The Indignant Munni

If you have not heard of the village Silam or the district Raidih all would be forgiven. At least I would expect you to know the state Jharkhand where they were located. The name Dhoni would certainly ring a bell and he hailed from Jharkhand.

In such an unknown village was born Munni. She lived with her brother, chhotu, and her mom, Rani. Like all else of the majority in Jharkhand, Munni’s mom Rani had a piece of land and they grew paddy and an occasional vegetable which would provide more or less enough food for the three of them. They reared a buffalo for milk and a few chickens for both eggs and an occasional meat. Munni was deeply interested in studies and she wanted to become a doctor. She studied well, in the nearby English medium school run by a Missionary NGO in the 7^th standard. Apart from school where Munni would spend some 7 hours including the walking time rest of the day would be spent in the open working hard in the field, tending the chicken or the buffalo. With the setting of the sun Munni would focus on her studies for sometime before helping Rani with the night meal. There was a nearby forest where Munni with her brother chhotu or sometimes with her mother Rani would go collect firewood, sometime berries and wild fruits and tubers. While the firewood kept their hearth going, others supplemented their food and nutrition. Their house was a one room affair with the kitchen portion in a corner. Bathing was done in the nearby stream and morning ablutions were done under the canopy of the jungle. Both these activities were done in groups with other girls and women both for safety and company. The village had never seen a toilet yet. Swachh Bharat scheme promoted all over India but as usual Raidih, one of the 100 aspirational district, was still aspiring for a toilet.

Munni had heard about many things about south of India where many of the grown- up boys and girls went to seek work. Some of them were sending money to their families and sometimes when they come home during holidays when they became the toast of the village. People would gather in the evenings and get regaled by the stories from the south. Munni too wanted to go there and study for medicine for the boys and girls had told her about big colleges in south.

Rani used to work occasionally for the missionary NGO and the compensation she would get she saved for higher studies for both Munni and Chhotu. There was a function at the NGO and both Munni and Chhotu had accompanied her. Rani was awarded for her good work regarding raising awareness of women’s hygiene and sanitation in the neighboring villages and she was given a cash prize of Rs 1000 and a certificate. On the way back home, they stopped by a restaurant and treated themselves with some chicken kebabs and fried rice.

That night or early morning Munni did not know what time it was she developed stomach pain and she rushed to the nearby forest to relieve herself. As she was coming back, she was abducted by two men and taken to a hut. She was force handled by the men and she had bled heavily while losing her consciousness. When she regained conscious, she found herself back in the jungle and she managed to limp back home and cried to her mother.

Later in the morning the mother took her to the NGO where she was examined by a doctor who pronounced that Munni had begun her periods. She was also given some anti-biotics as a measure of precaution. Her period must have saved her from rape thought the doctor and told Rani and Munni as much. It must have been one of the men who had come to work for the new road construction said the sister from the NGO when they went to lodge a police complaint.

As they walked back to the village Munni saw a poster announcement of a forthcoming function to be held to declare Raidih as open defecation free and she spat on the Minister’s face on the poster indignantly.