Naseebo

After a week of dull and cold weather, for once the sun was shining brightly and the people had come out in strength. There is a small stretch of green grass close to the City Centre in Amritsar that provides some peace from the hectic life of the town. Being sufficiently away from the main road it also provides some relief from the traffic noise.

A woman in her fifties could be seen sitting there passively and looking vacantly at the ground. She was well dressed with golden earrings and bracelets. With her hands folded in her lap and the neck almost buried in her raised knees, she appeared to be miserable and helpless. Once in a while a rickshaw puller would stop by her side to enquire if she wanted to go anywhere. There was no reply. 

A day passed and her condition became worse. She had not moved from her place and had obviously spent the cold night in the open. Now she was lying on the grass with a thin shawl covering half of her body. Once in a while her eyes would well up with tears almost choking her. Something seemed to be haunting her. 

A woman approached and  shook her gently. There was no response. The woman nudged her again this time with a little force. There was a little movement and Naseebo (not her real name) opened her eyes and looked at the woman. Still there was no response. 

“You have been laying here for the last two days. What is wrong?” the woman asked.

Naseebo started crying.

“Why don’t you go home?” the woman asked her gently.
“I want to die.” Naseebo sobbed.
“What is wrong? Let me help you. I can take you to your home if you want.” The woman volunteered.
“It is paining all over.” Naseebo pointed to various parts of her body.
“I can take you to a doctor” the woman said sympathetically.
“But I have no money”
“I have enough money for your treatment” the woman was persistent.
“You will spend money for my treatment” Naseebo appeared surprised. After some persuasion Naseebo agreed to accompany the woman.
The woman signaled to a Rickshaw puller to stop, helped her on to the rickshaw and reached Pingalwara.
As soon a she alighted from the rickshaw her face drained off all color.
"You are going to beat me” she looked very scared.
“No, No” the woman gently took her to Dr Inderjit Kaur.
“You are going to beat me” she looked pathetically at Dr Inderjit Kaur.
“No, don’t be afraid, I am a doctor, I’ll help you.” Dr Inderjit Kaur assured her.
“What is your problem?”
Naseebo still looked very unsure. “Get her a glass of water” Dr Inderjit Kaur asked one of the Sevadars.
“It is paining all over” she was still very hesitant.
“When did you eat last” Dr Inderjit Kaur asked her gently.
Naseebo appeared to be thinking.
Dr Inderjit Kaur again asked a Sevadar to give her a good meal.
Half an hour passed and Naseebo returned to Dr Inderjit Kaur. She appeared to be in a much better shape.
“How could they do this to me” she asked nobody in particular.
“Tell me what has happened?” Dr Inderjit Kaur asked
“My son has got married without telling me.”
“Yes, that is not a good thing. As a mother you should have been informed. But how did this happen?”
“I have two daughters. Both are married in very good families. The first one has so much of land that they need four tractors to plough them. The other one is equally good they have three tube wells for watering their lands. I gave my daughters so many things on their marriages…” her eyes were full of tears.
“It is my son………” and she let out choicest Punjabi abuses.
“What has your son done? Is he in some kind of trouble? May be we can be of some help.” Dr Inderjit Kaur enquired.
“I sent him to America and after all that he has got married against my wishes”
“Has he got married to an American girl.”
“That would have been thousand times better. He has got married to an Indian girl”
“Is the girl he has married not beautiful, or not good enough for him.”
“That is not the question.” Naseebo was clearly angry now.
“I had fixed up his marriage and they were very good people, they had promised a car, T.V and thousand other things; gold and what not…” Naseebo let out a cry.
“How could they do it to me? My son refused to take a penny on his marriage and I sent him to America for studies. This is what he learnt there.”
“They beat me up when I refused to ……….” Naseebo wailed.
She again burst out with the juicy Punjabi abuses for her husband.
Suddenly she got up “I have got 12 acres of land on my name, I must go” her eyes were far away thinking.
“Let me give you some money. We will put you in a bus.” Dr Inderjit Kaur was a little shocked by her outburst.
“I have all the money I want” she took out a wad of notes from her pocket and before any one could stop her she walked out of Pingalwara.