About Some Salt and Tea and a Lot of Hope

FICTION

Pinki, born and brought up in a beautiful tea garden in the Tinsukia District of Assam is a strong young girl. She is the ideal daughter to her parents and the most loving sister that her brother Rocky could have ever wished for. She enjoyed going to school and everything about the school amazed her. Waking up every morning and wearing her deep blue and white uniform for school, her 'many times stitched' old school bag and her most precious school books -everything translated to unbridled joy. Pinki once told her best friend Chumki "When I hold my pen I feel like I have a magic wand which can magically change our lives." 

Packing the few clothes in a torn bed sheet, Pinki told her mother with teary eyes, "Maa do come and visit me whenever you and Baba can. Also do not worry as I will be sending money so that Rocky can go to school every day." Saying this Pinki left with the family who came to pick her up as a house help.

Pinki, born and brought up in a beautiful tea garden in the Tinsukia District of Assam is a strong young girl. She is the ideal daughter to her parents and the most loving sister that her brother Rocky could have ever wished for. She enjoyed going to school and everything about the school amazed her. Waking up every morning and wearing her deep blue and white uniform for school, her 'many times stitched' old school bag and her most precious school books -everything translated to unbridled joy. Pinki once told her best friend Chumki "When I hold my pen I feel like I have a magic wand which can magically change our lives."

Chumki was her companion in both happy and worst times. They would play together, walk miles together to school and save pennies to buy red ribbons and hair accessories from the Saturday weekly market at the garden. Somedays Shiva, Pinki's father would give her some extra coins on her way to school and that would light up her eyes and with that extra money she and Chumki would buy tamarind toffees from the shop near their school.

Her mornings would start with her parents waking up at 4am and cleaning the house. The smell of tea would wake Pinki up. Her parents and Pinki had tea together every morning while Rocky ran around with the little chickens and their little baby goat Raju. Raju was rescued by Pinki's father one day from a drain near the garden where he and his wife worked. Once Shiva brought home the baby goat it became Pinki and Rocky's darling. They would feed him, bathe him and also carry him around. The morning red tea with a pinch of salt in it was the energy drink for the family to start their day.

Soon Meera, her mother would start cooking their breakfast which usually was rice and lentils and Pinki would lend a helping hand. Both the parents would leave for work after breakfast. They would carry their lunch comprising of some fried potatoes along with the leftover rice and lentils (from breakfast). Meanwhile Pinki and Rocky would set out for school. On the way to school, Chumki, Pinki and Rocky would walk and giggle playfully.

But things slowly started to change. And the change was bad. Once the pandemic hit the lives of people, everything once thought to be normal and the norm was altered. Especially for daily wage earners of tea gardens things got very hard. Happy Sunday meals when the family ate together and savoured plates of chicken and rice and fried fish became a thing of the past. The bonus payment days for tea garden workers also started seeming like a distant memory. Frugality and curtailing became the survival words all around. As the pandemic surged, the family could hardly manage two square meals a day.

However, despite these hardships Pinki was still grateful that they could still relish their morning tea with a pinch of salt. Things took an ugly turn when one night they had to sleep empty stomach as Shiva ran out of all his savings. The next day, Shiva could not watch his family starving anymore and with a painful heart they bid adieu to Raju. Shiva sold it to a family who resided near their tea garden. That night even though they had enough on their plates none could eat as memories of Raju hurt them a lot. Slowly the money started to run out again! The chickens were the next to go; the papayas they grew in the small backyard had all been sold. Eventually as the months passed by the family had sold out almost everything they had and could sell including a silver ring of Pinki's mother inherited from their grandmother. Some nights they would sleep drinking water and some nights they were lucky to boil some potatoes.

Meanwhile Chumki lost both are parents to covid and this scared Pinki. All she wanted to do was protect her parents and her little brother, because out of everything in this world nothing mattered to her more than her family. To add to Pinki's woes and worries, Chumki left the garden. As she had no one to take care of her after the death of her parents, her aunt had located a family that had agreed to take her as a house help. Chumki had no option but to agree to her aunt's decision. The morning in which Chumki had come to meet Pinki to bid goodbye they both broke into tears. Chumki was leaving for a place which she has no idea about. Pinki gave her a ribbon as a parting gift. Days passed by and things did not change for any good. The health of the family had detoriated as they could not afford food or medicine.

And one day, the worst happened which the family had consciously tried to avert. A fellow worker from the garden informed Pinki's parents that the manager of the garden was going to be transferred to another district and that he wanted to take Pinki with his family as a house help. The money they were offering was pretty good for the family to live well. Hearing of this offer, Shiva cried. The thought of giving away their precious little daughter was heart breaking for him. Even Meera could not stop her tears. They wished they could turn down the offer. They wished they had enough money to say No to this. But all they could do was stare helplessly at Pinki.

Pinki shook from within but as her parents had always said that she is strong, she managed to put up a brave front. She infact smiled and said "Baba , Maa please do not worry, I will go and work hard. Earn money and come back soon." She even consoled Rocky saying "Don't you want that bicycle you always cried about while walking to school. All I am doing is going there working and earning money and the moment I have enough money for the bicycle I will come back."

And the very next day Pinki left her home and her family, assuring herself that all she was doing was helping her family.

Every morning at the bunglow of her employer, when Pinki sipped tea from a fancy cup (standing in one corner of the kitchen alone) she fervently wished for her steel glass, red tea and that pinch of salt that she was so accustomed to back in her own little home. It is now more than a year that she hasn't seen her family. On the days when the bunglow would be lit up for a party and the manager and his wife had friends over, she used to remember Chumki and hoped that her friend was well. When plates with food were wasted, she wondered if her family had eaten at all. However, in the end she consoled herself everytime- After things are normal I will be back sipping salt in tea again.

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