A Rabit Gudia&

But until I unravel all the secrets about everyone in the house, my story will not be complete.

By Mohammad Aleem

Those were the last days of December. Of late, the fog had started covering the whole things around. Usually, the mornings had been misty and cloudy. At a stretch, the sun had not come out and shown its warm and loving face. So, the days looked much gloomy and sad, and the nights long, boring, forlorn and unkind.

Though, I had experienced this kind of weather earlier too, this time, it was the most frustrating. I hate Winter. For us poor creatures, it really proves fatal. All the time, either I was shivering or running for a comfy place to hide and warm myself. But alas! Not much was available in that tiny flat where I was residing.

Other members of the household were also sneezing and coughing all the time. And it looked odd. But they were lucky. They had electric room heaters to warm themselves. But me and the maidservant, Gudia were not so lucky. If we ever tried to sit with them, they would just force us to go away in our room as we were not creatures of God like them, but priceless objects on the road. We, most of the time, left alone to cope with our own problems which were so many to count. But I will come to it later, neither, it may make you bore.

My master’s house was four-storied high. It was on a main road in the colony, fully ventilated and open from three sides. We were living in a small flat with two bedrooms on the second floor of the building. It had a long balcony. Though, the flat was not big, it was quite airy. In one room, my master’s plump and chubby wife, Rehana, slept with her three children. And in another, I along with the maidservant slept. My master’s wife’s brother was also living in the same room with us. But, most of the time, he was off in his college. More so, he kept always himself occupied with his books and computer. He was unfriendly towards us. He was a taciturn and looked always hazy. He was infected with some neurological problems, as we came to know about it when they talked at length about it. He would take medicine almost daily to keep his mental equilibrium in check. If he forgot to take it, it would prove dangerous for him. His sister, Rehana, was always caring towards him.

However, whenever he needed some works get done by Gudia, he would not hesitate for a single moment to pass the orders. Often, he was harsh and somewhat dictatorial. If Gudia ever tried to disobey him, he would retort to chiding and beating. He was a six-foot-tall and plump man in his twenties, pursuing a course in engineering. His face was round and he wore glasses with quite strong powers. We really shivered just to look at him.

But, why am I bothering you to describe about all the members of my master’s family? But until I unravel all the secrets about everyone in the house, my story will not be complete.

First, I come to the description of my master’s three naughty children. The older one was a boy. His name was Aman. He was about ten years old. His face was square, but quite white complexioned. His eyes were small, but penetrating. He was studying in class five in one of the expensive English medium schools of the city.

He used to go to school daily by bus and my master’s wife, Rehana would go to see him off by herself. Gudia would carry his heavy bag on her delicate and fragile shoulders. They would not pay heed at all what she suffered under the weight of that bag. They would never carry the bag as it was against their status and position. His mother would think not to hurt him at all.

These days, crime against young women and children had risen sharply in the city. I knew about all these things through the blabbering of news channels all the time. Rehana was very fond of serials. After the daily chores, she would keep herself, most of the time, glued to the T.V set. She had a long list of TV serials to be watched. When the clock struck nine, she was before the television religiously as something would miss very important if she did not make her presence there at her appointed time. She would even forget to do other important work in the house. She would instruct for every small and big work to her maidservant.

Gudia would do the cleaning, mopping and washing of the dishes. And even, whenever, her tiny two children ever went to the toilet, she had to wash them properly. And that made Gudia on her toes all the time. Our master’s wife even did not like to be disturbed while watching her favorite serials by any. So, she would often instruct Gudia to take her little children away, a son, who was one and a half-year-old along with his sister aged three in another room or upstairs. On the third floor of the building, one of her elder sisters was living with her own family of five. These two children were also very naughty and would not leave any chance to harass me or Gudia.

I would also like to describe about the maidservant in detail because her story was much pathetic than mine. She was four sisters and two brothers. She was third among her siblings. Her other two sisters were married off in very young age about thirteen or fourteen. They were passing a very turbulent married life. Even at home or in the village, they were not safe. The rich boys of the village had tried many times to molest them or play with their chastity. So her parents thought best to send her off to some far places so that they could be saved from any unpleasant situations. Our master also came from the same village. So his father sent this little, Gudia to help them while living in Delhi.

Earlier, they were living in a foreign country. Her husband was a computer software professional. I had still not seen him, but heard a lot about him. Most of the time, my master’s wife would be talking with him on her mobile phone. She was an avid talker and always kept her phone ringing in the house. You could not sleep in the day time if you ever tried.

