The Lost Child

Finest Blog - 2nd Weekly Pick of July 2010

The shrill whistle of the passing Mumbai Express cracked through the silence of dawn. The slum slowly awoke from its slumber. Some women sprinkled water in whatever space was available in front of their huts and applied fresh kolam and resorted to their daily house hold chores. Men stood outside lazily brushing their teeth while the naked kids ran hither thither.

Kannamma could hardly get up.Every inch of her body seemed to ache.The pain was most unbearable in her hip where the kicks had been repetitive.Muthiah lay sprawled across the floor in one corner of their hut totally oblivious to the state of his clothes and the mess around him.

Last night had been awesome for him.Thanks to his pal who worked at a local bar he had managed to relish some of the left overs from foreign sarakku bottles; the scotches and brandies of the elite drunkards.This was in addition to his daily dose at the local TASMAQ shop.

Kannamma sat still staring at him. It had been ten years now. Her father, a coolie at the railway station was dead against the marriage. Kannamma had been head over heels about Muthiah , his sister's son. Her father was convinced that Muthiah was not headed in the right direction and would end up with no livelihood and all bad habits.His advice fell on deaf ears. Kannamma had been adamant. She totally trusted Muthiah's claims of a business investment along with his friends. A couple of months after her wedding she lost her father;her only kin in the world to TB. It did not take a long time for her to realize what a terrible wrong decision she had made in her life. His so-called business investment plans vanished into thin air. He spent the whole day eating, sleeping and whiling away time through useless petty discussions with others of his kind. His occasional drinking became a daily affair. Street brawls started followed by daily arguments.This transformed to beatings and abuse. Her life was hell.

Despite the fact that there was not even an ounce of happiness in her life Kannamma had a slight hope that one day he would mend his ways and give her the treatment she deserved. But the threshold of her tolerance was crossed two months back. A visit to the Government Hospital had confirmed her doubts about a life inside of her. She was happy but scared at the same time about her child having to go through the same hell. She was waiting in her hut hoping and praying that this new responsibility would reform Muthiah. That hope turned to dust in a few hours along with the foetus inside of her.Muthiah came in a totally inebriated state. The moment he entered he spat a few loud abusive words and started hitting her. A kick on the stomach produced a piercing unbearable pain through her and the bleeding that followed confirmed her worst fears. She lost her baby.

These reflections of her past made her reaffirm her decision. She had made up her mind. Slowly she got up to her feet, took one last look at Muthiah and started walking towards the railway station.It would be painful,she knew but it would be over in an instant.No one could stop her that way. If there was a rebirth may be her life would be better. Her stride had a sense of determination about it.

Nearing the tracks she stood for a moment. The barren look on her face yielded to all the anguish inside of her and she burst into tears .The next train would be here in a couple of minutes. Wiping her eyes she bent down to lie down on the tracks. She shut her eyes tight and tried to control the shiver in her body when she heard something. A baby was crying. It was faint initially and now it seemed to get louder and louder.

She struggled with herself to ignore the infant's cries but lost the fight. She got on her feet and headed towards its direction. It seemed like a cloth bundle from afar but as she neared she could make out the figure of a woman. Moving closer she recognized the person. She had seen the girl probably in her early twenties quite often near the station begging from passers-by. She was motionless.Kannamma touched her and she felt cold and lifeless skin.She tried to feel for her breath.There was no sign of life. She was no more.Cuddled near her hands was a small baby boy probably a month old. Wrapped in a ragged cloth he was howling. Kannamma took a moment to curse the monster who had misused the girl and had given her the baby. She picked up the infant in her arms and cuddled him close to her bosom.His hunger was at its peak and he attempted to suckle immediately.She gently patted him and tried to soothe his cries. The baby was too weak even to cry and was slowly whimpering.

Kannamma hurried to the station and bought some milk to satisfy his hunger. Luckily she had some of the notes she had knotted at the end of her sari the previous day. With his stomach full the infant started sleeping in her arms. Coimbatore Mail that she had chosen to take her life earlier arrived a bit later than usual. Kannamma was standing on the platform holding the child.She looked at the place where his mother lay.A crowd had gathered around her by then.

Kannamma gently touched the childs head and stroked his hair. There could not have been a dirtier baby and he was just wrapped in some rags.But there was a sweet innocence with which he was sleeping, unaware of the fate of his mother. She did not think further. With the same determined stride she boarded the train with the baby and found an empty seat.The train gave its usual shrill whistle and started chugging out of that station.Kannamma had no idea about its route or where it was headed to.But she had found a path for herself; a reason to live. She had found her lost child.She planted a kiss on his forehead, held him close and gently closed her eyes listening to the rhythm of the wheels.

 

Thanks a lot Mindian,knot2share and Gayathri

regards
jayashree

 

Thanks Neha!!

Hi mmvellodi!! thanks. I was not planning to continue. later if some ideas creep in i may try