Rajjak Miah (70):
Everyone says that I have ruined my granddaughter’s life. I tell them, I feel very happy that I destroyed her life. You should have the courage to destroy, to ruin, to end that which causes you so much pain. It’s been six months since my son and daughter-in-law stopped talking to me and they never visit my place anymore. If everyone thinks that I am a criminal, I have no interest in wasting my time to prove them wrong. When I come to work, people gossip about me but none of them has the guts to come to me and ask what I had gone through. But I do not care. Bangles were very dear to my Mita. Mita is my only granddaughter. When she was a child, I had to buy bangles for her from the fair. I starved for months in order to buy her a pair of silver bangles when she was ten. I put oil on her hair and trimmed it most of the time. When I came to work I brought her with me and she studied under the tree and I always checked on her from a distance. She loved to play ‘hide & seek’ and before hiding she always came to me and told me where she was going to hide. I told her she should not tell anyone her hiding place, she said, ‘I did not tell anyone; just you.’ I never let her cry even for the silly things. And they are all saying I have ruined my granddaughter’s life! The beast tortured her every day. She could not wear bangles anymore. When I asked her why her hands were empty; she hid her burnt spots. Her husband had beaten her up without reasons. They asked me to never visit her. But I secretly went to meet her every day. In fear, she told me never to go there. For twenty years I struggled to put a smile on her face, how could I let her burn in Hell just to see if she could manage an abusive marriage. She was dying with time and everyone including her parents were blind. They said, a marriage needs patience; girls should have patience. One day, I held her husband’s legs so that he would let me take her to the hospital. He took my hands and threw me from their house. But again I returned back. I tolerated all humiliation just to see her once. The day when Mita’s neighbors admitted her to the hospital, they sent the news to me secretly.
I went there and saw she was vomiting blood and she could not hear properly. After three days she was able to talk. When I asked her to rest, she said, ‘Take me somewhere, somewhere very far away, dada, somewhere there is no pain. I want to hide there.’ No, I did not let her hide. I gave that man to the police. She broke the marriage on her own will and I sheltered her in my house. I bought a sewing machine for my child. I will never let anyone play with her life again. My Mita will live again. She will dream and love again. I will buy more bangles for her. Till my last breath, she will not need to hide, from anyone or from any pain.
Story Courtesy: GMB Akash