After what we heard from mom, everyone was quiet for a good 10 to 15 minutes.
Dr. Sen broke the silence and re-assured in a strong voice, "Mrs. Christopher, I don't know, what are your plans but whatever are you going to do you will have my full support."
Joy also chimed in, "Ma'am we are with you too. Vikash tells us that we are the best drivers he knows among all his acquaintances. You can count on us for any help you need in your plans for the kid."
The elderly person interjected, "I resurfaced after 24 years to surrender, but now hearing about the dire circumstances through which this young child is suffering, I am planning on postponing my plan to surrender until he is safe. As a matter of fact, forget surrender, till the child completes the education, I will be his godfather. Whatever help you need I am with you."
The other elderly person also replied "My name is Mr. Nishi Nath, IG Crime, Purulia region. Because of my way of providing justice, the police force knows me as N.N. They have even nicknamed me Mr. Instant Justice. I have connections all around the country, I will help you in any way possible."
"Generally I would be the first one to warn you against breaking any laws, but in this case, I cannot deny the need for drastic measures and you" pointing his fingers towards the other elderly person, he continued in a daunting voice, "You, Mr. Majumdar, if you decide to go underground once again, be aware that you will never be able to set foot in Bengal again."
I was unable to believe that I was standing in front of one of the most wanted man in West Bengal. The other elderly gentleman is none other that the Naxalbari leader Mr. Tribeni Mazumdar.
Mr. Majumdar smiled and looked at Mr. N. N. and replied in an even tone, "I have committed a lot of bad deeds in my life, and today God has given me an opportunity to do something good, I will not back off now. It's a promise. I will never set foot in Bengal again unless its a matter concerning this child."
Vikash suddenly stood up and said "I might not be as powerful and influential as you all, but I can surely do something, I have 2 houses, one in the state of Assam and the other in Pune. If you want to take Geeta away from here, we can use them. I had promised her earlier, that her brother will do anything for her and I am going to keep the promise till my last breath. He might be Abhinu for all of you but for me, he will still be my Geeta. my sweet Geeta. I can ask the caretakers to get both the houses ready in 24 hours."
It was the first time I saw tears in Vikash's eyes. I have never seen him so emotional in his life. He always managed to flash his awkward smile even when girls called him brother, breaking his heart when he tries to flirt with them.
Koushik who was standing in a corner leaning on a pillar replied "She is my Geeta too. I can make sure, she gets the proper medical treatment she will require. This child is psychologically very traumatized. I know someone who can help him with therapy and counseling."
"Woah... Woah... hold still... We are not doing anything illegal here... Grow up... We all have family and children, We are not doing any such thing. You 3 are nearly reaching 50 years, pointing towards the 3 elderly gentlemen sitting on our couch."
"You are a teacher, not some Maverick, who can go about handing out justice to people however you desire." Looking at master da. "and you 2, one is a basketball referee, and the other runs an NGO"
"This is real life not a MacLean's novel where 10 random guys are sent on a mission to rescue a hot blonde behind enemy lines. There are consequences we need to consider."
"Then what are your plans mom, we cannot let Geeta suffer that way," I asked Mom midway through her rant.
"She won't. Do you trust me?" Mom replied and continued.
I gave a nod. Mom looked at Miss Sengupta and Mr. Nath, and asked: "Could you do me a favor, Can you try to find out who the other child is, and why they have been mentally harassing this child and forcing him to be a girl, and how in the world they have been getting away with that."
"Once we figure out the reason why they have been doing this, we will also find a way to rescue the child from their clutches."
Mom paused a little and then looked at Mr. N.N. "Sir, if you don't mind, can you try to check why the guys from Child Protective Services never came back to check on the child even though it was their duty to keep a regular check on the welfare of the child."
I saw N.N. sir gave a nod and replied "I will get that done. I will need a few days."
I saw Mom gave a nod and without saying another word looked towards Master da "Meanwhile, Babul, will you still be able to be his teacher. I know it's going to be difficult, but for the sake of humanity, will you do it."
Master da looked at mom and replied "Mrs. Chiristopher, as teachers we take a pledge to teach, without considering, caste, creed, religion or sex. My job is teaching, I will teach, but please know that if any harm comes to any of my students, the family will have to deal with my wrath. I won't hesitate for a second to turn into the Parasurama for his sake."
**** Parasurama according to Indian myth was a teacher, but when a king killed his father, he vowed to wipe out the warrior clan from the face of the earth 21 times.****
"I understand your sentiments, but let me remind you something, we have got children here, so kindly refrain from talking about violence." Mom replied.
I saw a chastened look appear on master Da's face at my mom's rebuke and softly replied "Sorry..."
