NAVARATHRI DIARIES- DAY TWO- THE POWER OF RED

Kavya covered herself in a red scarf and peeped outside from the bus window. She noticed that the driver and the whole bus had been inquisitive about her as to why she is covering her face with a scarf. Many brought up with many theories, Some people who were on the bus claimed her to be a thief in hiding while some said she is an acid attack victim and falsely sympathized with her for no reason. While the younger generation who wanted to have sight of her ridiculed and mocked her for being face conscious and beauty sensitive. While some made an insensitive comment about being arrogant on a mere bus, the driver and the conductor also became irritated by the repeated discussion of the veiled girl. After some time the heat of discussion was off and everyone indulged in their own worries. But the driver was also really curious to see her hideous face behind the thick red shawl. As the last stop proceeded, it was the Lal Bahadur street bus stop and the girl as usual like her previous days stopped there. The driver who realized that the girl was the last passenger on their bus asked the girl why she is behaving mysteriously to seek the attention of the other people daily in their bus. He also remarks that it has become routine for him and the conductor to repeatedly hear about the girl who neither speaks to anyone nor has opened her face to someone. Then who are you? Asked them in chorus to the girl. The girl’s eyes expressed so many unspoken things. Her expressive eyes rather have a deeper meaning for the act she is doing. May be due to any past problem with the men she is speaking with. She doesn’t openly reveal it. She places a photo on the first seat of the bus and points it to the conductor to give it to the driver. The conductor who saw the photo was confused and behind the photo, her name Kavya was mentioned

The driver snatched the photo from the conductor and was rather behaving like a child or youngster who is curious to know about some random girl despite being a father to a girl. The driver was shocked to see the photo. He dropped it in fear, tremulousness overrode him and he was in a state of shock. The girl who gave him the photo was standing with his daughter in a school dress and she mentioned that she was his daughter’s friend. The girl’s act actually made the man think of a past deed that he did to the girl. In the past when Kavya, as well as the driver’s daughter, were young as 10 or so, this same man was instead a van driver who droves small children to school. Years later due to experience, he had become a bus driver. Now to the point, the driver remembered that on this same street whenever he dropped Kavya off after dropping his daughter a street before them, this driver had always misbehaved with her in the most inappropriate way. The Girl at the tender age was far from understanding these things. And when Kavya grew up, her maturity level made her realise that she had experienced bad touch by her own friend’s father without even knowing its obscurity and had been ignorant since childhood. Though she never revealed this secret to her friend not to spoil their family relations, Kavya realised that the driver had turned for good and had overcome his bad habits and misconduct. But still, in order to take revenge for what he did in past and to make him feel guilty for the grievous mistake he had done to her, the girl for the past one week had been on his bus and made him as well as the passengers in his bus as uncomfortable as they can so that he can turn his attention towards her and ask about her in return. The conductor was confused as to why the driver fell down to grief and despair after seeing that one ordinary photo. He questioned for answers but in turn, got no response from him. The next day while he was driving the bus, Kavya again stepped into his bus this time unveiling herself to the public and along with her, his daughter stepped inside the bus. She gave a smirk to him and her face was full of pride and her mind was feeling at peace in fulfilling her revenge. The red finally proved its power in making someone fear making any mistakes. Kavya’s act made the driver scared out of his wits and after the bus stopped there again at the same stop, he begged for pardoning him for that act and also pleaded with her not to tell this his daughter.

Kavya said,” when you people worship goddesses Kaali and Durga, there you revere them as deities. But when the same girl or the same woman goes by your side, you cast your evil malicious intentional gaze on them, totally traumatising them their whole freaking life by your act. How come this hypocrisy still exists in our country? Where girls are worshipped as goddesses at the same time, they are I’ll be treated in the worst possible way that exists, you don’t deserve to have a daughter, raakshas demon)” she shouted at him and walked from there with pride. Her face was finally relieved as she let her trauma let go of it in peace from her. Question yourself the same thing as Kavya mentioned before. Why this kind of idiocy still exists in a so-called cultured country like India?