The Change

I still remember that day!

Meera was everywhere, in the newsprint, on the internet, and now even on breaking news!

Any normal person would die be in such a situation, but not Meera!

She was not a celebrity. She was just an ordinary girl who made an error of judgement, a mistake, a mistake she would regret all her life. She did not commit any crime but trusted someone who wasn’t worth it.

People out there were talking about her, but no one cared to talk with her. She was depressed and had locked herself in a room because she was horrified with what had happened. Overnight her life had changed. An act of love meant to make lovers happy turned into a nightmare.

She was victimised! He wasn’t.

She kept wondering why people were looking at her with disrespect. It should have been him who was to be disrespected. He was the one who added alcohol to her drink and made a joke out of her feelings and sold her feelings. Yet, he was out enjoying and she was the one locked up and depressed.

Increasingly she felt isolated and dejected.

First her friends left her one by one, and then it was her family.

“Don’t even try calling me your father, if you were my daughter you would have never done such a thing, for me you are dead,” her father had rumbled on the phone the next morning. That was the last day she spoke to her parents.

She was alone.

But fate wanted her to tell her tale to the world!

When the whole society was against her, she had her best friends, Rohan and Nikita to comfort her. Even her parents and family were ignoring her. She wanted to fight back and needed a little push, a nudge to get going. Her friends helped her.

She decided to fight for herself, though; she knew the journey wasn’t easy. She took the matter to the court.

The courtroom became a backyard to crack dirty jokes on her. She had to answer all the ghastly questions put to her in the court.

She was out to gain her respect once again and it was an uphill task to prove that she did not do anything wrong, but was the one on the receiving end. She asked lot of her friends to talk about her clean character in the court, but all turned a deaf ear to her pleas.

Her lawyer was the only understanding person next to her. He trusted her and knew she was innocent. The lawyer was surprised to see her boldness in the court. She answered all the questions with a poker face and without any discrepancy.

The defence lawyers tried his best to confuse her, demean her and even disrespect her. But she stood strong as a rock.

Once when she had to visit the police, the media was waiting for her to get their breaking news, her lawyer suggested her to cover her face with her dupatta, but she refused.  “If I haven’t done anything wrong why should I hide my face?” she said.

Soon

They were going to win; she was going to gain her respect back!

She started going out again, meeting a few old and worthy friends. She would always cover her face partially with her dupatta, media had flashed her photographs way too much and it was all over the internet. One day a man called her a whore. Instead of quietly leaving the place, she snapped back. “Women become whores when men like you surf the internet and force them to be that. I am NOT a whore; I am just a naive girlfriend who cared for a dog who wasn’t worth.”

The court battle had mellowed her down as a person. While her determination had increased manifold, her attitude towards people had changed. While she hated her tormentor, she had forgiven her parents and her friends who had left her. It was a sign of a strong character.

It wasn’t long before she won the case. She got back her respect, her life. He was sent to jail.

----------------------------------

Sahil’s throat turned dry after such a long answer. He picked up a glass of water.

The journalist asked, “So where does Meera work now?” and what relevance does it have to Anand Niketan, the NGO you work for?

Meera started Anand Niketan. She works for all those girls neglected and alienated by the society, and gives them support and strength.

And I am the person who was responsible for the storm in her life. I had filmed our intimate moments and made public.

After I was jailed, I mentally could not take my sentence and was recommended psychological help. When she got to know, she appealed to reduce my sentence.

She changed me forever. Her kindness towards me, even after what I did made me feel ashamed of myself. The only way I could redeem myself was by helping the cause she supports.

And here I am devoting my life to her NGO.

Meera changed my smirk into a warm smile.