“Youth Chief Minister! Usually people above forty years of age are branded middle aged. They describe himas a youth leader,” said the teacher sitting next to me.
Both the teachers laughed out aloud. I smiled irresolutely, not seeing the joke.
When I’d joined this school I’d been homeless and a two-months pregnant divorcee; today, I am a single parent of doppelganger sons, a Lecturer in a well-known school of the town, and owned a flat in a posh apartment, on loan.
As the last bell rang, I strode out to car parking area, as soon as possible. My lads were already standing near the car, discussing some thing. I started the car and both boys jumped in, helter-skelter. Kush managed to grab the front seat, and I convinced Luv to sit at the back. We were on our way home but the fight between then continued. When we reached, I opened the door. Boys flung their schoolbags on the sofa.
“Mom, what’s our father’s name?” Kush asked. He picked a water bottle from the fridge and gave the fridge’s door a kick; it closed with a thud.
“Don’t drink directly from the bottle. Go get glasses for all of us.” I acted as if didn’t hear anything.
“Vaibhav’s mother is also a single parent but at least he knows his father’s name.” I’d forgotten Luv was still in the room.
“And he has his father’s snaps too.” Kush completed Luv’s sentence.
“We will talk about Vaibhav later. Now you guys go change your uniforms and arrange the table for lunch.”
Thankfully, both left the room with their schoolbags. But their questions were not over yet. Next section of firing questions began at the dining table.
“Mom, are we love-children?” asked Luv, with a huge grin. Both raised their hands for a hi-five. As if being a love-child was a cool thing.
I sipped some water. “Every mother loves her child,” I replied.
Where is this generation going?… all an adverse effect of movies. It is pointless to yell at striplings; after all, they are trying to figure out this complicated world in their own way.
“I told you, I got a divorce when you were in my belly. I can’t get a divorce without marriage. Can I?”
“Was yours a love marriage or was it arranged?” Luv inquired.
“Both.” I left my seat and began cleaning the table. Both the boys helped me. Our lunch was over, but my young investigators still wanted to unravel the mystery of their origin.
“How is it that possible? How can you do both?” Kush followed me to my room.
“Where did you meet him, first time?” asked Luv..
“We were in the same college.” I replied, making myself comfortable on bed. This enquiry was going to take a long time. I was used to it. This is not the first time they had asked about their father.
“You were in the same class?” Kush asked.
“No, your father was doing M.A. and I was a M.Sc. student.”
“M.A., so L.S.!” Kush said, as both exchanged amused expressions.
Being a mother of two teenage boys, I’d learnt their lingo. L.S. meant ‘Low Standard.’
“Twenty years back, it wasn’t that L.S.,” I said.
“Your father was from an influential political family and your grandpa was an M.L.A. in those days. Right?”
Kush lay down on my left side, Luv on my right. Today, they weren’t going to leave me easily.
“Tell us more,” Luv pleaded.
“Your father was the most handsome guy in college. Many girls had a crush on him, but your father always created a reason to talk to me. Gradually we became friends and later we decided to marry.”
“So, were both families ready for this marriage or was there a twist?” Kush asked.
“Your grandpa was not in favour, at the beginning. The reason being, he wanted your father to take politics as priority. And I was an adopted child. But my father was affluent and a renowned businessman of the town who could help them in the elections, so he agreed.”
“So, your in-laws troubled you for dowry?” Kush sat up on the bed with a bounce.
When you feel you’ve answered all the queries of your children, you are mistaken. They’ll have a dozen more difficult queries for you to answer.
“No. There were some issues; you are too young to understand”
“At least you can tell us our father’s name.” Kush pleaded.
“Let’s make a deal.” I tried to postpone their question.
“What deal?” They shouted, simultaneously.
“As both of you know, there is a science fair next month in our school. If any one of you gets a first prize, I will tell you your father’s name.”
Both my youngsters took my words as a challenge and immediately ran off to their room.
Two weeks later, our school Principal announced in assembly that the Chief Guest for the Science Fair would be our Honourable Chief Minister Mr. Raam. I didn’t join in the applause. My heart was pumping wildly, reflecting my agitation inside.
I was not able to concentrate on teaching the rest of the day. Nor did I notice Luv and Kush’s fight in the car while driving home.
My life had been beautiful after marriage. Raam and I had shifted to a flat in a newly built apartment complex. I was in fantasy land, lost in my small world. Raam joined his family business and his father’s political party. Soon I got signs I was pregnant and my Gynaecologist confirmed it. It was ecstasy. I planned to tell this good news to Raam in a romantic way. Insisted Raam reach home by eight p.m. ordered a cake for the evening.
In the evening I left home to pick up the cake. When I reached the parking lot, I saw a man sauntering towards me, probably drunk. He couldn’t even walk properly. I ignored him and continued walking towards my car. Suddenly someone caught me from behind; it was the same man. He was so drunk that it wasn’t hard to loosen his grip and escape. But I was terrified. As I ran towards the exit, I saw a car entering the lot. I knew this car!
