The winner

“I won! I won! I won!”

This happy chant was playing inside her head as she grinned from ear to ear. Her mind was practically doing cartwheels. As she shook hands with what felt like a million people, she had to control the urge to break into happy jig.

O.M.G. She had won!

Her idea had been voted as the most innovative from over a 1000 entries across all their offices. She had just been announced the as the winner of their inter-office #nextgentech contest. And she was getting a cash reward of 1500 US$! Of course she would be given the equivalent in Indian Rupees. She had done some quick math and figured that she would get over one lakh Indian Rupees! Her parents were going to be crazy happy. They could do so much with that money. Set right the leaking roof. She could get her parents and herself comfortable cots to sleep on. Presently they all slept on the floor in their dingy one-room tenement. Her father was a daily wage earner and did odd jobs at construction sites. Her mother worked as a housemaid in several homes. They had sacrificed so much to educate her. They had sold the little agricultural land they had in the village to pay for her engineering education. She herself had struggled and worked hard and had topped her engineering course. That’s how she had landed this plum job in a multinational firm. When the contest was announced 2 months ago, she had been eager to register for the team challenge, but no one was ready to accept her into their team. After all, she was not as suave as them and struggled to speak good English. She had been disappointed, but nevertheless had signed up for the individual category. And now…look at all these people congratulating her!

“Great job. We are proud to have you on our team Maya.” Her boss said congratulating her.

Maya grinned and shook hands with him and happened to notice the time on his Rado watch – oh no. It was already 6:30 pm. In her excitement, she had missed the shuttle service. The shuttle dropped her off at the train station from where it was a 2 hour journey to get home. This of course also meant that she would miss her regular train. Going home was going to be a challenge! If only she had wings. She couldn’t wait to get home and see the joy and pride on her parents’ faces. She had called and told them over the phone and she could sense her mother’s elation. Mother was already dreaming about what they could do with all the money. And Maya was happy to hand over the rewards to them. After all, they had given up so much to get her here.

She packed up for the day and left office amidst calls of “congrats” “great work” “awesome” and so on. However, she barely paid attention, her mind was now focused on the return journey. It was going to be a long walk to the train station. Their office was in the outskirts of the city with virtually no public transport. People either took the shuttle to the train station or had their own transport. She noticed that all the shuttle people had left already. And people with vehicles of their own would take the main road. The station was in the opposite direction. Which meant, she had to walk past a lonely stretch of road to reach the train station. She had to hoof it – there was no other alternative.

So clutching her backpack, her head bent low, she walked fast even as the sun set and darkness started to creep in. Within 15 minutes it was completely dark. There were scattered street lights and virtually no vehicle movement in this stretch. She switched on her mobile torch and walked nervously. Minutes later she thought she heard someone cry. A quiet whimpering sound coming from the bushes beyond. Perhaps it was her imagination. She slowed her steps but kept walking. There it was again! A whimper. Someone was crying for help! Oh God what should she do? Should she stop to help? Or keep moving? It was getting late already. What could she do anyway? No. She had to keep going. There was nothing she could do to help. The whimpering sound came again. A quiet pleading for help.

Maya stopped and turned her torch towards the bushes from where the sound seemed to come. “H..hello..” she called “wh…who is there?” she said nervously.

“Help me please…” came a cry. It was barely a whisper. A feeble female voice.

“What happened to you?” Maya asked still confused about what she needed to do. Should she run? Or help?

“…baby…” Maya heard fragments of a sentence

Oh God thought Maya, someone was having a baby? Is that what she was saying? She made her decision. She had to try and help.

Thoroughly frightened, her heart beating wildly, she navigated her way in the dark, past the bushes.

“Where are you? Can you say something?” Maya called out, feeling disoriented in the dark.

“H..here…help.” came the sound Maya corrected her direction and turned towards the sound.

“Can you try to keep talking so that I can reach you?” Maya said

“My..baby…” came the voice again

And then suddenly Maya spotted her. She was lying in a small clearing. Maya made her way to the owner of the voice. What she saw, shocked her. The woman was lying in a pool of blood. It appeared that she had just delivered a baby. The umbilical chord was still attached. The baby was covered in blood and fluid. Maya froze. She did not know what to do? How could she help this person? She knelt down next to the woman.

“H..hello” she said tentatively. Not sure at all about what she needed to do

The woman appeared to be very weak and tired. She had lost a lot of blood.

