The Farm House

Suparna rubbed her eyes as the rays of the sun entered the room. Maya was not by her side. She must have got up early and left for school after having prepared breakfast and lunch for all of them. She got up and woke up Suvarna. The twins were in primary school but with a working mother, they had been trained to look after their home as well as themselves. Their father carried on his business from home on his mobile, but he would occasionally be away from home for a few days at a stretch. 

Suparna warmed the milk for both of them and packed their lunch boxes. Their school was quite close by and both of them would walk down and be joined by friends on the way. Their mother taught Mathematics in the Government School which was quite far from home, and she had to take a bus as well as walk through sugarcane fields to reach it. Since she would spend a lot of time commuting to and from school, Suparna and Suvarna would cook the dinner which would be ready by the time Maya came home.

Maya was very sweet natured, and it was no wonder that Madhu fell for her lock, stock and barrel and made her his wife. There was nobody to object to the alliance as Maya’s father could never be found in a sober state, afflicted with all the illnesses one could think of and already had one foot in the grave.

They were a loving couple and seemed to be made for each other. A few days after they got married. Maya’s father passed away. Madhu inherited his house and property through Maya. Since this house was far from the town, Madhu asked those toiling on their land to take care of the house saying that he would be visiting it off and on. He already owned a house and had done it up it very well. He dropped Maya at school in the mornings and would pick her up in the evening on his bike. During the day he carried on his business which seemed quite lucrative, judged by their standard of living. Both of them would also frequently go on short vacations and spend quality time together. 

A few years later, Maya delivered Suparna and Suvarna. Though they were twins, both of them were unlike each other in looks, manners, nature etc. Suparna had beautiful eyes and curly hair and was very attractive. Suvarna too had sharp features and was charming, but anyone who saw them, would first reach out to Suparna to cuddle her.

As is true of the wheel of life, the lockdown due to the pandemic affected Madhu’s business very badly, almost grinding it to a halt. Maya’s school too was closed and the salary of the teachers had been withheld. As it was a government school, the salary would no doubt be paid when the school reopened, but for the present there was no income for Maya too. It was during this period that one of Madhu’s friends had come to meet him. 

When it was time to leave, the friend planted an idea in Madhu’s mind. Madhu told him that he would think it over and let him know the next morning. That night he pondered over what his friend Das had proposed and was finally convinced.  

The next morning, he took all of them to Maya’s father’s house. There, the caretaker had somehow managed to reap a small harvest. They spent the whole day there and for the children it was sheer joy as they had never been in such a large farm house. Collecting all the rice, fruits, coconuts, groundnuts and sugarcane from there, they returned home by nightfall. The children could not sleep for a long time as they were so excited about the new place they had visited and longed to go there once again.

A few days later Madhu asked Maya to get ready immediately as they had to go to the farm house where a portion had caught fire. When they reached, the fire had been contained and Das was there getting things organised. Maya was surprised to see him and Madhu explained that he had only invited Das to oversee the place in his absence. Saying that he had to purchase some materials to repair the burnt area, Madhu took the car and went. When he did not return till late in the evening, Maya was getting anxious. The sun had set and darkness was creeping in. The labourers had all left and only Das and Maya were in the large house.

The creepy atmosphere became even more eerie with the hooting of an odd owl. Shadows cast even by some moths flying was frightening against the dim lights in the house. Maya asked Das to contact Madhu, but his mobile went unanswered. Petrified, Maya wanted to leave this house and go home at any cost. The house where she was born and brought up looked alien to her. As if reading her thoughts, Das suggested that both of them should go in search of Madhu as it was long since he had left and the mobile not being answered suggested that something might have befallen him.

Maya sat on the pillion as Das kicked his bike and both of them went towards the city. There were no street lights and if there were any, they were very few and far between. All of a sudden, in a deserted place, in the middle of nowhere, Das stopped his bike and got down asking her too to get down. Before she could ask or understand what was happening, Das had taken advantage of the situation, even as she protested and shouted for help, which did not come. Out of sheer trauma, exhaustion and trauma, she passed out.

In a short while, Madhu appeared on the scene. Das stuffed some notes in his hand and went away. Madhu sprinkled water over Maya and revived her. She was dazed and in a state of shock, that she could not speak a word. She clung to Madhu, who put her in the car and drove home.

Suparna and Suvarna were fast asleep as it was almost midnight. They had laid out food and plates on the table so that their parents could eat when they returned. Maya just had a wash and went straight to bed. She could not sleep nor did she feel like relating the sad incident to Madhu. On his part, Madhu too kept quiet and went to bed.

From then on, Madhu would take Maya everyday citing one reason or another and once in the farmhouse, Madhu would leave Maya on some pretext and there would be some one taking the place of Das. Maya’s screams went unheard as the labourers were busy working on the farm which was beyond the range of hearing. Once Madhu got his payment, he would take Maya back home. She protested but was told very sternly by Madhu that she had better cooperate to avoid being harmed. He told her that he had incurred a lot of debts and could see no other way to clear them other than this arrangement. However, what made her yield, though unwillingly, was the threat that if she did not comply with his demand, he would offer his daughters to satisfy the lust of his clients and fill up his pockets. That was the last straw.

Suparna and Suvarna were quite upset that they could not meet Maya for more than a week now. Both their parents went away early in the morning before they rose and would return well past midnight. They felt it strange and decided to be awake that day till they returned. Though she tried to keep awake, Suvarna fell asleep around 11 p.m. Suparna washed her eyes to become fresh and wait for their return. When she heard the bike, she pretended to be asleep in bed. Madhu had his dinner, but Maya went straight to sleep. A little later, when Madhu had gone to bed, Maya emerged from the room and sat at the dining table and lit a small candle. Suparna then saw her write something in a book which seemed like a diary. Having written a few lines, she kept the diary behind the photo frame of Goddess Lakshmi in the pooja cupboard, put off the candle and went to bed.

