The sun shone softly as the day dawned with a pearly glow in the sky. Nitya, 12, sat nervously on the edge of the footpath in tattered clothes, staring at the deserted road ahead. She hadn’t sold a single tissue roll in the entire week. She had jet black hair and piercing black eyes. Living in a small slum pocket in the heart of Mumbai, she had no clue what the world had come to because of the pandemic. She had no idea what corona virus was. All she could understand was food was becoming scarce. She and her mother wondered from where the next meal ticket would come with no source of income.
She had almost given up when she heard a car stopping at the nearby signal. She grabbed a few tissue rolls and ran up to the window of the car. A man in mask and black suit rolled down the window. As Nitya stared at him pleadingly he pulled out a twenty rupee note from his wallet and handed it to her. He refused the tissue roll and as the signal turned green, sped away.
Nitya stared at the note and wondered how a piece of paper could be worth so much. She showed the note to her mother whose face lit up on seeing the money. She kissed Nitya’s forehead and the little one was a little overwhelmed because she had hardly seen her mother smile of late. Her mother Meena was widowed and had jobs in two houses as a maid before the pandemic hit. Out most of the time, Nitya had learned to become independent in her absence.
Nitya’s classes were held online but she did not have a phone. So every day at 11 a.m. she walked up to her neighbor’s house. A family of seven lived there, the youngest daughter, Pooja, being Nitya’s only friend. They shared a phone owned by Pooja’s family for two hours of school but weren’t able to grasp much because of poor network.
The twenty rupees had made Nitya’s day. When she knocked on Pooja’s door she was surprised that her otherwise jovial friend had a sullen, teary-eyed look on her face. Pooja was going back to her village as her parents could not find a job and were terrified of the rapid spread of the virus. Hearing it, Nitya’s heart sank. She thought she would never see her best friend again and that meant her classes would end too. With a heavy hear she bid Pooja goodbye and headed back home.
Nitya heard her mother’s loud cough as she reached home. Her worst fears seemed to come true. Her mother sat huddled in a corner and beckoned her not to come close. Nitya’s knowledge of the pandemic was limited to what her teachers had told her in the online classes. All she knew was that she must maintain social distance, wear masks and wash hands frequently. However, getting even one shower every day was a privilege. Even the mask donated in the slums was torn and had become dirty. Although her mother comforted her, Nitya felt she lost all hope.
Nitya’s mother got a Covid test done at a nearby hospital for free. While they waited for the results, she stayed away from Nitya who wished they had an extra room. No one to talk to and with nothing to do, she was bored but the hunger nagged her. Food was scarce as it were but the poor girl couldn’t remember when she had her last proper meal. Whatever the earnings, they came from the mother who could manage to buy some rice and vegetables but now Nitya was at her wit’s ends.
A week later her mother’s condition worsened. She had fever and had trouble breathing. She had tested positive. Nitya panicked as her mother was taken to a government hospital, where she would be treated free. Left behind to fend for herself, Nitya was terrified. Cut off from her mother she had no means to know if she (the mother) was recovering. She used up all the remaining food. A few days later, someone knocked on the door. She ran to it thinking her mother had returned. Instead she found looking at a smiling lady who told her she was from a shelter home where they took care of children whose parents had died.
Shocked, she realised her mother had died. Her world had come apart and she was inconsolable. The lady somehow consoled her and took her to the shelter home. For one last time she looked at the apology of the place she lived from the taxi she boarded and knew her life had changed forever.
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Naisha Agarwal
Naisha Agarwal is a Class X student from Mumbai. She has active interest in social issues pertaining to girl child education and women rights. She is an avid reader, loves listening to contemporary music and plays piano in her free time.
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