The Birthday

Tomorrow would be a very special day for me. A day that came just once every year; my birthday. I would finally turn ten years old. I would be a big girl! I could almost taste the excitement on my tongue. I would wake up to the sound of the puja bell as usual. Alka didi would bring me the set of colourful new clothes that I had picked last week. Kaka would get ladoos for all of us. Best of all, I would go to the mandir to pray, and meet my grandmother for some time. She was the only one who had wanted to know that I was well.

Alka didi had taken me and Munni to the bazaar so that we both could pick the colours in which we wanted our birthday kameezes. This was a very special outing for us. New clothes were a privilege, bestowed upon us only once a year.

I had relished this special outing for as long as I could remember. Alka didi would walk us out onto the main road, where she would hail a three-wheeled rickshaw. We would scramble onto the rickshaw, and breathe in the sights, smells and sounds of the city around us. The ice lollies from the carts came in so many vivid shades, they had to be very tasty. The corn on the cob, roasted golden made my mouth water. The deep fried potato curry stuffed samosas yanked at my growling stomach, and the puffed rice masalas, took my yearning to a different level.

However, Munni and I had long learned that, these were just like our new clothes: privileges. We had learnt not to clamour for them.  We were taught to be grateful to our Didis. We were taught that we were lucky to even be alive, and well. Nobody had wanted us. Our parents had either thrown us into dumpsters, or left us at the doorstep of the House. Since then, the Didis had taken care of all our needs. We had enough to eat, we were educated at the school, and were taught skills to help us survive in the world outside. There were forty-five of us altogether in this house. Unlike most people who celebrated their birthdays on the days that they were born on; we celebrated our birthdays on the days when we were found by the Didis.

 This day, this year, was indeed very special. It was the day I was wanted by someone. My grandmother finally came for me, and took me back home.

Even today, 20 years later, when I think back to that special day, I grow misty eyed. I was one of the lucky ones to have been found by the didis, who had been adopting and supporting orphan girls, in the city. Those first ten years of my life could have gone horribly wrong if it were not for them.