The Find

 Rita’s heart pined away for a baby. She still had nightmares thinking of the incident which had transpired four years back. She was working as a teacher in an English medium school. When her baby was three months old, she had appointed a nanny to look after her. But one day when she returned home her baby had disappeared and the nanny was missing. She had become almost deranged with grief and anxiety but she had to bear the trauma. She had done everything possible to trace the whereabouts of the child but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, as a small baby could be hidden out of sight without difficulty. The police had informed her that there was a gang which was operating in Kolkata responsible for drawing blood from babies and selling the human organs too. Rita would imagine her little one being tortured and she would cry out in horror. But her baby was not found and Rita looked longingly at all the tiny tots in view. She had become a psychiatric case, craving for her baby. It was then that the doctor had suggested to her husband that they should adopt a child. But she would not hear of it. She wanted her baby and only her baby. Her husband reasoned with her that later when their own child came back, she would have a companion and a play-mate.

                          It was then that a hectic visit to the different orphanages started. First they went to Mother Teresa’s orphanage thinking that the adoption process from there would be the simplest. But when they were told the terms and conditions, they backed out. In order to be just to the babies they had incorporated the condition that the” would–be” parents had to adopt the child whose name was top most in the list. That clause would not work out. She did not think that it was the correct thing to do. The mother and the child had to be in sync otherwise the relationship would not work out. This could only happen if they were free to select the child of their choice. So the feverish search continued.

                                 They went to Mother’s Nest and Christ Church Orphanage. Luckily at the latter institution they found a baby which would be able to fit in wonderfully. The baby had taken to them as soon as she had seen them. So after completing the whole process of adoption, the little girl became a part of their family-Susan Das.

                           Susan was four years old. She was a lovely child with bright sparkling eyes. She had a wheatish complexion, almost the same as Rita’s. Her baby-soft hair outlined her oval face. Though her tresses were not actual curls, they were bunched together in neat plaits, accentuating the shape of her face. She had a peculiar way of wrinkling up her nose when she laughed which looked very sweet. Rita loved her from the very first day.

                               Susan grew up amidst plenty. She had toys which other children could not afford. Her dresses which filled her wardrobe were the finest and smartest and the envy of other little girls. Rita drove her to school every day and waited to bring her home herself. Though she did not give herself the time to think, the heartache was very much there and a silent prayer went up to God to keep her Little One safe so that one day she could have her baby in her arms. In the evenings she would sit with Susan and get her to recite the nursery rhymes or play with her blocks and make castles. This way she learnt her alphabets very fast and she enjoyed these sessions with her mother.    

Rita often pondered what fate would have been in store for Susan if she had not adopted her. She had been abandoned by her natural mother and left in the garbage bin in front of Apollo Hospital. It was a winter night. When two of the doctors were going out from the hospital they had found dogs tugging at a packet. Then they heard sounds like the gurgling of a baby and discovered the little bundle of joy. This was the reason why Susan had been put in the orphanage. Most probably she was an embarrassment for her mother so she had dropped her in the bin when she left the hospital. Susan grew up with the other orphan children, not knowing what it was to be pampered by one’s parents, and so there were no tantrums or selfish demands. She never gave any trouble eating her food. On the whole, she was a well-disciplined child; Rita grew fonder of the child day by day.                                                          

 It was her birthday. Rita left no stone,' unturned' to make the day a very special day for Susan. First a  dainty pink frock was bought for her with matching shoes and ribbon. She herself painted cute little invitation cards which were meticulously distributed. She organised games for the children and interesting prizes were bought which the four-year old would like. A mouth- watering chocolate birthday cake was selected .As she wanted the party to be a full-blown -success, she would not have the snacks to be bought from outside but decided to prepare the eats herself. Last of all, she requested her husband to decorate the hall.

            The invitees started trickling in. She had invited the mothers too as it would not be possible for children to come by themselves. The little girls looked ever so pretty all decked up in colorful attires. They started to take part in different activities. Rita was conducting the games. The children were excitedly rushing about. When they were “Crossing the River Danube”, one girl pushed the one in front, and she fell prostrate in the water. Rita was very embarrassed and apologized profusely. She quickly took her to Susan’s bedroom to change. She took out Susan’s dress for her as they were all of the same age and size. But when she was helping her and had taken off the wet dress, for one moment her heart stopped beating. The girl had exactly the same birthmark as her baby. The shape was the same as well as the color. Her body started to tremble and her hands shook, but she did not utter a word--- in fact she could not.

