Snapped Thread
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By Hiranya Borah
Copyright 2016 Hiranya Borah
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Preface
This story is based on a village girl who destined to win all the battles wherever she was pitted, against all the odds. However, she was not from Assam as I portrayed in the story. I have not given any name of the person who had helped her all along as an elder brother and as a mentor. I shall fill up your name when you will help an intelligent poor village girl to achieve her goal.
Author
Chapter I: The Thread
When you are sewing or knitting, if a thread is snapped you can find the two ends of the snapped thread. But while a thread is snapped while weaving it is very difficult to find the two ends of the snapped thread. If thread is missing, the weaver feels to be in the midst of river without a radar. She/ he tries to find out two ends of the thread, but mostly in vain. She/ he tries to find a substitute or in extreme cases he/ she dumps the whole process for ever.
Every person is on a journey; journey of life. During the journey one person meets another person and in the process he/ she makes both friends and foes; normally in good numbers. If one of the friends leaves the company, he/she feels uncomfortable for some time and when he / she gets rid of one of the foes he/ she feels happy; again for some time. However, everyone will agree with me that losing a good friend is extremely painful, which cannot be compensated by getting rid of ten enemies. But God has a design to lose friends after going together hand in hand for a particular period of time. Losing of a friend may be temporary or may be permanent depending upon the closeness of the friendship. In this world vacuum cannot exist for long. Therefore, if you lose a friend, you are likely to get a substitute; sometimes substitutes are better than the originals and sometimes they are poor replicas of the originals.
As a teenager, I loved a girl who was a very beautiful girl of my own age.; I thought without her, my life was useless. But unfortunately our affair did not last long. I had to settle for a period of two to three years with a poor replica of the original. That affair also did not last long. Then luckily for me I got a chance to get involved with a much better substitute. So journey of love was like a roller coaster for me. These are my stories of thirty- forty years old, but still vivid in my memories.
Now situations have changed completely. I have a nuclear family and an extended family of two spiritual daughters and a number of young boys and girls like my sons and daughters. My movements are limited; no I am not saying about physical movement; I am talking about my mental and eyes movements. Now if I see a beautiful girl, I try to gauge whether she would be suitable for my son or not; or my nephew or my friend’s son. A few years back, my thoughts were different. Similarly, if I meet a handsome and earning boy, immediately I start thinking should I approach him for my daughter or for my niece or for my friend’s daughter.
Recently, I have been transferred from my earlier office to a new office and immediately I felt that I lost a thread. I have to come out from a comfort zone where I was helped by a team of youngsters, some of whom are like my children and some are like my brothers and sisters. Do not worry, I shall not wiseacre you by saying something about me and my transfer, I am going to tell you about a girl who had to leave behind her comfort zone at a remote village of Assam to New Delhi. She was ambitious and intelligent but short of experience. With cheer hard work and intelligence how she was able to stand on her own feet is an inspiring story. However, in the hind sight, she had to lose many things which otherwise probably would not have to lose had she not come out from her comfort zone.
Chapter II: Malati
She was Malati, but she became Malti after reaching Delhi. I shall use both the names as in Assam she is Malati and in Delhi she became Malti.
Though Malati studied in Guwahati, being in a hostel where most of the occupants were intelligent and of same background that of Malati, practically, Malati did not find much difficulty in adjusting herself among the other students. Further, every month one or two visitors used to visit her from her place which used to give her additional comfort of having some homemade food. Expectedly, due to her hard works and intelligence, she could manage to do extremely well in her twelfth examination.
In small towns or villages idols are not as great as Nobel Laureate Dr. Amratya Sen or Sports’ ultimate icon of India, God of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar; they are lesser mortal like us or little better than us. For the same reason, Malati’s idol was a local boy, Sameer Saikia, who studied in Delhi after his twelfth and was able to crack UPSC examination and got a lucrative job in Government of India. When Malati wanted to pursue her studies in Delhi, following the footsteps of Sameer, whole family supported her, though none of her family members had ever visited Delhi.
She booked tickets to Delhi for her and for her father from Guwahati railway station. No, at that time there was no website to book tickets for railways; to be precise, there was no e-mail, no web portal etc. in India, at least for any public utility. Before their departure, they organized a Naam Kirtan (prayer meeting as per the customs of the followers of Great Assamese Saint and reformer of Fifteenth/ Sixteenth Century, Shri Shri Sankar Dev) in their home for safe and successful journey of Malati and her father to an unknown place. An unknown fear had engulfed both father and daughter duo.
Some of her relatives tried to dissuade Malati’s father from sending his daughter to a far flung area; after all girls have to be married away to another homes! Malati’s mother was also little bit convinced with their arguments. But both father and daughter were clear about their priorities.
