It was a dark night. The only specks of light visible were the stars shining some million kilometers away from her. She stood at the window looking out. Her eyes which were usually calm, held an sudden urgency tonight. Her hands were tensed. It was exactly the kind of night she dint need. The night when her inner demons come alive.
Shraddha was a pretty girl. The kind of girl every parent want! But her upbringing had been quite different!
The wind blew hard! Her eyes lost its spark. It bought back the memory from decades ago.
Her mother used to leave her alone at night! "Work baby" she used to say. Shraddha was too small to understand it back then. But time waits for none. Neither did it wait for shraddha and she grew up.
Only when asked by a friend about where does her mother work did she took this topic seriously.
"Baby mumma has night shift na. She has to earn to feed shraddha na" her mother always said.
Shraddha never paid attention to the fact that her mothers phone rang olmost instantanously after 7 at night! Never paid attention to the fact that her mother had no friends, neither did she mention any colleagues. The fact that income was not regular. Sometimes it was good enough to buy expensive clothes and sometimes so less that she had to go school hungry.
One thing that shraddha's mother never compromised on was her studies. School fees were always submitted on time.
Shraddha was 18 when she came to light abt her mother's job.
"Prostitute" was the word they used.
Shraddha was shocked when she found out about it.
"Your dad sold me to a broker. There was no use of running away. I was illiterate. There was no source of income. I kept you as far as i could. I am sorry. But this is the harsh reality." Getting no reaction from Shraddha, she spoke again. "I thought of commiting suicide. But your face told me it dint want the same fate as mine. Maybe i was weak but thats it." Her mother told her teary eyed.
Shraddha hugged her mom. "You are the strongest woman in have ever known. You kept facing all these just to provide me a good life." Shraddha replied hugging her mother.
"Shraddha, baby i am back. Office was really hectic today. Would you please make me a cup of coffee?" Her husband's voice bought her back to reality.
"Yes pratham, just a minute" she said turning away from the window.
Her phone rang that instant. She picked it up. "Am i talking to the CEO of christanisnma company?" The voice on the other side ask.
"That's me" replied shraddha! :))