It was late eighties, 1989 to be precise. I was in my final year of School of Architecture. I used to stay in a small rented house close to the university. The house belonged to a friend of my dad, so the rent was more than reasonable. I was working at a architecture firm part time and at the end of the day, I had enough money to buy books, eat and watch a movie or two once in a while. Overall, things were going pretty smooth.., well, till that day.
That day started pretty normal. I got out of school and went home, finished my work and hopped my bicycle. I left the main street behind and was driving randomly on inner streets in the town. I knew several people in this part of town, including my friend Amir.
Well, not friend exactly. I worked on a project with him. He was probably the most teased around guy. He would always show up late and he would never look you eye to eye. It just happened that in a randomly picked project pair, he was my partner. He was OK in his work. Most of the time he insisted on coming to my place to work. He said he could not focus at home.
Neither could I, when I went to his home. There was just something strange about his family. Family of only three people, his mom, dad and himself. But they never smiled. Sometimes I wondered if they didn't like me. But when people don't like you, still they give some kind of signals. Here it was just blank.
Amir's dad was a poet. He was somewhat well known, but I don't think he made good money. Amir's mom was a knockout beautiful lady. I had secret crush on her and I used to steal glances at her, and recently I had found her returning my stares. We just made long eye contact till something made either one of us look away. Sometimes I wondered how come she ended up with this guy.
Once in a while she would show up with band aides on her hand. Upon asking she said she has hand tremor problem and cut herself while cooking.
Overall the household never burst out with laughter or screams. It was always that dead silence.
So when that day I heard screams while passing by their house, I was surprised. The door was open. I dropped my bicycle in the yard and ran inside. Amir was knocking the bedroom door with both his fists. His dad was in kitchen and he was cooking something. Sweet smells came out of kitchen, and here Amir was panicked.
"Amir, what's the problem?"
"She is not opening the door."
"Who, your mom? Is she inside?"
"She is not opening the door."
He was in shock. Asking him anything more was useless. I ran to kitchen. I asked the same questions to his dad. His dad was even more panicked. He was mumbling to himself and looked at me with eyes like a scared rabbit.
I went back to the bedroom door. The door was strong and it was difficult to break it open. I ran outside to a window. Amir's mom was standing there, looking out. Her both hands covered in blood. She stood there and stared at me. I stood there for a moment, not knowing what to do.
And then she collapsed.
I looked around, luckily there was a heavy pipe lying there. I picked it up and broke the window frame. Once there was enough space, I jumped through. I sat down next to her and held her hands.
"Cuts are too deep. I am scared. I don't want to die." She said in feeble voice, holding my hands.
"You are not dying. We will take you to hospital." I said.
She gave out a smile, but kind strange you-are-silly smile.
I picked her up in my arms, and rested on the bed. I opened the bedroom door.
"She needs to go to hospital. Call Ambulance." I shouted.
On this, Amir and his dad, both looked at me and at each other like a stupid.
"Guys, Call ambulance NOW. What are you waiting for?"
"People will know. We will have bad name in this locality." Amir's dad said.
I could not believe my ears. His wife was in danger and what was this guy thinking?
He looked at her.
"I made you your favorite rawa pudding. Take some rest. Watch TV. You will be fine"Â he said in shaking voice.
"What the fuck?" I lost temper.
"Look, we appreciate your help. But we don't want people to know. We have to live in this community. Thanks for opening the door. We will take care of her now. I cooked rawa pudding for her. She really likes that" He said.
"She doesn't need pudding. She needs a doctor. And then a psychologist. She has cut her hands in attempt to do suicide. Get the fucking ambulance."
None of them moved.
"If you don't call ambulance, I will call cops." I gave the ultimatum.
That worked.
***
The ambulance drove through the streets, intermittently sounding siren and breaking the silence of that sleepy town. She was lying on the stretcher as the nurse took her temperature. She held my hand. Her eyes full of appreciation, and for once in fact she smiled at me. A real genuine smile. I-am-glad-you-are-here smile. Even in that situation, I could not help feel flattered. She squeezed my hand and I squeezed it back. I wondered what Amir and his father were doing at home. May be eating the pudding.
We reached hospital and they took her in. She insisted that I be there. She had lost a lot of blood, but we made it to the hospital in time. So there was no threat to her life. The doctor thanked me and said a delay of few minutes could have been dangerous. The doctor immediately knew the type of wounds and he ordered somebody to be around her continuously.
When the nurse asked her if she wanted to call her family, she said the only person she trusted at the moment was I.
I ended up being there for rest of the night.
***
In the night, she opened up to me and I saw a woman I had never seen before. She was daughter of a rich businessman in Kolkata. She met Amir's dad in college. He wrote poems on communism and that apparently inspired her when she was 18. When she announced her decision to marry a jobless communist poet with no social standing, her dad gave her two choices. She could have that man or she could have the family fortune. In an instant she kicked the wealth away and walked out of the door. Next day they got married in court.
Their mutual friend lent them his cottage for a week or so. That was their honeymoon. When they were coming back from the honeymoon, a disaster struck that would alter the course of their married life forever.
As they got down on railway station late at night and walked to their home, they were being followed. As they turned on a deserted street, the followers caught up. They covered her mouth and lifted her and took her to a car. Her husband stood there dumbstruck. There was no overpowering him, because he showed no power. They simply slapped him and he ran away. The guy, who talked about bringing world revolution, left his wife alone with four rapists and ran away.
She was raped all night. Next day she did not go home directly. She went to a friend of hers. She changed clothes and then went home. Her mother in law had showed up. Her mother in law called her by names for staying out the whole night. Her husband did not speak up. She cried the whole day.
