An ordeal in faith

Samaira crosses Dev. She waves at Hisden, an old friend of hers.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" She shouted.

"Phew! What an escape!" Dev hurried to his destination. "It looks like some meeting," he murmured.

Hisden got down from the vehicle and sped towards her.

"What are you doing here?" He enquired.

"Oh. I have come here looking for a job."

"We are meeting each other after a long time. Are you here for competitive exams or for work purpose?"

"I am trying both. What about you?"

"Like many other students, I am trying my luck at work. For the said reason I have applied to all the institutes in Mukherjee Nagar for a job and visited some of them only to be disappointed.

Do you know about Aim Law Institute? You can try your luck there. They recruit freshers. Aim Law Institute is the second-best institute in India for training in judicial services and civil services. The Institute is headed by a renowned figure in law known by the name of Sebastian. The headmaster, as he is known for his strict discipline, is a tall, stout man in his late fifties. He has a bald head, which shines in the sunlight."

"So that is how can I can identify him?" She laughed.

You don't know how much mesmerizing effect he has on the students whenever he spoke. Being an excellent orator and having good command over the law, he taught well.

I must leave now. It is time for my class. Hisden hurries up to his class and bids goodbye to Samaira.

On knowing about the Institute, Samaira gets overtly excited and heads towards the Institute for a meeting with the man himself. However, she failed to secure an appointment. It was when she was leaving the Institute that she was asked to wait for fifteen minutes. Mr. Sebastian Gonsalves was running heavy with his appointments and could not make time for anyone.

Browsing through the magazines, she finds herself immersed in her thoughts when she hears a voice.

"You can go in, " began his personal assistant.

Inside the room, he was sitting beside a large bookshelf consisting of law books, bare acts and journals, all arranged neatly in order. He was holding her resume in his hand.

"So what do you want to do ahead in your life?" was his first question

"Sir, I want to prepare for the civil services.” She replied gleefully.

"Do you have experience of teaching?" he added

"No sir, not as yet"

After a pause, he began. "Then you should try again after gaining some experience in teaching". Saying so, he became busy with his work.

Depressed and dejected, Samaira leaves the office. She became hungry when her eyes trolled the surrounding market at Mukherjee Nagar. "It is the busiest hub of coaching centres", she thought.

At once, an idea struck her. She proceeded towards the wholesale market at the Old Delhi and purchased some diaries from a known vendor at a reasonable price from her savings.

No sooner than later, she started selling the diaries at a retail price. Two to three book shops running at the place allowed her a purchase. Her endeavor led her to the publishing house by the name of ABC Publishing House, owned and run by the mentor Keshav Sir. The manager of the book house informed her of a vacancy for freshers in teaching and training students at the Learner Coaching Institute. At the Institute, her interview was brief. It was a mere formality. They gave her a book titled "Magical Book series, Analytical Reasoning" a preparatory book on reasoning for various competitive examinations, like SSC, UPSC, CPO, LIC, GIC and UTI among others. Looking at the book, a tensed Samaira began -

"I have never read this book before, Sir".

"Then read it and begin your classes, " he roared. The mentor gave her a list of assignments for the next day and asked his coordinator to arrange her classes on a weekly basis. She headed for her home, temporary home. Outram line, GTB Nagar was her address for all professional and personal communications. Her room in the paying guest cum hostel was on the topmost floor. It was the biggest room in the building of four floors, all owned by a family. However, the accommodation bore a heavy cost for her. She had to manage a good amount of rupees four thousand as monthly rent. Her room came with an attached bathroom, a common kitchen, and two doors allowing cross ventilation.

Her two prized possessions in the room being an idol of Shri Krishna and a workstation comprising a study and a small shelf housing important books for preparation of exams.

An ordeal in faith, she named her first story in the diary. It was her new diary. She was a regular writer and religiously filled the pages of her diary. She wrote -

“A string of faith is enough to stride over the oceans of turmoil…”

“Do I have a right to live my life on my terms?”

This is the vital question that governs my life. I have been all throughout living my life for others–my family, my relatives, my friends……‘My’ though was not connected to ‘Myself'.

I was born in a conservative Indian (Sindhi) family living in Kolkata. The residence being two flats 5CD at Mansarovar Building, a cooperative society.

This family had a unique history of its own, which has been one of the major originators of my pain.

I belonged to a joint family which met its fateful end for good.

I am the eldest daughter in the family and also the eldest amongst all my siblings and cousins.

My grandparents loved and pampered me and I was their favorite until my uncle’s jealousy affected my grandparents.

Thereafter, my grandparents started maintaining distance from me. My uncle’s jealousy manifested in many forms.

I still remember how he snatched a piece of chocolate from my hands and gave it to his daughter while my mother was busy serving food to other family members completely bereft of what was happening around.

I was very young then and could not understand why he did that. He was my dear uncle. I cried bitterly. It was my first impression of my uncle’s evil intentions and what was unbecoming of him.

That was one day when my uncle snatched a petty chocolate from my hands and then there were many when he snatched my happiness….one by one…..

My story has been a constant struggle to take back what my uncle and my destiny have snatched from me and to bring justice to my family.

My father, Mr. Kishan Sidhwani is the eldest in the family. In legal parlance, he was the Karta in the joint family and a partner in the erstwhile Partnership Firm, which was run on the whims and fancies of my uncle.

My father had no standing of his own. Nobody respected him in the family. The members of the family always ignored him.

All three of them – my father and my two uncles, Mr. Kamal Sidhwani and Mr. Kishore Sidhwani could never receive proper education whilst they were busy running affairs of the partnership business which was primarily involved in the sale of suits and dress materials at wholesale rates.

They deprived my father of basic school education because of a crisis period in the family when they made him join the family business.

My parents, even though being the eldest, led their life at the mercy of my uncle, Mr. Kamal Sidhwani, and his dictates.

But who knew that future had something else in store.

Who knew that a person will be born into the same family to fight the injustice meted out by my uncle?

It was me.

Incidentally, both I and my uncle are Arians. I was born on 3rd April 1984, while he celebrated his birthday on 6th April every year. Let me introduce myself to you. I am Samaira, a person who was born with no line of luck in her palms but was destined to create one, if not many.

Every person has their own perspective on life. I claim to maintain none, as I was too busy sorting out the knots of problems in my life.

The knowledge gained by me was more from experiences than from mere learning from school and college. I was privileged to have overall access to a gamut of varied experiences which had a price tag attached to it.

The price to be paid was “pain”.

But education was tough for me. Not in terms of learning.

I was a bright student in my school and college days, as I took a keen interest in sports and studies alike.

I liked all subjects of study, starting from subjects of humanities, science, and commerce to that of vocational ones like law…

LAW, this was one subject that prepared me for my future battle. Education was tough for me as I never had enough money to pursue it and my family found it very hard to support my education.

I passed my school education in very tough times when the dispute had just started and the first change in our life was paving way for our future...

And she stopped writing.

Her thoughts drifted towards the various incidents of the past few days. She wondered who could be the man whom she saw looking at her in the share cab. Why was he stealing looks at me? Did he know me? Various questions bothered her. These questions were, however, better than her reminiscences.

Little perplexed at the events, she expressed her gratitude to the almighty for getting a job in the Learners Coaching Institute and goes off to sleep.