Alice Ekka, "Durgi's Children and Elma's Dreams"
https://hindikahani.hindi-kavita.com/Durgi-Ke-Bacche-Alice-Ekka.php
AI-assisted translation using ChatGPT.
“Elma Didi!... Elma Didi!!!...!!!”
Hearing the call in her ears, Elma was startled. She turned around and looked behind her. Her eyes began scanning the people coming and going on the road.
She also noticed a woman who had a broom in one hand and a bucket in the other. Elma didn’t pay much attention to her at first.
But that woman quickly increased her pace and reached Elma. There was a glow of joy in her eyes. Elma was startled again. She suddenly exclaimed, “Durgy!”
And Elma thought to herself, Is this really Durgy? She stepped toward her.
Seeing Elma coming toward her, it was as if wings appeared on Durgy’s feet.
Moments later, the two stood face to face—Elma and Durgy. From the weight in her hands and the brisk walking, Durgy was panting.
Seeing Elma in front of her, Durgy chirped, “Elma Didi, you recognized me, didn’t you!”
She said this and smiled at Elma.
Seeing her, Elma too felt great happiness. Durgy… Elma said joyfully, “Oh Durgy! It really is you. I recognized you by your voice alone. But how did you suddenly appear here? And look at you! What am I seeing? Oh Durgy, you’ve changed so much!”
A faint, worn-out smile flickered and faded on Durgy’s lips. She said, “I’ve been working here for the past two or three years, Didi. Do you live in this neighborhood? We’re meeting after such a long time, Didi.”
It was as though poor Durgy couldn’t contain herself—her joy was bursting through her face. Her eyes sparkled. The corners of her lips trembled with the happiness of reunion.
Elma said, “Yes, this is my house. See that yellow gate? That’s it. The sweeper woman hasn’t come here for the past two or three days. Have you come in her place?”
Durgy said, “Yes, Didi, I’ve come as her substitute. I had just finished cleaning waste from that yellow-gated house.”
Elma said, “Maybe you went there after I left the house. My dogs must’ve barked at you a lot?”
Durgy said, “Yes, Didi, exactly. They barked a lot. Really barked! Thankfully they were tied up, otherwise how could I have worked? After that, I saw you, Elma Didi. I recognized you from behind. And then ‘Elma Didi’ just slipped out of my mouth suddenly. And you recognized me too, Didi. We’re meeting after twenty—twenty-two years. It feels so good.”
“You’re right, Durgy!” Elma said. “We’re meeting after such a long time. The world is round, isn’t it? In life, sooner or later, somewhere, we’re bound to meet again. Come now. Let’s go back. We’ll sit and talk for a while.”
“Yes, Didi, let’s go! Like in our younger days, how we used to sit and chat! And you haven’t changed a bit, Didi. That’s how I recognized you from behind. So tell me, where did you get married, Didi? How many children do you have? What do they do?” she asked all in one breath.
Elma said, “Let’s go home first, then we’ll talk about everything.”
Elma walked ahead, and behind her followed Durgy, carrying a bucket. People looked at them with surprised eyes. What’s going on? People were getting curious.
When they reached Elma’s house, both of them sat down in the open space at the back. Durgy placed her bucket and broom behind a tree.
Then, looking around, she asked, “Is this your house, Didi?”
Elma said, “Yes, it’s my own house.”
Just then, a dirty, ragged little boy of about five or six came running and clung to Durgy.
Elma asked, “Is this your son, Durgy?”
Durgy replied, “Yes, Didi, he’s from my fourth man.”
Elma looked at her in astonishment, “Fourth man? What are you saying, Durgy? You’ve had four husbands?”
Durgy said, “What could I do, Didi? What doesn’t a woman have to do when driven by hunger? My marriage happened right in front of everyone back in Gomla (Gumla district, Jharkhand). After we got there, I became a widow. My husband passed away leaving behind a one-month-old baby. It hadn’t even been a year when I went off to Chaibasa with a sweeper man. I lived with him for five or six years, Didi, but that scoundrel fell for another sweeper woman and left. He didn’t show a trace of pity or kindness, Didi. When the children begin to suffer from hunger and thirst, another sweeper man took pity and kept me. But my cursed fate—he too died of cholera.”
Durgy’s eyes had become moist. A look of sorrow spread across her face.
She wiped her tears and continued, “After that, I couldn’t stay there anymore, Didi! I went straight back to my parental home in Lantern Ganj (Daltonganj, now Medininagar). There I had the fourth one, but that unfortunate man too didn’t last a year—he had leprosy. That’s my fate, Didi. Since then, I’ve been carrying waste from door to door alone to feed my children. Look at me—what I’ve become. My hair’s turned grey like mixed rice, there's no flesh left on my bones. My eyes are sunken. You saw me once, didn’t you, Didi—how I used to be?”
