Same Day In Maatrchaaya Orphanage –Around all those modern towers and hi-end buildings which covered up the whole city, there was an old building situated towards the outskirts of the city. It was a traditional yet majestic building which was spread on several square feet.
It was made up of different types of house building strong woods like Indian Rosewood, Sagwan wood etc. and it seemed they used adobes in some places. The building seemed like those kinds of buildings which we could only see in period movies in present times, the buildings that belonged to Zamindars (lord of lands) of that era.
If someone had to describe this building into one word, the most correct word would be a Haveli (mansion). Havelis were widely known as the abodes of zamindars in that era. They were the symbol of the amount of money they possessed.
This haveli must have been the property of some rich individual who was generous enough to donate it to a NGO trust, converting it into an orphanage.
It also had a signboard which looked old and had been tied up to the rooftop railing, a bit tilted. It was painted in yellow color which made it visible to the naked eye even from afar. There were only two words printed on that board in a simple manner "Maatrchaaya Orphanage".
The sun rose. The silence which existed after that thunderstorm wasn"t there at this time. The birds were awake and started searching for food everywhere while chirping. The orphanage seemed lively at this moment. The children were up and started the day with their daily routine.
The front gates of the orphanage were opened by a woman. There was a wooden basket lying on the front on the doorsteps of the front gates. The woman opening the gates noticed it and tried to look inside it. A streak of shock flashed onto her countenance as she ran straight into the orphanage.
"Madam, Madam Margaret." A woman just came running while shouting into the caretaker"s room.
"What happened, Rachna?" The woman, whom she called as madam, replied with a question.
"There is a boy.....an infant, lying in a basket at our front door." Rachna replied while panting. When she saw the baby in that basket she ran as fast as she could towards the caretaker"s room to inform her about this.
"What?" Madam"s brows shot upwards. Her mouth was opened in a shocking manner.
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"Someone must"ve abandoned him during the night." She controlled her riled emotions instantaneously and said. She had seen this incident play out many times in her life but every time it riled up her emotions.
"Lead me there." Madam sprinted towards the front gates with Rachna.
"How can anyone be so ruthless, so cruel to abandon an infant in that kind of thunderstorm? Did they not have a heart?" Rachna gritted her teeth while looking at the baby.
They arrived at the front gate. Madam bended her back a little lower and picked the baby up from that basket in her arms. She looked towards Rachna while holding the baby in his hands and said in a calm manner.
"You don"t know the ways of the world, Rachna. You shouldn"t think it as though someone would be so ruthless to leave an infant in the thunderstorm, but you should feel the desperation of that person. How desperate that person must"ve been to leave an infant even in that kind of thunderstorm."
"You shouldn"t judge a book by its cover. Look there are some red stains which seems like blood stains on the towel wrapped around the baby and yet the baby doesn"t look harmed in anyway. Who knows what happened to the person who brought him here." Madam said.
After hearing those words Rachna felt ashamed as she thought that she made a judgment too early about a stranger"s personality. She bowed her head towards madam and said, "I was wrong."
Madam turned her head towards the baby and looked at him. The boy had closed his eyes and seemed to be in a deep sleep. He looked calm and peaceful.
"Don"t worry, my child. You"re safe here. Whichever sad things happened in your past, you will forget it as if it was just a dream. The moment you will open your eyes your life will start anew." Madam whispered in a very soft voice in his ears.
She turned towards Rachna and said, "Let"s bring him in."
"Renu...Renu! We are going to be late at this rate. Hurry up."
Vivek shouted from outside of his house while looking at his watch. He had already gotten ready for a long time and was standing beside his car waiting for his wife to come out. They were going to adopt a baby today.
He was so excited. He wanted to go there as fast as he could but here his wife was making him wait. He honked the horn in the frustration.
"Women" He thought. "They always use up more time than men to get ready for anything." But he wasn"t that gutsy to say that out loud in front of his wife, so he buried that thought in his mind otherwise he would be in trouble. The horn was the only thing he could vent his frustration on. So he honked on it a few more times.
"I am coming. Just give me a moment." Renu closed her eyes and folded her hands in praying manner in front of all the G.o.ds she could remember in hopes of being successful this time around adopting a baby. She came out after a couple of minutes.
"Let"s go" she said while putting a smile on her face. In reality she was very nervous this time around. They both got into the car and drove for almost forty to fifty minutes. At last they reached the orphanage.
Vivek stopped the car in the parking lot and looked at his wife sitting beside him. She was sitting there in total silence. It looked like she was in a daze, thinking about something.
Vivek guessed what her wife was thinking. He held her hands and pulled her into his embrace. He whispered lightly into her ears "it will be alright, dear. Don"t worry. This time nothing will go wrong."
"I"m scared, Vivek." While being in his embrace Renu murmured and clutched him tightly.
"Don"t be. To be honest the things that are going to happen is not in our control but whatever happens, you will always have me. I will always be by your side." Vivek said while caressing her hair with his fingers.
They stayed like that for a couple more minutes and then he said. "Now let"s not make them wait anymore." "C"mon let"s go." They both got down the car and went straight into the orphanage
"Excuse me, miss! I"ve booked a ten o"clock appointment with the caretaker of this orphanage." Vivek approached the reception counter and asked to the lady working at that desk.
The receptionist glanced at him for a moment and then turned her gaze towards the computer and politely asked. "Tell me you name, sir."
"Vivek.... Vivek Malhotra, for a ten o"clock meeting." Vivek replied.
The receptionist checked his name in the computer for a moment and immediately turned her head towards him and said with a smile. "Okay, Madam will see you now. Please come with me, sir. I"ll escort you there."
She was going to bring them to meet the caretaker of this orphanage. This was it. This was about to happen. The hearts of the couple were beating excitedly throughout the whole way. They were both nervous.
The way to the caretaker"s office was through the main hall. The main hall of this haveli was a bit bigger than the normal ones and the amazing fact about that was there were no pillars in the middle to support the gigantic roof. The whole roof was only hanging on the support of the surrounding walls. It was built very skillfully.
The living arrangements of all the children were made in this hall. The beds were situated on the both sides while leaving some place for everyone to come and go as they please. Renu and Vivek were crossing that hall following behind the receptionist.
Renu was looking around randomly while walking, sometimes on to the building and sometimes on to the kids that were present in that hall.
"Wow! What a grand building" the thought came into her mind while she was looking around.
She had seen so many grand architectural buildings in her life but none of them could exude the aura of something majestic like this one. People of the past must have had a great deal of knowledge towards vastu as they build some great buildings like this one.
While looking through everything suddenly her eyes stopped at a baby who was lying on a nearby bed. When her eyes met with the baby"s, she felt something strange was transpiring in her heart. She felt an instant connection forming towards the baby as she walked towards him involuntarily. Vivek was looking at her in a bewildering manner.
"What happened, Renu?" Vivek asked in confusion but the reply never came. It was as though her mind and soul was in another realm, not hearing any sound from this world, only her body could be seen in this world, approaching the baby. Vivek followed her wife slowly.