HER STORY

Written by Yasir

She was prepared for it; both physically and mentally. Her wet eyes when faced towards the gazing sun, shined a little more. The tiredness has tightly wrapped up her body. Covered in a torn, dirty sack, with a wrinkled face, she has almost turned into an old lady. The girl walked slowly along the track with her naked and wounded legs, touching the hot and burning surface. She seemed to be wildly beaten up and the remnants of her story can be traced out from the scars of her body.

The wastes were piled up in a corner and some were burned on a different side. It seems like the whole garbage from the city was pumped on the side of the railway track; a stinky place with a pungent smell of human wastes; majority being the output of gluttony, lust and covetousness.  One could easily find thousands of condoms, numerous illegal drug residues, sanitary pads, broken and unbroken bottles, cotton wools and all sorts of wastes nearby. Have you ever thought how do men live there? They don’t live, they simply exist there; living is still a dream for all of them. It’s a cursed slum of sex-workers. They haven’t chosen this life; the life has chosen them and taken them away from the world.

And she is also among those chosen ones. As an infant baby, she was found abandoned in the railway track. The slum keepers took her to the slum and brought her up. The girl is barely 14 now and ever since she turned nine years, she has been used by the cannibals in the city. Every night she used to look at the train, hoping someone would come for her; but no one has ever turned up. She remained envious and contemptuous whenever she see the smiling faces of the children at her age, enjoying with their family.

The girl was brutally raped for the past five years and left with serious injuries all over. She realized that she will no longer able to suffer anymore and made her mind to run away from there. Trust me, it’s never an easy job to get out of that hell. She has tried a few times before and ended up having more and more torture. But this time, she was fortunate enough to have a maid to help her. She couldn’t even thank her, but of course, the maid will always be positioned as an angel in her heart. Even though she fell down many times, she continued running for her life as quickly as she can until she got away from the slum. She saw the outside world for the first time in her life and no wonder why she was very much terrified. She looked around and was shocked to see how big the slum really is. A never-ending railway track was staring in front of her. She understood that she needs to walk along the railway track to move on. Even though the girl was extremely exhausted and dying. The place was so lonely. She sat on the track and decided to kill herself. “For whom should she live??” The world she has seen is cruel, the people she has seen are cruel; everything is cruel to her. She wanted to escape from the cruel world, she isn’t aware of any other world.

She lied on the track and waited for the train to wholly engulf her. As she waits for it, she heard a cry from nearby. It was a cry of a baby. She suddenly got up and went in search of the baby. And she found it covered in a piece of cloth; a cute little baby girl. When she took her in hands, she stopped crying. The kid reminds her of herself and parents. An abrupt impulse flashed through her; 

“This kid mustn’t be taken to the slum…! I shall live; I will live for you….”

                

With tears in eyes, Arya made a pause. Then, continued, “That was the story of my Mother. This is how my Mother brought me up. I revealed this as she had insisted me to do so before her death.…”

With broken words, she carried on,

 “If she hadn’t found me, I would have died or ended up in any slum; who knows! Today I’m a Civil Servant and moreover, an independent lady.

No child must ever be sexually abused again. It’s the responsibility of the society to come up against such social evils. Paramours turn up as daylight fades away and midnight embraces. They keep their honour during daytime. The story of the poor children and women who got trapped in the maze always haunts us. They are treated as the worst creatures in the world and the people who spoiled their lives would continue to live their normal life.

I would like to ask, is this the right way, people? Don’t you think the prey must be given a predominant consideration?

As the assistant collector of this district, I plead you to show mercy for the affected, helping hand for the needy. They deserve it. In one way or other, we are responsible for these.

My dear friends, let’s eradicate child abuse. Let’s join together for a better world….!”

As soon as she ends the speech, everyone gave a standing ovation for the young lady, Arya and her brave mother who brought her up to be a civil servant.

That sums up the life of the iron ladies, who was born and risen from the ashes, fighting against all the odds in life.