All of a sudden mom looked at me and replied "Joe, Day-after-tomorrow, you are to report back to school, Its time for you to sacrifice something which you have been putting your heart and soul into for a long time. If you want to go and meet your friend for the last time, you can go. If you wish you can stay in the hospital for the night."
I looked at Monika, bent down a little, and said to her "Sweety, from tomorrow, I will have to get back to school. I won't be around, but you know, Master Da and Vikash will be around. if you sense trouble get in touch with them." pointing my finger towards Miss Sengupta "That aunty will also be around, to keep both of you safe."
"Also honey, promise me you won't do anything reckless please."
If I know my sister well, most of the time she lets her anger and self-righteousness get the better of her temper and she ends up doing something rash and in the current context, I know we cannot afford anything reckless.
Suddenly, Mom interrupted my thought and said: "Enough Kids, Monika you are not doing any such thing that will jeopardize your life. You are not going to their home anymore until we get to know more about why they have been doing this to your friend. Unless we figure out everything, you are grounded, girl. Get back to your room this very instant."
#### SINCE THE STORY IS MOSTLY INVOLVED AROUND GEETA'S LIFE AND JOE WILL NOT BE AROUND SINCE HE HAS TO GET BACK TO SCHOOL THE REMAINING CHAPTERS WILL BE NARRATED BY MONIKA ####
I went to my room and locked the door from inside. I am really going to miss Joe dada from tomorrow. I don't understand, why mom thinks I am a child, I have been taking care of Geeta for 6 years and now I am grounded. I really wish, mom would understand me.
After a while, the house went silent. I peeked through the keyhole and found that everyone had left except mom.
The clock hanging on my wall was showing 6:30 p.m. Dinner is not due for another 2 hours. I took out my photo album from my drawer, climbed on to my bed and felt the urge to browse through the photo album. I made this album the day I figured out that I loved Abhinu and he is among my few people whom I truly cared about. This album had every picture and memory I had of him.
One of the pictures had Grihamani wearing a Kurta, and Abhinu was wearing a Ghagra Choli, with a veil over his head. It was Abhinu's birthday that day. I recall that a few days before that day, Abhinu had surgery. I came to know from Aamaya didi that Abhinu had severe pains in the lower abdominal part and as a result, doctors had to perform some kind of surgery on him.
When Abhinu returned home after the surgery, I asked aunty what had happened. She told me that there were some complications with his internal organs and that they had to perform surgery to remove his testicles. Its called emasculation surgery.
I didn't know back then what that meant, However, one day I read in our school library in one of the biology books that emasculation is the removal of the organ in a male body that produces testosterone and without that organ, a male becomes impotent. He can never have babies.
It was also written there that emasculation surgery is generally performed by the transgender community of India to attain blessedness. In other words, they have turned Abhinu into an androgynous.
With what is happening in his life, it would be a miracle if Abhinu ever musters up the strength and courage to pull through till the day he grows up. With the daily mental and physical abuse, humiliation, and disgrace he was facing, I had to make up my mind to protect him till I can find a way to rescue him from the family.
Aunty also told me that there will be a ceremony on Abhinu's birthday for his christening, and since Abhinu has only a few friends, only Me, Soham and Grihamani were invited to it. I knew the family was nuts, and I was also disgusted and disturbed with Abhinu's new incarnate, but something told me I should be there for him.
6 YEARS AGO
As I tried to recall the series of events of that day, I remember reaching their home after I had my breakfast.
I rang the doorbell and It was Abhinu who opened the door for me. He seemed really excited to see me. He was wearing a white floral thigh-length skirt, a red sleeveless top and white pumps which had a bow near the toe cleavage.
"Monika di, you have come. I am so excited to see you." He gave a broad smile and stepped forward to hug me.
I was still unable to accept his weird look. I raised my left hand indicating him to stop there and not hug me.
He stopped in his tracks. He looked down and asked me: "I am having my breakfast, would you have some."
I replied "You go ahead, do whatever you are doing, I am going to talk to Aamaya didi. I don't want to talk to a loser like you." and proceeded towards Aamaya didi's room.
If this would have happened a year ago, he would have stood up to it, but nowadays he feels so disgraced, disgruntled and humiliated that he struggles to even utter anything. Even though I called him a loser, deep down I know he is not and immediately regretted my harsh words.
After breakfast, aunty called us and said that since Abhinu would be living as a girl, they should give her a new name.
As aunty said the word "we should give her a new name" he was nearly into tears, unable to say a single word to aunty. It must have really hurt him when aunty addressed him as someone from the opposite gender.
Aunty looked at Abhinu and said "Why don't you go and take a bath sweetheart and come out wearing a towel. We will start the ceremony as soon as possible."