Suparna was restless now. She yearned to know what her mother had written, but at the same time did not want to jeopardise being caught in the act. She patiently waited for morning and when both parents were away, she picked up the diary and sat to read. 

“All my happy days are coming to an end. The very sight of Das at home, put me off. I took an instant dislike to him and hated him when he was fixing his stare at me. Fortunately, my children were spared. I tried speaking to Madhu about him, but he was not the one to listen. My fears were confirmed when he satisfied his desire when Madhu was away. I feel wretched, but for the sake of my children, I have to yield, though I know not how long it can go on this way. A new face every day, sometimes cowards with their faces covered – I feel as if worms are crawling all over me. I am sick of all this, but how can I shield my lovable children?”

The next entry was apparently made the previous night. “When Madhu leaves me in the farm house, I shall pluck some flowers, leaves and seeds of the yellow oleander which grows aplenty there. Today will be the last day of my surrender. At night when Madhu is asleep, I shall grind these into a paste and ingest it, putting an end to my life. I shall pray to God to keep my children safe.”

Suparna was shocked to read it. She woke up Suvarna too and both of them put their heads together as to what could be done. They were quite small, but with health education in the school, they had learnt all about the good touch and bad touch. They were lost in thought, when their neighbour knocked at the door. “Do you know? Poorna Devi, the first IAS officer from our town is the Chief Guest in today’s function at the Town Hall. My father was her classmate and so she will be here any time for breakfast. The programme is at 5 p.m., and so she will spend the day visiting her hometown and revive childhood memories.

Both Suparna and Suvarna saw a ray of hope. “Could you please introduce us to her?” they asked in chorus. “Of course, why not? Since your parents are also away during the day, you can be with us”. So saying, she flitted away excitedly to tell the others about Poorna Devi.

Suparna and Suvarna tore the pages from the diary and planned to hand it over to Poorna Devi at an appropriate time. Since she would be spending the day with them all, they could possibly request her to visit the farm house and save Maya too.

Both the girls got ready to meet Poorna Devi. The pamphlets and brochures had a lot of information on her. They were particularly relieved to know that she was the first officer in the IAS to have studied the ground realities of human trafficking, child molestation, pornography and prostitution in several villages and had received international acclaim as well for the plans she had adopted to thwart these activities wherever she was posted. On the basis of her recommendations, it was mandatory for the police stations in each district to have an anti-human trafficking unit, headed by an Inspector with participation from NGOs. The fliers also threw light on how she was instrumental in rescuing many children from brothels. The children felt that they had struck gold!

Around 10 a.m., there was a hustle and bustle in the neighbourhood and both Suparna and Suvarna locked the house and went out to receive the Special Guest. True to her word, Pavitra, their friend introduced Suvarna and Suparna to “Madamji”. While shaking hands with her, Suparna pressed the torn sheets of the diary in her hand cupping it with her other hand and whispered in her ear: “Madam, the message is urgent. Please read it”. Soon, others who were lined up all got introduced to Poorna Devi, who excused herself and went to the wash room to read what Suparna had given her.

There was a sudden rush of adrenaline and Poorna Devi entered her jeep and called to Suparna and Suvarna to join her. Others were taken by surprise but they could not question her action. She signalled to them that she would soon be back and drove off. The girls directed her to the farm house, which they reached quite quickly and without any difficulty. Their father’s bike was nowhere to be seen, so it was presumed that he must have left Maya alone. The girls walked around and spotted Maya plucking the yellow oleander flowers.

“Amma!!”, they screamed and rushed towards her. “Please do not panic. We have with us Poorna Devi who will help us out of this predicament”. They then led her to Poorna Devi. “My dear Maya!! How long since I met you! What a surprise! Of course, I wish we had met under different circumstances”, she said and hugged her school mate.

Suparna and Suvarna were happy that their mother’s problem would surely be resolved and that they could lead a peaceful life henceforth. Poorna Devi had her jeep camouflaged and so nobody knew of their presence. She exchanged her saree with Maya’s and made her hide in a store room along with the girls. She herself went and sat in the front room, waiting for the “Client”. This time he did come, but with Madhu too. Madhu had told him that he wished to picturise everything, so that he could blackmail Maya for further such episodes.

Seeing both of them enter, Poorna devi, clad as Maya, sat still with her saree covering her head. Both of them started cracking cheap jokes, but Poorna Devi was unmoved. Madhu then set about finalising the best angle to take the shots and video. Even as both of them were going around the room, Poorna Devi shook off the saree over her head and landed a sharp blow on each of them. Taken by surprise, they did not know how to react. Single-handedly she dragged them both into the open and called out to the labourers, who came running. Both of them were thoroughly beaten up and pushed into the jeep where they were fastened with tight ropes.

Poorna Devi then steered off with a beaming Maya and her children. On the way she shared the details of the Trust she was running and asked Maya to take charge as its Administrator after the resolution got passed by the other members. She was full of praise for both the children who showed exemplary courage to approach her and find an end to the physical and mental torture their mother had been subjected to. Poorna Devi assured them that suitable punishment would be meted out to Madhu and his accomplices, that never would they ever think of engaging in such activities. Madhu pleaded forgiveness but Poorna Devi would not relent, especially because he had sent his wife to the verge of ending her life.

Once the Trustees ratified the order, Maya relocated to the city with her two daughters, who were the protegees of Poorna Devi and got admission in one of the best schools, well known for churning out sincere officers of the Administrative Services of the country.