When I first landed in this tiny flat, I thought that a new company of people would make my life comfortable and enjoyable. But alas! It was not so. Still, I dread to think how my erstwhile master had brought me to sell in the nearby weakly market, putting me into a big carton box, along with my other four siblings. It was called Mangal Bazaar, which was held every Tuesday in our colony. And I knew later that my master’s wife would never miss it visiting there.

When I first came in the bazaar, it was much crowed and cramped. Most of the visitors were women and young girls. And they were madly thronging at those stalls where they could get new and fancy clothes and other daily household items.

My former master had chosen to sell us from a safer and less crowded place. He had put my elder brother on the top of the carton box, so, everybody could know what we were, and, for what purpose we had been brought here. He had put two hundred fixed prices for everyone of us.

I was a little bit shy and also scared of people and crowds. So, when my master’s wife came with her elder son and daughter to buy something from the market, they soon saw us. Her children were attracted so much towards us; they just forgot every other thing around. They started coaxing her mother to buy us for them. And my master’s wife would not hesitate for a moment to do the things which pleased her children. She bought two from five of us. I and my elder brother were picked up by the new buyer. And soon, after paying the asked price, we departed to our new abode.

We were much happy at that moment. Our first master was poor, so he did not give us proper food. We always slept with half empty bowels every night.

I looked, at that time, to my elder brother askance as though I was asking what he thought or felt about it. But instead of saying anything, he just kept seeing me blankly. Perhaps, he was not much sure about what would happen in the end.

And he was right. Soon, after landing in our new home, our plight began. The naughty children of our master started playing with us like we were not a living being, but a toy without blood and veins. They just tossed us everywhere cruelly. We soon started looking for safer places to hide. But most of the time, we were unsuccessful.

One day, my elder brother dared to cross the threshold of the room to get some warmth of the sun and freshness of the air. But he could not realize that it was not safe. He mistook it as an open field and started running helter-skelter. He forgot that he might fall from the balcony. And it sadly happened soon. From the gaping hole of the railing, he tried to sneak out. But he could not do it properly and lost his balance. He fell on the main road of the colony. It was a concrete road. So, it struck him hard. And he lost his calm and poise in no time. He shivered for some time and slipped into coma, soon. He was not given any medicine, nor, my master’s wife tried to take him to any veterinary doctor. He did not deserve that kind of respect in their eyes. He died, soon after the fateful incident, writhing in severe pain and convulsion. It was a hard blow for me.

For the first time, I was facing death of my dear and near one so close and so cruelly and brutally. And I feared for my own safety and life. I mourned many days to come and looked lost all the time. I never kept my foot outside room and even did not like to peep out from the balcony.

This went on for some more days to come. Soon, I left everything behind and learnt to live the life as the almighty God had destined for us.

One day, my master came from his foreign sojourn. The house was full of merry and enjoyment. Everybody was relishing this moment fully, except, me and Gudia. They would go every evening to a nearby park and restaurants and enjoy their free hours with food and other things. But, we were left alone in the flat to mend with ourselves. Gudia longed deeply to go on those short outings with them, but they would never do that. It was against their reputation to enjoy their holiday with a little maidservant.

Once, they planned to go to Nainital, the famous tourist spot, to enjoy the coolness and breeziness of the mountains. Gudia and I was a big hurdle for executing their plan.

They did not want to take us there. They thought about many options. Finally, they decided to put her in their relative’s flat and I was sent with a maidservant who used to come in the relative’s flat, upstairs.

When I left the flat I was both relieved and sad. I was happy because I could now come out from that dark shell, but sad to think that I might never get an opportunity to see Gudia again who had turned by that time a dear friend of mine. She was so sweet and so charming and loving, I can’t describe in words. She would fondle me lovingly in her free time and tried to talk. Her language was different though, but we felt each other passionately and understood each other’s feelings well. There was warmth of love in her every spoken word and touch. How could I ever forget her who had given me so much love like a sister and the company of a good friend?

We could never meet again, but we kept communicating in our dreams at regular intervals. All night, she would come to me and talk and ask about my well being. It was more than enough for me.

I was happy in my new house, because, though the people were wretched and poor, they were well mannered. But, I was sad to think that Gudia’s life was still miserable and painful. And it pained me a lot.

I would often ask to myself, why she could not live like a normal child and go to school as every other child. What was her fault? And how could she come out from that mess of life? Was she destined to live this way or someday she will see a ray of hope?

The story writer is a Sanskriti Award-winning novelist, playwright, scriptwriter, and journalist.