Illustration: City Air News
Today Nimmo arrived early to work at the contractor's house. Moon had still captured the sky and sun was nowhere to be seen. Today was Independence Day. Today she wished to finish her work at the contractor's house early and then go to see Independence Day celebrations.
Nimmo had been working there for a short while only. The contractor was a good man. Nimmo was young; in fact youth had just come to her. Still her employer had never looked at her with greedy eyes. He used to live alone in his house.
Nimmo had nobody to call her own except for her mother, in this world. Even mother too was only for namesake. She was very ill. She was bed-ridden and only coughing all the time. She requested somebody to get employment for her daughter at the contractor's house. This gave her two square meals.
Nimmo knocked at the contractor's door. After a while he opened the door and started at her and said:-
- Oh Nimmo! Why are you so dressed up, that too so early?
Nimmo narrated the whole reason that it was Independence Day and she was !
- Okay okay. Come do the work he said after listening to the whole thing.
Nimmo walked inside and he kept observing her.
Chhamm Chhamm Chhamm the sound of her anklets were working less on his ears and more on his heart. The contractor started thinking about her beauty her alluring gait, and the way she walked fascinated him. He started imagining it would be so pleasurable. He started running his tongue on his lips and thought about the pleasure.
Shutting the door, he also went in, where Nimmo was giving fodder to the buffaloes. A lantern was hanging on the wall close-by. She was looking even more beautiful in its light. Black eyes full of kajal, long hair, glowing beauty. The contractor's heart was giving way. He lost self control. He held Nimmo's hand, dragged her to his bedroom, and threw her on his bed and bolted from inside.
All this happened so quickly that Nimmo didn't even realise as to what was happening. Then she did what had to happen. The cock crowed it was morning. Nimmo opened her eyes. She looked around and then looked at her delicate body. She started crying bitterly. She was plundered on the day when the country became independent. She got up and walked out of the room. Every portion of her body was aching. In the veranda, the beast of a man, the contractor, was sitting. She started yelling.
- You treacherous, you have ruined me. But I won't pardon you. I will expose you today in the Independence Day celebration function where the minister has to deliver a speech. She was crying bitterly. All this didn't affect the contractor one bit also.
- So what if I tasted a little bit. I live in a free country and can do anything. He roared.
She went to the venue of the function. She screamed, yelled and related as to what happened that morning. But the minister paid no heed to her. Instead the police passed her off as a mad woman and took her to the police station. At night, those people who have to protect the common man, subjected her to the same thing, as what the contractor did in the morning.
Next morning newspaper carried the news item of Nimmo as an unclaimed dead body, and the administration set her pyre on fire.
(Translated from Hindi to English by Prof. Shaheena Khan)
FROM MANOJ DHIMAN’S BOOK `LATE NIGHT PARTY’