THE UNKNOWN TRUTH

Sunanda had been working at our place since she was 11. She accompanied her mother Shobha bai every morning in her school uniform and would leave by 11:30 am to reach school. My mom usually made tiffin for her along with our tiffins. My old school bag, compass box, water bags, unused books, pens etc.. would all be handed over to Sunanda. She was a bright student. She would often stand next to us on weekends to see what we would be studying. She always smelled of Lifebuoy soap and her hair oily but well combed. Her dresses were always mine and she always wore slippers. She was dark complexioned weakling, but she was always cheerful. Sunanda was 1 year junior to me but looked tiny and frail.

As years passed we reached 9th and 10th respectively. I had tons of tuitions and I would be ferried from one class to another by our Driver kaka. My schedule was so hectic that I hardly had time to sit back n spend time with my best friend 'my mom'. I hated this part so much !

And then that day arrived when I caught fever and was advised by the doctor to take rest, so obviously no school and no tuitions. Oh, What Fun !! I was hoping that mom would pamper me the whole day like she always did through my childhood, when I fell sick. But as the clock struck 5 pm, in walked Sunanda with her books and she sat on the carpet. Mother sat beside her tutoring her for 2 long hours. By then My Dad returned from work. I looked gleefully at him but he seemed busy. He then walked straight to the drawing room and dictated a few notes of science to Sunanda...he also cleared few of her Maths doubts.

I fumed! Why on earth was everybody tending Sunanda? Why was everyone so kind to her? It was my time with my people and why was she meddling in my life? Why was everyone giving importance to a maid's daughter? I lost my cool...I dashed out to the living room and yelled hard at her " Why are you still here? Can't you study at home? As it is, you have been using my stuff since childhood and I have never uttered a word but now you are even encroaching on my personal space...they are my parents and this is my time with them!! Just get out of my house right now!!!"

Sunanda froze. Her eyes welled up and she ran out of the house like a lightning bolt. Nobody spoke anything for a moment. Then my Father turned to me and said " What's wrong with you Medha? I can understand your point of view but this is not the way to react and handle a situation".. My mom had lost her temper by now. She screamed at me like no man's business. She said "Do you even have slightest idea why me and your dad are helping Sunanda? It is so easy to yell at somebody and ask them to leave, but did you even put a thought before acting in such a crazy manner? Sunanda was getting married when she was 11yrs old. Me and your father intervened and stopped this act. Her father was very furious. He created a big scene. Shobha bai too was against us. Since then he would regularly beat Sunanda and would threaten to kick her out of the house. Then one day Sunanda came to our house and narrated her agony. She said she wanted to study further but her family won't let her. So we spoke to her parents again. After a lot of persuasion they said that if Sunanda fails even once then she will have to stop her studies and either get married or become a domestic maid."

"Sunanda aspires to become an engineer. She doesn't know what an engineer is but she wants to be one because Medha you want to be one. You are her role model. She says if I have worn didi's clothes , used her stuff all my life then I should return the favour by being someone like her! so me and your dad have been spending time to give her tuitions, pay her fees and help her fulfil her dreams which in turn are woven by her to impress you...Now tell us Medha, Are we wrong? Are we being unfair to you?..."

Tears rolled down my cheeks and I was speechless....