“Maaaaaaaaa, see na … Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, “Pari cried out

 “Slow, beta. You will fall down.  What is it, Pari?”

“Maaaa… chotolate… see two chotolates.”

 Mamta laughed out loud. It is Chocolate, Pari. Not Chotolate, Beta.

“Yes, yes, chocolate only na.”

Mamta laughed out again and hugged Pari, her three-year-old daughter. She meant the world to her.  She had conceived Pari through IVF & after about nine years of her marriage, it had been successful. She had received her little angel… Pari.

The curse of not being able to be a mother is worse than death itself. Sudhir, her husband, had been supportive, and he loved Mamta through her struggling phases.  Sudhir was a strict Maths teacher, but at home, he was the soft cushion that held Mamta  kindly with empathy. And on days when Mamta felt broken with unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy, Sudhir’s reassurances felt like a soothing balm. He would embrace Mamta while she would bury her face in his chest & cry to her heart’s content.  Mamta had kind of accepted her fate – of being barren- however it was then that a miracle touched her life. She had conceived when the couple had not even planned it. The two positive lines on the pregnancy test kit were something Mamta had thought she would never witness. The sight had made her speechless. Was it joy? Was it disbelief? Was it suppressed anger? She could not pinpoint the emotion.  It took a couple of days for the feeling to sink in that there was  now a  life  within her; that she was going to be a mother!  Sudhir was ecstatic, too. The couple had grandly welcomed Pari & the entire neighbourhood had never seen such an extravagant celebration of a girl child before! As if happiness had a new destination now!

Pari defined her name, too. She was a cute little doll with glazed eyes & curly hair. A little bundle of joy that had brought an immense amount of happiness to the household.  Pari captured the attention of every heart with her innocent smile & never hesitated to jump into any arms that opened towards her. Nana, Nani, Dada, and Dadi had envisioned Goddess Laxmi within Pari. Pari was not just a child. She was hope, faith, trust & the future of Mamata & Sudhir’s bond.

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“Pari… Smile na!  Say cheese… See photo…. Click Click.” Montu said and clicked  Pari’s pictures with his phone. Montu, aged about 16 or so years, had been Sudhir’s student and stayed close by.  He had been affectionate towards Pari. He would often sneak into the house and search for Pari, and they would play around for hours. It was as if Pari were under a big brother’s surveillance. Mamta had been worried initially, but later had eased in, sensing Montu’s affection.

“Pari…You want chotolate?” Pari nodded. “Then say cheeesee.” Today, Montu had taken Pari into the secluded part of the terrace. The backdrop of the sunset looked beautiful with its crimson hues.

Pari imitated Montu, resembling a tiny rat with two of her central incisor teeth pointing out of her mouth. She stretched her tiny hand and wanted to grab the chocolate that Montu waved at her.

Click. Montu clicked the picture while Pari successfully managed to almost snatch the chocolate from Montu’s hands.

“Eeeeeee chotolate…… Eeeeeeee….” Pari was on cloud nine after her victory of getting the chocolate into her tiny little palms.

Montu looked at Pari & then suddenly uploaded the photograph to the AI platform & then gave a prompt while biting his nails as lust overpowered  his mischievous eyes.

A few seconds later… Montu could not believe his eyes. An explicit image of Pari was right in front of him. The adrenaline rushed in his veins & he felt as if he had lost balance. He looked at Pari, who was busy licking her chotolate, rather the Chocolate and suddenly looked at Montu and grinned.

Montu threw the phone away & squeezed Pari’s mouth with his one hand in a tight grip, almost suffocating the little soul. Pari felt uneasy and tried to cry out loud, but in vain. Before she could understand what was happening to her, there was blood. The white cotton dress with frills had been torn apart. He held her two tiny legs & tore them apart while imposing himself on the little soul. He did not stop even when Pari had stopped breathing. Montu had turned into a demon! The chocolate lay open in Pari’s tiny hands.

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 Sudhir opened his Twitter account, the ultimate rant central. People who had never even met a divorcee in real life were busy labelling allegations. Some people who were active in every woman’s DM were busy giving sermons of loyalty & solitude. Few others spoke about technological warfare. And the world leaders seemed to be in some other zone. Was it already WW3? Sudhir felt a little overwhelmed. He wanted his sanity back, his little own Pari.

“Mamta, where is Pari?”

Our  Pari is playing with her big brother, Montu, on the terrace.

“Montu! He had bunked school today. I will have to talk to his parents. It is his Class Tenth!”

 Mamta went out of the room, calling out for her little angel…. Pari.

“Pari… Pari Beta … Where are you? Pari…. Pari!!!!

Love,

Chinmayee

The Theme for the Blog Hop is to honour the National Girl Child Day, celebrated every year on January 24 in India.

“This post is a part of ‘Voices of Her Blog Hop’ hosted by Manali Desai and Sukaina Majeed under #EveryConversationMatters blog hop series “