I have turned 45 this year and like every year I am grateful
to two people to whom I owe my life. First is God and the second is an army
officer who granted me my second life. If it was not for them I would have been
a slave in some house in Arunachal treated worse than an animal and I would've
probably committed suicide. Apparently God had other plans....better plans for
me and so here I am today celebrating my birthday (I am not even sure of the
date) with my wife and two children.
In Arunachal Pradesh slavery is still found in the remote
villages where amongst the local population you can find few Assamese and Bihari individuals,
especially ladies. The contractors double up as pimps and these ladies are
bought from none other than their husbands. There have been cases where the
couple already has a child by the time the husband conspires to sell his wife.
The wife is kidnapped according to a pre-planned operation and the child is
used as the bait for the lady to go with the kidnapper wherever he wishes to
take them. The destination is usually a remote village which has no
connectivity by road. The only route to reach there is a foot-track along
riverbeds and mountains which takes at least 2-3 days to cover. The fear of the
child's safety compels the lady to overcome all the obstacles and reach the
village.
Once there, the lady is kept confined to the house for a
month with a 24 hour guard. She is made to work within the house and regularly
threatened with dire consequences if she tried to escape. After about a month when the woman has lost her strength
partially because of hunger and partially because of the mental torture, she
realizes that there is no way she can escape and she gives in to fate and willingly
submits to her captors wishes.
Polygamy is permitted in Arunachal Pradesh even today and so
even though she lives with the kidnappers family which include his wife and
children, she is sometimes subjected to rape and ends up getting pregnant. As a
result of this, you can find non-local looking individual with a local surname.
The surname does not prevent him from being treated like a slave. The kid and
the mother are never allowed to leave the village even after many years just so
to present any chances of escaping.
My mother was one such lady from Bihar who was sold by my
father along with me to a so called contractor for Rs 50,000. I may have been 5
when I reached my kidnappers village. At that age I couldn't fathom the
severity of the situation as my main interest was eating, playing and sleeping.
It was much later that I came to know that my mother was beaten repeatedly when
she insisted on going back to Bihar. By the time I was 10, I had started
working in the fields, carrying loads, cutting wood and not doing anything a
normal 10 year old boy would do. My body would ache by the end of the day. I
would gobble up whatever I was given to eat and doze off.
Somewhere around this my mother had been raped by the
kidnapper when everyone else in the house had gone to the fields. Within a few
months I realized she had become pregnant with that man's child. She hated herself for this but could do
nothing about this since she had no medical amenities to get an abortion. She
sank deep into depression and we talked lesser and lesser. A time came when she
stopped talking altogether and I suspected that she may have actually become
mute. She had become a living dead body. I remember myself wishing it would be
much better for her to die rather than live like this. I think God heard my
plea.
She died during her delivery along with her stillborn child.
I did not realize that she had been lying dead , I just thought she had been
sleeping and I did not want to disturb her. Since she was just a slave there
were no tears on her passing. It was when I saw her being lowered into a pit
that I realized something was wrong. The shock hit me so hard that I was all
alone in the world that I actually started stammering after that incident. Till
date I stammer and everyone believes that I had this from birth (or that's what
I told them).
The next few months went without incident until my kidnapper started beating and abusing me for small
things. My mind was facing a motley of emotions which included fear, anger,
tiredness and despair. It was during this time that my saviour had landed in
the vicinity. Since this village was close to the borders it was frequented by
Indian Army patrols. There was no army persons who stayed permanently in the
area until one day I saw a helipad (which I understood much later) being created.
Within 2 months a few army personnel being staying close to the helipad in
tents. Amongst them was an officer of the rank of Major. He started visiting
the village and interacting with all the people. The kids especially took a
liking to him as he used to distribute chocolates. The slave kids were not
amongst these as they were rarely left free to pursue anything other than work.
The villagers were helped with ration and other adm
requirements by the army and so they had a soft corner for the army guys. They
would be invited to the villagers home for lunch or dinner regularly. One
evening I found them dining in my kidnappers home. It was here that he noticed
me for the first time and since I looked
different as compared to his host, his curiosity caused him to enquire about
me. A few blessed souls in the village told him my story which, he told me,
affected him badly and he made up his mind to help me. He would find reasons to
come to my kidnappers house and would try to have a conversation with me. I was
more afraid than curious which caused me to run away every time I saw him approach me. Slowly, with time, I gained
enough courage to talk to him. He talked in length about my conditions in the
village and how the people treated him. In all innocence of a small boy I told
him everything I knew and wept for about 30 minutes.
With no pre-indication he dropped a bomb on me, "hey
boy, would you like to escape from here?" I looked at his face and I could
see tears glistening in his eyes but he controlled himself well enough not to
cry. His question was filled with emotion and the sincerity in his voice gave
me strength and before I knew it, I found myself blurting "Yes"
without even waiting to think about it. It was decided then and there that I
would not be staying in this God forsaken place much longer.
I was instructed to stay in trouble and to act normal till
the time he makes arrangements for my escape. I was excited and at the same
time I feared what would happen if someone found out. I would surely be killed
without a second thought. Days and weeks passed with no indication of me
leaving from the village. Then one evening all the villagers were invited by
the army persons for dinner. Sure enough I was left behind in the house. This
actually worked to my advantage because no sooner did the villagers leave, two
army jawans came to get me and all I was told is that its time to go. I did not
think twice before holding their hands and fleeing from the house. I was taken
to one of their tents where I was told to hide till morning with a jawan
standing guard outside. I did not realize when I had fallen asleep because the
excitement had got my heart beating so fast that I thought my heart would
explode. The officer woke me up and told me its time. He pointed towards a
cardboard box and told me that I was to hide inside it until he himself told
him to come out. The villagers had partied the whole night and most of them
were dead drunk by morning and so they didn't realize or they didn't bother
when a helicopter landed in the helipad
and they saw the jawans carrying and loading a cardboard box into the
helicopter.
I realized that I was being carried but had no clue where
to. I suddenly heard a loud noise approaching close to me. I found myself
shivering with fear thinking that something was coming for me. Yes funnily it
was coming for me which I realized much, much later. Since I had never known
what a helicopter is , the concept of something flying in air was alien to me.
I was loaded into it and the officer had come along just to ensure there are no hassles in my
escape.
It seemed like an endless wait for me before the officer
finally opened the box and looked at me with a huge smile. The first words he
told me, " you didn't get to say bye to your kidnappers". I didn't
quite understand what he said until he said, "turn back boy, look around,
you are free". When I did turn around I was no more in the village, I had
been magically transported to a different place in this weird looking thing
called a helicopter. I was admitted to a hospital where I stayed till I
regained my strength. I was regularly visited by the officer and he used to
treat me with chocolates for which I had developed a taste. One day the officer
brought along with him a nun, she was the sweetest human I had ever met till
now. She said I would staying with her with a few other children till I grew
up. I could think of no better alternative than this. When I understood the
magnitude of help the officer had done in rescuing me I leapt into the his arms
and just cried till I couldn't any more. He understood this was my way of
thanking him for granting me this second life.
All this happened nearly four decades ago but till date each
and every detail is crystal clear in my mind. I haven't told my kids about my
past but by writing this today I want them to know how their father reached
where he is today. If reading this compels them to help at least one child I
believe my work on this earth would be done.
A little help can go a long way, all you need is the right
intention.