I remember Abhinu was bending down on his knees and begging aunty with his hands folded "Aunty please don't humiliate me so much, I am sorry for what I did. I will never do it ever again. if you let me be a boy again, I will do anything you tell me to do."
Aunty caught hold of his hair and dragged him to Aarohi's room. He kept crying and wailing as he was being dragged by the hair. Aunty locked the door from inside and all we could hear was Abhinu's cries and pleas for mercy, and aunty turning a deaf ear and shouting "THIS IS NOT HUMILIATION, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE WHAT HUMILIATION IS?"
Aunty's shouts were enough to make Abhinu understand, his pleas were in vain. When aunty came out of the room, I saw dark red and purple marks all over his back resembling bruises and he was not wearing anything except his inners.
As Abhinu went to the washroom, to have his bath, aunty called the 4 of us, Me, Aamaya di, Garima and Darika.
She said, "Girls, I want the 4 of you to think of a new name for Abhinu."
My subconscious mind kept telling me "Monika, this is wrong, stand up for what is right" but back then I was little and probably very scared or maybe I thought it was just a few days of punishment for Abhinu and everything would be alright.
The only name I could come up with was "Geeta" it was Aarohi's nickname and it is a name she hated the most. Aamaya di came up with "Abha" and Darika with "Kajal" and Garima with "Ruby".
Aunty wrote the names down on separate pieces of paper, folded them and placed it on Abhinu's study table.
After a while, Abhinu came out of the lady's room wearing a towel. The aroma of the soap he used was really spellbinding. As he came near aunty gave him a new pair of inners to put on and then helped Abhinu wear the Lehenga, the blouse and the chunari that aunty had placed on the bed for him to wear.
It was a heavy dress with Jaipuri embroidery on it and when Abhinu put that on, he looked extraordinarily beautiful. I remember helping him strap on the blouse. Once he was done wearing the dress, Aunty got a small stool and made him sit on it.
It has been about 2 months since he has been living as a girl, his hair had grown longer too. They have been training him to maintain himself as a girl. Apply makeup, take care of his hair and overall appear beautiful. He had been maintaining his hair really well and his hair was growing into a beautiful and curly mane. Aamaya Di helped comb his hair and started to use clips to fix them properly so that they can get be attached to the chunari.
She applied a red bindi on his forehead and red lipstick on his lips. Abhinu's face looked really sad. Normally, if we were made to wear such a beautiful dress and someone helped me put makeup, I would have been on top of the world, but in this case, it was different. He was forced to participate in this humiliation.
As the entire charade was continuing to take a toll on me, I heard the doorbell ring.
"Abhinu, it must be your friends, why don't you go and open the door." asked aunty.
Abhinu didn't resist even though his face showed clear signs of unwillingness to open the door, He went straight to open the door. I saw him struggling with the dress however somehow he managed to reach there and opened the door.
It was Ghrihamani and Soham who have come to meet him.
"Wow, look who had come to open the door, it's our favorite fruitcake," commented Soham.
As Abhinu was about to say something, they both caught hold of Abhinu's hands and pulled him towards them. I saw him lose his balance and fall into Soham's arms.
Grihamani taunted "Looks like the girl like you. You should ask her to be your girlfriend." As Abhinu was trying to free himself off from Soham's arms, Soham kissed him on his neck which made Abhinu cry in shame.
I saw the embarrassed look on his face, tears rolling down his cheek. I felt the strong urge to beat the hell out of Grihamani and Soham. Abhinu didn't utter a word, still weeping and went back to the room where aunty was giving him the makeup.
As they were putting jewelry on him, something in me made me take a tissue paper and wipe the tears off his eyes. First, they placed a Mandora on the parting of his forehead, then a nose ring, on his left nostril. Aamaya di applied kajal over his eyelash lines. Aunty then took out a pair of golden earrings and latched them onto his ears. Then they put a necklace, anklet and toe ring too.
Finally, Aamaya Di asked him to put his hands forward and Aunty started to create a design on his hands using a mehendi pen.
Once they were done with him, aunty asked Abhinu, "This custom requires you to consider someone to be your mentor who is also considered as a Roshi."
Soham looked towards Abhinu menacingly and threatened him, "if you don't say my name, just see what I am going to do to you."
Aunty suddenly came to his rescue and replied: "Only a guardian can be a mentor, so that would be me or your uncle."
I kept thinking after what aunty did to him, he would say uncle's name but for some reason, he chose Aunty to be his mentor.
It took about 1 hour for the mehendi to dry up. She removed his regular bangles and placed some red ones instead. Finally, they applied red paint on his fingernails and toenails too. Once that was all done, she took the red chunari and placed it on his head, It was placed in a manner that it covered his eyes and nose. He looked like an Indian bride about to get married.
