This is a continuation of a story. if you haven’t read Part 1 read it, here and Part 2 here
Those days Sushila’s son had just moved to Bangalore and was begging his mother to come help him. Due to the baby, Sushila was hesitant to move out of the town but I convinced her to go ahead. I will manage for a day or two with Reva without her. She reluctantly said ok. All was going well until the fateful incident. Reva was sitting on my lap while I was walking in my wheelchair outside my home. It was our usual practice. The pavement near my house where we watched the sunset together. Reva used to enjoy our evening walks. She would watch the color change in the sky with dazzle in her eyes. The cool blow of wind would change the direction of her hair from one side to another. I enjoyed the gentle touch of her soft hair on my cheek as I was pushing my wheelchair. I was taking her to one side of the pavement, then doing a complete U-turn and taking her to the other side of the pavement. Somehow I missed that there was a small rock toward the end of the pavement, where I was supposed to do the U-turn. My wheelchair’s caster wheel hit that small rock and I got a bit of off-balance. Reva almost fell out of my lap. I somehow caught her in her mid-fall. I regain control of my balance before pulling her in my lap again. My heart was racing with thoughts. I ensured Reva was not hurt before wiping the sweat off my forehead. She was crying. She was crying due to panic. She was feeling insecure. I tried to soothe her but there was no respite. I decided to attract her attention to something else. That’s when I realized that a crowd had gathered. The moment I recovered, I realized that there had been a collective gasp from the group of bystanders. My ears started to tune out of Reva’s crying to what they were talking about in a hush-hush tone.
What irresponsible person he is? If he can’t take care of the kid, why should he bring her out like this? Why is he playing with her life? What if she had fallen on the ground, who knows her skull might have opened up. This professor should really think twice before playing with someone’s life.
Some women were talking about how would ever stop the baby from crying. She needed her mother’s breast to attach. Men were pointing out how feeble my own body was, and how long would I live to take care of her.
I couldn’t hear any more of their criticism. I held the crying Reva with one hand and rushed back home. I put Reva in her makeshift cradle and closed the door behind me.
It took a while for Reva to fall asleep. I fed her a bottle of milk and swung her cradle for hours on end. That night, I couldn’t stop hearing those voices. Their comments were piercing through my body. It was dawn when I realized, everything they said was correct. I had no right to be a parent of a child, whom I would not be able to care for myself. I loved Reva more than anything but I can’t be selfish. I must acknowledge the situation of my body. I should do what’s best for her. With that settlement in my mind, I decided on my next course of action.
The orphanage.
Sushila arrived the same day when Bhadra Mani’s men were discussing with me about various facilities their orphanage provides to the children. Sushila overheard everything but she preferred to be with Reva. When the men were gone, she came out like an angry Scorpio. She didn’t listen to any of my reasons why it was better for Reva to grow up in the orphanage than with me. I even said that I am already 55 and I might live for another 15 years, post that what would happen to Reva? She would be just 16 at that age. It would be better for her to grow up in an orphanage from childhood than move in later. Sushila only said, the day Reva goes out of this house, I will not show you my face. From that day onward, she never called me dada. She called me sir. I knew my decision pinched her. She was trying to look out for me and I was trying to look out for the best future of Reva.
The next time around, Bhadra Mani’s men came with a doctor to assess Reva’s health. He certified everything to be ok. A date was decided for the admission. A set of documents was given to me for signing. I could hear Sushila sobbing in the other room, as I was discussing all these things with those men. I signed the documents in faith that everything would work out for the best for Reva. On the decided date, to avoid inconvenience to me, Bhadra Mani himself offered to come and pick up Reva from my home. That was the first time I met him.
As the date of her admission came close, I began to doubt my decision. Something inside me was screaming in pain but I decided to be strong. I decided on logic rather than emotions.
The night before her admission, I held her close to my heart the whole night. Sushila begged me to stop and I almost considered it. I wanted to beg for a few more days from the men when they would arrive to take her away. I wanted to ask to cancel her admission but when I saw Bhadra Mani himself, walking through my door, I could not say no to him. He came, facilitated me for doing a noble thing, and eventually took her from my lap away. I wept the moment, Reva was away from my eyes. My Reva was barely 1 year old when she was taken away from me. While I was crying, I saw Sushila drag her trunk out of my house. As promised, she never showed her face to me since. I cried for days thinking of Reva. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I couldn’t do anything. I canceled all my batches. The pain was more than I thought I could handle. The cancellation of batches continued for the next 2 months and eventually, I decided to call off the tuitions forever.
Then I remembered a line from Bhadra Mani’s men. Sir you can visit her anytime, just come to sir’s office and we will arrange everything.
That was it. I decided I would do everything in my power to meet Reva as regularly as possible, I will take care of her from outside.
This turned out to be a promise that Bhadra Mani’s orphanage could not keep. When I learned how the orphanage sells kids to the highest bidder, I feared even my Reva was sold. This along with being present when his office was burning raised enough questions on me. I was in the circle of suspects.
The kettle’s whistle brought me back from the past only to realize that there was also a sound of another ring. It was my mobile. I hurriedly picked it up.
“Hello,”
“we have it. The Dupur family agreed. Everything is set now.” I let out a sigh of relief. With a tear in my eye, I asked “What about the rest 25?”
“We have located them. We are talking about the matches as you suggested. By the weekend we will have everything in motion.” Said the muffled voice and the phone was cut off.
I poured a cup of coffee for myself and I thought, “It is time to talk to Mrs. Mani and what she does afterward hearing my side of the story, would not matter. The plan is complete now”
To Be Continued …
A PERFECTLY BALANCED REACTION (PART 4/4)
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