Sometimes it happens overnight. Like a phone call after which we can never get back to what it was before.
It's rare that a lot of changes happen together. In my case, they haven't literally occurred at the same time, but they have happened one after another. I am not one to philosophise, but for the past few days, lying in this hospital bed, I have had plenty time to think.
Life plays strange games with us, doesn't it?
The people we thought were our soulmates, are not even in contact with us today. The people we loved more than anything else, are the ones we hate passionately now. The people we hated yesterday, are our best mates today. It's ironic how things change in short time and we can do nothing about it.
How can my life change so drastically in less than a year? Yet it has, and it is a choice I made. Ten months ago, I was one of the brilliant students of St Xaviers. Everyone used to adore me, I was loved. Board exams were to happen after a month and I was studying hard for it. A day before exams, I was studying as usual; I heard a sound from outside. A girl was crying. "Help, help!" I could hear that. I went out and saw five men and a little girl. Her clothes were torn and forehead was bleeding.
"Leave her, leave the little girl." I said. "Didi, save me. These uncles are so cruel." little girl screamed. Suddenly, one of the men threw a stone at me which hit my forehead and I got unconscious.
I woke up at hospital. I saw my parents and my little brother wailing. "Those monsters, they threw her outside a temple. She was naked and her body was bleeding; a lot of cuts. I wonder where has humanity gone." I heard someone.
I suddenly realised that there were a lot of marks and cuts on my body. I was unable to move my legs. Ughh! It was hurting.
I remembered my exams.
"Mom, my.. mm.. exa.."
I could not even speak properly.
Mom came near to me, hugged me and cried. The nurse came, gave me a few tablets and I was asleep.
I was discharged after a week and had no idea about what had happened to me. I wasn't allowed to get out of home. Every relative that came to our house looked at me like I was a cursed object. I could see my brother's eyes full of tears whenever he talked to me. I was living a nightmare.
After few months, my parents discovered that I was pregnant and it's when I came to realise that I was raped by those five uncles and thrown outside a holy place. It was hard for me to get over that thing.
I was called by my parents to "have a talk". They started talking about where to get the abortion done. I was of seventeen and all I knew was that I was going to keep the baby. There was a life growing inside me and I wanted to let it grow.
"You both don't get it, I'm keeping this baby."
"Have you lost your mind?"
"I haven't but I'm keeping and I'm sure."
"Oh God, we don't even know who the father of the baby is." Papa bursted out of tears.
"But we know who the mother is, don't we?"
I realised how firm I was about not getting rid of the baby. This was my body, my baby, my choice and my life.
For papa, the choice I was making was incomprehensible and he had stopped talking to me. He made it clear that he would have nothing to do with my baby once it was born.
Well, I had never planned my life. I never had goals. I had gone along where life had taken me and was certain that I would find a way.
If you asked me to list all the life experiences I have had till now in the order of most ecstatic to the least, I would say that the moment of giving birth to my daughter is undoubtedly the happiest moment of my life. It was the most awe-inspiring, humbling and the most powerful experience I have ever gone through. My mother and brother are here, holding my daughter and smiling at her. I promise to myself that I'll not let her go through what I've been; will I be able to keep my promise?
// The End //
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