What's her mistake ? - 23

“Nammu! All this time I was not happy that I was pregnant. The unborn child which was the root cause for the death of my father directly because he died by hearing that I was pregnant. The same unborn child was also the reason for the death of my husband. I somehow had started hating the baby which was in my womb. But the moment the first wife of my husband wanted the child, I also started to crave for it. There was this wild streak in me which commanded me not to handover the kid to her. It is your kid, my inner voice announced...” She closed her eyes as if to relive the moment again, and said ”At that moment I decided to not to give the child to anyone else!”

Dammu decided to run away from her captivity. She was not in a town. She was in a big house somewhere in the wilderness in Northern part of India, God knows where. She knew no one there.

“It was a nightmarish 6 months I spent. I did not even get a chance to escape. My pregnancy had completed 32 weeks. The lady doctor who was coming to see me was kept under such a vigil that I could not convey any message to her” Dammu sighed.

Nammu Aunty was watching her with widely opened eyes.

“Sounds like Chandamama story Nammu? Well, when I think of it now, I also feel like that. But when I underwent that torture, it was unbearable. The growth of the baby was extraordinary. So my tummy was bloated. I had put on a lot of weight. I could not run away even if I wanted to!” Dammu laughed and both of us added our laughter to hers.

“Doctor did not become alarmed?” asked Nammu Aunty. I could barely able to catch her words. But I too had the same question on my lips.

“Oh no! those guys were not what to you call sophisticated. Come to think of it! Could she have been a trained, experienced nurse? May be. I was past beyond caring. But I wanted to take away the baby at whatever cost.”

“My husband’s parents did not come near me. Only the first wife visited me regularly. I could get some insight about their plight to have the baby. The first wife is the only child of her grandparents. Her parents had died. The grandparents are old and very rich. They had written all the property to the heir of my husband. The irony is that my husband never slept with his first wife. But he had made me a future mother. May be they were playing a deeper game. I did not know what their plot was till my husband’s younger brother told me secretly”

Oh, this story is so convoluted, I thought.

But Dammu had decided to pour out the whole thing to us.

“The grandparents were in a faraway place. So, I believe they sent rumors that my husband has come back. Also that now their granddaughter is pregnant with his child. I found that my husband’s first wife’s tummy was little round. It started growing month on month. Then I realized that they are playing the trick to the hilt. So, by the time I was eight months pregnant, even she had a big stomach as if she is also 8 months pregnant. ....”

Dammu was struggling with words, I could see that! May be the childbirth was a tough situation for her then. But where is the child now? The story she is telling is at least 25 years old. This means, she must have a son or daughter who is 24 years of age. Where is that person now? I could not help wondering. But my ears were straining to hear the next part of Dammu’s story.

She was preparing to tell the next part.

“Well, all these were known to me through my husband’s younger brother. May be he found that I am not happy staying here. May be he had some compassion towards me. May be he was in love with me!” Dammu laughed. “It was I think a Friday evening. My husband’s first wife had gone to the other end of the haveli where there was a temple of Kali. Suddenly my husband’s brother came and told, ‘Please pack your bare necessities. We are going’   I was surprised and suspicious. I asked him why the hurry and where are we going. He said, ‘my people may not allow you to live after the birth of the baby. So, if you want to stay alive, we have to leave from here before the baby is born. Are you comfortable to leave with me from here? He asked seriously”.