Independence Day night

It was 10 at night, Rajeswari texted her son Shyam.

“Hi, Shyam. I will be at the bus stop in 10 mins. Make sure you were there to pick me up.”

“Yeah, mom, I’m starting right away”.

“Okay”.

Rajeswari, in her 40s, is working as a physics teacher in an international school.

Although the pandemic has cancelled their school Independence Day celebrations, that didn’t stop the school management team from making teachers work extra hours in sorting out students’ records, which made her late.

Rajeswari is lost in what to prepare for dinner while the bus is cruising at speed through empty streets and letting the excellent breeze play with her hair strands. The empty streets aren’t a sight you get to see in the city traffic. So Ramu Anna, the bus driver, must be enjoying the roads, she thought.

Her phone chimed. It’s her daughter Shreya. “I am ordering Biryani for the three of us. Mom, don’t overthink about what to prepare for dinner, and dad is on OT at the office”.

She smiled and replied, “okay, miss foodie”.

The bus halted to stop. “Rajeswari amma, your stop has arrived. Is your husband coming to pick you up? I don’t see him here. Do you want me to stay for a while?”. Ramu questioned her by sneaking around.

“It’s okay, Anna, I informed my son, he must be here, I will manage”, she said and got off the bus.

“Oh, he has become a big boy now”, Ramu smiled and roared the age-old engine and made a move. She stood at the bus shelter and watched around to find her son, and reached for her handbag to make a call.

She saw a man in his 50s, fully drunk. She got tensed, and apprehension of thoughts flooded her as he approached nearer. On the other side of the bus shelter, Shyam was hiding behind the pole. He thought he could surprise his mom. He laid his hand on her shoulder from the back and shouted ‘mom’, sending shivers to his already frightened mother.

She was startled and shouted in panic and closed her eyes. Shyam was confused by her reaction and despised the act as he watched his mother cry. He reached forward and shook her shoulders and pleaded, “Mom, it’s me, Shyam, I am sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I am sorry”.

It took a moment for her to come to her senses. Then, finally, she wiped her tears and walked silently. Shyam ran back and unlocked his cycle, and followed her.

“Mom, I am sorry, please”, he implored her as he followed her home.

Rajeswari paused and said to Shyam, “it’s okay, it wasn’t your mistake. I feel I overreacted”.

“Mom, but that look in your eyes back there says you were terrified, which I have never seen before in my life. I know you as a fierce physics teacher. I silently enjoy it when my friends say how scared they were while you entered the class. But that look back there wasn’t anything like it”.

Rajeswari didn’t find words to respond to her son at that moment.

“Besides, I still don’t understand why you called me to pick you up at this hour. Shreya is older than me, and she could ride a Scooty, and our home is just a walkable distance. It barely takes minutes to reach home, and you are a grown-up woman”.

These are the unanswered questions that haunted Rajeswari all her life, if not every woman. Although her son is now asking the same questions, she remained silent, unable to find the answers after all the years during which she worked hard, proving she doesn’t fall short for her gender.

“Is world a scary place for women and all men are that bad? If I turn out to be that person, I never want to grow up”. Shyam asked innocently. 

“Moreover, what’s the point in celebrating the 75th Independence Day when women can’t safely reach their home?” Shyam added.

Rajeswari knew that the following few words she would say to her son would remain rooted all along with his life. She took a deep breath and said,

Shyam, there were far too many crazy men in the world, sadly with whom I had my share of run-ins with these people.

“But you know what?” she added.

“There are far more great guys out there”. I have a great husband who equally respects my profession, a loving son, and, for instance, Ramu Anna, our bus driver who didn’t mind stopping for a while and cared about my safety to reach home. Hopefully, we will build a better society for a better tomorrow with good people around us.

Yes, mom, I will make it happen. I promise you I will never hurt a woman in my life. Shyam said and hugged her feeling the warmth of love.

NOTE: The following fiction tale is loosely inspired by the book ‘Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo and Jamie Chang’ and, of course, based on many unheard voices.