We are not alone... I heard these words my entire life. I don’t know how she managed to be so optimistic about the whole scenario. I don’t know how someone can be so strong after being through so many things?
As a child this was the mystery of my life, “who is with us, if we are not alone?” “Why can’t I feel his presence?” She always used to give me a smile and ignore the question. You might be wondering who is she? Or who am I? I would like to start with her introduction, because she gave meaning to me. No, she was not my girlfriend…not even my mother, she was my friend, my sister. She was the first person I saw when I opened my eyes. She had a flawless fair face, with ocean blue eyes filled with secrets, quests waiting to be solved, her skin was olive smooth, she was the perfect combination of natural beauty with amiable nature. We had a small house or I should say we had one room. We lived in poverty for about twenty years and we are still struck there. I’m Yaani, I don’t know my last name, she used to call me Yaani and soon it became my name. I remember the days when we had to sleep early so that we don’t feel hungry, I remember the cold days, we had no rugs to cover our naked souls, we hugged each other and somehow pray that night passes away soon. We live in Seemapuri, a forgotten place in Delhi and even today we are here. For us, the clock never moved, it's ceased, and so are our hopes. But living in poverty was never the problem. We never complained - we knew we were born with poverty, and thus we would have to face the consequences. Delhi, the big capital city is composed of these small dark places with no exit gates. From outskirts it’s the most happening city to be in, but the darkness in places like Seemapuri is so robust that it can mix your shadow with your soul leaving your bear body behind.
We somehow survived the poverty but the animals in disguise chewed us alive. That infelicitous day consumed my small family. The day started with a normal hoot. She had to go work to nearby places as she was a maid and I went to school. It was a normal day for me as well. I went to school, played with classmates, stole mangoes from the school garden, and cherry on the top was the scolding from the class teacher, it was my daily routine. I didn’t know that day was going to end so abominably. I went to my home, but something was different that day, I could smell something fishy. It was six in the evening, she usually returned by five. I sat by the small clock which once I found in the garbage. With every tick on the clock, my heart skipped a beat, negative thoughts occupied my mind. I don’t know when I fell asleep. I woke up with a start and with my heart pounding, searched the whole house to see whether she has returned or not. But to my disappointment she was not there. I even searched the nearby houses but she was nowhere. So, I went to the local police station and reported my missing sister. Each passing day was breaking me. I used to lie, all day by the gate hoping to see her once, wishing she is alright. A month passed, then on July 5, 5:50 pm, I remember the exact time and date, police brought my sister back. But the lady who came was no longer my optimist beautiful sister, she was someone else. I saw a strange figure with ripped off clothes, bruises on every possible side. I noticed her left eye was totally black maybe because of blood clots. I rushed to her to ask if she was okay but she replied “we are not alone”, I thought maybe she was still in shock. I took her into the house and thanked the cops. They told me that they found her near the river Yamuna, where people reported an insane woman they saved from drowning. I couldn't even imagine that what exactly happened to her.. who did all this? Who was the beast in human form? Nobody could answer that question other than my sister but she couldn't because from that day she forgot everything she had ever known. Those people murdered her soul but couldn’t murder her body. It was a clear rape case. I guess in Delhi it has become the norm, maybe it was amusement for them. Maybe bestial pleasure was all they cared about, maybe!
But they stole my sister from me, my only family. From that day she didn’t speak a word other than “we are not alone”. She is still struck into the maze, fighting her way out and me?
I am just waiting, hoping to get her back, to have my support back.
