“Arey, Shanti ki amma, isse acha aur rishta nahi milega,
Ladka sheher main rehta hai, badi nuakri hai, bada ghar bhi hai, Shanti ki to
lottery lag gayi hai”…
Shanti, was against the thought, of getting married and
having to get settled in the “city”.Bada shahar hain, main kaise waha rahoongi,
waha ke tareeke kaafi alag hai, main kaise , she thought aloud to herself
“Beti, Ghar pe lakshmi aayi hai, tu kyun usse thukra rahi
hai, to kya hua agar who sheher main rehta hai, who to sirf tumse shaadi
katrna chahta hai,samjhi?”
So finally it was fixed, Shanti was to wed the “babu” from
the city, she never saw his picture!!... “tumhe dekhne ki kya zarurat hai, maine
kaha tumhare babuji ka photo dekha tha?”.
It was the big day, she still couldn’t
see his face as it was hid behing a “Sehra”. She blushed at the thought, of the
moment when she’d get to see him, color filled her cheeks.
---------------------------------
“Aey chal, jaldi tayar ho ja, Customer aate hi honge, aaj
koi maal waala mil jaaye”
---------------------------------
“Aapko Blood test
lena hoga, aur phir ek hafte baad report lene aa jana”
---------------------------------
“Arey , Shalakha, Tayar ho ja, jaldi kar, hum late ho rahe
hain” … the woman went on,with a tune on her lips. Shalakha started her routine… She didn’t care
to shower, she’d have to after the day”s job was done.. she draped a bottle
green sari around her feminine frame, while turning around she adjusted her
yellow blouse, she put on matching bangles, she pasted a bindi on her forehead,
and smiled at her reflection, she applied Kohl on those large eyes which were vacant and lifeless.She scraped of lipstick to paint her lips. She completed her
look, by placing a lifeless flower on her long black tresses…She was ready…
“Shalakha, tera regular waala aa gaya,
dekh kaise sharma raha hai.. Pyaar ho gaya
bechare ko, ab iska kya hoga”… she laughed a throaty laugh, and winked at
shalakha..
“Kya saab aaj bhi yaha aaye ho, bas paisa dekar jayega, ya
kuch karega bhi, huh?, bahut din se kuch kiya nahi”… Her saab just looked at
her and smiled…”chal, aaj bi baat karte hain, teri kahani sunne aaya hoon”
“Fillum banayega kya"…she laughed, "chal theeke, aaja…”
----------------------
Shanti held all the apprehensions of a Newly –wed. She could
feel the goosebumps on her arms, when her husband entered the room. He shut the
door behind her, switched off the lights, and asked her to get up early the
next day, as they had to leave for Mumbai
She undressed quietly and went off to sleep, waiting for a
new day.
She woke up at 6am,
to find the bed empty. She checked in the bathroom – Empty. She stepped outside
, she was greeted by her in-law, who handed her a letter. She opened it, to
find a railway ticket, Jaunpur to Cst – dated 14/07/2008, which was 3days later. She searched the
envelope for a letter, but found none.
It was chaotic on the 13th of july…Shanti’s family gathered
at her place, all packing various things for her, “yeh aam ka aachar kaha tumhe
bade sheher main milega?”, “Didi, main bhi sheher main aaoongi”, “shanti, agli
baar jab aaoge, to mujhe who malam le aana”…. She tried remembering all of the
demands, with as smile on her face, somehow, something bothered her, how was
she to know whom to meet at the station? She had never seen her husband, she
rubbished her apprehensions, and ignored the Fear that kept creeping up in her
mind.
Mumbai Chatrapti shivaji terminus main aapka swagat hain,
platform number..... chai chai.....aapka saaman loon kya… kaha jaana hai….the crowd,
the noise, scared her, she kept looking around, not knowing whom to be looking
for. Amid all that chaos… came a Man , in his late 20’s… “shanti bhabhi,
namste, main Amar, Mahesh ka dost, woh office main busy hain, isliye mujhe aapko
Ghar chodne ko kaha hai, aayiye… aapka safar kaisa raha?” .
The conversation went on.. Amar made her feel comfortable,
he spread a brotherly care and warmth around her. She was engrossed in the
sights the city had to offer, along with Amar’s conversation.. After almost an
hour and half, the cab stopped, she looked outside, and was greeted by a Woman,
probably in her early 40’s.
