Love not for sale by Anurag Garg

Author:Anurag Garg [Garg, Anurag]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788184007114
Publisher: Random House Publishers India Pvt. Ltd.
Published: 2015-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

8

That young girl was born in a village, a village of prostitutes: Bharatpur. In a rare case for her village, she was fair, unlike the other girls of the village. But like the other girls, she was also destined to be a prostitute one day. It’s not the only village of such kind.

One unfortunate day, her father died of sunstroke in the fields. She was just fourteen years old. Being the eldest child, she had to look after her old mother and siblings—a sister and brother; and to add to the misery, her mother suffered from the deadly disease of AIDS. They had no means to feed and clothe themselves. She had an uncle, who was a distant relative of her mother. The mother and daughter struggled to earn a living by selling handmade pots. People advised the mother to push her eldest daughter into the flesh trade, as she was very beautiful and could bring much more money than anyone else in the village.

One day, her uncle came up with an offer.

‘Sab kheriyat se hai, Ruksana?’ he said, folding his hands in a namaste.

‘Salaam alaikum, Bhaijaan,’ the old woman replied and offered him a glass of water. She was coughing a lot and her deteriorating health was visible to all. Her deadly disease was taking over her body slowly, slowly.

The man sat on a wooden chair, criss-crossing his legs.

‘What happened, Bhaijaan, how come you’re here?’ the mother asked.

‘I heard about your husband Rahim’s death. I was so saddened by the news that I had to drop by. I was worried about you and your young children,’ he kept the glass on the floor, and rested his palm on Ruksana’s shoulder.

The girl stood behind the door and overheard their conversation.

‘Ruksana, I know you must be worried about your elder daughter’s marriage, Zaheer’s education and Rehmat’s childhood. Their upbringing must be a concern, especially because of your ill health, and more so here in this village where people will be now eager to push her into prostitution. But being Rahim’s brother, I would like to lend you a hand to help you. I have a job for the eldest daughter in Delhi where she can earn well. In future, she could also marry a good man. I will arrange for everything. You just have to say yes.’

While the girl was trying to figure out what her uncle had just said, her mother, trusting the man blindly, touched his feet, saying, ‘I don’t how I can repay this debt in this life; this is so kind of you, Bhaijaan. She’s your daughter too. You know what’s good for her. I am so thankful to you.’

The man looked at the girl from the corner of his eyes, while she stood lost in thought. He came near her and she touched his feet. He rubbed his hand on her back. It was a bad touch. But she hoped her life would change for the better now, and that she would soon be able to pay for her mother’s treatment.

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