Fatima Refuses Her Fate

Fatima was a normal woman put in an abnormal situation. She was made to sell her two previous children to the mafia. Her husband was a petty thief. He had borrowed a lot of money from notorious men. He had this bad habit of beating his wife after getting drunk. Fatima never tried to run away from her predicament. She never thought of committing suicide. She knew there is a god and that one day everything will become better just that she wasn't sure when will her prayers be heard. The quandary now was that she was pregnant again. She prayed and prayed that this time she doesn't lose her child. She had absolutely no idea what her previous children were doing at present. Were they pickpockets, or thieves, or selling tea at a stall, or selling flowers at a station, or beggars or who knows. She had those terrible recurring nightmares of slaughter, with gory scenes and often she used to get up in an absolute mess. She cried in the darkness of her jhuggi. All she wanted was a happy future for her coming child. She already had made plans to secretly elope after her delivery and give her child away to an orphanage. So what she won't be able to see her child again, at least there would be a satisfaction that some wealthy family adopted her child and that the future of the child was secure. All she wanted was to see her child in safe hands.

It was pitch dark. Her husband Raju was away as usual. She packed her satin bag and swarmed out of the jhuggi. She had left everything to god now. What will happen to her, how will she survive? Who will take care of her? She had put everything on the backburner. Her child was her priority.

"Saab main pet se hai. Madam ko bula do..." She requested the man who opened the door. Rita Mansukh, a tall and fair lady, greeted her with a smile. In the dead of the night she looked unperturbed. "Darne ki koi baat nahi hai..." She said there's nothing to worry about. She promised her a healthy delivery. Rita was a social worker and she knew the story of Fatima. She frequented the encroachments where Fatima lived. She was very well aware of her case. "Madam mereko apni fikr nahi hai, bas mere bachche ko bacha lo us bhediye se!" (I don't care about myself, just save my child from that monster)

Her pleas were honest and heart rending.

"Don't worry...You did the right thing. I will talk to my senior tomorrow and we'll see what can be done"

Thus was saved a life. Fatima could have saved her two previous kids too had a Rita entered her life before. There is hope at the end of the tunnel. Fatima was put in a vocational course so that she could support her child on her own.