The city has started to function very early in the morning. Little Rahini is standing with some old woman who is carrying a baby in her hands. Rahini does not wear any dress except a panty. Her hair is completely damaged by dryness and she smells bad for not bathing for a week. The woman beside takes Rahini with her in one hand and the baby in other hand. Red color drops in the signal and the vehicles stop one by one slowly. The woman rushes taking Rahini along with her and she knocks a person in a car
‘Mata ji, please show mercy.’ begs the woman and she shows a plate towards them.
‘Mata ji’ begs little Rahini along with her.
The car guy does not turn towards them and neither the woman beside him. After a few seconds of useless attempt the woman moves towards the next car and Rahini follows her.
‘Mata ji, please show mercy. No money even to buy milk for this little baby.’ pleads the woman as she shows the baby to the people.
‘Mata ji, please show mercy’ cries Rahini in a little voice.
The woman looks at the car people with anger who does not turn towards her. She repeats the begging at each and every car. One guy opens the door and stares at them.
‘Nuisances. Where the hell you people are coming from? No freedom even in signals’ screams the guy in the car.
Rahini keeps her small hands on the cars. The guy looks at Rahini angrily and shouts at her ‘Take your dirty hand from there. Or else I will kill you. Run away’
Rahini gets scared by the scream and runs away from that place behind the woman. The signal drops to green and the vehicles start to move. The woman and Rahini move away from that place fast and wait on the platform for next signal. Sun is at peak of the day right above the head. Little Rahini’s whole body sweats fully and she stumbles by the tiredness for long stand in sun. The woman holds her before she falls down and shouts at her.
‘Little devil. Not even half of the day’s target is met yet you want to sleep. Stand straight. Red signal is about to drop.’
Rahini looks at her with tiredness in her face. The signal falls to red and woman again rushes towards the cars dragging the exhausted Rahini along with her. The woman starts to beg showing the baby and the girl to the people in the cars and bikes. Most of them turn away their heads to the other side but some people dropped few coins in their plates. Rahini does not beg due to the exhaustion but the woman pinches her without being noticed by others. Rahini starts to cry by the pain instilled by the pinch. The woman drags her and continues the begging.
‘Ma ji. Please looks at these children. It is since two days we have eaten. Show mercy Mata ji.’ begs the woman to the people.
--- --- --- --- ---
The small almost collapsed building is gathered with crowds of beggars standing in a single line queue. Some beggars are handicapped, some old beggars, some women pretending to be mothers with babies in hands. Rahini stands in that queue along with the woman.
‘Drop your collections here’ commands a guy to the woman standing in the queue.
The woman drops the plate on the place pointed by the guy. The glances through it and stares angrily at her.
‘What is this? Only this much money you have collected. What the hell are you thinking in your mind? Your collections are dropping day by day.’ screams the guy angrily at her.
The woman looks at him with fright and says ‘Pardon me bhau. I am trying very much to increase the income. People are not at all dropping any money nowadays like before.’
‘Shut up. You s******l. Don’t you know what Naina didhi would do if the income target is not met? You have to face consequences now. No food for you today. Just starve. Only then you will take more effort and make more money ’ screams the guy
‘Bhau, please forgive me. I have not eaten for two days already. Please give me food’ shouts the woman at the guy as some thugs drag her away from there.
The queue moves further and another woman drops the collections on the place. The guy’s face turns bright on looking at the money scattered there.
‘Well done. Jamuna bhai. You did a good job’ says the guy to her.
The woman Jamuna looks at him proudly.
‘How did you achieve it?’
‘My tactics is the reason. I told you to disfigure the child’s face. Now the money is pouring like tap water’ replies Jamuna in a joyful voice to him.
‘Wow. Fantastic. It worked as you said. May be we should try this tactics on other children too. I will discuss with didhi about it’ says the guy cheerfully and looks at the woman who feels proud of herself. ‘Today is the feast day for you. Go and have whatever you want’ says the guy to her.
The queue moves further and now the turn of the woman and Rahini. The guy gestures to drop her and the woman does so. The guy looks at the collection and gestures like ‘not enough’
‘What to do, bhau? This monkey did not co-operate with me today. Otherwise, are you not aware how much is my capacity?’ says the woman with frustration and anger in her face looking at Rahini.
The guy gives a scary look at her and Rahini hides behind the woman.
‘Jamuna’s tactics is working great. May be if we disfigure this monkey’s face we can achieve the target.’ Says the guy in a cruel voice.
‘Do any hell. I am really exhausted. Let me have something’ says the woman and she leaves from the place.
The guy stares at Rahini with an unkind smile.
--- --- --- --- ---
The crowd starts to gather in a vast area behind that collapsed building. All the beggar employees slowly assemble there waiting for the announcement to be made by the key in-charge of them. The guy stands beside Naina who is seated on a chair chewing beetal leaves along with paan parak.
‘This gathering is to inform about the new thing which we have decided to implement to increase the money collection.’ starts the guy in a loud voice. ‘As per feedback from one of our employees, disfigured children are earning more income compared to normal figured children. It is also proved by the trial we made for past one week. Hence Naina didhi has consented to damage some children in our gang so that the income shall increase from tomorrow.’
All the faces standing in the gathering turns shocked by the announcement of that guy.
One elderly beggar employee hesitantly steps forward and says ‘Please don’t do that bhau. All are small children’ in a little and in scared tone.
The guy and Naina angrily stare at him.
‘Oh really? Then we shall mutilate your face and you yield us more income. What do you say?’ asks the guy in a threatening tone to the beggar.
The beggar immediately steps backward scared by the disfiguring and shuts his mouth.
