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Chapter 23-
Jennifer splashed water on Tara’s
face and shook her. “Wake up! You can’t be unconscious NOW!” Jennifer yelled at
her face. Cyrus untied her hands and they made her lie on the couch. Tara
started coming around and finally opened her eyes. “You want to know, don’t
you? Want to know what I did? I did everything in my past to make the best of
my situation. I had nothing and no one. You have to understand that.” Jennifer
did not say a word but stared impassively at her. Tara closed her eyes and recounted
her past.
“Tara beta why aren't you opening the door?” her mother asked for the
umpteenth time. Tara was in shock, sitting on the bathroom floor with a
pregnancy test in one hand. This was the second one taken in two days. She just
could not believe that one drunken night could lead to such a big disaster. She
knew of people who had been trying for years with no luck and here she was with
a positive test in her hands but sans the happiness. ‘I will have to tell my
parents’. Her stomach clenched at the thought of the reactions she will
receive. Aloud she said, “Nothing mom, I have an upset stomach. I will come out
soon”. Her mother said ‘okay’ and Tara heard her walking off. After a few
minutes of thinking about particularly nothing, Tara came out and went to the
kitchen. She stood at the doorway and saw her mother. Beautiful and still
young, she was in charge of the household. She was wearing a saree and Tara
knew she had not even met her husband even once before she had gotten married
at the age of 19; a year later Tara was born. Tara was aware of the marriage
proposals and the pressure she was under herself just at the age of 18. She
knew for sure she had no say in the man she was to end up with and that her
family would wed her off with all the pomp and show thanks to their wealth. She
sighed and stood next to her mother. ‘What did you think of the boy you met two
days back?’ her mother’s voice came as if from a great distance. Tara didnt
answer. Her mother was growing impatient with her erratic behavior since
yesterday. “Mom I have to tell you something”, said Tara with a lot of effort.
Her mother replied, “I don’t know what is wrong with you since the past two
days. We will talk later. I’m busy” Tara took it as a sign and hurried out of
the kitchen.
Later in the night, feeling bad for having rebuked her, her mother came
to her room to ask what was bothering her. Tara didn't know what to say because
she had shamed her parents and she knew that nothing will save her from their
wrath. Gathering courage from absolutely nowhere, she said, “Mom, I, I have
made a big mistake.” Her mother, concerned, asked, “What’s the matter? Nothing
can be that bad that cannot be resolved. What is it?” Tara ploughed on and
plunged before she lost her strength, “I am pregnant”. Her mother asked her to
repeat what Tara had just said because surely, her dutiful, straight- A
daughter could not be pregnant nor does she have any male friends. Obviously
she didn't hear her daughter correctly and this must be some big joke. “I’m pregnant”
Tara repeated. The resounding slap came from nowhere and Tara made no move to
defend herself. She just sat there, staring numbly into space. Her mother got
up and started beating her all the while yelling and screaming at her. Her
father came running in to see what the commotion was all about. Her mother told
him what Tara had said and she then became the victim of her father’s blows as
well. Finally, her father took out a bag, put her clothes in it whatever he
could find and dragged her towards the main door. Her mother knowing what was
happening begged him to not do it but he was relentless.
He dragged her by her arm, not listening to the mother’s crying or
paying attention to Tara and her pleas and threw her out of the main door with
the bag landing in front of her. With a last look of disgust, he shut the door
and Tara could hear the bolts. She could hear her mother pleading with him to
let her in. He yelled at her and dragged her to their room. Tara stood there
for a couple of hours willing for the door to open, for her mother to come out
and take her inside. But nothing happened. Fearing the worst, she picked up her
bag and trudged along the road towards her friend, Reema’s house which she knew
was about half an hour away. She reached her place and rang the doorbell. Her
friend opened the door and took one look at Tara and the bag and took her
inside. Tara wasn't willing to talk and Reema didn't ask. She had a spare room
and made Tara sleep. In the morning, Tara woke up and for a minute she wasn't
aware where she was and she panicked. Then it all came back to her; the
positive test, the sinking feeling, the slaps, her father’s look of disgust and
reaching her friend’s place. She got up and saw Reema sitting in the living
room with a smoke in her hand. She went and sat next to her and just sobbed.
Reema was shocked with this way of morning greeting but comforted her
nonetheless. Tara finally told her the story and how she was thrown out of her
house and she had nowhere else to go. Reema made her tea and told her to abort
the kid. Tara refused saying that she wasn't going to murder an innocent child
because of her wrong doings. Reema was well aware of her friend’s slight
orthodox thinking and she had known suggesting abortion was a long shot.
