Hamara Ghar

The abandoned dilapidated building reminded her of those days. It had been more than two decades, she left that place' hamara ghar' but it seemed to her that it was just yesterday!

After her parents died in a road mishap; 6-year-old poor Sita was left at the orphanage' hamara ghar' by her chacha. She still remembers how she would cry for her maa- baba. The caretaker was a middle-aged lady who was a weird kind of female. She was very kind to didis while not so gentle with small kids. Helpless kids were made to do all kind of chores and then they would be given their petty meal.

Slowly, Sita entered that tall but ugly looking building; she could hear pigeons cooing. Gradually, she entered the room; her room. The scatters cots, the faded walls again forced her to revisit her childhood days.

Little Sita had found her friend, her buddy in Sheila didi. Sheila didi was a pretty, lean and smiling girl. Whenever Sita missed her parents, she would hug and embrace her favourite didi; the latter would take care of all her needs.

often the kids including Sita were puzzled and perplexed by gloominess present on faces of their

didis; they would be often seen crying with their eyes swollen. Often they would hear loud cries in the night that were hard to ignore.

She still remembered the night when she saw Sheila didi for last time. She was ten years old then. The warden had forcibly pulled Sheila didi from her cot; didi was just pleading but to no avail. Sita was scared to death.

Whenever she inquiries about didi; she was told that she had been taken away by a rich family and they have adopted her.

One day, the children were startled to see a lot of policemen in their' Hamara ghar'. Eventually, all the kids were slowly filled in the van. She didn't understand why their warden and principal aunty were being taken away by police and their hands were tied?

She came back to her present day. ' How her days changed when Shyama Maa had adopted her and gave her a new life?'

Sita , a painter today, remembered her Sheila di and wished no one to go through the same ordeal.