Posted on: Sep 07, '08
TRUE LOVE: THAT WHICH SACRIFICES ALL. PART - 3.
After holding out for a couple of days more with support from a few neighbors Nallamma was really exhausted. Not physically or mentally exhausted but spiritually exhausted as she had been fighting a running battle with her conscience for the past two days. Finally, when her body was on the verge of exhaustion, due to lack of food and lack of medicines for her mother, Nallamma was forced to muster up courage and finally with her heart beating wildly and almost about to faint she stood at the door of Kavitha’s house.
Kavitha’s house was much bigger than all the other houses that Nallamma had seen in her slum. As soon as Kavitha saw Nallamma standing at her doorstep she rushed out to welcome her. After the initial show of hospitality, Kavitha asked her what had brought Nallamma all the way to her house. Nallamma stuttered and stammered hesitatingly. Kavitha seemed to understand her predicament. She told her that she was sorry for suggesting such a cheap and demeaning way to make money but poor women like them had not much of a choice since they were victims of their own circumstances. Nallamma kept conveying her apprehensions to her but Kavitha assured her that there was nothing to worry about and promised to protect her from all harm.
It was more than a week since Nallamma had approached Kavitha and Nallamma was very scared for Kavitha had arranged for her to meet her first client today. Kavitha had told her that this client was a very rich man and would pick her up in his car near the Broadway bus terminus next to the Chennai High Court which was near the slum where Nallamma lived; after she had put her mother to sleep. Nallamma’s hands trembled as she completed the cooking that evening, earlier than her normal time. Her mother was puzzled by Nallamma’s nervousness. Once Nallamma’s mother had gone to sleep after sunset at 7 p.m., Nallamma went to the bus terminus were she was supposed to meet the client. Within a few minutes of her waiting at the prescribed place, a fat old man came waddling upto her and introduced himself as Kavitha’s contact. With fear and apprehension Nallamma followed the fat old man to his car in which she was taken to a desolate farm house somewhere on the outskirts of the city. Nallamma prayed to her favorite deity, the mother goddess to protect her.
Once they reached the old farm house Nallamma told the old man, that she had to be back home before 5 am., since her mother would wake up and search for her. The old man seemed to be a master at these kinds of situations for he could sense Nallamma’s nervousness and gave her some fruit juice. He asked her to relax and made her sit down on the bed. A few minutes after drinking the juice Nallamma could feel a kind of languor coming over her. Her nervousness had vanished and she started speaking to the old man in a strange tone of voice but the old man did not seem interested in idle chatter. He was very purposeful and achieved what he wanted while Nallamma remained in a semi conscious state blissfully floating in a surreal world unaware of what was being perpetrated on her body. When Nallamma recovered she realised that the old man had made her drink some form of alcohol. She noticed that the time was 4 am and she shook awake the old man requesting him to take her home. Her whole body seemed as if it had been squeezed dry in a wringer.
Thus was Nallamma's career launched and time flew by as Nallamma continued to learn the various aspects of the oldest profession in the whole world. At times, Nallamma’s mother would wake up in the middle of the night and find Nallamma missing. When she would later demand where Nallamma had been in the middle of the night, Nallamma would reply that she had to go to the loo and since the slum did not possess a single loo Nallamma would say that she had to walk far away to a desolate open area where all other women of the slum used to relieve themselves under cover of darkness in the middle of the night. Nallama soon realised that her lying to her mother may get discovered one day. She therefore told her mother, that she had got a job working the night shifts in a garment factory and that she would hereafter be unavailable during the nights.
As promised to her friend, Kavitha would keep watch over Nallamma to ensure that no harm befell her. She taught Nallamma the nuances of the trade and the precautions that Nallamma would have to take to ensure her safety. Nallamma would listen carefully to Kavitha and follow her advice. The only advice of Kavitha that she didn’t bother to follow was not to partake of any drug or alchohol with a client; Nallamma found that these vices helped her numb her conscience and bear the physical abuse that was heaped on her night in and night out.
Years flew by and Nallamma was now 21 years of age. Though she felt dirty inside, her external beauty remained pristine. Kavitha had also warned Nallamma about not permitting any client to get her physically aroused and the dangers of getting emotionally attached to regular customers. This piece of advice was faithfully followed by Nallamma who did not allow acts of affection to be displayed by her clients for she did not believe in mixing business with pleasure. However there was no personal pleasure in her life for she could not relate to any male in her slum or outside. She had begun to believe that all men wanted was to take her to bed and therefore avoided any romantic relationship, though many young men in her slum had proposed to her. The only comfort and pleasure that Nallamma permitted herself was to occasionally smoke a stick of weed. This was a habit that she had picked up from one of her regulars who needed this to perform the function for which he had sought her.
It was a hot summer’s night and Nallamma’s eyes kept roving for potential clients while she methodically walked around the bus terminus that she had permanently made her base of operations. Finding no one who seemed interested inside the terminus she came out on to the main road and looked around. It was getting to be 9 pm and people were beginning to vanish from the road as they all went back to their nests as it where. Nallamma spotted a gleaming red car parked by the side and kept observing the car from a distance. She did not know its make or model but she knew that it must have been pretty expensive.
(To be contd.)
Tags: fiction, poverty, oldest profession, pleasure, pain
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