The Foster Mother

The boy had big dreams. He often told me that one day when he will become rich, he would take me on an airplane. He would make a paper plane and hold it in his hand he would circle around me and make a nasal sound he would say,"Whoosh! Kaki, I am the Captain of Air India. Welcome Aboard! Ice-cream and biscuits will be served shortly, Whoosh!".

"Hari, will you stop making so much noise, boy. I can't sleep," I would say to him seeming annoyed. But, on the inside I loved him. I felt so happy when Hari was around. For a moment, I would forget about all my sorrows. I was the foster mother of Hari.

Hari was an eight-year-old boy. He was short for his age and had dark sunburnt skin. His clothes were ragged and his curly hair was disheveled. But, his eyes sparkled with mischief and there was always a grin on his face. I had found him about six years back abandoned on the temple steps. A small baby cuddled in a white blanket.

I heard the baby cry and took him in my arms. The baby became quiet when I held him. His small innocent eyes stared at me. And, then the baby smiled which made my heart melt. I looked around and checked with the temple priest. We searched for the parents of the baby for many days. But, we could not find them. So, I requested the Priest to allow me to keep the baby. The Priest thought for a while and seeing that there was no better option he handed over the baby to me. But, I guessed that he secretly wondered how a poor widow who owned a small tea stall could take care of the baby.

I earned enough only to earn two times meal for me every day. But, after Hari came to my life, I knew that this much money would not be enough to feed the both of us. So, I pawned my two gold bangles at the old jewelry shop near the temple and got enough money to feed the two of us for the next few months. I started taking household work like cleaning houses, washing utensils and gardening which also fetched me some extra money. I also did odd jobs at the temple which also got me some money.

After Hari became six years old, I decided to send him to a school. With my odd jobs, I was able to make just enough money needed to feed the two of us. I did not know how I would afford the school fees. I talked with the temple Priest and he talked with the temple Trust people. They gave me some money to take care of Hari's school fees. I felt a gratitude for them beyond any measure. My boy would finally go to school. He would learn and if everything went well he would be able to study till the tenth class and became an electrician or a plumber. If he was lucky, maybe someone would hire him as a Peon in a big company.

It was two years since Hari was attending school. He was now in the third class. He had already studied more than me. I had managed to study only till the second class when my parents had decided to pull me away from school. They did not find any reason why girls should be educated more. So, they made me do all sorts of household chores and when I turned sixteen years old, I was married off.

My husband was a forty-year-old man who had two children already. His wife had died while delivering their second child. For some time, my husband took good care of me. He took me to the cinema and shopping. But, after one year of our marriage, he started beating me and abusing me. He used to come home drunk every night and beat me.

Once, he beat me up very badly. I had bruised eyes and blue marks from his beatings. That night, I ran from the house. I went to the station and climbed the first train that came to the platform. I did not even know where the train was headed. In the morning, I got down at a village station. The name of the village was Suhana Gaon. 

I did not have any money when I came to the village. I only had two saris with me. I kept walking till my feet could not carry me anymore. I saw a temple nearby. I went and sat in the temple for some time. The Priest saw me and asked where I was from. I lied that I was a widow and my In-Laws had chased me out of the house after my husband's death. The Priest took pity on my condition and gave me shelter in the temple backyard. The temple became my house. I did odd jobs in and around the temple and also managed to open a small tea stall with my meager savings. It was around this time that Hari came into my hands. 

One day, early in the morning, I was selling tea when a big blue car stopped in front of the temple. A woman in a beautiful red and white colored sari stepped out of the car. She was accompanied by a tall and handsome man. From the way the man was holding her hand I sensed that they were husband and wife. The couple went inside the temple. I took no more notice of them and became busy with my work.

After about half an hour, the couple came outside. I saw that the Priest was accompanying them and the three people were walking directly towards me. I became slightly alarmed. I hoped that my Hari had not done any mischief. As the lady came near I saw that her eyes were moist. She had been crying. The Priest addressed me and asked,"Kaki, where is Hari?". From his tone, he looked concerned. I thought that definitely something was amiss and asked him,"Pujari ji, is everything alright? Has my Hari done any mischief again?" saying this I turned to the lady and folded my hands, "Madam, please forgive my son. I will teach him a good lesson today." However, the Priest addressed me and said, "Kaki, no Hari has not done anything this time. These people are looking for him. You see this lady is his real mother. They are here to take Hari to his actual home."

