Teri Lakeerein

7. Her Duty

The weather was perfect today. The chill of winters was starting to subside, and last night's shower had marked the beginning of spring. Most trees in the courtyard still stood devoid of their greens, but a few had actually started to flower too. Luckily, it wasn't as windy and so it was possible to bask in the evening chatter of children playing out front while the adults engaged in idle conversation, a reprieve from the day's hard work.

Karishma nodded as Usha, the house help placed her teacup on the table and shifted her attention from her surroundings to the task she had been pouring over for days now.

A multitude of papers were strewn over the tea table, each demanding her utmost attention.

"Karishma ji, ye rahe aapke papers", Billu, the secretary walked over to Karishma and extended a file towards her, while taking his seat on the chair by her side.

She nodded, and took the file absentminded, her gaze busy sweeping over the sheets in her other hand.

"I still find western culture quite questionable but- Karishma began as she placed the sheet on the table and turned her attention to Billu, "-but their administration and planning are indeed years ahead of us".

Billu stole a glance at the paper that had impressed Karishma this much and nodded, "We did suffer Drain of wealth after all, and we are still undergoing social reforms. We have a long way to go".

"Indeed!" Karishma remarked as she lifted her teacup and took a sip from it, while a million thoughts ran across her head.

Even the smallest county in developed nations like US, UK boasted of every basic facility that the county residents would need to live a decent life- access to healthcare, security, sustenance, entertainment and most importantly, education. They had perfectly functional schools and colleges at local levels, thereby providing easy access for early years of education. While here, they had schools, that could never compete with those big city schools, not only in infrastructure, but in the quality of teaching also. The only government schools that were worthy enough, were not everywhere and required children to complete for the seats.

Karishma sighed. The enrolment percentage in their village school was still so low. It had about gone under four years back and was still struggling to remain afloat. First of all, it only offered education till class 8, and secondly there were never enough teachers to teach. There were days when a single teacher could be found teaching it all. The influential families preferred to have their children study either in the private school 10 km away or they'd have them study in main Lucknow city even, but not here. The quality was at best, sub-par. But what about those impoverished children who weren't as blessed.

Karishma placed the teacup at the foot of her seat and roused from it.

Wasn't it her duty to give them a fighting chance?

She started pacing the length of courtyard, and folded her hands in greeting, when a passerby greeted her. A melancholic smile graced her lips now. Would she have ever dreamt of being here had it not been for dadda?

"Usha, bahot bhookh lagi hai, jaldi se kuch le aao!", Suraj's voice echoed behind her, and Karishma turned to see her brother dropping into a seat like a pin pricked balloon with the bag still slung over his shoulder. She smiled.

"How was your exam?"

Suraj groaned, sliding deeper into the chair. "Ho gaya bas!"

Karishma had about glared at him when he added, "tension mat lo, paas zaroor ho jayenge. Par ab main kal college nahi jaa raha. Itni door rozana jana is so exhausting!!" He whined.

Interrupting Usha, Karishma took over the plate of piping hot paratha, and sat beside Suraj. Breaking a morsel then, she forwarded it towards his lips, and he readily nibbled down on it.

"Suraj, jeevan ka koi bharosa nahi hota. Rishte, pesa, dost sab asthayi hote hain, parantu shiksha jo ek baar grahan karoge, toh hamesha tumhara saath nibhaegi. Tumhara snatak ka do saal hi shesh hai. Hum chahte hain ki tumhe aatmanirbhar banta hua dekhein. Hum toh hame-

"Offoh!" Suraj pushed away her hand and straightened up. "Dadda ko maat deti hain aap, ye emotional atyachaar main!"

He cupped her face then, "Main kal college bhi jaunga, graduate bhi banunga aur aapka naam bhi roshan karunga. Par nirbhar toh main aap par hi rahunga!", With that said, he pulled the plate from her hand and rushed inside the house, leaving her sentimental in his trail.

"Rokiye! Rokiye! Kisi ne dekh liya toh aapke bhaukal ka kya hoga?" Billu interrupted, and immediately earned a slap to the back of his head.

Karishma sniffed once then and immediately, centered her concentration, extremely serious.

"Billa, tumhara madad ka bahot jarurat hai humein. Hum chahte hain ki sitapur ka har ek baccha sushikshit aur swavlambi ho. Iske liye, humein gram pathshala ka sabse pehle kayakalp karna hoga aur uske baad hum rakhenge prastav, gram main ek college khulwane ke liye".

"Pathshala ka renovation toh mumkin hai lekin college- Billu trailed hesistant.

"Jab tak muh ke bal na giro, tab tak aap haare nahi ho", She remarked and started to dictate to him, what all facilities needed to be revamped or constructed, what the estimated costs of repairs was going to be based on the inquiries Kishan and Kiran had made on her order.

"And what about teachers?" Billu asked, an hour later, having made a comprehensive list and revisiting all the necessary documents that he would be needing to put across District Magistrate to legitimize their demand.

"Uske vishaya main bhi hum kuch sochte hain. Aur billu, kal hum bahot vyast hain toh dadda ke sath tum chale jana aur lage haath, Lucknow ke prasiddh colleges ke wo pamfle---pamflet bhi le aana".

"It's PamPHlet, Karishma ji", He corrected her,

"Isse pehle hum tumhe leta dein, jaao yahan se!" She shot him a seething look and shook her head, as he scampered away.

Sun had descended and the starless dark sky wasn't offering any reprieve. People had retreated into the safety of their homes with the onset of dark and now, it was eerily quiet. Karishma stretched her arms and started to collect her papers, before a single sheet slipped from her hold and fell onto the grass.

Picking it up, she turned it over to see a map, where three positions were circled in blue.

"Hum wada karte hain Suraj, ki hum tumhe itna saksham banaenge ki tum poore gram ko roshan kar sako aur dadda ka khwab jo aaj bhi adhoora hai, usse tum poora kar sako".

That said, she slipped the map into a red leatherbound diary and walked inside the house, while a single rose petal slipped and fell to the ground.

*******************

Aminabad:

Lost to the world of dreams, a woman mumbled in her sleep when her phone started to ring, and her dreams fled as her gaze focused on the caller id.

"Jai Hind, sir".

And as the conversation carried, the woman's expressions deepened into one of utter misery.

"Yes sir, it's high time ki inn gundo ko police power dikhaya jaaye".

"...."

"Ji sir, I will be at the HQ by 9. Jai Hind, sir. Goodnight".