Welcome to the world of Travels and tales!

Where are you? It’s 10.30 already. The function starts at 11. How could you be late for this?

Mishika, I am struck in traffic. Don’t worry, I will be there, for sure. I assured her.

You better be! She disconnected the call. I smiled.

She is always like this. But trust me, she got all the right to be angry. After all, she won the best Debut Singer award. After 3 years of hard work, after fighting with her destiny, and playing with her odds, she achieved this. Didi would have been the happiest to see Us like this.

Three years ago:

I was on my way back home. As I was in the city after a year, I went to catch up with friends. We all were so lost in conversations and it was 11 PM by that time we started. I started in my car, having an amazing ride back home. Then I saw her, near Thane police station. Female constables were beating her up, but she does not have any expression on her face. I stopped my car and went to them.

Kya hua? (What Happened?)

Tu kaun hein puchne k liye, ek lagau kya? (Who are you to ask?)

Meanwhile that Sub inspector came out staring at me.

Mam, AAP? Aap Major.Monjulika hein na jisko “Veer chakra” mila hei. (You are Major.Monjulika right? The one who got “Veer chakra”). I was reading the news yesterday. I saw that you took voluntary retirement.

(Those women constables were staring at me whilst he was talking to me)

What happened Mam? Why are you here? – he asked me in the most polite way possible.

Nothing, I was just passing by. I saw that your constables are beating up this woman. Therefore, I had to stop by – I replied

Oh, That! You know how it na Madam, She is that kind of Woman?

Which Kind?

Madam, That… She is a prostitute madam.

Oh, I see. Where did you find her in the act of doing the same? Where is her client? Why is she alone? Was it in a brothel? – My firm voice questioned him

No no, she was standing on the road waiting for a client – He mumbled.

Don’t you know that Prostitution is legal in India if it is carried out in a private residency of the prostitute or the other party’s house!

What? I can see the expression on his face.

That is what the law says. It is just that the house should not be within 500 yards of the public place. So, tell me, Inspector, what is the crime of this girl?

Madam wo kya hein na ki… that….!- Obviously he doesn’t have an answer.

Good, now let her go!

Madam, wo formalities?

I gave him a look and was about to take my phone out.

It is okay Madam; I will take care of it.

I nodded my head, turned to her, and said; Aap mere saath aa sakte hein.(You can come with me)

She stared into my eyes and followed me silently.

She was in a very bad condition. Her nose was bleeding and her forehead was full of bruises. I gave her the first aid kit.

It’s okay. She replied.

What’s your name? Where do you stay?

Mishika. I named myself. I do not have a house. I am New here. I used to stay in Sonagachi. It has been a week here. – There was rudeness in her tone.

That name gave me a flash of memories. I was lost in thoughts.

She broke the silence.

Why are you doing all this? New trend? I heard you took voluntary retirement. Do you want to become a politician by doing all this or what? – The sarcasm can be felt throughout.

Hello, Madammm, Lessy Ho kya??? Uthna pasand ayi kya mein (Are you a lesbian? Did you like me so much?)  – A weird giggle followed that question

No! – I am doing all this because I have been there! –I could gather the courage to say this.

What?

Yes, you heard me right. I was you once, and I know how it feels.

I started speaking. After all these years, I could dare!

 

I never knew who was my Amma, Abba. All I knew was the orphanage in which I grew up. It all started when I was 7. That man used to be the security guard for the girls’ hostel. Everyday night almost around 11 he used to come inside the juniors section and take one girl with him. I never knew why. But that day, he woke me up and gave me chocolate, and carried me on his shoulders to the gate. He used to have a small hut just beside the gate. He took me inside, sat on the chair, and made me sit on his lap. And he started pressing me down. He was holding me with one hand very firmly and my mouth with the other. It was painful. Very painful. I was suffocating and it was a lot of pain. He did that for some time, gave me another chocolate, and left me back in my dormitory.

That was the beginning!

At the age of 10, when I was in 5^th class, My social teacher used to call 5 6 girls to the teacher’s room. He used to make us stand in a line and Check our pockets. I never knew why! But one day he called only me to the teachers’ room and checked my pockets for a very long time till I started crying because of the pain.

It continued for so long. Things turned out worse after I attended age at 11.

My hostel security guard did the same, which he did earlier, but he started doing it without his pants. That day, when I felt like I was dying. To be honest, something inside me died that day. The next day, I ran away from that hell after piercing a compass straight into that thing that was trying to hurt me. I was running for so long. I was running until a woman standing beside the road stopped me.

“Maye tume key? Ei samaye kotha jechen?”- She asked who am I and where am I going at that time.

I started crying and told her everything. She consoled me and asked me to come along with her. I didn’t even think for a second and started following her.

It was Sonagachi!

She never asked anything from me neither she forced me into something. She asked me if I want to study. I said yes. She used to make me wear a Burkha and drop me at school from the back door. I completed sixth and seventh classes like that. She used to lock me up from outside in a room at night. Initially, I did not understand why but soon I realized that she was protecting me by not letting anyone know about my existence there.

I guess Life will always have different plans for us. One day, there was a police raid and they broke into the locked room. Though I was a normal teenage girl who is still in her class 8, they stamped me as a prostitute.

Didi was imprisoned for 7 years for getting a minor into prostitution. No one cared to listen to what I was saying. They wanted to change my life by sending me to a Welfare Home. The same welfare home which changed my life already. The same one which turned my childhood into a nightmare.

I stayed there for that one day and ran away on the same night. This time I was not running. I made my way to Sonagachi.

I started staying in the same house where Didi used to stay. Didi had many customers who became mine. It was very hard in the beginning but eventually, it became a job for me.

You know what, People think that we are paid for our bodies but the truth is we are paid for our Acting. At least that is how it used to be for me; I never felt anything when I used to sleep around. I used to feel like an actress who gets paid for her acting.

After the imprisonment, Didi came back from jail and she wasn’t like before. She became very lean and weak. I took her to the doctor and got to know that she got HIV. She expected the same actually. After coming back home she said that she do not want to be a burden on me. I tried convincing her a lot. She did not agree. You know what she said before leaving,

“I tried giving a life to a girl but I was not successful. If you really want to thank me, do that for me Monju”

She left. I never saw Didi again.

That one sentence that Didi said made me think. I was just 18 by then. I had good savings too.

I had many clients by then. One among them was a teacher. I made a deal with him to sleep without price so that he can get me admission in a school. I completed my 10^th class and applied for a distance degree in distance education.

God’s grace I guess. I could complete my degree in 3 years in first class. I gave up on prostitution by then and used to live on being a tutor for kids. It was never easy. However, I still thank Didi. I never had unprotected intercourse due to which I did not have any STDs.

I shifted to Mumbai, and I joined a call center when I was 22. I was preparing for all competitive exams possible.

I wrote SSC (Staff Selection Commission) thrice and I could clear it a third time. I was 24 when I stepped into that training field in Chennai. I still remember crying for Didi.

That changed my life. I was in the Indian army for 12 years.

You know what Mishika, You need not accept your destiny all the time. Sometimes you need to fight back.

A person who does not have anything to lose is the strongest ever. All he need to do is to give it a shot.

Dream, Trust and try is what I believed in. I know you would have had a different story altogether. We all do. However, the only thing, which matters, is how YOU are going to make it a different one.

She burst into tears. She cried a lot. I did not console her. The truth is no one can ever be consoled by someone else. Only they can do that.

She stayed in my house. She did not talk to me for a week. One day she came to me and said,

“Didi, I am a very good singer”

And, She became the first member of the “Didi” foundation.

This was the reason for my voluntary retirement.

The darkest phase of my life made the strongest me.

I wanted to find the victims of fate and let them know that they can be the warriors of their destiny.

After all, all I had to do was to let them know how strong they are!