I opened my eyes and looked around. Looks like my room. What happen last night? Who brought me in my room? May be it was a nightmare. “Last night you fell unconscious in front of my car.” I turned my head in the direction of the voice, found Raam next to me. I felt tranquil and safe. Along with the tea, he handed me a newspaper. I saw a headline ‘Dead in car accident.’ There was apicture of same man I’d met in the parking area. Raam noticed my perplexed expression.
“When I entered the parking lot, you fell unconscious and I saw a man rush to his car. He drove out in a killing speed. Looks like it killed him.” Raam didn’t make any eye contact with me. He sounded impassive.
Our lives changed from that day. Raam started staying away from me. He left early and returned home as late as possible. Whenever I asked others for a reason, only reply was: ‘Pre-election preparations are going on and he has lots of responsibilities.’
Only thing I could do was to wait till everything got normal. But nothing went back to normal in my life. Very soon I got a Divorce notice. I never got a chance to tell him about my pregnancy. Now it was pointless to tell or argue, may be it was too late.
Loud sounds of wrangling from the kids’ bedroom dragged me back to the present… Why I am worrying without reason? Situation is not that bad. Raam never knew he had identical twins. If we don’t see each other, he will stay clueless.- Best way is to remain back stage when Raam arrives tomorrow.
Next Morning, in school, my only mission was to grab maximum back stage work. All teachers were eager to meet Mr. Chief Minister which made my mission easy.
All preparations for Science fair had begun. Different competitions were held at school- Essay writing competitions, Future Scenarios com petitions, Science models competitions, etc. Winners of each the com petition would receive their prizes from the Chief Guest on the final day.
Kush’s Science model won first place, and Luv stood first in the essay writing competition. Now one thing was very clear, I would have to tell them thei
r father’s name.
On the final day, the Principal welcomed our Chief Guest. Our CM lit the lamp on the stage and gave his speech. Everything was working out right, as I’d planned. Soon it was time for the prize distribution ceremony. One of the teachers announced the name of winners, one by one.
“Now the winner of the Essay Writing competition,” he proclaimed. My heart started beating fast. Which mother wouldn’t be pleased to see her lad receive a prize from his father? I couldn’t help edging away from the backstage.
“And first prize goes to Master Luv, class Nine.”
Luv went up stage to receive his prize. I peeped from the backstage. Things were under my control. Soon the teacher announced the winner of the Science model competition. Kush appeared on stage. Raam handed over his certificate, asked something. Kush nodded and pointed towards me. Raam turned and our eyes met for a fraction of a second. I hid myself in croutons and ran away.
Oh, my God! Now he will snatch my babies from me. He can’t see me happy. I was totally freaked out. I splashed water on my face and tried to stay calm but my heart was pounding like crazy.
Calm down, clam down Jahanvi, and don’t panic. Jahanvi, you are overreacting. Maybe they were talking about something else. Don’t panic. Oh God! Help me. Somehow I controlled myself, went back to work.
After the function, we drove home.
“Mom, now you have to tell us our father’s name.” Kush was obviously excited.
“Urgent family meeting in my room,” I told the boys. Now it was the right time to tell the boys about their father before it became too late to do so.
We gathered in my bed room.
“I hope you guys are mature enough to understand.”
“Mom, please tell!” Kush was impatient.
“Mr. Raam, our Chief Minister.”
They gazed at my face. I could read their minds; they were confused and astonished. Complete silence spread in room for few seconds.
“Cooool!” Kush broke the silence.
“Tomorrow I will tell everyone at school,” said Luv, jumping on the bed with enthusiasm.
“No, you guys are not going to tell anything to anyone!”
“Why?” asked Luv.
“Why?” echoed Kush.
“Beta, no one will believe you. Everyone will make fun of you.” I could see they didn’t believe me. I tried a different track: begging. “Promise me this is our family secret and it will remain in the family.”
Slowly, they both nodded, but I knew they were deeply unhappy.
I had a sleepless night. Oh God! What further surprise did the future have in store for me?
Next day onwards, our lives were back to normal. Almost normal. The boys were quiet. I was quiet. I was haunted by a fear of the unanticipated.
One day, the telephone rang. The boys were in their room, studying. It must be Luv or Kush’s friend, trying to pull them away from books. I picked up the receiver.
“Hello.”
“Jahanvi.” A familiar voice. “It’s Raam speaking.”
I was thunderstruck. My body turned cold.
“Hmmm, who gave you my number?” Stupid question.
“Your school,” he replied. “I am sorry for whatever I did to you. I tried to find you, met your parents but they didn’t tell me anything.”
“Why? Why did you search for me?”
“I want my family back, you and my kids. We can rekindle our life.”
“Who told you they are your kids?” I was burning in fury.
“Once after our divorce, I saw your gynaecologist’s report and prescriptions in stuffs you forgot to take with you. It said you were carrying twins. “
I hung up. A man who didn’t care for me when I was pregnant, a man who wasn’t aware of his kids’ existence, today he was claiming my babies as his kids.
A few days later, I received an envelope from Raam’s lawyer. Without opening it, I could predict that it was a Notice for Custody. My boys! I couldn’t lose them. My world revolves around them. I can’t imagine life without them. Straight away I consulted a lawyer.