As I heard these words, I could feel the earth trembling beneath my feet. I felt like I was swirling and found it difficult to stand in my place. The vessel of milk spilled from my hand. "How is this possible? Hari was abandoned six years back on these temple steps. How do you know that this lady is his real mother?", I asked sobbing. This time the lady replied,"I was a single mother when I gave birth to this child. I was very afraid of the society. I was afraid that I or my child would not find acceptance in this society. So, due to my fears, I decided to abandon this child. I am very thankful that you took such good care of my child. I will be forever indebted to you. However, please return my child to me. I can't live without him anymore."

I became angry. "Where were you all these years? Did you even care if your child was dead or alive? Why have you come back after all these years? Go away from here, I will not give my child to you."

As I was saying this, I saw Hari returning from his school. When he saw that I was shouting at these people, he came running and jumped into my arms. "What's wrong Kaki, who are these people?" he asked me softly. The lady's husband who was quiet for all this time spoke now. He addressed Hari and said if he would like to go in the big car. He offered him chocolates and biscuits. But, my Hari refused them. He offered to buy him new clothes and toys, but still, my boy refused them. He said,"I will not leave my Kaki. So, just go away".

By this time a lot of people had gathered around us. The husband finally took away his wife and they drove away in their car. I hugged my child tightly. Next day, the Priest came to our house and said, "Kaki, can I have a word with you?". He then told me that the young lady and her husband had lost their only child in a car accident. And, now the lady could no longer bear any more children. He said that if she did not get back Hari then her husband might marry another woman.

When I heard this, I remembered my own plight after my marriage. I could not let another woman suffer the same fate. I thought that I had become selfish in my love for my child. I had not even spared one thought about my boy's future. No matter how hard I worked in life, my boy could never have the same life that these rich people could give him.

I put a stone on my heart and agreed to let go off Hari. The Priest understood my sentiments and remarked,"A mother who raises a child is greater than a mother who gives birth to the child. I bow down in front of you, mother please forgive me".

There were tears in everyone's eyes that day. Hari was shouting and kicking his legs as the couple came and took him away in their car. I waved him goodbye knowing that I had lost him forever. I had once again lost the purpose of my life.

The End

The Accident

My name is Anjali. I was only twenty-four years old when this incident happened. I was married to a handsome Air Force Pilot, Squadron Leader Ranjith Singh. Ranjith and I had met at a Pub a few months back and it was love at first sight. We had dated for only about four months when he had proposed to me and I had said yes to him. We were both heads over heels in love with each other. We had informed our parents of our decision. They had readily agreed. After a brief meeting of our parents, the wedding date had been finalized and we were married in another couple of months. Coming to think of it now, everything had happened so soon.

Our wedding had taken place in Delhi where my parents stayed. After the wedding, we stayed at my parent's house for about a week's time. After one week, we took a train to Agra where Ranjith was currently stationed. The train journey was short and it took us only about three hours to reach Agra. It was nearly noon when we reached Agra. It was the month of July and it was hot. The temperature was around 31 degrees and the humidity was also very high. It had been raining the last week but the high humidity was making us sweat very badly. We had quite a bit of luggage with us. Ranjith had said that some people from his office would be coming to help us with transporting the luggage.

On reaching the station, we found that no one had arrived. So, Ranjith made a few quick calls to his office people. I saw that he was shouting and seemed to be upset. I was a little taken aback as I had never seen him lose his cool all this time. So, after he finished his call I asked him what was the matter. He said that there was some miscommunication about the time of his arrival and his office people had thought that we would be arriving at 11 PM and not at 11 AM.

I told Ranjith that it was alright and we could hire a luggage van to carry all our luggage. We had around ten big suitcases and three heavy bags with us. So, we hired few porters and asked them to carry the luggage to the taxi stand. At the taxi stand, Ranjith booked a luggage van and also a cab. He told me that he would be coming along with the luggage van as it would not be safe to leave all our luggage unattended.

He wrote down the address of the Air Force Officer Quarters and instructed the cab driver to drop me safely there. I was hesitant at first to travel alone. I hugged him and told him that I was not feeling comfortable traveling alone. He assured me that we were about to meet again in half an hour and there was no reason to worry. He said that the journey from the station to the Air Force Quarters was only about half an hour.