The moment they entered into the second class compartment of the Delhi bound Brahmaputra mail, they understood, life would not be same for Malati in near future. So long the train was running in Assam and Bengal, there was no extra passenger in their compartment. But once it entered Bihar, the compartment was swarmed with daily passengers, most of whom were unruly and they did not have any respect for the passengers who had reservations. Initially, Malati’s father tried to object to their unruly behavior, but Malati stopped her father from arguing with the passengers without valid reservations.
With an uncomfortable and unforgettable journey, they landed at New Delhi station. As soon as they landed, their first encounter was with the drivers of the taxis and auto rickshaws. All these people wanted to fleece the tired passengers from long and uncomfortable journeys. In those days, prepaid taxi system was in an infant stage (still it is not as good as in the airports). Malati and her father hired a taxi to Assam House at a fare which was actually more than four times of the prevailing taxi fare.
After reaching Assam House they got the second shock of their lives, as the persons sitting behind the desk were most uncooperative officials Malati’s father had ever come across. With a young girl who is visiting for the first time to a Mega city, Malati’s father felt committing a crime to agree to his daughter’s demand to study at Delhi.
But world is not full of persons like those sitting behind the desk, who behaved awkwardly to every person asking for a room in Assam House. A person of early forties or late thirties, who was sitting in the lounge, observed the persons behind the desks for a while and recalled his own journey to this Mega city 20 years back to take admission into Master degree course. Even few minutes ago, the persons sitting behind the desks were very uncooperative to him until they came to know that the gentleman was a senior officer settled in De
lhi. Once they came to know that he was a visitor only, they tried to become very friendly.
He came near to Malati’s father and asked, ‘Are you coming for admission in Delhi University?
‘Yes.’ He murmured.
‘Do not worry for the initial hiccups. Everything will be fine, after this initial turmoil!’ He said in chaste Assamese.
Hearing his assuring sentence, that too in his mother tongue, Malti’s father heaved a sigh of relief and said, ‘Thanks God! Hope you have understood my problem. You have heard what they have said. Where I shall go with this young girl? Night is also falling!’
‘I have already said, do not worry. I shall leave you only after you are put somewhere, where you and your daughter are safe. Now it is my responsibility!’ He said. ‘I am waiting for my friend, a senior officer of Government of Assam. Once he comes, either he will take care of you, or I shall take care of both of you. Now relax!’ Turning to Malti he asked, ‘What is your percentage?’
‘92%. I want to take major in history.’ Malti answered politely. The incident took place more than fifteen years back. At that time 92% was good enough to get admission into the best of the colleges of Delhi University.
‘Oh, you will get it! Have you got rank?’ The helpful person asked Malati.
She nodded.
Looking to the persons at the desk, he told him with a voice of authority, ‘Please look after their luggage. I am taking them for a cup of tea. If Bikash comes by the time, you please inform him that I am waiting outside.’
‘No sir, you need not have to go outside for tea. You better sit inside sir’s room; I am sending tea for you!’ Now they appeared to be very polite.
Afterwards, they said the helpful person, ‘Sir we are also helpless! We have only few rooms, everyday people are coming for rooms ten times more than the available rooms. Particularly during admission session; it is real tough. The senior officers are also coming for admission of their wards by booking their accommodations at Guwahati itself.’
After taking tea Malti and her father became little bit relaxed. Bikash also joined them after half an hour. Malti and her father were offered two options, they could stay with Bikash for two days or they could stay with the helpful person for a week or so as his family had gone to Assam for a month and likely to return after a week.
‘Uncle, sorry sir, I would like to stay in your house.’ Malti opened her mouth before her father could say something.
After an hour they reached the Government Quarters of the helpful person. However, they did not stay for one week as offered by the helpful person, they shifted to a rented accommodation after four days, though their stay with the helpful person was most comfortable.
Malti and her family remained grateful to that person for his unconditional help. Malti however, came to know why that helpful person offered them to stay for week only; his wife was complete opposite in nature to her husband so far helping attitude is concerned.
Chapter III: The Thread Is Snapped
She felt extremely sad when her father left after she saw him off at the railway station. She thought the thread of bonding was finally snapped with her family. In those days, mobile phone was not there. Land line phones were available for the ultra-rich or some other important people. Malti or Malati’s family did not fit to either category. At that time courier service was also not introduced in the rural areas or scantily introduced. Therefore, the only mode of communication was letter through Indian Postal Service. In those days, a letter used to take at least 10 days to reach Malati’s home from Delhi though a letter from her home used to reach Malti in less than a week. Therefore, her assumption was correct up to some extent.
