Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 21: A new Beginning

What happened to Abhinu was tragic. For a 7-year-old losing the dearest person he ever loved and emotionally attached since his early years, can be very grueling. I was overwhelmed by an urgent desire to console him, the poor child.

Damn...!!! What was happening to me? I have never been like this... Even though I do have a caring and helpful side but for the first time I was a little bit surprised by my soft reaction.

I still had another hour or so before dawn to continue reading. Abhinu continued that he didn't go to school for the next 3 days. Every day after class Monika visited and spent time with him. They were informed that the next match was scheduled to take place on the 3rd of August and the coach informed Abhinu that if he did not desire to participate, he can be spared.

However, Abhinu insisted that he wanted to play. For some reason, his mind could not refute the logic that basketball was the only way he could get his mind off the tragedy that had befallen. He even stated that Abhishek Banerjee never came to check on his well-being, even though everyone in the family took real care of him. For once I think it is good that a character like Abhishek Banerjee is not around him at a time when Abhinu is not mentally strong right now. A pedophile like him should not be allowed to be around any kids.

                                                                        3rd August 1992

I missed the last 3 matches. I know I had to be strong. Dad used to tell me that mental strength is the key to face and survive all the problems in this difficult world. Besides the selfless supports of aunty, uncle and my two dearest friends Aarohi and Monika are always with me. Today morning Aarohi asked me if I wished to consider her as a sister instead of a friend and I instantly agreed. She has been a really good sister to me. With these great souls around, what could possibly go wrong?

I know it's difficult to trust anybody, but the continuous presence and encouragement of these well-wishers in my struggle brought back a gleam of hope.

Today's match was against South 24 Parganas. Before the match started, all my team members approached and hugged me. Principal sir came and asked me if I am fit to play and offered that if I wish, I can take a break for few days. I told him, that it was my mother's dream to see me as a great player and I was determined to play and keep her legacy alive.

Coach sir informed me that I am playing in the first half but during the progress of the game if he feels that I have lost my touch, I will be returned to the bench. Something about the familiarity of the environment brought back my focus in the game and I played well in the first half. Seeing me perform to his satisfaction, coach sir allowed me to continue for the whole length of the match.

I got an opportunity and scored from the center line and soon after 5 or 6 minutes, I scored another 3 pointers. I was not sure what got into me but ended up scoring 6 baskets from outside of the charity stripes. We won the match and the South 24 Parganas team was eliminated from the tournament. Our team scored a total of 32 points that day and it was declared and noted that this was the highest score in a single match during the tournament. As we were departing from the field I felt like I saw someone I knew. From a far it felt like it was Abhishek Dada, but I was probably hallucinating. I decided to ignore it and continue with my day.

*** Wow that must have been a great match indeed. I wish I was there to see them play. Abhinu further writes that his performance that day was one of the best. I just hope Abhinu was hallucinating about seeing Abhishek Banerjee coming to watch his matches. Abhinu also writes that something unexpected happened during the next match ***

                                                                   7th August 1992

After our last match against South 24 Parganas, we were feeling confident that we will bag the next match against Darjeeling too. Coach sir cautioned us that the team from Darjeeling is from the hills and we need to be on guard and devise a good strategy before the match. He reminded us that boys and girls from the hills have excellent stamina and don't get exhausted very easily. Even though our team has been performing well, we were beginning to exhibit evident signs of overconfidence which could doom us. We were not sure what happened to Taposh Dada, our team captain. He ignored coach sir's advice for some reason best known to him.

From the past performance of the team, it was not hard to figure out that the team was fully dependent on Monika and Aarohi and with me backing them up today there were no doubts in our mind that we would win. The match started and during the first half, we began to perceive to the full extent what sir implied.

The team from Darjeeling was very agile and it was becoming a herculean task to get possession of the ball from them. We appeared insignificant in the whole match. Probably overconfidence brought our downfall. We lost the match by a huge margin. It was 2 - 18. We were able to score only two points. After the match, I saw the dejected looks on Monika, Aarohi, and the rest of the team members' faces. Our dream of becoming the best team in Kolkata ended there. Monika was broken because she felt that her chance of securing a S.A.I. scholarship was over.

*** My poor sis, I knew when you work diligently to achieve something and lose at the very last moment, you are shattered. It can be devastating. Having been rejected myself twice before being finally selected, I was all too familiar with Monica's feelings. However back in 1993, I remember Monika was declared the youngest athlete to have acquired the 9 dan black belt in Karate and had received a certificate from the governor of Bengal. 

As far as I could recall, a school from Kerala approached her and wanted a talent like her to join their school to learn one of the ancient martial arts of India which is known as Kalarippayattu. 

Dad told me that she finally joined the school, but a year later, she quit the school and returned back to Kolkata. Dad said that Monika learned about a tragedy with one of her best friends and she wanted to return back. 

Abhinu further narrates how by the end of the tournament the team from Kalimpong district was declared the winner ***

                                                    12th September 1992

Today was a Saturday and early morning Aunty and my sisters left to visit Grandma. Uncle told me that they will be returning by tomorrow. I and Aarohi preferred staying back at home. I discovered a secret about Aarohi which she made me pinkie swear not to reveal to anyone. I refrained from discussing the secret in the diary too.

We invited Monika and had a lot of fun. Aunty had strictly prohibited us from entering Aarohi's room under any circumstances.  Even Monika is not allowed into her room. However today Aarohi took me to her room on the promise that I don’t mention it to aunty. Her room was on the first floor of the house. The room at its very sight took my breath away with its elegance and artistic appearance.

It seemed to be the largest room in the house. There were 2 large cabinets in one corner of the room and her bed was painted in sky blue. It was enormous enough for 4 grown-ups to rest comfortably on it.

The walls to her room were painted in shades of blue, and the ceiling was painted in purple, with star-shaped cut-outs sticking on it. She told us that when the room is dark, the stars glow, forming the impression that we were watching the night sky.

She showed us the contents of the 2 cabinets, and I was bewildered by them. In one of them, there was a huge collection of different types of designer dresses neatly stacked. The second one contained a collection of high-end shoes and jewelries. Monika wanted to try some of these outfits. An inspiring idea struck me suddenly and could not resist trying it. I asked Aarohi if she would mind trying some of my clothes and we will take photos of Monika and her as a couple.

I told her I had a digital camera with me, and we could snap lots of photos just for fun. I made her wear one of my denim pants and a pair of shirts. Monika wore Aarohi's favorite purple tutu dress and they posed for a lot of shots. As we were recuperating from our photoshoot and just chatting about it, out of nowhere Aarohi let us into a secret which for some reason, it felt too strange to be true. It felt like Aarohi was lying about it.

Despite not trusting her secret, I could not let it go of my mind. If her secret had an inkling of truth in it, I could not help but hold great admiration for her courage in living with it and keeping it hidden from the rest of the whole world.

She showed me proof of it, which made me believe that I could she was not lying. Considering this revelation, my respect for her grew tenfolds.

*** I wonder what the secret is, that a 7-year-old child is burdened with. I hope it's not some wrongdoing of the Banerjee's or it's not something that has got to do with Abhishek Banerjee. This family surpassed the limit of weirdness in my books, I would not be least surprised if they have been abusing Aarohi too just like Sophia. ***

                                            TO BE CONTINUED...

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