I took the cab and Ranjith boarded the luggage van. I felt silly to feel worried and waved him goodbye. My cab started and as Ranjith had told me, we reached the Officers Quarters within half an hour. On reaching the quarters, I was met by people from Ranjith's office. They had come to welcome me. They greeted me warmly and carried my luggage. They had already arranged for our stay and took me to our quarters. Ranjith's senior officer Wing Commander Mahesh Suri came over to our quarter and introduced himself. We chatted for some time and had tea. After a while, I started becoming anxious as Ranjith had still not arrived. It had been almost an hour since I had reached the Quarters and there was still no sign of him anywhere. I tried calling Ranjith but his phone was unreachable.

Mahesh noticed my anxiety and asked me what the matter was. I explained him everything. Mahesh asked me not to worry and said that probably the luggage van had got punctured. I was still not very convinced and started to worry. Seeing my state, Mahesh asked me to rest for some time and said that he would go out and make some inquiries regarding this matter. I closed the door and lay down on the bed. I closed my eyes but I was feeling very uneasy and restless. I sensed that something was not right. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and I ran to open the door hoping that Ranjith had returned at last. When I opened the door my happiness vanished into thin air. Mahesh was standing outside the door with two more officers. One of them was a tall and smart lady. The other one was a medium height gentleman of a fair complexion. The expression on the faces of these people was very serious. Seeing them, I judged that something terrible had happened.

Mahesh asked me to take a seat. The young lady officer by name Sunanda held my arm and gently guided me to the sofa seat. After I had sat, Mahesh told me that he was about to reveal some serious matter and that I should try to keep calm. I had already started crying and asked him what was the matter. He said that Ranjith had met with an accident on the way to the Quarters. He said that he had suffered several critical injuries and had been admitted to a nearby hospital.

I started weeping uncontrollably. Sunanda tried comforting me by patting my back. I asked Mahesh if Ranjith was in a critical state. He nodded in reply and said that he was being treated for serious injuries in the operation theater. I said that I wanted to go to the hospital. Mahesh and all the other officers got up and took me to the hospital in a car. During the car journey, Sunanda tried comforting me and said that everything would be alright. I was still in a state of trauma and was praying God to keep Ranjith safe.

 We reached the hospital in about fifteen minutes time. On reaching the hospital, we checked at the Reception for Ranjith. The receptionist guided us to the Operation Theater. When we reached the Operation Theater, we saw doctors operating on the patients inside. We were not allowed to go inside. I could not make out Ranjith's face from the small window of the door. I started crying once again. The officers started comforting me. Meanwhile, the doctor came outside and we checked with him about Ranjith's condition. The doctor said that the injuries were serious and he could not answer about his condition till the operation was over. After a couple of hours, the operation was over. The doctor came out of the door with a bent head and my heart skipped a beat.

He came to me and said sorry we could not save him. I started crying. I could not believe all that was happening. How could God be so cruel? We had been married only for a week now. How could God do this to me? I was shell-shocked and sat down and with my head in my arms started weeping. Suddenly, a familiar hand brushed my long hair gently and whispered my name, "Anjali Darling". I looked up to see Ranjith standing next to me smiling. I looked on in disbelief. I looked at the other officers and they were all smiling too. The officers loudly exclaimed,"Welcome, to the Air Force Family."  I was too shocked to react and stood bewildered. I jumped into Ranjith's arms and started crying. He caressed me affectionately and said that he was fine. In a short while, I realized that Ranjith and his officers had played a prank on me.

In the span of the next few months, I came to know that a prank is played on every spouse of a newlywed Air Force couple. Every husband/wife who joins the Air Force family has to be mentally strong owing to the nature of their spouse's work. They have to be prepared to bear any kind of ill news at any time. I was the subject of many such pranks in future also. Also, I participated in playing pranks on other people too. Over the course of many years, I realized the true importance of this prank. Many years later, when Mahesh passed away in an air accident, I could see that same sadness in his wife's eyes which I had experienced all those years back. But, she had become a tough woman and kept her own when she was conveyed the tough news. This made me realize the sacrifices of our armed forces and their families and I feel proud to be part of this great institution.

The End