One morning, the air was filled with the fragrance of white ‘sheuli’ flowers and ‘kash’, the cream coloured bushy plant that heralds the coming of Durga, the Mother Goddess, and the drumbeats of drums were welcoming Her. The world was brimming with joy. Everyone was in a festive mood.
Mita and her parents also were a part of this and were visiting puja pandals one after another and praying to ‘Ma Durga” for all her choicest blessings.
On their way home they met Mr. Ghosh, Mita’s father’s colleague. His face was strangely grim and sad. He had had some very bad news – the jute mill where he and Mita’s father worked together had suddenly shut down owing to an indefinitely long strike.
It was as if lightening had struck Mita’s family. In a flash, all their joy and festive spirits vanished. Mita’s mother could not hold back her tears. The teardrops just poured down her cheeks as she turned to her husband and asked “How will we overcome this crisis?”
Mita’s marriage had just been arranged with a very suitable young man. But how could her parents begin to worry about incurring the huge expenses of their daughter’s dowry and the wedding when they were now not even sure how the family of four would survive without her father’s income. It was a terrible dilemma.
Mita uttered not a single word but only kept hoping and praying that God would lead them out of these dark days. In her heart she kept asking Goddess Durga how she could be so unkind to her and her poor family.
During these hard times, one Sunday morning Mita was, as usual, going through the newspaper when an advertisement in the matrimonial column caught her eye. This is what was stated ‘Man aged 40, a widower with two children, is looking for a life partner with no demands for any dowry’.
Mita felt her ardent prayer had just been answered. Though her parents were mentally unprepared to settle for such a match for their young daughter, Mita gave the offer serious consideration. She felt it was now the only option left which would save her family all the financial consequences and social embarrassments.
Mita went ahead with her resolve to meet the widower and committed to marry him without trying to get to know him any better. The kind gentleman immediately offered Mita’s brother a job which was a boon she had not hoped for or expected! She thanked God sincerely with all her heart for solving all her family’s problems so conveniently.
Soon Mita’s family finances stabilized with her brother’s steady income. Mita’s wedding took place. But no one was blind to the heavy price that had been paid in order to procure the family’s welfare. One day Mita’s father asked her a strange question. How had she had the courage to give up her young suitor and decide to marry someone with two children - a man who she had met only once in her entire life? How could she bring herself to make such a life changing sacrifice?
Mita’s answer was soul stirring. She said that in a country like India, sacrifice was a reality that could not be avoided. She had realized that for a girl from a poor family like hers dreams could never come true. However, the sense of fulfillment lay in the fact that her sacrifice had helped save two families and that was the biggest reward she could ever expect in her whole life.
Putul Biswas
Putul Biswas, 41 years, uses an alphabet board. Her facilitators, all familiar communication partners write for her. As each sentence is composed, the partner reads it out to her. She attends the services of IICP’s Adult Day Centre.
 Putul Biswas.JPG)