Short Story Spotlight
Rebirth of Bholi by Gaurav Mahendru
Short Story Spotlight
Rebirth of Bholi by Gaurav Mahendru
Little Bholi could not understand why Geeta, her mother would throw the water away when her throat was as dry as the summer wind. It was forty degrees and Bholi was standing barefoot on the dirt track while her parents were busy with the duties that had been assigned to them by the supervisor. Shyam, her father and Geeta were daily wage laborers who had arrived from their village to the city looking for better opportunities. To make both ends meet they had to work at construction sites. Together they made 250 rupees per day which was enough to take care of their most basic needs of food as well as the rental of the one room shanty in the nearby slum cluster. City life was harsh but there was a certain allure that had kept both of them from going back to their village.
Bholi had cried and kept on pointing towards the water as if to say,“ Do not throw it away, I am thirsty”, but her tears could not move Geeta. It seemed even her mother had forsaken her. Bholi was unaware that the water was polluted and would have made her sick. Life seemed like a mutiny of sorts which the young mind of Bholi could not comprehend. Her birth was seen as an ominous sign by her grandparents. Being a family of laborers they could hardly hide their misfortune at the fact that Geeta, her mother had given birth to a baby girl instead of a boy. Nobody picked her up and cuddled her or kissed her. She would lie around the site where her parents worked for their daily bread, in the heat and dust, unattended, forsaken by everybody. When she learnt to walk using her arms and legs she would follow her father and look with imploring eyes as if asking, don’ t you love me? Or she would explore her surroundings on her own until her mother would pick her up and scold her and put her back in the corner. She would open her arms as far as she could when somebody would pass her by hoping somebody would pick her up. Shyam and Geeta had had taken a few days off and taken Bholi to his village when she was born. Shyam’ s parents were livid when they heard that Geeta had given birth to a baby
9 | Write Mag | writemag. net | January 2013 | Issue # 1 girl. Shyam’ s Mother had cursed Geeta saying she had brought misfortune to the family and predicted that Bholi would be bad for the family. Even Shyam’ s father had joined the chorus saying that she would prove to be a liability and if Geeta had given birth to a baby boy instead, at least he would have grown up to be their support system, a sort of life insurance when they grew old. This saddened Shyam and he retreated in his shell. He would concentrate on his work and would keep to himself most of the times. All the while Bholi lay on the ground oblivious to the curses being hurled at her and her parents. She would smile when her grandmother said something harsh in the course of the conversation with neighbors.
Bholi had managed to hold on to the gift of innocent faith bestowed on her by Mother Nature. She would smile at everybody but could not understand why nobody smiled back. To her everybody seemed too busy with their work. Nobody in her family ever bought gifts for her. There was no one to encourage her or hug her when she learned to walk. Nobody wished her on her first birthday. It was as if she did not matter. It was as though she was invisible to everyone. But when her mother threw the water away something snapped inside her. She retaliated by digging her nails into Geeta’ s arms and making ugly faces at her. Geeta wrung herself free quickly, slapped Bholi and cursed her aloud.“ Go sit in that corner, you bitch”. For a few moments mother and daughter looked at each other. Geeta’ s outburst completely shattered Bholi and after a little while she slowly retreated in a corner away from everybody else. She continued to sob inconsolably and from a distance looked as if she was suffering from a bout of hiccups. Shyam had mumbled something to Geeta from the distance which Bholi could not understand. The little girl in her had died in that moment. Bholi kept to herself for the rest of the day. She did not play with the children of other laborers, neither did she have lunch. Thirst and hunger were of no consequence to her anymore. As the day wore off the supervisor called everybody and informed them that they had done a good job that day. All laborers