GUDIYAA
Story of a small village girl
Sharda alias Gudiyaa, extremely beautiful, was a thirteen year old daughter of Vilas and Kunda. The family of six hailed from Sonegarh, a remote village in Maharashtra, India.
Farming, the sole occupation of the villagers suffered at the hands of Mother Nature, who refused to bless their land with rain. As expected, the gullible and illiterate villagers got entangled in a web of inescapable debt trap. Most of them lost their land to the ruthless money lenders. Vilas was one of them.
Poverty and destitution drove him and his family to Bombay. The strenuous ride from their village to the city took its toll. Santosh, the youngest member of the family, died of malnutrition and fatigue on the way. Little did Vilas realize that their nightmare had just begun. They were unaware of the fact, that Bombay, with all its wealth, did not guarantee prosperity; the city had a reputation of being cruel, indifferent and selfish.
Vilas failed to find any permanent work when they reached Bombay. Even Kunda was unsuccessful. Finally, out of frustration she accepted the job of a maid with a middle aged couple. It was fashionable with the rich people of the city to hire maids; to clean their utensils, mop floors and wash clothes. The couple however had a bad temper. Unable to bear their wrath, she quit. Their woes increased when the local goons started harassing them for "Hafta", a fee charged by the mafia to live on the pavements of Bombay.
Kunda continued to work in short stints as a maid in various homes. On the other hand the once sedate Vilas became an alcoholic, a wife beater and a looser. The thought of her drunken husband sexually abusing Gudiyaa worried Kunda, who decided to take her along whenever she went to work.
It was at this point of time Kunda found a job for Gudiyaa at Mr. Singh's house, to work as a maid on 24 hour basis. Impressed by the newly married couple's talk she left Gudiyaa with them, thinking her daughter would be safe and at the same time earn a little money too.
"I will save whatever she earns for her marriage," she thought.
A week passed, Kunda missed Gudiyaa. She decided to visit her. But the moment she saw her, she knew something was horribly wrong with her daughter. The once chirpy Gudiyaa had become a robot. She found her weak and frightened. Kunda confronted the couple who told her that her daughter was lazy and a thief.
"Thank your stars that we did not call the police," they told her.
Kunda brought her home. She was shocked to see small burn marks on her body. She questioned Gudiyaa who just stared at her. That night Gudiyaa shivered, screamed, cried and laughed in her sleep. Tears flowed from Kunda's eyes when she saw her daughter's abnormal behavior.
"I should not have allowed her to work for those cruel people," she thought.
The insane and mysterious nocturnal behavior of Gudiyaa finally stopped. She started accompanying her mother to work once again. Things started looking up. Kunda was extremely happy with her new employer's. The Chatterjee's were warm and kind people. Their son Debojeet was a cultured and decent boy.
For the first few days Gudiyaa did nothing but sit in one corner and watch her mother do the daily chores. But on Mrs. Chatterjee's coaxing and cajoling she started helping Kunda. Gudiyaa was especially fond of Debojeet who taught her to read and write.
Debojeet smiled at her whenever she called him "Bhaiyaa", brother; she had a peculiar way of pronouncing the word, which he liked.
Gudiyaa found a true brother in Debojeet. He too started liking her because she was meticulous and kept all his books and other things in proper place. A month passed by. Gudiyaa now looked forward to accompany her mother to Mrs. Chatterjee's house. On her birthday, Debojeet gifted Gudiyaa a Barbie doll.
At home, that night Gudiyaa started shivering and shouting once again in her sleep. The old illness had suddenly revived. Kunda was at her wits end with her behavior. She decided to tell Mrs. Chatterjee. Next day Kunda discussed the incidence with her, who took Gudiyaa to a renowned psychiatrist Dr. Shrivastava.
"She is afraid of something. I think she has been abused and tortured. I need more time to find the reason for her unusual behavior," he said, after diagnosing her.
Kunda blamed the Singh's for her Gudiyaa's illness. She then narrated the whole incident to Mrs. Chatterjee.
Several days later, when the Chatterjee's were having dinner, Debojeet told his mother that he had gifted Gudiyaa, a Barbie Doll on her birthday.
That was the day when Gudiyaa fell ill at night. Was there a connection between the toy and her illness, she thought.
She decided to tell Dr. Shrivastava about it.
During their next visit Mrs. Chatterjee told the doctor about the toy which Debojeet had given Gudiyaa.
With the new information provided by Mrs. Chatterjee, Dr. Shrivastava diagnosed Gudiyaa successfully.
He then narrated the barbaric incident to Mrs. Chatterjee.
"This is what had happened," he said, "One day while she was playing with a Barbie Doll at Mr. Singh's house; they punished her for wasting time and not doing her work. The couple then seized the Barbie Doll from her hand and called her a thief. She was paraded naked in the house. The couple even burnt her with cigarette. The trauma of abuse had left her scarred mentally."
"The old illness surfaced once again when Debojeet gifted her Barbie doll?" asked Mrs. Chatterjee.
"Yes. But don't worry. Love and counseling will cure her," replied the doctor.
Mrs. Chatterjee enrolled her in a school and personally took her for counseling
Today, Gudiyaa is a teacher in her village where she distributes love and toys along with imparting education.
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