

It was raining since last night and I wasn’t sure that she would setup her street stall that day. Still with a hope in my heart I took out my car from my garage and drove over to shop on way to my office. It was nearly dark and I wasn’t sure if I should go to office as most of the roads got water logged in the rainy season. It struck me that it was more of a need to see her than going to office which had led me to get out of my cozy bed and get going. With a small prayer on my lips I took the final curb to her shop and as a god send there she was, sitting on the footpath holding a plastic sheet over her head and displaying the cigarettes and other related items on a newspaper spread in front of her. She was trying her best to keep herself and the items dry but quite clearly her small hands and arms were quite inept at doing so. Her frock was torn from quite a few places but her determination was still intact. That is where the karmic connection happened. After trying for ten long years to have a kid, I and Smita had visited various orphanages for the past 2 yet there had never been such a kind of emotional connection ever – not even with an infant. But this- this six or so year old girl drenched in rain water with a torn-and-hemmed-and-again-torn frock, had made a huge emotional connect. I stepped out my car and crouched in front of her.

“A packet as usual” I said.

She handed over the packet to me and said in her mild voice – “100 rupees Sir”.

“What is your name bache” I asked.

“Sonia”.

I took out my wallet and to save the contents of my wallet from getting wet, l opened it under the shade of the plastic. While I was taking the 100-rupee note, I noticed that she was looking at Smita’s pic that was there in my wallet. I smiled and holding the snap upright I asked her,

“She is not pretty, right”

She giggled and replied, “Your girlfriend is very beautiful”

I laughed, more at the thought how Smita would have liked to be called my girlfriend now. All those college days seemed to be from another era altogether.

“Na. She is my wife, Smita. Would you like to meet her?”

She seemed puzzled by my question and was still contemplating her answer when her brother stepped in between our conversation.

“Wind up things here Sonia. It’s raining heavily and it seems it will not lighten up”, he quipped.

I stood up from my kneeled down position and after saying a quick bye to Sonia, rushed to my car. As I was entering my car I saw her brother talking to Sonia whilst gesturing towards me. I did not pay much heed to it though now I wish I had done so.

Next day I woke half an earlier than my regular schedule and decided to show Sonia to Smita. I took Smita in the car and drove towards the other side of the road on which Sonia used to sell her wares. It was a crisp morning and Sonia all wrapped up in her sewn up shawl was busy making her early morning pickings. Smita too could relate to the innocence in her face and the bright two eyes that were full of hope and love. I told Smita that tonight I would declare my intent to her brother or father for adopting her and would speak to her brother or father to discuss on the legal procedure.

That evening I got unusually busy. Something or the other just kept stalling my departure. I saw out of my office window and I could see it was raining. Immediately the sight of a harried Sonia came to my mind and I felt apologetic. Over lunch I had decided that as the formal procedure would have taken its own time, I would buy her a raincoat and also an umbrella that she could use to give cover to the shop items. Though initially I was of the opinion to keep paying Sonia’s family five hundred or more per week so that they can at least remove her from the daily job but Smita advised me against it. In her views, it was a possibility that her family got greedy and kept delaying the adoption procedure forever. And also given the way things usually worked in the government it was still a possibility that we could end up losing our case to adopt Sonia on one or the other ground. Anyways, an umbrella and a raincoat was something that I had decided I had to gift her either ways. While returning late from office I deliberately took the route that went via her Shop. At 10.30 PM I half expected her to be there and indeed she wasn’t there. That night I could not sleep at all. I lay awake in my bed thinking of all possible sad things that could have possible happened to Sonia in the heavy downpour.

I woke up early again next day and Smita could easily gauge my uneasiness. As lovingly as ever without questioning my edginess, she prepared my breakfast herself and saw me off. On reaching Sonia’s shop I saw her deeply sick. She was coughing and sneezing all the time. I parked my car and immediately got out to see her closely. On seeing me, she managed a faint smile- a smile that pierced my heart a thousand times. I touched her forehead and she was running a high fever. I felt guilt and anger at the same time- guilt that it was my fault that I could not leave early from office to buy stuff for her and anger on her family that even though she was so unwell she had been sent to work. Without saying another word I drove to the nearby medical shops and grabbed a few snacks so that she could eat the medicine as soon as was possible. I drove back to her in rather hurry.

“Take this” I pushed the food and the medicine to her hand.

She looked up and said “My brother will get angry if I get take this from you”

“Oh really! If he is actually so bothered why did he or anyone from your family send you for work when even a blind person can tell that you are unwell”? I could see tears rolling down from the corner of her eyes and it pained a lot to me as well.

“Acha baba, rona band karo (okay stop crying)” I said extending my handkerchief towards her. She took it nervously and wiped clean her face.

“If your brother or father comes during the day, please ask them to meet me here at 8 PM tonight. There is something I have to discuss with them” I told her.

She looked puzzled but still nodded in response. Then I handed over the raincoat and the umbrella that I had purchased for her. She erupted in joy and almost hugged me. It was one of the most heart-warming sights of my life. I left soon after and while driving out I saw her beaming face in the rear view mirror of my car and her huge smile kept lingering in my mind all through the drive to my office.

All the day I was walking on air. Even Smita had called me twice to update the various arrangements she had made at home for Sonia. I was super excited by the fact that Smita was as eager as I to get Sonia in our lives. Even the dark clouds outside could not dull my effervescent and jolly mood. I kept checking my watch several times though the day but it seemed that the day wanted to last forever. As soon as it struck 7 in the evening I took to my car. By then, it had started to rain very heavily. Driving through the busy and chaotic streets seemed to take longer than ever. By the time I reached Sonia’s shop it was nearly 9 in the night. I had few hopes of finding Sonia or her brother so late. To my pleasant surprise, I saw Sonia sitting under the umbrella wearing the raincoat. It made my day better even further.

I hurried over to her shop.

“Is your brother still waiting for me?’ I inquired.

I heard a rustling sound behind me and before I could react an iron rod had caught the back of my head and I fell on the wet pavement flat on my face.

I was slightly conscious and could see the face of Sonia’s brother while he dragged me to a dark alley. My mouth was gagged and I could feel pain in my whole body as if I was beaten during the time I was unconscious. I tried to raise my head and try and make out anything from surroundings but it was too dark to notice anything except for my car doors of which were open thus lighting up the interiors. And then the question hit me like a strong bold of lighting – what had I done to be in this situation. The rain was still coming down heavily and it was difficult for me to keep my eyes open for a long duration. Suddenly the strong grip on my hands let go and I lay flat on my back struggling to see my assailant. Then from the corner of eyes I saw her smile. Yes it was her smile but today it looked and felt different. She bent over my spread out body and looking into my eyes said

“Sir the other day I wasn’t looking at your stupid wife’s ugly face. I was looking at the wad of notes that was there in your pocket. My brother is a pick pocket and we had decided to just take that from you but today he could not resist your big car when you left it with car keys while hurrying up to my shop.” Then she turned her face to her brother and quipped

“Bhaiya, please kill him quickly as we need to get away from all this mess as soon as possible”. She got up and I saw her brother drawing out a Chef’s knife. He struck me viciously in my abdomen and while I was losing my life I could see Sonia smiling. The same smiled that had cost me my life. Life indeed is beautiful and death can be shockingly surprising.