“Hu thaayu Neeruben (How are you, Neeru aunty)?” Chukli teasingly greeted in her typical sing-song, half-baked Gujarati. So, Neeruben replied, “Kasu nathi Chukliben (Nothing much, Chukli baby)!” as she dashed to clean the utensils. This jingle was their daily ritual that both performed religiously.
Sometimes, Mita also followed Neeruben. Mita was just about Chukli’s age, which, for Chulki, was the best part! Often, while Mita mopped the floor, Chukli would sprinkle some dirty bucket water onto her and run away. Then, Mita would respond with equal vigour. With the slurpy dirt dripping down her face, Chukli would giggle each day. Many times, Chukli drew chalk cubes on the floor and coaxed Mita to play kit-kit. But as Mita rushed from one house to the other, she would only hop within the cubes on her way brisking to another house.
One day, as Chukli was behaving naughtily, her Dad scolded her tight. “Do you know why Mita does jharoo-pocha-bartan and not attend school?” Chukli was dumb-faced. “Because she is sacrificing her education for her brother. That is why while she and her mother do menial chores twice every day in so many houses, her brother studies to progress ahead.”
Though, Chukli did not understand what all that really meant, she just lied low that day. So, when Mita came, Chukli did not pull her ponytail or stick her tongue out when Mita rolled her eyes in fast circles. But, the next day, everything was back to the funny normal. Mita combed and tied Chukli’s ponies. She also cleaned the house as a cat had burst open a milk packet, which Chukli had carelessly forgotten to put inside the fridge.
Many years later, when Chukli worked in reputed offices, she revisited her childhood home. She was overwhelmed to see Neeruben, her old gardener, carpenter, shopkeeper, and even her school buses’ conductor. But Chukli most longed to meet Mita.
However, as life drifted them apart, Mita could not go beyond a primary school and never ever to a college. By now, she was already married 'timely' in a village nearby and was also parenting a baby. She could not learn any new skills to earn more nor enjoy any opportunity that Chukli ever did, even though she was equally hardworking and sincere.
As Neeruben left, the grownup Chukli gradually understood what her Dad meant that day. After witnessing the loss of childhood of a dear friend, Chukli realized that the world is not equal for all of us.
Back home, one day, as she was setting her new mopping machine, a doorbell rang and she found Usha aunty. Aunty had come to collect her final wages for the jharoo-pocha-bartan she did prior to the lockdown. That was when Chukli paid her a lot extra to be able to afford a smartphone. “Ye Madhu ki online classes ke liye (This is for Madhu's online classes),” she explained, pledging to ensure that no poor child ever loses his/her rights which she was blessed with.
Supplement Editorial Coordinator of the Gobar Times magazine and Senior Reporter-cum-Sub Editor of the Young Environmentalist Programme, Environment Education Unit, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi