Riddles of Life

The faces of Payel and Megha are still fresh in my mind, so also their young mother Mohua! There is a stamp of sadness on their faces, even as they recall the one who is languishing in Presidency Central Correctional Home. Megha is 8 and Payel is 6, and yet they miss their father. Circumstances had forced their father to murder a partner in his petty business, and today he is a lifer, and has already completed four years, and if he is good in the correctional home, he may see the light of day after about 10 years, but there is no guarantee that he would walk scot free if his character is not up to the mark!

But I shudder to think of these two kids growing up without the loving care of the father; they meet him behind bars once a while, but that is not enough for them to feel that they have someone they can lean on to meet their needs. They seem to chase clouds, and the moment they think that everything will be fine, they realize that they are caught by unknown fears! How can life be so cruel in the case of some hapless victims of circumstances! I do not much worry about the punishment that their father needs to accept, but the plight of these two kids and the young lady, who has to live each day of her life, hoping that one day her husband would return home and everything may be fine!

With none to support her materially and financially, save her father, Mohua's life is a big question mark; thanks to the Apostolic Carmel sisters, who support the education of Payel and Mohua through their Back Home project, but then what about their two meals a day, and their clothes, medical bills. The two girls have a whole life before them, and after a couple of years, they might think life is too cruel for them to go through and may look for avenues to ease the burden of their mother. Will they follow the footsteps of their father, while attempting to face the harsh realities of life? Time will tell us about it.

The elder daughter Megha is aware that her father may not return home, and her consoling words to her father, when she meets him at the correctional home is this : Do take care of yourself, and dont worry about us! She does not expect her father to return home, and deep down there is an unknown pain in this little heart. Even when she tries to smile, some where in the corner of her lips, she betrays that pain. Can anyone on earth fulfill the void that had been created by the "loss" of her father? The dark episodes of her childhood may mar her entire future, and that maybe a sad thing.

Is there God, and if he is there, then why should this happen to me, I can hear 32-year old Mohua murmuring, and no one can give her an acceptable answer. She would be forever grateful to God, even if part of her dreams of a happy family is redeemed by the return of her husband, but that can only be a wish fulfillment. If there is a simple support system to stand by the two girls and their mother, then there are chances that they will be able to face the many scorching summer and torrential rains and nail-biting winters. There they might find consolation that not all is lost!