Valli

Veena was seated on platform 5 waiting for the Dehradun Express which was to arrive shortly. She had come to visit her father who had not been keeping well and now was returning home.

As the train had been announced, she was waiting for the coach positions to light up, so that she could walk down to where her coach would come. She put away the novel she was reading and looked around. At a distance, she could see a middle-aged woman with an infant. The expression on the woman’s face disturbed her. The woman was apparently lost and seemed to have planned her travel in a hurry, as she only had a yellow cloth bag with her.

When she came close, she heard her muttering, “Ada kadavule! Naan enna pannuven, enge poi theduven?” (Oh my God! What can I do, where can I go and search?) Veena heard these words and immediately spoke to her in Tamil, which seemed very sweet to the woman. Within seconds, she had rattled her problems.

Veena thought for a moment and as she was walking to her coach position, asked Valli – that was the woman’s name to follow her. They reached the correct coach position even as the train slowly came to a halt. She got into the compartment and asked Valli too to board the train. Though confused, she did as she was told, not knowing what she would have otherwise done.

Veena saw to her relief that the train was not crowded at all, as people had still not wholly recovered from the pandemic fears. She made Valli take the seat next to hers and asking her to look after her luggage, she got off the train and spotting a food stall close by, bought a couple of water bottles, fruits, biscuits etc. Fortunately, there was another stall close by selling miscellaneous items from where she picked up a feeding bottle and some diapers and came back to Valli.

The canteen boys were running up and down the aisles with their tea and coffee cans. She called one of them and pressing a note in his hand asked him to get her a glass of milk. As there was plenty of time, the boy went to the pantry and obliged her. In the meanwhile, the child had stirred. The milk having arrived in time, Veena washed the bottle, filled it with milk and handed it over to Valli whose face showed glowed with gratitude.

Soon the few other travelers settled themselves and till the train departed, no one entered her cabin. Valli was feeding the child and was finding herself out of place in the II AC compartment. In a short while, the Ticket Examiner came and immediately Veena requested him to issue a ticket for Valli, telling him that Valli’s program was finalized only at the last moment and that she was taking her to her home as a maid. The Examiner obliged and the main problem of Veena was put at rest.

Appu, the boy must have been hungry as the feeding bottle got emptied in no time. He still appeared sleepy and Valli let him sleep on the berth holding him close to her.

Now that they had all settled and were comfortable, Veena started talking to Valli. Something about her, the depression on her forehead, in particular made her feel as if she had known her for a very long time. As they spoke, she realized that she was right. Valli was once Kanakavalli who was their housemaid in Chennai. The depression on her forehead was the mark left by her husband who had attacked her in a fit of drunken rage. When they relocated to Roorkee, Valli had gone back to her native place.

The severe floods rendered most of them homeless and those who survived had lost everything and had to start from scratch. She had lost her husband earlier to cirrhosis of the liver caused by his drinking and her son was tragically run over by a bus when he was crossing the street. Her ambitious daughter-in-law had befriended a rich man who gave her a child and then lost interest in her. A few days back, while Appu was sleeping, she had left home.

One of the neighbors had told Valli that her daughter-in-law had planned to go to Mumbai as someone had promised her a job and that was how she had landed in Mumbai with the little money she had.

Veena told her that Mumbai was not any small town where she could search for her daughter-in-law and had suggested that she should come with her to Roorkee and work for their family. Though disappointed that she would not be able to look for Appu’s mother, she did not appear to be very much upset as she was not loyal to her son..

After two days’ travel, they finally alighted at Roorkee and Valli was awe struck at the new surroundings, new people and the new language. Appu too had got refreshed and was eagerly looking out from the taxi at the calmly flowing Ganges and swaying eucalyptus trees that lined the road.

Veena’s house was large enough and there was a room where Valli and Appu could stay. That afternoon Veena drove down to the Civil Lines and bought some clothes and other essentials for Appu and Valli.

Within a couple of days, Valli became indispensable to the family and Appu a toy for Veena’s children to play with. Off and on Valli would think of the past, but she had no regrets.

It was a winter afternoon and the whole family was seated in the lawn, enjoying the warmth of the sunshine and having a go at the crate of oranges stacked beside them, when Valli let out a scream. She pointed out to Rani, her daughter-in-law who was walking towards their gate along with another man.

Indeed, it was Rani. She was on the same platform as Veena and Valli and had tried to follow them but could not catch up with them. She had entered the unreserved compartment of the train and kept looking out for the station where Valli and Veena got off. At Roorkee, she was stranded as they had already made their way by the cab which was waiting for them. As luck would have it, she was helped by one of the Madrasi faujis who took her to his quarters and then started the search for Valli. He did not have much trouble as there were very few South Indian families and he arrived at Veena’s house in the second try itself!

After the fauji left, Valli expressed her displeasure to Rani and asked her how she expected that she would be received with open hands after having deserted them, in particular, her son, her own flsh and blood. They had a showdown while Veena’s family discreetly disappeared from the scene so that they could settle the issue between themselves.

After a while, Valli came to Veena and asked permission to let Rani stay with them. Veena did not react immediately and Valli understood her hesitation. She then spoke to Veena at great length about why she wanted to give Rani a chance. “Amma, in our village, it was a different story – we had lost everything in the floods and on an impulse Rani got carried away by the sweet words of the rich guy and thought that she could secure not only her life, but that of us as well. Now that she has learnt the lesson the hard way, and she has her whole life ahead of her, I feel we should treat her with compassion. Another thing is that I will soon get old. Who will look after little Appu who has endeared himself to one and all? No doubt, he is not my grandson, but if he does not grow up in a good family, he is bound to go astray. Why should he suffer for the wrongs committed by his mother? I assure you, Amma, to see that Rani behaves herself. If she shows the slightest signs of disrespect or misbehavior, I will be the first to oust her from here. Please, Amma, please give her a chance, for my sake.”

Veena did not need so much cajoling, for she had already decided to take Rani in, but Veena was greatly impressed by the wisdom of this uneducated woman, who had gone through different kinds of pain all her life through and yet had sympathy for even those who were not her own. Veena felt like saluting her and the likes of her who make life worth living.