‘Anyone here want to oppose our proposal? We will gladly help you to change your face beautifully forever. Anybody is willing?’ asks the guy in a commanding voice.
None of them raise their voice and step forward to oppose them.
‘That is nice for brilliant people’ says the guy. ‘All of you disperse now’ shouts the guy at them.
All of them scatter with sadness in their faces looking at the burning fire at the corner which is going to change the fates of many little children.
--- --- --- --- ---
The children are made to stand in a long line. The queue is segregated based on gender and age group. Rahini stands with some children of her age in a queue and looks at everybody in horror. She looks at one girl who is crying for a long time. She goes near to the child and touches her shoulder. The crying girl looks at her with teary eyes.
‘Why are you crying?’ asks Rahini to the little child.
‘I want to go my mummy. I don’t want to stay here.’ replies the crying girl to her.
Rahini says ‘Don’t worry. Your mummy will soon come here and take you.’
The girl looks at Rahini in surprise. ‘Really? How?’
‘Naina didhi told me that if we obey whatever she says, then she will bring our parents to us.’
‘Is it true? I will see my mummy again?’ asks the little girl with eagerness in her voice.
‘True. Don’t cry’ says Rahini to her trying to console her and she wipes her tears.
The queue moves fast ahead. Meanwhile some horrible sound of children screaming in pain is heard from inside. The little kids look at each other in bewilderment. None of the thugs bothered to console them and they keep menacing and commanding the children.
Rahini and the other little girl were taken inside the place. Naina and some other scary thugs were seated on a bench looking at the children intensely.
The guy looks at the little girl and yells at her.
‘Stop crying monkey and answer my questions’
The little girl looks at him in fear.
‘Do you know to sing?’ asks the guy in a rigid voice.
The little girl trembles on hearing the voice and slowly nods her head like ‘yes’
‘Good. Sing anything’
Little girl starts to sings a song
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
The guy frowns at the little girl and shouts at her ‘Hey! Hey! Stop monkey. What the hell are you singing?’
‘Rhymes uncle. My teacher taught me.’ replies the little girl in trembling voice.
‘Sing any hindi song or Marathi song monkey’ yells the guy at the girl
The girl winks at him without saying anything.
‘What? You know any hindi or Marathi song or not?’ screams the guy.
‘Hey! Hey!’ interrupts Naina. ‘Leave it. We just need to know if she can sing or not. Her voice is very good. So we cand mend as we want.’ says Naina and she looks at the other thug standing beside her.
‘Oye! Take her away and finish it’ orders Naina to him
‘Ji didhi’ steps a thug forward and takes the girl in his hands.
The guy then towards Rahini and asks ‘What do you know? Sing or dance?’
Rahini looks at the guy and then looks at Naina with terrified look. Naina pretends to smile at her and gestures her to answer him. Rahini smiles at Naina and replies ‘I know to dance, uncle’
‘You can dance? Then dance and show.’ asks the guy looking at her with surprise. ‘Hey play a song’
An hindi song is played from somewhere and little Rahini gets cheered up by the song. She jumps cheerfully, moves her legs and hands to all the sides, she makes a full turn around, moves her hips and makes all dance movements she know. All of them laugh at her and cheer her to dance more. Rahini enthusiastically dances in front of them. Naina grins at Rahini and all of them applaud for her performance.
Rahini feels happy on looking people clapping for her. The guy looks at Naina with a smile and asks her ‘Didhi, what can we do with this monkey?’
Naina reciprocates his smile and says ‘I got another idea. Let us not damage her face. We can trade her in Grant Road after few months. Until then she let her continue the begging.’
The guy looks at Naina with an admiring look and says ‘Fantastic idea didhi. I did not think of this earlier.’ He looks at the thug beside him and gestures him to take away from here.
The thug holds her hands and takes her from there. Little Rahini stops and looks at Naina ‘Didhi, when I can go to my mother?’
Naina looks at her mockingly and says ‘Soon beta. I will take you to your mother very soon. Now you go’
Rahini leaves from the place happily.
--- --- --- --- ---
Four years later
Rahini is lying down on the floor in a dark room which has big holed roof. She looks at the sky and the twinkling stars through the roof which looks like diamonds beautifully pinned on a bluish black cloth. She tries to count the stars which she is looking above.
‘Don’t waste your time Rahini. Trying to count the stars and trying to escape from this place are the most impossible tasks in this world’ hears a girl’s voice beside her.
Rahini looks at the girl who is looking at her counting. The girl’s face is almost disfigured with only few inches of good skin covering the flesh. Anybody who see her first time in their life surely would not be able to sleep for that day.
‘Why do you say like that? I am so sure neither of them are not impossible if we have a willing heart’ replies Rahini firmly at her.
‘Are you really sure of your escape plan, baby?’ asks the girl with a worry in her voice.
Rahini does not reply her immediately.
‘I am not so sure, Meena. But I have to escape from here at any cost.’ Says Rahini to her
‘But how? You very well know how didhi’s thugs are guarding this place day and night? How do you think you can go away from here? Even if you manage to escape, where will you go?’ asks the girl again with the same worried tone
Rahini remains silent.
‘Better drop your idea Rahini. I am really so scared of consequences if you by chance get caught to any of the men. You once see my face before you plan to take any risk’ says the girl to her.
Rahini looks at the girl’s face pitifully. Tears roll down from her eyes.
‘I am a living example. They did not care how much little I was. Their main target is money. They burned my face with hot firewood and spoiled my life. We are their vitality. If we think of spoiling it, they will go to the extent of burning us alive. But they will not let us to die. We should live with the burn wounds for rest of the life.’ asks the girl to her
Rahini does not reply anything to her and her face turns bewildered.
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