That same evening, I got calls from many news reporters of different television channels and newspapers; everyone seemed eager to increase their TRP by publicizing my personal life. My lawyer advised me not to tell anything in front of the media.
When I reached home after meeting with my lawyer, I found my lads watching television.
Luv welcomed me with a surprised: “Mom, you told us not to tell anyone but now everyone knows it.”
“Can we tell our friends too?” said Kush.
I was startled. I had no clue what they were talking about. Kush switched to a news channel. Breaking news: ‘Chief Minister knocking on Court’s door for his twin sons’ custody’.
Great. What I had been trying to hide from everyone, now it was on National television. Soon I would receive calls from friends and colleagues.I would have to explain everything to everyone, each and every single time. I was living my worst dream.
I didn’t want to see the newscasts with my doppelgangers because such I was concerned the news would agitate them. I recorded the news programs and saw them when my kids were asleep. For the media, it wasn’t a case of ‘Child Custody’ among two parents. They were projecting it as a Chief Minister v/s an Ordinary School Teacher. The experts on the channels discussed the possibilities endlessly.
On one channel, a lawyer was telling to split my doppelgangers, i.e. one son with the father and one with the mother. Rubbish, how can twins live separated? Since God sent them together, no one else had a right to separate them unless they themselves decided to do so.
Another channel had a religious guru who intoned: “Every child needs a father’s name. A father can give a better life, a better education and other facilities. Ethically also, only a father can keep his children.”
I choked. Ridiculous! People who knew nothing about my life were not only discussing it, but they were trying to sentence me too. For me, my babies were still attached to me with an invisible umbilical cord.
Suddenly I felt Luv’s hand on my shoulder. “Mom?”
I broke down into tears. Kush gave me glass of water. “Mom, we won’t leave you.”
I hugged them tightly. I’d thought my babies were too small to understand the situation. I was wrong. My striplings were my strength.
Next morning, my lawyer fixed a meeting with Mr. Raam for an out-of-court settlement. I dropped my lads to school and took a day’s leave from school. When I returned and unlocked my door, a near-homicidal silence seemed to be spread everywhere. The house would be hell without my kids. I can’t let go my kids at any cost.
Unexpectedly, the door bell rang. I opened the door. The Chief Minister was standing on my doorstep. I was startled, but welcomed him inside and asked him to be seated. He told his bodyguards to stay out. Silence for a few seconds.
“I came here to talk to you alone, without our lawyers,” he said. “I know I made few mistakes, but I’m just a human being, a common human being.”
“A common human being doesn’t assume he knows everything. A common human being discusses and clarifies possible misunderstandings with his wife; they don’t simply send divorce notices directly. A common human being cares for his child from the first day onwards. They just don’t barge in after fifteen years and ask for custody.”
“I understand your feelings,” he replied, calmly. “I met our kids in school before coming here. You really brought them up well. They are really attached to you. I don’t want to perturb you or the kids at all.”
Am I dreaming or he is really saying these words? I pinched my hand. No, I am not dreaming.
“If you allow me to meet kids regularly, I will withdraw the custody case.”
“Of course you can meet them whenever you want,” I said, slowly. “They need you too.”
Luv and Kush often visit their
father and grandparents. Kush’s only ambition is to become a scientist. Luv was uncertain about his future, but now he wants to be a politician just like his father.
At last the kids got their father, and a woman—more than that, a mother—got justice.
Thank God I took birth in the Kalyug.
Sita to Vaidehi—Another Journey
Sucharita Dutta-Asane
My life began in my death, in Earth’s womb Held apart at its jaws by hands as wide as the ocean’s maw, the crevasse engulfed me slowly till I melted in its warm womb recreated myself as a seed torn out of Earth’s bowels and dispersed through green blowing corn and dry, parched lands of sand and bramble. I fell into the forests of my youth and bloomed there, on my own, watching over the dark innards of Dandakaranya.
The forest is a-riot, aflame with my blossoms scattered across its green-and-gore soil. Through my flower laden branches, I watch life swirl around me, my flowers scatter and merge, orange with green, fiery wonder of a new beginning. And I find myself anew, each wondrous day of self assertion
Here, in a deep crevice, my namesake hugs a brown trunk hewn from my ancient side. She seeks protection from the men in khaki who scour the green undercover.
I seep into her soul; she quivers.
She hears faint footfalls on my dry leaves and crouches farther into my leafy shadows.
I was deaf once, deaf with love and desire unable to hear the footfall that would devastate my life. Nor did I, under the leafy branches of Ravana’s Ashoka Tree or in the gilded halls of Ayodhya, hear correctly the true beatings of a heart I considered mine but that belonged to a king alone, sworn in his Raj dharma, too good to be my man.
Branches crackle and fruit pods burst open under stealthy footfalls, bayonets pierce green depths, eyes scan verdant expanses.
I have made her invisible.
When they retreat to their vehicles, I release her as suddenly as I had enveloped her. She has to find her own way now. I did too, long ago, when abandoned by the river side, heavy with twin seeds. I found protection then. Now I protect.
Breaking the Bow: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Ramayana Page 18