This madness continued for about more than 2 hours. I wanted to go home because whatever I was seeing that day made me sick to my stomach. However, some strange power and pull stopped me from leaving the house. That day something in Abhinu was providing him the strength and courage to control himself amidst the demeaning situation befalling him.
I still shuddered to think about that disastrous day. It was a situation where Abhinu couldn't understand what he was, a boy or a girl. It was a question which probably if I asked aunty, she too would fail to answer the same. To make matters worse, the taunting of his 2 classmates added fuel to the fire of humiliation and disgrace he had to suffer through that day.
Finally, everything was done. Abhinu was struggling to move around with the dress and heavy jewelry.
"Abhinu, let's go to our temple, you need to light the diya and seek blessings from our Kul-Devi(clan deity)" said aunty.
He went to the praying room/temple inside the house and sat on the floor, and lit the diya(light) and then bowed to the god. Once that was done, Aunty told him to bend down on his knees and bow towards her and told him to say "Asyah Nama Kim?" meaning what do you want to name me.
Abhinu didn't resist and said "Asyah Nama Kim?"
Aunty had the 4 folded pieces of paper on her hand and asked him to pick one up. He picked a piece of paper and gave it to aunty.
Aunty opened the folded piece of paper and replied placing her hands over his head. "You will be known as Geeta for the rest of your life. Abhinu will not exist anymore. You will be our youngest girl in this family from today."
After the ceremony, we took a lot of pictures however aunty told us that Abhinu should have the veil on, and no one should see his face for the next 4 days. Abhinu was not allowed to meet any members of the family nor any of us for the next 4 days. He told me later that aunty took really good care of him for those days. He was treated like her little princess.
A few years later, I read an article while searching for ways to rescue Abhinu. What happened to Abhinu that day, was not a naming ceremony, but a ceremony performed by the transgender community of India after they had an emasculation surgery. After that day, these people are officially recognized as someone from the 3rd Gender.
I remember returning back to the family after 4 days of the incident. As I rang the doorbell it was aunty who opened the door for me.
"What brings you here Monika my child?" asked aunty.
"Can I have a word with Abhinu?" I asked, to which aunty agreed to it.
She said, "Beta, make sure whatever you guys discuss, it happens inside the room."
As I entered the room, I made sure to lock the door from inside. I took him to the corner of the room near the window, to make sure no one could hear us. He was wearing a blue and white lace frock with Aarohi's favorite blue wedges. He told me that early morning aunty told him not to wear the lehenga dress anymore and he had completed his pledge.
I stood in front of him and held both his hands, looked at him in the eye and said "Sweety, Always have faith in Mother Mary. She will send someone to rescue you away from here one day. I have been a true follower of Mother Mary my entire life, I have faith she will send someone to rescue you from here."
I finally hugged Abhinu and as I was leaving the room he said: "Monika didi, I want to tell you something."
The very mention of the word "didi" felt like a pinch of a needle in my heart. He is my best friend, not my younger sister. As I was about to say something, he replied: "Aunty is going to have a baby."
The very mention of the word baby made me ask him again "What did you say?"
"Aunty is going to have a baby. That day after the ceremony, aunty was not feeling well, so they called up the doctor who said that she is going to be a mom again." Abhinu replied
I was really happy to hear the good news and as I stepped out to wish aunty the good news, Abhinu caught hold of my hand and said "Please didi, don't wish her or let her know in any way that you know about her pregnancy. She has specifically asked us not to talk about this to anyone at the moment"
I remember a few months later aunty and the family moved away from Kolkata and no one knew where they left. However, I was in luck when we moved to Purulia, I was able to locate Aamaya di when I joined the same school as her. Later I even came to know that we were her neighbors. Our house was next to theirs. For some reason, my faith in Mother Mary enabled me to stand true to my promise.
I became good friends with Aamaya di in school so that I can have an excuse to be close to my Geeta. I came to know that aunty had some complications and the baby was stillborn. And since Geeta ((that's what Aamaya di has started to call Abhinu) doesn't have to go to school, It was her duty, to take care of aunty and her needs and also made sure she was never stressed.
As I was wondering about the chain of events of that unfortunate day 6 years ago, I heard mom calling me out for dinner. The clock was showing 8:10 p.m. As I was having my dinner, all I could think was what is going to happen to Abhinu now. He has reached his limit for torture and humiliation in life compelling him in attempting to end his life. He survived against all odds, I just hope Aunty Sengupta can procure proof to take Abhinu away from there before the need to admit him to a psychiatric ward arises. There is a humane limit of withstanding mental trauma, and now with me grounded, he will have no one to keep him safe and sane.
TO BE CONTINUED...