Chapter-1 (The first Meeting)
At Raghav and Jankis age everyone somewhere is looking for love, few people acknowledge it and most don't. Raghav was not looking for love coz he had a near heartbreak over his high-school sweetheart. His was a lot of pride and emotions dragged through gutter at the pretext of loving...he definitely felt well used for his name and family connections... he had lot of pride in his ancestry but also saw now that females even at their tender age were quite matured to grasp their opportunities well and proper. His breakup could have been cured at his clarification of few misunderstandings... but he just chose not to. He saw things clearer now... his sweetheart had wanted the most popular guy in school in terms of academic results... family name and wealth but not just Raghav. But he took it as his lucky escape from a dreary future.
But Janki she had this very weird way at looking over this romance thingy all together... as if it was some illusion that only she could see through... all that was romantic for her age girls was actually mockery to her. Her friends often talked at length about this feeling... their crushes...their dreams of their Prince charming or Princesses... how certain person made their heart rate go faster ...how sleepless nights, pouring over their sweethearts messages, emails or even cards and letters were highlights of their day... but Janki looked at them with a touch of pity, a dash of exasperation and large shot of matured patients which caused her friends some exasperation of their own. But above all she was a friend who would stand with them at any cost to herself. Well she would stand only till you were having any romantic feelings for her at least...
Two such people you must be expecting to have met while Janki would be dancing in rain in slow motion or Raghav were entering the college in his Harley Davidson Bike while his biking gears and that Rayban were adding his charisma to the flying brown hair thrown awry and away from his face yeah??
Nope!! this was not that kind of a story... Janki and Raghav passed each other few times in the college without even a sideways glance to each other...no lightning struck them nor any great incident took place... it was a debate topic that was brought up by the lecturer by chance...
"Should prostitution be a punishable act legally?" shocked?? yep that was the topic in a general class of some 25 students ...19 year olds all impulsive and eager to react to the topic quite enthusiastically ... Raghav being an ace debater was listened to with great expectation from the whole lot and were very impressed by his impassioned words as to how the profession lead to degeneration and degradation of the institution of pious relationships of society... his disgust was nothing new among the lot of them... boys and girls were equally moved by the words, logic and passion of the orator... except one. So while Mrs Anishtha Gupta saw admiration for Raghav's views in every eye in the class she was quite amused and intrigued by a pair of eyes which looked bored to death and amused at the most on the naivety of the impassioned speech. As Teachers of first order always dared to probe such reactions, she very politely enquired of the class if anybody had contradictory views about the topic... none raised hands not even the owner of those intriguing eyes.
So Mrs. Gupta had to succumb to her curiosity by asking Janki directly what did she think of the topic. Janki though never liked to get at a point of focus in a crowd, was also not a coward... so she began with her point of views on some very raw touchy note...
" Hi friends... the topic is touchy but I don't agree to the point of views presented here as yet... you all don't have to agree with me too but to tell you the truth if by punishing prostitutes we could solve the degradation problem of the society then it won't be the oldest profession on earth... so let me take it step by step...
By declaring prostitution a punishable act we are planning to stop our society from being a dirty place are we? if that was so, then what about rapes and molestation of children of the most protected families... I don't see any prostitutes there... who are these people and where are they even coming from...
Secondly, our mothers and sisters, aunts and friends would have more dedicated husbands to them, is that it?... a relationship is between two people, if any one of them is weak enough to succumb to the lures of the third person, it's the problem of two people than that third person(the prostitute here) however seductive qualities she might have at the end of the day. Love can be played as a game only when two people involved do not have the guts and morals enough to stand the trials of life... if vows are compromised it only the man and woman who are responsible, not a single other person ...
Thirdly, any single man going to the prostitutes for the sake of companionship is again not wrong in my eyes... who are we to judge what the drudgery of life brings in to those who are lonely... there are some very sensitive issues and circumstances out there we have hardly any knowledge about... so I would like to stand at a neutral ground there than coming to a haste judgment.
Lastly, as a profession which is looked down at, I would like to ask of you all to give me one profession which is noble from one end to other without fail... We have seen Doctors keeping dead people on ventilators to make money... lawyers supporting and winning crucial cases for criminals... our police taking bribe and doing what even veteran criminals would think twice to do... teachers molesting and taking advantage of their students... our noble parliamentary members earning a fortune at the pretext of developments through huge amount of bribes... So who would you choose to throw the first stone my friends, I would like to know.
