Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 60 : Secrets

"Monika dear... There is someone who wishes to talk to you..." said Uncle Shahi as we started walking towards the crowd. One of the people dressed in a saree stepped out.

As we neared the crowd, Uncle Shahi put me down on the ground, "Shabnam Mausi, I believe you wanted to talk to her." Brigadier Shahi replied.

The lady stepped forward, took out a necklace she was wearing and touched it on her forehead, and started chanting something. After she was done chanting, she replied: "Bacha, please show me your hand."

As I forwarded my right hand she replied: "You should never accept a gift from a Kinner with your right hand, please extend your left hand."

I was scared, but the presence of the officers in uniform gave me the courage to hold my ground and I held out my left hand. She put the necklace on my hand and replied, "I am one of the Gurus of the Kinner (transgender) community in Purulia. I know your religion prohibits you to accept things from people like us... but we will be grateful if you accept this necklace as a token of blessing from us."

I was in a dilemma whether I should accept the gift, and I turned back to look at my mom for approval.

Mom suddenly interrupted the conversation and said "Mausi, my husband and I have always taught both my children to respect every religion," She turned to look towards me and nodded her head in consent. 

I took the necklace from her and replied "Thankyou Mausi."

She smiled in her weird way and replied, "You are welcome Bacha," and she hovered both her hand above my head without touching and replied "I cannot touch you. My spiritual vow forbids me to touch a female child. However, this necklace" pointing towards the necklace she placed on my hand, "is blessed by the powers bestowed in me by our Kul-Devi Bahuchara Mata. You are a reincarnation of Maa Manasa and it's our grand duty to protect you from harm."

She then turned towards Mom and said "We are truly honored to meet a mother like you who teaches her kids about the value of equality rather them teach them that their religion is the eternal one... you are truly great..."

I saw Mom blush at her statement as she replied "Its my pleasure Mausi... actually the truth is my husband is an argent Christian and I am a Hindu Brahmin, he had never asked me to convert after our marriage, and so after we had our children, we made sure to teach them about every religion there is." 

Mom and Shabnam Mausi shook their hands and then she stepped back and then things took a strange and creepy turn, Shabnam Mausi and the other ladies fell to her knees, folded her hands together and started wailing and continued "Maa, please forgive us for letting you suffer. You have sacrificed 7 years of your life protecting someone who was not even related to you by blood. You have given everything for someone who is one of us, without thinking of the consequences, and we were not able to keep an eye on you or protect you for even 2 days." 

As the lady sat on her knees, I saw all the other members repeat the same thing, but they didn't utter a single word. It was an embarrassing situation, but everyone presents there didn't react to it. Not even my Mom, Miss Sengupta or Brigadier Shahi. It felt like they were waiting for my response. 

I took a step forward and touched the hands of that lady, and abruptly she moved her hand back in shock. "Mausi, I don't blame you for anything," I replied, "I am a little girl, you should not ask forgiveness from me. And please don't call me Maa. I am only a child."

The lady looked up, at my face and said "You are as noble as our Mata. It's my promise our community will do everything to punish those people responsible for ruining your childhood and your innocent friend's life."

She stood up and as she turned her back, another lady came towards me and said, "Bacha, there is a saying 'The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.' 6 years ago, your friend did a noblest deed to our Guru Mata, for which our community is and always will be grateful to her."

Even though Abhinu was a boy, but I had a strange feeling that they consider him to be one of them and so they were addressing him as a woman.

"What did Abhinu do?" I asked.

"Your mom knows all about it." she bent down a little, placed her hands on her knees, looked straight into my eyes and continued "Sophia is our community's saviour. She is an incarnation of Lord Krishna."

She kept saying something, but my head was feeling so heavy that I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation. All I could see was dad and Sagar sir coming out of the house, dragging Rahat by a rope used to tie up his hands. It looked like Dad and Sagar sir might have beaten him up real bad considering the way they were dragging him along. "Mausi, we are keeping our part of the bargain. But please don’t kill him yet… I have a feeling that what he told us inside is not the eternal truth but only a part of it…"

I saw a group of people coming forward and catching hold of Rahat. He kept begging "Dada, please arrest me or kill me like my friends but don't give me to these freaks." I could feel that all the people presents had turned a deaf ear to his pleas. I knew dad was in no mood to forgive him for what he did to Abhinu with his friends that night.

He shook hands with Shabnam Mausi and said: "Remember our deal?"

"Thank you for keeping your promise. You don't have to worry about anything fauji. This place will be clean as if nothing had happened." replied Shabnam Mausi.

Shabnam Mausi started telling something to papa, but my head was so heavy that I did not hear what they were talking about and fainted. I vaguely remember someone catching me and someone shouting to take me away from there before everything went blank.

I was not sure how long I had been unconscious but when I woke up and opened my eyes, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my left hand. As I struggled to raise my hand, I saw an I.V. Cannula pinned to my hand, which was connected to a drip hanging on the bed-stand. I reckoned I was lying in a hospital bed.

To my left, there was a curtain that was halfway pulled through. By the looks of it, I was in a double occupancy room. As mom saw me open my eyes she stood up and touched my forehead "Baby... you are awake."

"Why am I here?"

"Honey you fainted because of dehydration and starvation. You were very weak. Doctors have given you an intravenous drip to bring your vitamins and minerals in control. You should be able to go home once you get your strength back." she paused for a while and continued, "There are someone who is eagerly waiting to meet you. I will go and bring them in."

As mom left the room, a thought invaded my mind. I fainted because I didn't have food for just 2 days. Abhinu has been suffering for 7 years and I remember they have tortured him quite a lot and most of the time the punishment was starving him. The night when he gave his journals to Joe, he didn't have food for at least 4 days, and he still pulled himself through. I could feel how strong my Abhinu is.

Suddenly a group of people entered the room. They were all familiar faces. Mom, Aunty Sengupta, Dad, Uncle Shahi, Sagar Sir, J.P. Sir, and Vikash Dada. Most of the persons I knew were in the room however, Koushik dada was missing. 

As I was browsing through the faces, Dad suddenly asked me "Is something bothering you sweetheart?"

"Where is Koushik dada? He has not come to see me. Is he alright?"

Dad came and sat next to me, gently pressed my right hand and replied: "Sweety, brace yourself. I have some bad news."

                                                TO BE CONTINUED...

                                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~