The Last Escape

As I drank my sorrows away the need to escape intensified, to escape the people around me who feed off my self-doubt and my weltering insecurities. I wanted to escape from this materialistic world causing hindrance on my way to success. It all started when I was eight-year-old and could understand the world around me. The social negligence and financial crunch had lowered my confidence. I started feeling low and aloof. I realized the pain and agony I was going through. Born in the middle-class family was like a curse for me. In the present scenario, everyone was running after earning money by hook or crook. The materialistic world had become everything for them. Respect for other’s feeling, positive attitude towards society had lost in the dark.

I was not leading a wealthy life, the girls of my age from rich families looked down upon me with hate in their eyes. Though they never displayed this on my face but used to make fun of me at my back during my school days. I wanted to escape from that situation. I thought deeply and found a solution to this that I must focus on my studies to get an upper hand on them. And that weapon actually worked. I stood first in my class in Board exams. I got admission in one of the best colleges in Delhi. Unfortunately, the gang of those notorious girls also got admission in the same college. Again I was moving in circles of life. As time passed, they got busy in show-offs, moving out with boys and bunking the classes. I got some relief. One day I saw Simron crying in the girl’s common room. On humanity ground, I asked her the reason but she kept quiet. I came back to attend my class. But her eyes wanted to convey something. I kept a check on her movements. She was not bubbly as she used to be. She looked pale and sick. Now she used to be absent for days in the college. It struck my mind that she might be in some serious problem.

After a gap of ten days, she appeared in the college and was moving with Ananya. She became extra friendly with her which was unusual. Both started bunking the classes quite often which was alarming. My sixth sense was informing me that they are going to be in a big problem. On one of the days, I followed them in the washroom to overhear their talk and to reach the truth. On hearing, I got shocked that Simran had fallen into a trap of druggists and was struggling hard to get out of this. She was forced to work under some pressure. She was misguiding Ananya to join her on the pretext that both would enjoy their life to the fullest. But Ananya had understood the gravity of the problem and ignored her pleas. Simran started crying loudly after Ananya had left. I went to console her and offered my help in her escape from this hell. She broke down and told me as to how she got trapped in this net and was finding it difficult to escape from this. She was threatened by them of exposing her. She was raped by them and was being served to their customers. She wanted to commit suicide but could not gather the strength to do so or to tell her mother about this. She had realized how her fascination with the materialistic world had spoiled her life. But it was not late even now. I promised her my support and told her to show as if nothing had happened.

I called her mother and told her mother all the things without Simran’s knowledge. I requested her not to utter any word to her daughter. Rather requested her to help me in her escape. She told me that one of her cousins was working in the police department. I met her cousin along with aunty and took his help not to save Simran only but other girls also who were trapped in this. On the other hand, I told Simran to keep me informed of her next appointment. She told me the time and place of the meeting. I told her to attend that I would be there on time. She didn’t know about my plan. At the given time and place, I reached there with police and her mother. The gang was nabbed along with their drugs and the captive girls were freed from there. On seeing the mother Simran broke down and tears were rolling down her cheeks like rivulets. A week after this incident she came back to college. I took a deep sigh and welcomed her back. I had prepared subject notes for her so that her studies should not hamper. I helped her in studies. All of us had cleared our exams and got the degrees. On the last day of the college, she was looking happy and she hugged me tightly and was feeling sorry for her behavior in school times. She thanked me from the core of her heart for helping her in her last escape. Now she is married and settled down in London with her family.