Tears streamed from Durgy’s eyes. She began to sob.
Durgy said through tears, “What can be done with just my earnings alone, Didi? I’ve already married off three daughters. Five of them are still small. Three little boys—they all cause so much trouble, Didi. How will I feed and clothe so many, Didi?”
Elma had no answer to this; but as the saying goes, she said, “Everything will be alright, Durgy. Those who have no one, have God. Be patient, don’t lose heart.”
Saying this, Elma went inside the house and soon returned with some old clothes, a winnowing basket filled with rice and lentils, some vegetables, and a five-rupee note. She placed them in front of Durgy and said, “Take these, Durgy. As long as you work here, you can take the leftovers from my place.”
Durgy wiped her tears, wrapped the items in her saree, tucked them into the front fold, and tied the note securely in the corner of her sari’s end.
Elma said, “Alright Durgy, go now. There’s still more work to be done.”
Durgy replied, “Yes, Didi, I have to go to the Marwari locality. If I don’t go, I’ll be scolded.”
Elma said, “Yes, Durgy, go—if you don’t work, you have to listen to insults. One should do their work properly. Take our cleaner, the one you’ve replaced—so lazy and shameless, I can’t even begin to explain! She would disappear for days, and when questioned, would come up with ten excuses. Didn’t you see how filthy the toilet had become? Anyway, now that you’re here, everything’s clean again.”
Durgy said, “Didi, if she does this again, report her to the municipality. Everything will be sorted then.”
Elma replied, “Oh, I’m tired of reporting. Nothing changes! She just stays put where she is. Anyway, as long as you’re here, everything will run smoothly.”
Durgy lifted a bucket onto her head, picked up a broom, and went out to the street.
Elma remained seated. Images of Durgy from twenty years ago floated before her eyes. The Durgy of twenty years ago!... She probably wasn’t even twenty then... A contemporary of Elma, fourteen or fifteen-year-old Durgy... began to appear before her eyes.
Jhan-jhan-jhan-jhan... the sound of anklets.
“Elma Didi! Elma Didi! Open the door.”
Elma would run and open the door. As soon as it opened, Durgy would flash her pearl-like teeth in a broad smile.
Elma would say, “Come on in,” and Durgy, swaying gracefully with a broom in hand, her anklets jingling melodiously, would enter and sit on the toilet steps. Yellow sari, scarf over her head, vermilion in her hair parting, with a forehead ornament. Bangles on her wrists and kohl in her eyes. She would blush with just her eyes, as if a celestial maiden had arrived! Elma would keep watching her and sometimes sit beside her on the steps to chat. Both would laugh and talk together.
Then Elma’s mother would call out, “Elma, come here.”
Elma would get up irritably and go to her mother.
She’d ask, “What is it, Mother?”
Her mother would whisper in her ear, “Oh Elma, what kind of habit is this? Sitting and talking with a sweeper woman!”
Elma would stay quiet.
Her mother would say, “Go, get her work done and send her back quickly.”
And then Elma would say, “So what if she’s a sweeper, Mother? She’s just like me. In fact, she’s even more beautiful than me. What’s wrong with talking to her?”
Elma would walk off saying that and go back to chatting with Durgy. After a while, Elma would say, “Come, Durgy, I’ll give you water. Clean the toilet.”
Clinking, Durgy would get up, fixing her sari and scarf, and start cleaning with the water Elma gave her.
Durgy would say, “Elma Didi, move aside or you’ll get splashed.”
Once the cleaning was done, Durgy would go outside. Elma would watch her pick up the broom and bucket and leave with a lively sway.
Elma began to reflect. The Durgy of twenty years ago and the Durgy of today! What a difference! Age brings changes, but life’s circumstances change a person so quickly. Fate can change everything! The poor woman looks old before her time. And on the other side, there are so many who seem untouched by old age. Durgy, who once charmed thousands of hearts, is now barely recognizable.
Visions of inequality began to swirl before Elma’s eyes. Living, breathing pictures!
Oh, this world! Such difference among the children of the same Creator! Some swing in cradles, and others carry buckets of filth on their heads, going from door to door! Oh, Lord, is this Your justice? And what a disgusting job this is! Will this work never end in our country?
Elma’s imagination began to soar. If only such a day would come when every corner of free India became completely clean! When all the filth flowed underground. When everyone did their own cleaning! Then maybe there would be no sweepers at all!
A vision of such an India began to appear before Elma’s eyes. She saw Durgy’s children clean and well-kept. All of them, shoulder to shoulder, helping to uplift the country.