Chapter 1
“See you tomorrow!” Priya said jubilantly. The other girl had reached her home’s front gate. She turned, smiled and waved back.
Fare-welling her best friend Mayuri, Priya turned left to enter her gully. It was nearly impossible to ride her cycle through the narrow, bumpy lane. So, she walked along with her cycle. As the sunlight dimmed, her daily routine had almost completed its circle.
But, today was different. Today, there was a spring in her steps. A radiance on her face. She was happy today. Not every day you get elected as the School Leader to recite the Pledge and sing National Anthem on the Independence Day. There would be Teachers, there would be Parents, there would be Special Guests. It sure was a big responsibility. But Priya was not the one to be burdened by challenges. She craved for them. She was excited.
A loud whistle tore right through her dreamy clouds. She turned her face towards the sound. A big, bulgy young guy was sitting on his bike. Accompanied by friends, looking at her lecherously. Priya started breathing heavily. She had recognized she was near that ugly black dot in her daily routine circle. This had been going around from quite some time now. Pintu, as his friends called him, had been eve teasing her every single day. The long shameless stares, the ugly loud whistles, the name calling, the crass innuendos. Everything had been used. And even after being terrified, Priya had been relentlessly following her mother’s advice. ’Keep your head down and ignore these people’. She did the same again.
Suddenly, the bike vroomed. The wheel accelerated. Everything happened in a split second. The bike whizzed past Priya. She felt a hand. Grazing her chest. Stunned, she fell down. The cycle fell on her. The bike zoomed ahead. Abruptly, the tires screeched and puffed the dust to take a whirlwind turn. Pintu looked at her. Smiling he held up his palm and kissed it disgustingly. His friends cheered him on. Priya had gotten numb. She tried to stand up. But her legs refused to obey. She fell down again. Shivering from the shock she somehow piled herself up. Covering her body with the stole, she ran with all her strength. She scampered inside her home. Slamming the door shut. Her body shivered. She collapsed on her knees. Finally, letting out a shriek, she bawled riotously. The cycle and her honor lay there on the road. Stripped, defeated, humiliated.
No one was at home. At this point of time, no one was supposed to be. Her father worked in two shifts at a nearby mill. She rarely even met him during the working week. Her mother, a maid, toiled till late nights. There was no one to console her. To provide her a shoulder. She cried uncontrollably. Her mother, as usual, had kept the hot water bucket in the washroom. She held the bucket and poured it over her body. She took the soap and smeared the part where he had touched. Her tears wiping but failing to mop the soap off completely. She kept on rubbing the part, until it turned blood red. Until the pain grew excruciating.
As hours passed, the tears dried and the eyes swelled. Her mother was home. She had brought her a new School uniform to wear on the Independence Day. Pretending to sleep, Priya buried herself under a shawl.
“Priya, look I bought you a new dress... Priya?”, her mother called entering her room. Priya held on to the shawl tightly.
Her mother’s face fell. She was disappointed on being so late. Switching off the bulb, she left the room. Priya got up and set the alarm for 5 AM. She had to reach her school by 6. ‘6 Sharp!’ as Pandit sir had said. Desperately, she tried to sleep. She wanted to escape this world. She had realized that the Nightmares with eyes open are more frightening than with them closed. Slowly sleep arrived like a gentle breeze.
