We searched for a play school for Muskaan. Since it was 2-3 kms from our home, school provided us the van service.
One fine day, since Noddy was asleep and I really don’t want to leave my new maid with him and alone in the house, I asked her to get Muskaan from ground floor, where the van drops her. I was in tension, when Muskaan’s van didn’t come even after 30 minutes. I could see my maid. I called up school and they told that the van left the school on time. I was getting jittery.
Suddenly I heard a faint knock on my door. I opened the door and saw muskaan almost unconscious. She was crying so bitterly, her sobs were uncontrollable. I took her in my lap, and hugged her, gave her some water. She slept hugging me, but her sobs were not stopping. My heart sank, thinking all the worst things.
My husband came home early. We tried to play with her, make her happy with ice cream candies and all the small things and finally managed a smile on her face.
Then we both sat with her and asked her what happened
With a soft voice she started “Mumma, when I was coming home by the van, it stopped, and was not starting. So, driver uncle made all of us go in two autos. When I came here, there was no one. Even guard uncle was not there. I was scared of the dogs, so I tried to reach the buttons of lift, so that I could come home, but they were too high for me. Then I climbed the stairs. I knocked the door, as I wanted them to drop me to my house. But uncle shouted on me. He was speaking something, I could not understand, but I was very scared. Then I went to next floor and knocked asking for their help. And aunty scolded me, why I have disturbed her? I did not know my house number so I climbed the stairs and knocked all the doors of this side, so that somewhere you open the door. And finally meri mummy ne darwaza khola”.
She was crying, and so were we both. The tears were not stopping. For a 3 and a half year old girl, a bag and a bottle, and nine floors with a completely unacceptable rude behaviour.
Since the van broke down, auto reached before time, and they carelessly left the child.
We had a lot of anger for the neighbours, and still very much there. I have intentionally not written about the place, because, it is not a place specific problem. But somehow, the narrow minded ness of people who are flexible when it comes to a better standard of living in a better world, but are not flexible with their thinking, they forget to update it, in other words bigger the mansion, narrower the thinking. The pseudo culture they follow, the savage culture, which stung my daughter.
We shifted her school and the house, within a month. And ironically, in the same city, I stayed for years, and would recall them as my golden years of my life, with the new friends and neighbours who are still my extended family.
None of the scriptures, culture and heritage taught us to spread hatred. Instead they teach you that god is supreme. Different religions / community / culture etc. lead us to same goal. It is nothing but different route to reach the same destination. So please keep in mind, before belonging to any culture, group, you have a bigger classification, human, and humanity is the first religion, followed by anything else.
From this incident I have learnt how to unlearn, and make sure my kids never ever learn this.
