It was a cold winter night when Amina stepped out of her two- room apartment, ready to leave for work. The house was dark inside…. the same darkness she bore in her heart. Carefully, fighting the harsh blows of the chilly winds. She moved forward cautiously, making her way to the nearest taxi stand. Dressed in a black salwar kameez, Amina had covered her beautiful face with her dupatta which otherwise would have revealed a row of neatly arranged white teeth and perfect pink lips which mostly stretched to a sunny smile. The olive black eyes were darting here and there to ensure that she passed by unnoticed. The dupatta tied as a mask was not to fool, the chilly winds but to fool the neighbors who could least anticipate what profession Amina was in.
She carefully uncovered her hand from the well wrapped and called aloud for a taxi. She placed her slender body carefully in the back seat and the old memories started to haunt her back again
She clearly could recall the day when she had first set her foot on this soil and promised herself to fight her way in fulfilling the senile dreams her ammi had cherished as long as she lived. But fate had something else in store for her…and things started to take difficult turns. She started to run out of money although her lodging comprised of a single cheap room and the meals were reduced to bread slices. She fought the blows of fate with beaming courage until she could take it no more. She was forced to leave the lodge and was left on the mercy of dusty streets and then her life changed, to a shade darker.
It was an October afternoon when she was sitting on a local bench staring hungrily at the food she had been craving for so long, a gentleman in a brown leather jacket sat beside her. He offered her food and kept talking as she ate…the words she would never forget and the words, which decided her fate. When he had finished Amina could hardly believe her ears. She lowered her eyes and with muft beats managed a mumbling yes.
Things were never the same again.
In a weeks time she managed a two-room apartment but she was never the same Amina again. The sunny smile was now hidden behind the mask whenever she stepped out, which was mostly at nights. Her working hours were so unusual that she had almost forgotten when she last slept peacefully. The taxi driver slammed the breaks and Amina realized it was time again to sell her soul. She carefully entered the room and uncovered her face. The man in the brown jacket smiled at her.
She managed to sneak out at the fall of dawn as she always had and looked around for a taxi.
Half an hour later she was staring at her image and her smile lit the room. She looked at herself in the eye, as long as she could. Carefully she sank into the chair and the last sound she heard was of the knife dropping. The darkness of her heart overwhelmed the sensations till she felt none
The smile brightened her dead face.
Charu Kaushal.
No comments:
Post a Comment