smriti

Smriti is running down the streets. There is heavy rain in Rangpur, a village in rural India. Some streets away, you could see some heavy-built men wearing white shirt and blue jeans driving at full speed in their bullets. They are chasing Smriti. It is 10 pm and the streets are almost empty and silent with just few stray dogs roaming and sleeping around. Why are they chasing her? Let’s go back a few months back.

Rangpur is a beautiful village located in Bihar with big trees and large fields. Smriti’s husband Lalit is a small time farmer, who grows strawberries in his 2 acres of farm. Strawberries of his farm are very famous around the village and they are sold for high prices due to its demand and quality. He sells them to shops and supermarkets in cities and with that money, he looks after his wife and children. With his sole income, Lalit was able to take care of his family very well. He and his family could afford food 3 times a day which many farmers there could not. He could send his 2 children to school and buy toys and clothes for them during festivals.

Everything was going well but one fine day, it happened and was not usual. Early morning Lalit came to his farm to see many of his full grown strawberries missing from the 2 acre of land. He had no idea who did this. These strawberries used to take almost 2 months to fully grow. The strawberries were stolen and not by some animals but by some men who work for Ramdhar Singh. Ramdhar Singh is a property developer and an influential man in Rangpur. Ramdhar is like a mobile bank in the village where he provides money in the form of loans with high interests to small and medium income farmers. As the strawberries were costly, they would sell these strawberries in markets and use that money for their alcohol and drug needs. They had the guts to do anything in Rangpur because they worked for Ramdhar. Lalit was unaware of these things. He complained to the panchayat head but they were not ready to give any kind of compensation or look deeply into the matter as they thought some animals would have done it.

This incident was a big loss for Lalit whose earning came from these strawberries alone. It affected his family for months in many ways. It affected family’s food intake, his children’s education and their happy life.  Lalit also like many other farmers of the village took loan from Ramdhar for his strawberry farming. Ramdhar was aware of his men doing this crime but he ignored it as it was not a big crime according to him. Lalit was not able to pay his loan to Ramdhar this time. He explained him the reason but Ramdhar chose to ignore it and rather shouted at him to pay the money on time or else to face the consequences. Smriti also pleaded to Ramdhar to give her husband some more time. Ramdhar had something else going on his mind. He was infatuated with Smriti from the time she came into the village as Lalit’s wife. He wanted her at any cost. This was the opportunity he was looking for to get close to her. Ramdhar gave him some more weeks’ time to return the money. Ramdhar was very much sure that Lalit will not be able to pay his debt on time as he did not have the resources except his home and land and finally he would have to fall prey to his demands.

Lalit became really worried and decided to sell Smriti’s jewelry in order to pay the debt. With the jewelry’s money, he could pay only half of his debts. Lalit became really depressed and started consuming alcohol. At this extreme stage, Smriti became really worried about her husband’s present condition. She decided to help him by doing household chores in landlords and rich people’s mansion. With her hard earned money, she was able to pay the remaining debts and bring back Lalit back to his normal life.

Now as his debts were payed off, Lalit did not want Smriti to work anymore. He was worried hearing her story of workplaces where she was physically and mentally abused as she belonged to a low caste and she being a woman.

Here Ramdhar was totally disturbed by these events as everything was going against his plans. He wanted Smriti at any cost and the only way to do it was to somehow bring Lalit to the depressed and begging state he was. He decides to wait for something to happen or to make it happen.

Lalit and his family were debt ridden and were happily living their life like the one they were living before. It was Diwali time and they had gone to the city to do some shopping. After returning from the city, they saw their house all burned up. He or the villagers had no idea how it happened. It was Diwali time, so they concluded that the fire must have been originated from the diya(candle) which was light inside the house. Lalit along with the villagers were able to bring the fire down and save some important household items but not the house. The family was on the road. This was a well-planned attack on Lalit by none other than Ramdhar whose men had done this in the dark.

Ramdhar saw this opportunity to get close to Smriti and decided to help Lalit. Lalit decided to take help from Ramdhar to build a new house. He gave money to Lalit and this time his conditions were soft. Ramdhar decided to charge no interest and also gave a time period of 6 months to return the full amount. But he did not want a single day delay in getting his money back. Lalit was very happy with the conditions and Ramdhar could see his plans working out.

4 months passed by and Lalit was working hard in building his small house as well as growing strawberries in his farm. Even Smriti was helping Lalit by working in a primary school as cook. 5 months and 21 days passed by and after all his limited expenses, his savings were not enough to be paid to Ramdhar. Smriti was using her money for family’s daily needs and children’s education. Each day was a struggle for them.

Finally the day comes. Lalit is sitting with Smriti in his field worrying about how to pay the money back to Ramdhar. Various thoughts go through their mind and even suicide. Suddenly Ramdhar’s men come searching for Lalit and finds him in the field. They tell him to come with them to Ramdhar’s house immediately to talk about the money. Smriti warns him to be careful. Lalit goes with them and tells Ramdhar about his present condition of not able to pay the money on time. He begs on his feet to give him few more days and also promises to provide any kind of help till the day he returns the money. Ramdhar hearing this, thinks of a plan to misuse Lalit and his family. He tells Lalit not to worry about the money and gives him few more weeks. Ramdhar also demands Lalit to grow the strawberries in his own field for free till the money is returned. Lalit accepts his demand. Before leaving, as a token of thanks, Ramdhar request Lalit to have a drink with him. Lalit refuses at first but Ramdhar insists him to do so. They drink till night and Lalit is fully in the drunken state with an unconscious mind.

Seeing Lalit’s condition, Ramdhar sees the opportunity to run his crooked plan and brings in a legal paper for Lalit to sign. He makes Lalit to do the thumb impression on the paper. Lalit is not in a state to understand anything. This legal paper was going to change his life. The paper read out as follows,” incase Lalit is unable to pay Ramdhar’s money on time, he will be ready to sell his wife Smriti to Ramdhar till the full amount is returned”. The moment for which Ramdhar was waiting for years had finally arrived.

It was 9pm and was heavily raining in the place. Smriti was really worried about Lalit as he had not returned home till now. She leaves her children at the neighbor’s house and goes to find him. She reaches Ramdhar’s house all wet and worried. She inquires Ramdhar about Lalit. He lies to her about Lalit who was locked in one of his rooms by telling her that he left already in the evening. Smriti becomes more worried and tells him that Lalit has not returned home till now. She pleads him to help her in finding Lalit.

Ramdhar tells her” why should you worry about Lalit, you are not his property any more as he sold you to me and he left for some other place. He could not pay my money back so he traded you. Now I am your owner and you are my slave”. Smriti did not believe this till Ramdhar showed her the legal papers that Lalit had signed. She accuses Ramdhar of misusing her husband and tells him that her husband would die before doing such an evil thing. She threatens him of police enquiry. Now Ramdhar hearing all this becomes frustrated and orders his men to get hold of Smriti and lock her in a room. She immediately takes the liquor bottle kept on the table and smashes them on one of the men’s head and runs away.

She runs through the streets and fields shouting for help. She falls, injures herself but keeps on running in this heavy rain to escape from the thugs, who follow her on bike and on foot. The whole village is inside their houses. There is no silence in the village due to thunder and rain. Finally she reaches a bridge with an overflowing river under it. She is in a dilemma whether to jump or not. The picture of Lalit and children comes to her mind. There is no other way to escape other than jumping into the river. The thugs are coming to her from both sides. She is surrounded and afraid. She has no other option but to jump. She decides not be a slave to anyone till she is alive. Smriti jumps into the flowing river and ends her life.