Universal Love

The chantings and Vibrations of the satsang were part of Indu life from past three years. Her only friend, companion and life partner just went to sleep permanently living here all alone. As they had no issues, all their love and care were spent on each other. Today Indu was at peace, she had understood the process of life and death.

After the Satsangs every morning, she would walk past the noisy and lively market and would enjoy the chaos after the silence of the satsang.

It was Friday afternoon and she had been loitering a bit more in the market as she didn’t want to go to her empty home and spluttering solitude. The Azan was floating above the din of the market and people were seen hurrying to be in time for their Friday prayers. Everything around her was a part of her being and she enjoyed and savoured it.

She picked few oranges from the handcart and thought of buying them to give the boys who played near the open ground in the evening. Her concentration from picking the best oranges was broken by a loud noise as if there was a huge bursting of fireworks.

People started screaming and running around. Indu was in a daze and frozen. It was not fear, it was just blanking out as to what to do next. She looked around the commotion and understood from few people who were panic stricken that there was a blast near the mosque.

She too hurried her steps to her home which was just a lane away.

She had a small house with a veranda where beautiful green plants blossomed as they were all bought with love by Rohit, her husband.

She saw a figure sitting in the corner of her veranda, wrapped in a blanket. She called out asking who it was. The tired and tear strained face of a young woman melted Indu’s heart. She opened her house and bought water for the woman sitting outside. Indu noticed that young and weak woman was heavily pregnant. She invited her inside her home. Her name was Mehrunisa.Over a hot tea Mehrunisa story bought tears to Indu’s eyes. This young woman of 23 years had faced such pain, losses and hatred that Indu was ashamed that she had complained to God when she lost Rohit and felt lost and lonely.

Mehrunisa was married at fifteen and bought to her husband home when she was seventeen. Her husband Abbas was working in Middle East as a driver in a logistic company. He was good man though he was 24 years elder than Mehrunisa, where did she understand what is called an age difference. She only knew she was married and Abbas was her husband who treated her well. He called her Gudiya when they were alone. She had got pregnant immediately after coming to Abbas home. He was down for a month and those were the only days that she got to spend time with her husband.

Her delicate weak body and non stop work at home gave her extreme discomfort during pregnancy. The family of Abbas which consisted of his mother father and three sisters did nothing to ease her pain or felt any need of doctor advice or check up. His mother had borne four children at home and it was to be the same with Mehrunisa.

In the seventh month, Mehrunisa looked and felt sick. The pain and bleeding she felt could not be understood by her. She got labour pains and after 22 hours of extreme pain and tiredness with the help of dai she delivered a still born child. The beautiful boy was cremated without Mehrunisa having a glimpse of him else. Abbas could not come he said he could get leave. His calls got less And Mehrunisa was engulfed in a gloom which she could not escape. The hatred and torture kept increasing and Abbas comforting phone calls got decreasing.

One night when lying on her bed, her tired bones lifeless, she heard the family wailing loudly. Abbas mother and sister were screaming and wailing, Mohammed chacha had come to say that he received phone call from his son who worked in the same company with Abbas, that the truck which Abbas was driving had an accident and Abbas had died on the spot.

Mehrunisa was so tired and lifeless that the news didn’t make any sense to her that night. In the morning, with wails of relatives and Maulana praying the Koran, the reality started sinking in, Mehrunisa realised that she was a widow at the age of twenty. She was made to sit in iddat for forty days but her pain was less than her fear. She didn’t know what was her future, would her parents take her back home or would she be living this horrendous life with Abbas family.

Abbas parents didn’t let her go to her parents home, not that they were keen too. Abbas’s father made her sign few times certain papers and she would write her name that Abbas taught her to write. She later understood that Abbas’s employers had sent compensation on his death which the family readily accepted as their daughter marriage was fast approaching. Abbas death got them the finances for the dowry and Mehrunisa,as the unpaid and unappreciated help.

Nothing mattered anymore as Mehrunisa had accepted her fate. Until one night Abbas father creeped into his bed. Mehrunisa was frozen in fear and lay still lifeless. The growing belly was observed by the women of the house. On knowing who had caused it, lot of fights, tears and screaming, they all blamed Mehrunisa for the disgrace.

Mehrunisa lived in this hell till she was three months away from delivering. They constantly taunted her to leave the house and go anywhere. The Physical abuse and taunts just broke her completely one day and she left Abbas home. She had thought to jump on the tracks of train which was little away from the masjid.

The sudden blast and commotion in which Mehrunisa was caught near the masjid had her fallen to the ground and hurt her head. Human tendency to protect themselves and a woman tendency to protect her child came forth in that time.

Mehrunisa picked herself up and started running with the crowd away from the masjid. Her throbbing head and breathless breath made her sit on Indu veranda. Indu realised that though she had tears flowing, Mehrunisa eyes were completely dry and lifeless.

After feeding her hot kichdi, Indu made bed for her and patted her head when she lay. Mehrunisa felt hot tears rolling down. The poor girl was immune to hatred and broke down on compassion and love.

That night, Indu discovered her purpose of life. She would adopt Mehrunisa and be her child's grandma. After all Indu thought she had so much love to give and she had found someone to shower her love. God was indeed Kind.