Amar walked over to the woman, and handed over Shanti’s
luggage. “Ekdam nayi hai khalla jaan, Jitna diya hai, usse jyaada le
aayegi”.Shanti looked at Amar, not able to comprehend anything, she looked at
khalla jaan and smiled. “inka samaan andar rakhwaado, Amar”..
“Tumhara naam kya hai?”,Ji, mera naam shanti hai”… Khaala
looked at shanti, “Shanti , to nahi chalega beti, kuch aur sochenge” Before
shanti could answer, Amar came over. He opened the door to enter the cab, “Amar
bhaiyya, who kab aayenge?” , Amar looked at Khaala and laughed, “Bhabhiji. Who
to har din aayenge”.. “chalta hoon Khaala jaan”
“khaala jaan, main kuch samjhi nahin”, “jitna kam samjho
utna tumhare liye acha hai, jao, shaam ke liye tayaar ho jao, main naye kapde
bhijwa deti hoon”. “arey nahin khaala jaan, mere paas kapde hai”, “yaha,
tumhare kapde nahin chalenge, jao, jaise kaha hai, waise karo”
Shanti did not like what was given to her, however, she did
not say anything, and just so that she could please khaala jaan, she wore what
was given. At around 7pm, there was a
knock on her door, she glanced at herself in the mirror, before running towards
the door, she took a deep breath before opening the door. She smiled and welcomed
the stranger into her room.
She was taken aback when he grabbed her, she
hesitated, and then gave in to his hunger. After he was done , he grabbed his
wallet, and took out 6000, and gave her,"Yeh tere liye, jyaada hain, rakh
le”.. she looked at the money thrown on the bed and back at her “husband” who
was dressing up, “aap kaha ja rahe ho?”.. He looked at her and laughed,”itna
acha laga kya main tujhe, Ghar jaa raha hoon, agle hafte aaonga”. Shanti could
not comprehend anything, she looked at him dazed and confused, wondering what
to say next.. “aap yaha nahi rehte?”… he laughed uncontrollably, “ main yahan
kyun rahoon, janeman, randi ghar main paise lagte hain, har din to nahin aa
sakoonga, har hafte aaonga, teri pyaas bhujaane” She sat staring at him, as he
left.
She was startled with another knock at 8:30, she walked over
to open it, expecting her husband to be back, she was met by another stranger who glanced
at her from top to bottom, and smiled, calling out to khaala jaan and saying
that she was worth the money, He forced himself inside the room, and closed the
door. He loved the timid look in her eyes.
Her screams filled the house, Khaala jaan had an annoyed
look on her face. She hated the screams.
At around 10:00,
there was another knock….. and then it continued.
Shanti became Shalakha, not
knowing who her husband was.. she never bothered. She saw Amar , briging in another girl. Her blood was boiling.. she looked at Amar from the balcony, and cornered
him while he was keeping the luggage.
“ Bahut kaam kar liye, mere kamre main aake aaram karlo”, she
said toAmar. He was startled at the invitation, and couldn’t resist it …
-----------------------------
She went to collect her blood report..She was diagnosed with
HIV, a disease common among Sex Workers. Shanti aka shalakha wasnot bothered by
that fact.
----------------------------
Amar stepped out of her room, with a satisfied expression, he
glanced behind and saw a smile on her lips, that smile reached her eyes. He left, not knowing the reason behind her smile…
-----------------------------
Shalakha found solace in Nitin, a documentary filmmaker, who
spent hours with her, talking. She felt like
a human in his presence not like
a piece of meat that she was often treated as…”Nitin, meri kahani to
khatam hui, Abhi aap aapki film banao.. mujhe dikhana zaroor". He nodded and
left.
Nitin came back after 2 years, he wanted Shalakha to see the
movie, and even tell her about the awards it got him.
“tu kaha tha re chikne, Shalakha gayi to kya hua, main to
hoon”…. “shalakha, kidhar gayi?”..” arey wo to mar gayi re, ekdam, 6 mahine ho
gaye, tu aaja, main hoon an idhar”… Nitin walked away from there…
----------------------
Special thanks to,
Mr, ramesh das – for his support
Ms Shalakha - For
pouring her heart out…
"MERI KAHANI, KISI AUR KE SHABD"
and the credits went on ….
Story : Shalakha
Directed by :Nitin Verma
