APARAAJITA

She woke up with a heavy head. She could not sleep till 2 and now this din that woke her up! Last night was a busy one. Plenty of customers. Some provoked by the bonus payments in the festive season and others taking last sips before getting into a period of abstinence.

The noise was still there. "They have come to take some earth for the idol." What an irony ! The idol of the goddess of power made of earth from the courtyard of her weakest creations. She laughs at herself and goes near the tap to wash her face. On the side of the window blooms a bright purple flower. This wild creeper has been cut so many times but every time it rises again, peeping through the window with the same purple smile, living its name 'aparaajita'

Her warden, popularly known as bhabhi, is a woman in her late 50s. She runs the most popular brothel in lachchipur, a place famous for the trade. Lachchipur is a name derived from the name of the goddess Laxmi. She smiles again.

She was 8 when bhabhi bought her. She still has the memories of her childhood, as if preserved in the folds of malmal. Her village in midnapore, the pond that she bathed in, they games she played with the broken bangles of her mother.....

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She has decided now. She has had enough of it and can't live like this anymore. Durga puja was the best time to flee, when all the people are busy enjoying the fair. She wants to go to her village. But who is waiting ?? No. She will head straight towards Dhanbad, where Jhumpa lives. She has promised to get her a maid's job. She isn't used to hardships, and the salary is really petty. It's going to be a tough life there. Brothels make you so much trapped that you don't need to be locked to be kept inside!

But No. She has decided. Now nothing can hold her, Deb included. Debnath ran an illegal country liquor shop across the street and supplied to her customers as well. He was the only one she felt an affection for. A mere mention of his name would make her blush. She would dodge bhabhi for a date with him and get a scolding later. But his single smile would more than make up for all that. She asked him to take her away. But he wasn't ready. Running away with her would mean throwing away a smoothly running business. He could not do that. Not for her....

She got her answer that day. All he was interested in was free sex. She decided she will leave alone. Unlike this creeper on the window, she doesn't need a support to stand on.

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She threw the brick away. Her sari had stains of blood. But there was no time to think. She pushed open the door and started running at her highest pace. The train was about to arrive. This was the only option she had. She paced up even more. Limits of the soma stretched by the strength of the psyche. The sound of brass drums from the evening prayers filled the air. In the light of the lamp, sparkled the eyes of the goddess with blood stained spear in her hand. The chants rose

"ya devi sarvabhooteshu shaktiroopen sansthita;

namstasyye namstasyye, namstasyye namo namah"

When she reached the station, she heard a distant whistle. She was panting heavily and could hear the beats of her heart, aloud; sounding just like that railway tracks with the train arriving, in resonance with each other...

It was dawn when she woke up, alone in the train. The music from a vijaydashmi procession was getting louder, like reaching towards her. Women smeared in red vermilion were ecstatic.

Shubh Bijoy. Hail the victory....