“Hospital…” she managed meekly

Of course. Maya’s mind kicked into action. That’s what I need to do. She called her office number and got the security on the line. She told them the situation and asked if they could help?

“We need to call an Ambulance. I will not know the address so can you call? I will wait here next to the lady. You can give the ambulance my number.” She said

“Madam – you go home. Why do you want to get into this mess? Who cares about what happens to this lady?” the security said callously

“Well, I care. Can you please call the ambulance or I will have to report your behavior to my boss right away.” She said as sternly as she could

He caved in angrily and agreed to call the Ambulance.

Maya then took out her water bottle and offered the lady some water. She drank gratefully.

“My baby…is she alive?” the lady asked

“Uh…I don’t know.” Maya said

“Can you pick her and give her to me?” The lady whispered

Maya was so afraid to pick the child. Her little body looked so fragile. She was afraid she would do something wrong.

Somehow she mustered up the courage to pick the fluid covered baby and handed her over to the weeping mother.

The baby started to cry feebly. Oh thank God! The baby was alive!

The mother and Maya wept silently. And then Maya helped the lady sit up so she could look at her baby properly. As the mother cuddled the baby, Maya waited next to them anxiously – hoping that the security had called for an ambulance.

30 minutes later the ambulance driver called and a much relieved Maya focused on giving him directions.

They reached and the mother and child were gently shifted into the waiting vehicle. They ambulance nurse cut the umbilical chord and started drips on the mother. He also cleaned the baby and swaddled it in a sterile cloth.

“You will have to come with us Madam. And sign them into the hospital.” The Ambulance driver told Maya.

So Maya went along and in the diffused light inside the ambulance, she got her first good look at the mother and child. She was young, perhaps in her mid-twenties. But her face seemed battered. Her lips were cut, her eyes swollen.

“Oh my God, what happened, who did this to you?” She asked

“My husband…beat me up because he found out that I was going to have a baby girl. He wanted a boy. My first two were girls. And he killed them as soon as they were born.” She said in a frail voice

“But…how did he know it was going to be a girl? It’s illegal to scan the foetus and reveal the gender of the child.” Maya wondered

“Oh he was desperate to know. So he bribed the technician. I had been resisting all these months. But now that it was time for me to deliver, he was getting restless. So he forced me to the scan place and made me do it. The minute he knew it was going to be a girl, he went into a rage. He beat me up right there and then dragged me to his scooter, drove me here and pushed me into the bushes. You and that bitch inside your womb can go to hell…he said and left me here.” The woman whispered. Her voice emotionless.

“And…you delivered the baby alone…in those bushes?” Maya said as tears welled up in her eyes

“Yes…the pains started even as I was getting the scan done. So when he left me here, I had to quickly clear a place and…” said the woman, even as she got breathless

“Let the patient rest Madam.” The nurse said sternly

So Maya held back the million questions arising in her head. Thirty minutes later they reached the hospital. It was a small, but neat place much to Maya’s relief. The lady and child were taken to the emergency, while Maya was asked to take care of the admission formalities.

It was past midnight when Maya got home. The kind ambulance driver had offered to drop her and she had gratefully agreed. Her anxious parents were waiting by the door. She had given details over phone, and now when she saw them, she broke down. She hugged her mother and cried.

“How could a man beat his pregnant wife?” She asked amidst sobs. “She had broken ribs ma. The man had beaten her up so much and imagine she delivered her baby alone and endured all the pain. What kind of a brute would do that ma.” She cried.

“What about the baby? Is she ok?” her mother asked gently.

“Yes…thank God, the baby is fine. She is running temperature due to exposure. But the doctor feels that she will be fine.” Maya said, trying to calm down.

“And ma… I’m sorry I know you were looking forward to the one lakh prize money...but I have to pay the lady’s hospital fee and I will have to use up that money for that.” Maya said breaking into a fresh bout of tears.

“Oh no my child. Her need was greater than ours. And I’m proud of you.” Her mother said, wiping away her tears.

“But now what will she do? Where will the lady go with the baby? Maybe I should have left her and the baby to die. Maybe that would have been better for them.” Maya lamented

“No my child…that’s not true. As long as you are alive, there is hope. There is belief that tomorrow will be a better day. She will find a way. It may not be easy. But she will. And look…you made her day better already.” He father said giving her a hug.