After seeing her father off at the railway station she took a DTC bus for her destination at Kingsway camp or Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar. On the very first day, she realized boarding a DTC / Red Line / Blue Line bus was not an easy proposition. After lot of efforts she was able to board into a bus. But travelling by a DTC bus for a lone girl was equally traumatizing. She was grabbed by goon/ fellow passenger and none of the other passengers had come to her rescue. She was somehow able to free herself from the goon and got down at an unknown place much before her destination. Having no alternative she hired an auto rickshaw at a much higher rate.
From that day onwards she never travelled in a DTC bus for one year. But slowly, being an intelligent girl, she adjusted with the unfriendly surroundings in a nice way. Throughout her turmoil period of adjustments, her only mentor was that middle aged helpful man. She used to visit him in his office as his wife was not so friendly to Malati. Between Malati and that person a brother-sister relation was developed.
During those days transferring money was also not easy; only reliable way to send money was through money order whose service provider was Indian Postal service. Normally money order used to take at least seven days. Problem to receive money from the postman was simplified by those postmen. They would inform the landlords where the students reside and give a time when on the next they would come. If you are generous enough to give a tip of Rs.5/- for every delivery, he would not return the money till he meets you. Otherwise if you cannot contact him on the stipulated time, money would be returned back. However, these small tips to tackle such problems were available in the air of Delhi University.
As the good helpful man was aware of these practices from his university days, he offered to help out Malti from paying Rs.5/- to Rs.10/- every month. He advised her to tell her father to send her money order to him in his official address. Eventually Malti continued to collect money from the good helpful man for next six years till she completed her M. Phil course. In many occasions, she used to take her expected money much before that good helpful person actually received her money orders.
In next six years, she earned three degrees, made many friends in Delhi, one elder brother and one boyfriend. All these had different implications in her life.
Chapter IV: The Success
Whenever you get a new friend, you are likely to lose one old friend. Malti also made few new friends at the expense of few old friends; after all you cannot spare some time for your new friends unless you save some time from your old friends’ allotted time. Slowly her communications with her friends in the village started declining. After two to three years, communications between her and her friends who stayed back in Assam, came to a complete halt. When she met those friends during her visits to her village, they used to complain her for not writing letters to them. She promised to write to them, but that never happened. She realized the horizon of her friends in her village was too limited due to lack of exposure. In fact, she had very little to discuss with them. Even discussions with parents became dull and routine after second day of her visit to her home. Contrary to that she found that her discussion with the helpful person was more productive, educative and interesting. She wanted to come back to Delhi as early as possible from her vacation.
After completion of her M. Phil her mother wanted her to come back to Assam and search for a job in Assam. But by the time, Malati had a complete different idea. She wanted to appear for civil service and for that she wanted to stay in Delhi only. Even if she would fail to crack civil service she would join some private job; but she would remain in Delhi only. She conveyed her decision to her mother. Mother of Malati was not expecting such an uncompromising decision. But she did not complain as she knew Malti was a strong girl and she knew her priorities.
Next two years, she studied very hard for her competitive examinations. Though she could not crack the civil service in the first attempt, in the second attempt she was able put herself in the selected list. In all the Assamese papers her name was flashed. Her parents were elated like never before. When she visited her village after declaration of the result the whole village came to the railway station to receive her like a princess. She became the new idol for the new generation like her senior Sameer Saikia for her generation!
Chapter V: The Great Betrayal
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For last three years Malti had a steady relation with a local boy of Delhi, Arvind. Both were appearing for the civil service together and cracked the civil service together. So apparently there was no problem in marrying each other. Malti divulged their relation to her mother.
Being from a remote village of Assam, her parents were not in favour of the marriage. But due to her insistence they agreed for the marriage.
Arvind visited Malti’s village and fixed the date for their marriage. After returning from her home, Arvind rang Malti to tell her to marry her she had to fulfill a small demand of his parents. When Malti asked about the demand, he put forward an astronomical amount as dowry. Malti was taken aback.
She categorically said that her parents were not in a position to fulfill the demand of their parents.
Finally, marriage was cancelled.
Cancellation of marriage had a devastating effect on Malti’s health. She had to be hospitalized.
After one month she was able to recoup herself from the great betrayal by her lover and joined her duties at Ahmedabad as her first place of posting. During this period also her mentor, the helpful person talked to her over phone many times and advised her to see forward forgetting Arvind and her affair with him. The helpful person told her that she should be grateful to the Almighty to save her from a heartless money minded person! His inspiring advices had a positive effect on her body and mind.
Chapter V: God is Always Great
If you are cheated by someone, God must have a better idea for you. In Malti’s case was also like that. Finally, she met the man who was born to marry Malti.
Ajay an IPS officer from Rajasthan fell in love with her at his first meeting with Malati in an officers’ meet.
Once bitten, twice shy, Malati was little bit apprehensive to develop another relation. She talked to her mentor. Her mentor advised her to tell Ajay about her earlier relation with Arvind and the reason for break-up.