The Little Girl

It was ten years since Preeti and Sanju had got married. It was a college romance that culminated into a four-year courtship and eventually into matrimony. It helped that their families had got along over the years, had somewhat comparable backgrounds and more importantly followed similar religious practices. It was a match made in heaven according to all who had attended the wedding ceremonies.

Over the years, they enjoyed life to the fullest, visiting inland and foreign locales, partying hard, moving to their own house and doing it up with the latest décor, and changing corporate jobs for higher remuneration and fulfillment. Sanju was still the doting, romantic husband and Preeti, the caring, goal-oriented equal partner.

Come 2020, and things changed quite a bit. With the Covid-19 lockdown in place and the never-ending strictures from the authorities, Preeti and Sanju now had the entire day in proximity for the whole year. With work-from-home duties and endless online meetings going late into the evening, Preeti now longed for what she always wanted a few years into their marriage... a baby to complete their family. She had hinted about it on numerous occasions and even had discussions with him. They had been to the doctors for a year as suggested by her gynecologist for tests and treatment. However, Sanju now no longer seem inclined to see an addition to the family. He was comfortable with the freedom and perks the current lifestyle brought along and did not want anything to disturb the trend. It could also be fact that he had to undergo several tests which made him irritable or that he would be the butt of jokes if his friends got to know about it.

With their outings bottled-up, Sanju took refuge in the meetings and phone calls while Preeti who was more disciplined in these matters was left to fend for herself during and at the end of the day. She took refuge in the balcony which she had set up as her sanctuary. Sipping tea, reading books she had locked up earlier, and conversing with the plants she tended to as also the birds and butterflies that paid visits to the balcony, she spent hours looking up into the sky or the world below on the street. Very soon a tiny girl caught her eye. She would be two-three years of age and would follow a set of street kids, picking up bottles, metals and paper, possibly to earn a bit from these recyclable items. She would jump around looking at all the apartments around soon caught Preeti's eye. It then became a practice- she would reach around six in the evening and look steadily at Preeti on her third-floor balcony. They exchanged silent smiles and conversations with their eyes that only they understood. One day, Preeti had made kheer. She had packed some in plastic containers and waited for the rag-pickers to arrive. She made her way to the street and called them over. Giving the kheer, she made them have it there in the bowls she had arranged for. As she conversed with them, she called over the shy little girl and offered to feed her the kheer. Those few moments she would savor for a long time to come. With tears in her eyes, she hurried off to her apartment.

The following day, with renewed energy, Preeti now made up her mind that she would speak to Sanju about adoption. She had her doubts about his agreement on this but never the less decided to pursue it. That evening over dinner, she spoke about her interaction with the street kids and the little girl. Sanju who had missed these episodes over the last few days, now knew the secret to Preeti looking pepped up. Somewhere down the line, the work-related burn out was getting to him and he realised how much parenthood was important to Preeti. He felt miserable at having given up on being equal partners in having a baby and brushing aside the conversations about it.

One month after feeding kheer to the little girl whom she called Akanksha, Preeti and Sanju signed up for adoption. It was now just a matter of time that they would be parents. There were the usual bureaucratic delays and paper-work to deal with and the possibility of the guardians to the little girl showing up though she was an abandoned child. In the meantime, Preeti, in association with an NGO, got the girl into a child welfare Centre. Surely, in time to come both Preeti and Akanksha would find a complete family, possible the same family.