Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day

-Biswadeep Ghosh Hazra

Jonaki was looking at the city lights through the rain spattering glass of the Taxi, wide eyed. She touched her hand on the glass- it felt cold, and started drawing a contour of a lady. The elderly lady beside her asked compassionately, “Who is she, Jonaki?”  “My mother”, was all she could fathom up to the kind lady. The taxi jerked, coming to an abrupt halt- the result of a torrential rainfall rendering almost zero visibility to the taxi driver. There was a massive jam ahead…

Tomorrow was Mother’s day and Jonaki was excited and worried at the same time; she was experiencing a plethora of mixed emotions from yesterday, yes she was overly excited about ‘Mother’s Day’ as Jonaki’s mom was in jail and she was not allowed to see her sans this day; for the judge was humble and a mother herself. ‘Mother’s day had a whole new meaning for Jonaki, it was not about giving presents and people posing with their mothers and uploading their pictures on the Social Networking sites. It was far from it, far intense…

The plausible reasons for arresting Shiuli, Jonaki’s mother were not few- she was a hardcore addict and worked in the local sewing company set up by the ‘Aangaanwadi’ from the government. Repeated absence, vamoosing much earlier than usual were normal for her, but all tolerance broke loose when Shiuli was caught stealing- the local people handed her over to the police station where she was sentenced to five years of imprisonment coupled with another five years at a rehabilitation center. Jonaki was now deracinated without her mother, barely three years old she stayed at her aunt’s- fate had been cruel to Jonaki, she had lost everything she had at such tender age.

From that day onwards, Jonaki’s every cell, tissue and muscle would wait for this day of the year when she gets to spend her time with her mother. This time it was all the more special as Shiuli was transferred from the jail to rehab and this would be Jonaki’s second visit to the dreadful place. All year long, she maintained a copy which had in it all the questions which Jonaki wanted to ask when she would meet her- and within the copy there were questions aimed at her mother like, “Did you quit drugs?” and some questions (which appeared more in frequency than anything else) “Promise me you’ll never leave me again?”…

“Honey, you’re soup is ready”, said the kind old lady. Jonaki’s aunt was not her original aunt off course, some distant kin who too got involved in a prostitution ring and was under police custody, on top of that, she herself was impoverished and penniless.  Jonaki soon got picked by a local NGO and within weeks a meeting was set up with the elderly lady who decided to adopt her until Shiuli arrived. “This is tasty! This is chicken naa?” questioned Jonaki with delight. “No this is mushroom!!” the lady retorted back-barely trying to hide the pseudo anger, “You’re excited about the meeting tomorrow, isn’t it?” the lady patted Jonaki’s back smiling.

The next morning

Jonaki made no attempt to hide her excitement as she knew well that all her efforts would be futile- as the taxi set into motion a heavy drizzle started. The whole journey, Jonaki was animated and full of joy-with each passing kilometer her heartbeat increased and by the time they reached the Rehabilitation Center’s gate, Jonaki was confident her legs would collapse and she would fall. Although her joy was somewhat dampened by the grim appearance of the institution building, she still managed to keep up the lead. Being a bright student, Jonaki had a photographic memory and was able to recognize the way without much effort from her brain.

“Mr.Gaurd, please quickly open the door so I can wish mommy…” an elated Jonaki shouted out to the guard. Patients there were no doubt kept in isolation. The guard who was good friends with Jonaki smiled, showing his guthka laden teeth.  The door opened and the two angels met- and how!!! So many hugs and kisses were exchanged; and tears of joy fell from four pairs of eyes. “You’ve grown up!” exclaimed Shiuli as she caressed her daughter-she had never been this happy.

‘Time and tide waits for none’- following the proverb, it was time for departing; a painful goodbye was exchanged in the form a tight hug. The wait had begun again from this moment and would again last a year. “Goodbye mother”, Jonaki whispered into her mother’s ears as she secretly slipped something into her mother’s hand; though she was shocked, she remained composed. The guard locked the door and Shiuli whispered as she felt the metallic cold in her skin and saw the key, “The best Mother’s day gift I would ever receive” and hid the key into the folds of her dress.

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