Days turned into weeks and Tara started growing bigger. She had tried
contacting the guy who is the father, but he had refused to have done anything
and had insulted her in front of all his friends. Reema had helped Tara get a
job through some contacts in the media world and she was working for a TV
channel as an assistant receptionist. Reema was a travel writer and used to be
away for most of the times and Tara used to be alone. On an off day, there was
a knock on her door. She was wondering if Reema was to be back that day and she
went and opened the door. She was shocked to see her mother standing in front
of her, looking unsure about herself. For six months, Tara had gone everyday to
her parent’s house, begged and pleaded to be taken back, threatened them with
suicide, called them everyday till her father had changed the numbers. She was
aware of the whispering and the glances which people shared every time she
walked towards her father’s house, bigger than the previous day. Her mother
just stared at Tara and to her astonishment just hugged and cried. Tara got her
inside and both of them wept and sat in silence. Her mother broke it and told
her bluntly that it was too late for abortion and it was too late for her to
say anything to her daughter about it. She announced she was going to be with
Tara till the day she gave birth but she was not sure what will she do after as
her father was not at all happy with this decision. Tara was glad of having her
mother around for the next three months. Reema and her mother got along well so
there was no problem of the three of them staying together. With her mother’s
support, Tara started doing well at work and was slowly taking on more
responsibility and was trying to get into PR.
In the meanwhile she had received a job opportunity for the new company
Lucky One Media as the PR Manager and a wedding invite with a return ticket to
Delhi from her close friend Roopa, who was getting married soon. Tara had told
her that her mother was unwell and that’s why she was so out of touch. Her
friend had been relentless and had convinced her to come for the wedding.
Luckily the wedding was a couple of months after the due date. Finally her
water broke when she was at home and Reema and her mother rushed her to the
hospital. She had a healthy baby girl after the grueling 16 hour of labour.
She knew her father would not come to meet her but she had really
wanted him to. She knew she was dead to him and she was completely cut off from
her family and the possessions. A week after getting discharged she sat in
those rare moments when her baby daughter was asleep thinking about what she
was going to do. Her mother was going back to her house in a couple of days and
Tara knew she had to choose between her career, as that was the only thing that
had helped her cope in the past nine months, and her daughter.
Being an unmarried single mother was going to prove a challenge and
Tara was not sure about her capabilities. After days of pondering, with a heavy
heart she decided on giving up the baby in an orphanage for an adoption. She
researched and came across a good one called ‘Aashakiran Anathalay’ which was
on the outskirts of the city. She went and met the main lady Mrs. Nayyar and
took the papers from her to fill them up and get the process rolling. Then one
day, when she was travelling back from work in a particularly crowded local
train compartment, she overheard two women talking about one of their friends
who had given up her baby to this group from Kolkatta and she had received a
lot of money which she had desperately needed. They weren't sure what the group
was into but it could not have been good. This piqued Tara’s interest and to
her delight she found that one of them was getting off at her stop. She
followed the woman and finally caught up to her. “Hi. I am sorry I couldn't
help over hearing but I wanted to know the details of the Kolkatta group”. The
woman looked at Tara suspiciously and asked her whether Tara was a cop. Tara
said no but she was looking for a friend who wanted to give up a baby because
of an unwanted pregnancy and she was thrown out of her house. After a couple of
minutes the woman relented and helped Tara with a phone number after speaking
to someone. She informed Tara that they went by no name and she should not
think about giving the number to anybody because the group will disappear
without a trace and it was anyway a onetime use number and she better call them
tonight. Tara took the number and hurried home. She relieved the baby sitter
and contemplated. She called the number and a male voice with a thick Bengali
accent greeted her. With his broken Hindi she got to know that they will come
and pick up her baby for their orphanage and give her INR 5 lacs. If she agreed
to it then the deal could be done and dusted by the next day but she had only
24 hours to confirm and he gave her another phone number to speak to when she
made up her mind.
Tara had spent nearly a year in the media industry to know the dirty
picture. It was either money or sex that could propel her to the top. Thanks to
her pregnancy she had been at the receiving end of quite a few lewd jokes but
she had become stronger and there was no way was she going to sleep with any of
those men. She needed the money and because she had built a wall around herself
she wanted a growth in her career as soon as possible. The idea of having a
family no longer appealed to her though she did have her vulnerable moments.
She had decided. She needed the money rather than a daughter who reminded her
of the tough times. The next day she called up the number and just said a
‘Yes’. She agreed to meet them at a hotel. She met a woman whose name she doesn't know and… and….
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