Kusum

It is a common site to see beggars and animals sitting in front of our religious institutions. People take due care of them by offering food or money to the beggars. Even the animals are well looked after. But hardly anyone takes permanent shelter near these places.

For years a frail looking woman could be seen loitering around the religious places in Delhi. It was difficult to guess her age as she was extremely thin and her unkempt looks indicated that she hadn’t had a bath for months. 

She spoke very little. The only indication of her hunger pangs was her dirty little hand which she would timidly stretch in front of her. Hardly anyone paid her any attention. Over the years due to starvation her health deteriorated and she found it difficult to move around. Hoping that she would keep getting something to eat, one day she decided to settle down in front of  a religious institution. No one objected to it as she was very quiet and never bothered the devotees. She could be seen lying under a plastic sheet with only a hand protruding out waiting for a few crumbs. Once in a while a passer by would throw her something to eat but it was never enough. 

Even the stray animals prefer to stay near the religious places as there is always the surplus or the left-over of food to be thrown away. Every day a person would come with buckets full of  food and throw it to the stray animals. This was only  a few feet away from where the woman was lying. She would watch everyday and cry out feebly to be given  a part of the waste food but perhaps it was too much of an effort for the man throwing the food to take out some food for the woman. She had no strength to crawl and have a feast with the animals. In desperation she started eating mud. 

Summers and winters passed quietly over  the rags covering her. During summers the rains would wash her and then the  winds took up the responsibility of drying up her clothes. The only clothes she owned were on her body. During winter she would shiver under some jute matting and a plastic sheet. There was no question of going to a toilet so she did all her ablutions while lying down using the plastic bags in which the food was some times thrown to her. Later she would throw away the bag as far as her strength permitted. What kept her body and soul together was her faint vision of a future where she could see herself on her desk again working in the Police Department.  

Millions of sermons had blared over the loud speakers of the religious place and  perhaps a billion  ‘religious persons’ had crossed her path before she was brought to the notice of  Bibi  Dr Inderjit Kaur. When the police post quite close to where she was lying was approached to take her to Pingalwara she was told that the destitute woman was named Kusum. A few years back she was an Assistant Sub Inspector with the Delhi Police but was dismissed from the service. She had been lying there for years but the Police personnel promised that they will make some arrangements to send her to Amritsar. 

Nothing happened even after three months had passed. The Police department was again reminded with the  offer  of  meeting all the expenses for her conveyance to Pingalwara. She finally arrived at Pingalwara on  19^th December 2004. 

With proper food, medical care and counseling she recovered very fast.  She started walking with some help and the smile is back on her lips.                                                                                                             

Her father was a police Inspector with the Delhi Police. In 1980 he suffered a fatal heart attack leaving behind his wife, a daughter and two younger sons. The Police Department was very sympathetic and offered a job to the daughter as the sons were under age. 

Kususm joined the force in 1981 and the family moved into a house offered by the department. In 1987 she was promoted to the rank of Assistant Sub Inspector. By this time both her brothers were grown up. One of them was very violent in nature and would demand that the Police job be given to him instead of Kusum. The arguments often led to violence in which Kusum and her mother were often beaten up.  

In 1989 she was suspended from the Police job for a period of 5 years; she still does not know the reason for her suspension. They were told to vacate the official accommodation and when they failed to do so they were forcibly thrown out from the house. 

Kusum was in a state of shock. Instead of remaining with the family and facing the violence, she decided to be on her own. Years with the police had taught her to sleep in crowded places so for the next fourteen years  railway station, bus stops or the religious places became her saviours. Thus she was spared the physical and sexual violence.  

How could she survive all these years without a shelter and proper food? Last five years she spent lying down in one place eating whatever was thrown at her. 

Kusum is happy in Pingalwara and is keen to go back to her job. She keeps talking about denial of food to her  when the animals next to her were being so well fed. What is the purpose of  religion and its endless sermons if it can not generate compassion in its devotees. It is a painful thought.