I can touch the sky

“So Miss Nihita! Tell me something about yourself”, the first question had been fired from one of the interviewers.

The atmosphere in the room was suffocating and making her breathless as she was bombarded with questions from her interviewers but Nihita did not show any anxiety and answered the questions with confidence.

“You may sit outside and wait for the result” said one of the interviewers. Nihita politely thanked them and sat at the reception.

She was hoping to get this job. She was a commerce graduate with a distinction. “I really need this job. What if I don’t get selected again?  What would I say to my mother?” She thought to herself and was lost in her memories as she remembered the happy times with her family.

Nihita’s father was an accountant in a saree store in Bhopal and her mother was a housewife. She had a younger sister who was studying in fifth standard. Her family was not well off but they knew the value of small things in life. She remembered how they had celebrated her distinction in her higher secondary. They wanted Nihita to do something big. She got admission in a well-known college in Nagpur.  Her parents could not sacrifice her child’s career and they decided to shift to Nagpur and since then Nihita’s life was turned upside down.

Her father got a job in a big organization with a good salary and her mother started a small catering business of home cooked food. They celebrated the moment. Her mother made laddus at home which they enjoyed together. That was the last day when they laughed together.

A few weeks later Nihita’s father was a changed man. He had started consuming alcohol and was going into a depression. He started skipping his work. His family could not see him in this condition. They tried asking him about his botheration but he remained silent. He only said one thing repeatedly,” Being Dalit doesn’t make me impure and different.” Days passed her father’s condition worsened.  The man who was known for his responsibilities and morals was now an alcoholic and an irresponsible person.

“Miss Nihita, the HR head wants to see your certificates.” asked the receptionist. Nihita quickly escaped from her thoughts. She handed the certificates to the receptionist and settled at the corner seat.

She still remembered the day when she last saw her father. Her father cried the whole night after he came back from work and cursed his luck to be born as a dalit. Next day when Nihita came back from college she saw her father was lying on the bed lifelessly with a letter in one hand.

“I could not take the humiliation of being called “untouchable”. My colleagues disgust me and consider me inferior. I do not have the courage to face them and stop them. I am getting weaker day by day. I wish I could stop them and change their mindset. I have failed in life and have decided to end it because I have lost the purpose of living. But I hope you don’t get weaker like me and stand up against any injustice. My blessings are with you all.”

Nihita and her family were surrounded by darkness. Their monetary problems aggravated after her father passed away. Her mother was the sole earner of the family. She struggled to make dabbas and send them to shops and homes. Nihita could not see her mother suffering like this and decided to work, but her mother didn’t let her work. “You only have six months and this is your crucial time. Your focus should be only on your books and to get a good job and fulfill your father’s wish.”  Nihita worked hard day and night and passed with flying colors.

“Miss Nihita, the HR head wants to meet you.” said the receptionist. Nihita’s heart started pounding. She slowly moved towards the room. Within few minutes her destiny will be decided. She never felt that nervous before.

“Sit down Nihita” said the interviewer. Nihita quietly pulled a chair and settled with fingers crossed. She was holding her breath to hear the result.

“Congratulations Nihita! You have been selected for the backend profile and you can join from next week.” I hope you will give your best.”

The words sounded like a melody in Nihita’s ears. She was on cloud nine. She fulfilled all the formalities and left for home. She could not wait to give the good news to her mother.

A week later…

It was the first day of her office. Nihita woke up early in the morning, made lunch for herself. She wore a black trouser and a white shirt and tied her hair tightly. She took the blessings from her mother and left.

She was a bundle of nerves . She wondered whether she would be able to live up to the expectation of her family, what if she also broke down  like her father after facing the humiliation and taunts of being a Dalit. After an hour she reached office. 

She had been there before for the interview. She was familiar with the place. She went to the HR department. ”your desk is on the second floor. There is no elevator in the office so we all take stairs and its good for our health” the HR lady smiled and took Nihita to the room where she had to work. As she reached the first floor, she saw the Accounts department. Nihita thought how her father would work there and how he would have faced the traumatic experience.

“Miss Nihita, This is your desk. Study these papers and we would soon assign you with the work.” Said the HR and left the room.

It was a small room packed with ten desks which seated ten people. The room was filled with old files and dust. The fan was noisy and as compared to the other rooms, it didn’t have any air conditioner. The floor tiles had a stain and some of them were broken.  The seat cushions of the chairs were torn. They didn’t have any computer or laptop.

Nihita felt very weird by seeing the condition of the room. On the way to her room, she had glimpse of other rooms which were well maintained and had all the facilities as compared to this room. Nihita opened the file and started studying the company report.

“Hi, new joining?”  Nihita heard a very shrill voice. She looked up and saw a lady in her mid-thirties wearing a green suit on her tanned skin and hair neatly tied. She was smiling at her.

“Hi I am Sudha, I have been working here for the last three years. I work here as an accountant.” The lady introduced herself to Nihita.

Nihita politely reciprocated and they began to discuss about the company, salary package.  Sudha introduced Nihita to everyone in the room.

Hi! I am Rajbeer, I am from operations…

Hi! I am Nitin, I am from backend…

And so on..

Nihita noticed a very strange thing, although there were separate cabins for different departments, the people in her room were made to sit together.  

Next day in office, she couldn’t help but notice that other than the ten in her room, the other colleges were enjoying many more benefits.

At lunch, she asked Sudha about it.