Thanks for your time and my apologies for any hurt to your august sensibilities outraged at my words. " this was said with very glittery eyes which conveyed every bit of passion even though the tone was excessively suave and the words were polite but the look actually challenged many but specially Raghav. Jankis smile and eyes made it clear that she understood his appalling feelings for her thoughts as a nave 19 years old student of the delicate gender. And that slight Victorian bow she made looking right at him was mockery of first order... the mischief was twinkling in those eyes and come-uppance was awaited. When she turned to look at the lecturer the slight smile of Professor Gupta actually made Raghav's temper fly through the roof. You are so out of your depths my lady... Raghav replied through his eyes which were throwing barbs at Janki...
Later ...
Just as another lecture was going on and all the students were busy making their notes Janki saw her 6 year old friend was peeking through the window trying to search for her... she started to smile in preparation of welcoming him but then she noticed the tear stains glittering on those soft cheeks... something was wrong all her instincts were screaming at her...she just left everything and started to move purposefully towards the door...by that time the boy too had seen her and was relieved to see he already had her attention... the Professor was suddenly looking at her questioningly... Janki just had the time to flung a very hasty "I need to leave the class immediately Ma'am" at her and left. She just picked up the urchin while still running in full sprint... her sensible flat shoes hardly making any complaints.
The slums where her friend lived were just at the back of her college but the atmosphere here was world apart... the screams of a woman being beaten could be heard from afar, crowd was standing in a circle but no one dared to stop mayhem... before the next hand could touch the body it was held very firmly in another... the six year old rushed to his mother and the crowd gasped in unison at the audacity of a girl of unknown origin interfering in between a well deserved beating that the husband was giving his wife... Janki was so outraged that her whole body was ready to tear apart the bas***d limb from limb...her eyes glittered with unshed tears but she was not done with this guy yet... removing a ball chain that she always carried as a makeshift belt she started wrapping it on her fist telling few ladies standing there to take the kids and the beaten mother away and to tend to them immediately... in the crowd which was hanging to see the outcome no one thought to question her authority...and of course the chain was not a lesser reminder to the perils that might befall on any of their heads...
"Now you will come with me or this whole fiasco will end at a police station of my choice and then you can tell me about your preference of any jail in this country as you will be living there for a very long time...want to tell me of it" Jankis words though were in very local hindi the impact was no lesser... she had full attention of the drunkard perpetrator now... in the meantime few of her classmates came in the line of her vision...
" Yahan pe handpump kahan hai?" few of the neighbors showed her the way, after making him sit under gushing chilled water for the better part of the 10 minutes and making the guy realize that his nemesis was going nowhere, the guy tried to tell her how his wife was having affair with a guy at whose place she worked as a maidservant... and how his babies went days without their mother's care and even food... he stood crying louder and louder and trying to gain more and more attention from people around him... once he had stopped and got confident that he has convinced Janki and her fellow students of the justification of his actions and concern for his kids... he started to get away dejectedly as the most helpless person around.
Janki asked very softly "kya aap puri tarah se hosh mein hai ab?"
Devender replied very dramatically " haan madamji, humari toh aisi hi katti hai zindagi, kitni bhi peeyo akhir mein toh utar hi jaati hai"
Janki stood up and then took a long breath, looked at him and asked "Pukka ?" and he made the mistake of nodding. All hell broke loose then, she beat the hell out of a guy who was 5 inches taller than her and at least 15 kgs heavier.. but every punch and kick was deliberately more to humiliate than to hurt... n then she repeated
"Meri pasand ka thana aur tumhari pasand ki jail... mera vadaa hai. Bas ek baar aur aisi galati karne ki jurrat karna, bas ek mouka aur tum jaan jaoge ki main apne vaado ki kitni pakki hun."
Raghav was standing in the crowd too and was shocked at what he saw as the most dramatic display of nuisance by a girl... every single word Janki said had that very pleasant voice and tone as if she were discussing the weather forecast for the day but the smile was so much devilish that it actually gave the guy lying down shivers... nobody could discount the implication of the threat in their right mind. This girl was definitely dangerous and should be avoided at best. A clear case for bedlam, and no doubts about it.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