              She told her husband about the strange coincidence. She asked him to diplomatically find out from the school, the background of the child. Her husband would not hear of it and presumed that it was another of Rita’s psychiatric out bursts and she was having hallucinations. She tried to convince him that she had not imagined, but he just ignored what she said. She was in a dilemma –what was she to do! But her innate craving for her child was so intense that she hoped against hopes, even if there was an inkling of hope, she had to find out. But how she was going to get about was the problem. She went to the school and made inquiries at the office, the records showed the name of the girl was Trina and her parents were Samuel Brown and Martha Brown. These details did not help. She had to find some other means to be sure of Trina’s parentage. She could not ask the parents themselves as it was too embarrassing. She wracked her brains to no avail. If she could have a DNA sample of the child, things would be easy, but one cannot just demand a sample from people, especially from a child. But Rita could not rest till she had investigated thoroughly, such was the compulsion.

 It had been useless going to the police innumerable times. Over and over she had approached them but with no results. It was because of this that she had lost faith in them. Now she was facing a blank wall- what was she to do!

           The little girls Trina and Susan had become very friendly and Trina often came over to play with her. Rita watched them together and her heart filled with joy. She would sometimes join in their games. One day it so happened that when three of them were in the garden their neighbors Alsatian dog came charging in, wagging his tail in ecstasy seeing Rita. He started jumping and leaping on her in a cordial welcome. No one expected that this incident would have such a profound effect on all their lives. Trina started to cry uncontrollably clutching on to Rita in abject fear. She was mortally scared, her whole body was trembling and she had turned white with fright. Rita tried her best to calm her down. The girl only screamed and asked for the dog to be taken away from there. It was then that the terrorized child blurted out that the dog was like the one which had mauled Paula and would do the same to her. When Rita asked her solicitously where she had encountered such a vicious dog Trina explained that it happened at the place where there was a big statue of a lady in a blue dress with a baby in her arms. Then Rita asked her whether she was studying there, the child replied between sobs that she and her friends were staying there. Rita was dazed when she heard this. Hope rushed into her life like light into a dark abyss. Trina narrated the gory details of the accident of how the dog had attacked her little friend and she was covered with blood. Rita comforted the child, took her in her arms and assured her that she would never let the dog come near her again.

 Rita put two and two together and reasoned out that if little children were staying there, the place must have been an orphanage. Furthermore, the big statue must have been that of Mother Mary and Child Jesus. She looked up the Telephone Directory to make inquiries at all the orphanages she had toured many times in search of her child. She remembered that one orphanage in the suburbs did have a gigantic statue of Mother Mary, the mother of all orphan children. Instead of just making inquiries over the phone, she decided to go there in person, for this time she did not want to take any chances.

 When she went there, the Mother-in –Charge was already waiting for her as she had fixed an appointment with her. She was a gentle lady, soft-spoken and extremely polite and courteous. She admitted that the dog incident had taken place about a year back. When Rita showed her the photograph of Trina at the birthday party, Mother told her that the girl had been shifted to Kolkata with a Christian childless family as there were no schools in the small locality. When Rita further inquired how the child came to the orphanage, she was told that two years back a lady had come and deposited the child with them, requesting her to look after the baby for a short time till she could again resume her responsibility. She happened to be the nanny looking after the child. For the moment she had to leave and rush to the parents who had met with a motorcycle accident and were in a critical state. After she had said this she had gone away and did not come back. The names of the child, as well as the parents, were given by her. Rita asked Mother to describe the nanny which matched exactly with the lady Rita remembered having employed as the person to look after her baby.

The light of hope which had burst into her dark cavern of despair was now suffused with so much happiness that she felt it could brighten up the whole world. A silent prayer went up to God in thanks as she pressed both her children close to her heart. But as soon as the big deluge of joy swept through her whole being, a dark cloud of doubt cast a foreboding gloom on her future. After all, Trina had been now legally adopted, how was she to circumvent the claim of the legal parents? Besides as her new parents had become very attached to the child would they willingly give up their claim?!

As the events took shape, it seemed that God had answered Rita’s prayers and she was destined to cherish the love and affection of two little girls who were more precious than her own life. The Christian couple knowing the sorrow of not being able to have their own child did not have the heart to snatch away another mother’s rightful offspring. They then decided to give another unfortunate baby a beautiful home and the love of doting parents.