Chapter 1: The Big Lady

An account of a little girl's world through her eyes as an act of kindness lands her in trouble.

A little girl walks through the street. She is holding a red balloon. Her dress is simple and she has been wearing it for two constant days. She stops outside a retail store and waits until it gets crowded She waits for the shopkeeper to turn to the other side while he fetches the candies she asked for. She sneaks a packet of glucose biscuits quickly and shoves it in her pocket. She starts running the moment she gets a few steps away from the shop. And she keeps running and running until she reaches a big old mansion. The mansion towers over all the other buildings around it. It has a dainty grey-ish look to it despite being painted in white. She's afraid to go inside.

The guard is unaware of her presence, peering inside the gate, or she'd be kicked away.

So she sneaks in when he goes to the loo. She runs to the backyard of the house. There's a little dog there. The moment he sees her, his tail starts wagging uncontrollably. The dog is brown with big yellow eyes. He approaches her and licks her feet and then runs around her in circles. The girl giggles. Then she remembers. She has to be quick. She can't be spotted. This has been going on for a few months now. Every day she goes to some shop or the other to buy some cheap candy and sneaks something for Willy to eat. It was she who named him Willy. She still remembers the day her mother had sneaked him inside the mansion. She had found him whimpering outside the mansion while she was returning after buying vegetables for the Big Lady.

Her mother worked as a servant in the mansion until 2 months ago when the Big Lady had asked them to leave the place. She still doesn't know why. Her mother never tells her. Now they had shifted to a small one-room quarter across the street and her mother was working as a sweeper in a school. The uncle with the big mustache and fat belly had come to her house a few days back. She remembers sleeping hungry the day before that, and the day before that. But he brought food and sweets for them. Her mother had been reluctant at first but when uncle gave her the sweets, mother looked at her sadly and nodded. Then uncle gave her more money to spend. Mother asked her to go play outside but not wander too far. Uncle had asked her to not return too soon. He wanted her to enjoy the outside world.

When her mother had interjected, he kept his hand on her shoulder and said, "Roshni, let the girl enjoy. She's just a kid. Do you want her to spend a life like yours? Should I tell her how we know each other?"

She did not know how they had met but she did not like him much despite him being so kind to them. When she had returned, he was gone but her mother's eyes looked puffy and she was washing all her clothes vigorously.

It was the same day when she finally sneaked into the mansion to meet Willy. He was starving and looked sad. If only she could bring him home.. but mother said that the landlord will never allow him in the house.

She gave Willy the biscuits that she had in her pocket. He was very very hungry. She knew the big lady wasn't home yet. The big lady is middle-aged and loves to party. She had guests over every other day. Men, women from different places. They came in big different cars. She remembers the one and the only time she had sat in a car. Her mother was sick, very sick. The big lady had asked her driver to drop mother at the hospital. Her mother kept begging the big lady to drop her daughter at her aunt's house until she was in the hospital. The big lady wanted her to do the work her mother used to. But her mother had begged her not to. "Please leave her aside", she had said. "Please. She is too young." And then she had been dropped off at her aunt's place until her mother came back after a few days.

She was lost in thought but was shook when suddenly Willy started barking. She saw the big lady's car parked behind her. She was so lost in thought that she didn't realize that she had to go back before the Big Lady comes back. She looked around her for a space to hide but her eyes got fixed on a shadow towering behind her. She slowly turned and just by looking at the shadow on the ground, she knew it was the Big Lady.