“Oh  Nihita! This is very painful. As you know everyone in this room belongs to a minority community. They consider us inferior. They don’t think we deserve to sit with them, not even talk to them. They exploit us by saying that we don’t deserve to work in this company, if we have been employed here, then we have to do whatever they say. Some of our colleagues make us do their household work too.”

Nihita was shocked, she knew that the some of the employees in the company had a negative mindset about the minorities but she had never imagined in her wildest dreams that they would ill treat the minorities to this extent.

As days passed, Nihita started experiencing the same muddle as her father had experienced some years back. Every day she was burdened with extra work as compared to others, she was not allowed to eat in the same canteen when the other employees belonging to upper caste were having lunch. She was ill treated for no reason.

One day Nihita was working quietly at her desk. Sudha came to her desk and started crying. All of the employees gathered near her and started expressing their concern.

“I was asked by my Accounts head to do her household work, she ordered me to take care of her child and clean her house as her maid servant didn’t turn up. When I said no, she threatened me with suspension.” Sudha cried.

Nihita felt disgusted after listening to Sudha’s story, she could not sleep the whole night. She wanted to teach those employees a lesson for their wrong attitude and ill-treating others.

Next day she went to the office and closed the door of her room. “Alright everyone! Enough is enough. We can sit and tolerate their cruel actions against us. Do you know discriminating anyone on the basis of caste is a serious offence?  It is high time we have to stand up against the injustice. If we continue to allow them to demoralize us, they are going to do even worse. It’s not for us but for our future employees who are dreaming of having a good career in this company. Let everyone know how we are treated and expose them so that, from next time, any one will think twice before engaging into such activity.”

“But what can we do at our level. They are very powerful and what if they fire us from the job.”

“We can’t afford to lose the job. We have many responsibilities. What if they don’t pay our salary and treat us even more badly and hold grudges.” said the other colleges present in that room.

“No one has the right to fire us without a valid reason and if we become one, we are more powerful than them. We should take the help of law. It’s the only way we can teach them a lesson and broaden their outlook.” said Sudha

“Sudha is right! We have all heard of sting operation. Carry a hidden camera with you and record everything they do to us so that we can have enough proof to file a complaint against them. But remember we should take every precautionary measure and don’t let anyone know about the plan.” Nihita explained everything about the plan to everyone.

“We can use mobile phone cameras for recording…”

“I have a pen camera, my brother got me one from Mumbai…” said Rajbeer

The next few days went off with the execution of the plan.

One morning Nihita with her group went to the office canteen where other colleagues were having lunch. The moment they entered one of the colleague commented “ what are you all are doing here? Don’t you people know that you are not allowed to have lunch with us. You are making us impure. You belong to lower caste, stay in your limits”

Nihita argued “ But sir, we have equal rights to sit here like you all.”

“Shut your mouth or I will fire you” shouted one of the employees at Nihita.

They quietly moved out of the room. They were hurt and felt dejected but somewhere they were satisfied that they managed to capture the whole scene for future reference.

In this way Nihita and her group didn’t let a single opportunity go to record the injustice against them.

One day Rajbeer was called by his senior at his office, he took his pen camera with him. It had become an habit for everyone to carry their camera and phone with them so that if they saw any injustice they could record them instantly.

“May I come in Sir” asked Rajbeer to his Boss

“Yes Rajbeer. Today you take a day off and go to my house. We are having a party at our place and our maid servant unfortunately didn’t turn up. You go and clean the house and help my wife in household chores. “said his head.

“But sir, I am an employee of this Company, not your domestic servant. I want to develop a career in this field, not as a household servant. I am not going anywhere. I am paid to work for the Company, not to do anyone’s personal work” argued Rajbeer.

“How dare you argue with me? Don’t forget where you belong. You people deserve to work under us, not with us. You are a dalit, a weaker section of the society. If you don’t do what I say, I will fire you from the job.”

And his Boss began to abuse him.

After a moment, Rajbeer’s boss stood frozen. Rajbeer turned around and saw a bunch of inspectors heading towards his boss.

“Mr Mehra , Do you know calling someone inferior  or ill-treating anyone who belongs to ST/SC is a serious offence. You are arrested” The police officer handcuffed Rajbeer’s boss.

When they came out of the room, Rajbeer saw other employees who were discriminating against him and his group were standing handcuffed, some of them were in the police jeep.

“Thank you Miss Nihita for letting us know about the crime which was going in your office for decades. If you had not called in the morning, we would have never known about this. The evidence you gave is enough which we can use in the Court against them.  I will make sure that they get the severe punishment for conducting a filthy offence. I hope now you all can work peacefully and the company appoints broadminded and people with modern outlook.” The police officer shook hands with Nihita and went off.

As the police jeeps went by, Nihita along with her group and other colleagues stood there and hugged each other as their plan of exposing the wrong doers became successful.

A week later…

Nihita and her group no longer sat in that room.  They were all allotted separate desk having all the facilities in their respective Departments. They felt sad, that they could not enjoy each other’s company but they were happy to know other colleagues in the company.

During the lunch break, they would all meet and have their lunch together. Of course, the other colleague also joined them.

As for Nihita, she stood up in front of her father’s picture and said” Baba, You must be very happy today. I have fulfilled your dream and the vow which I had taken; I am successful in accomplishing it. Now no one can be humiliated by anyone in that company.”

After five years,

A young lady wearing an off white jute saree with a green border stood on the stage. She was awarded by the minister of the state for opening an NGO and doing various campaigns for the backward section of the society.

The minister started his speech, “We need more people like Nihita with modern outlook for the development of the Country. Thank you  Nihita for working towards the upliftment of the Nation.”