“Sunita! take Ayush to the park,”
came a harsh voice from Savitri, the mother of Ayush who used to spend more
time in watching the Saas-bahu serials rather than taking care of her
two-year-old kid. Sunita was a sixteen-year-old caretaker of Ayush. From
morning to midnight, she took care of this tiny tot. When Ayush peed, Sunita
cleaned, when Ayush did not sleep, she sang him lullaby and put him asleep,
when Ayush was hungry Sunita spoon feeded him, when the mama was busy in work
or was away from home, Sunita took care of the house. The small world of Sunita
was nothing beyond taking care of Ayush, she was surrounded by the harsh thread
of destituteness and was the only earning member of her family. Her father
passed away two years ago, while her mother frequently suffered from illness and
thus had to stay home for most of the time. Hence, it was she who had to carry the family on
her fragile shoulders.
It was a cold December afternoon.
Ayush had fallen asleep. It was a tiresome day for Sunita. Savitri had gone to
Mumbai to attend her best friend’s wedding and therefore Sunita had to take
care of all the household chores along with Ayush. It was 2:30 in the afternoon,
Sunita felt a bit dizzy. She quietly took the quilt, found a small space
besides Ayush and closed her eyes.
A white light fell upon Sunita’s
eyes. She saw a big white ball radiating at a not so far distance from her. She
retreated first, but then proceeded, when she saw two angels coming out of the
white ball. They were dressed in a white gown and both of them had two large
wings at their back. They opened their arms. Sunita lend her hand to the angels
and together they jumped inside the white ball. It was a beautiful world. Barbie
dolls, fashionable frocks, chocolates, ice creams and food were kept everywhere.
One of the angels said,”Hey!
Sunita everything is for you, pick up whatever you want. They are all yours”
Sunita felt ecstatic and replied,
“Really!” She went towards the Barbie doll, hugged it first and then took it in
both her arms. She also picked up a cute teddy that was kept aside. Soon,
another angel arrived. She took Sunita through a large gate. As soon as they
crossed it and entered inside, a completely different world laid ahead of them.
There were lush green valleys
everywhere dotted with beautiful flora. Beneath them ran streams of water;
Sunita went near the river and could listen to it’s gurgling sounds. She then dipped
her hands in the water and started playing as she moved her little fingers back
and forth. The angel appeared and said, “It’s time to explore the valley little
girl!” With her magical words, the angel took Sunita to the top of the valley. The
amazing view from the valley left Sunita completely mesmerized. She began to
run from one end of the valley to the other and only stopped at a point where
she could see the clouds coming close to her. She raised her hands to feel them
but was pulled back by the angel.
“You can’t touch them, little
lady, they are too high” said the angel. Soon a rabbit passed away and she
began to pursue it. She ran and reached towards the cliff of the valley but
could not catch it. Suddenly, Sunita slipped her leg, she shouted for help,
spreaded her hands to the angel to pull her up, but the angel smiled and slowly
disappeared.
Sunita felt dejected, she groaned
as she felt that someone pulled her back. She realized that she is trapped in a
dungeon. As she looked around she saw other poor girls sitting with their heads
knelt down. One of them came near her and said, “Wake up sister, you were
dreaming all the while now. This is a harsh world of reality. Like you even we
went to the fantasy island, but returned back dejected.”
Sunita heard a loud cry and could
feel that someone moved her. She opened her eyes and saw it was Ayush who woke
up from sleep and was hungry. She realized that it was a false dream and wept
over her destiny.
