Hello everybody! Wishing you all the best for the winter season. We continue with Ruchi’s neighbor in the twenty fifth video of ‘Spinning into a Career’.
Nimmi’s mother is not happy. She cannot go to her native place in Bihar because she cannot afford the fare for the train from Sharanai. Nimmi’s father has a friend called Kadam, who is skilled at malpractices, and in his company he starts drinking. Evil has its power. Her father is dragged into it. Extra income comes in the form of cash. Nimmi senses something is wrong. She observes new furniture and showcases being made. It wrecks her heart. She tells her father it is wrong. Her dad feels the guilt. So, he drinks. Nimmi hates her dad for drinking and befriending Kadam. He wants to get out of the racket but he cannot. Kadam threatens him with dire consequences. Ultimately Kadam is caught and sacked. Nimmi’s father is relieved but is not able to get extra income. He gives up drinking.
To meet their living expenses, Nimmi coaches students in their homes. She travels long distances to coach students. She keeps the money she receives from tuitions in a drawer. One day she finds lovebirds sitting on the windows of her house. The lovebirds are talking to each other. Nimmi cannot find the money she has kept in the drawer. It is missing. Nimmi’s parents are not at home. They are visiting a distant relative. She sees one fish tank too. She interrogates her brother from where he has gotten the money for fish and birds. He says, ” I took the money from the drawer. I wanted birds and the fish.” Nimmi waits till her parents come. She tells them about the birds and the fish. Their parents scold him and Nimmi cannot do anything to get her money back. He brings in several kinds of fish and breeds them in the tank. He cleans the fish tank every week. Nimmi and her mother and sisters go to a cinema to watch a movie called ‘Mrigu’. On the way to the cinema, Nimmi’s brother goes running after them and hurls stones at them because they do not take him.
Nimmi, after her tuitions is waiting at the bus stop to return home. She has worn a gray dress. She does not return home until late at night. The girl’s parents are worried because it is evening. She is the eldest daughter of the house. Someone drops her from a van. She is feeling giddy. She is not able to walk. The family is in panic. Ruchi cannot imagine what has happened to her friend. She takes her to the doctor immediately. The doctor gives her medicine and says that heavy bodies have fallen on her. She is having vaginal discharge. No police complaint is made due to societal norms and tradition. Ruchi prays for her swift recovery. Ruchi cannot digest the fact that such incidents can happen in a country where a woman is the prime minister. Women’s security is still an issue. However, election result is in favor of the female prime minister. Ruchi advises Nimmi to work in a coaching class that is near her house.
Nimmi’s brother is the youngest child in the family. No one understands him. He joins a convent school and is good at studies from standard one to five. He finds Math very difficult. His mother who is involved in household chores has less time for him. After fifth standard, his childhood takes a turn. He has bad friends who cut class. He has a Math teacher in school by the name of Thomas, whom his father knows. He is afraid of Thomas who is a strict teacher. Every time the Math class is on, he is called to solve a math problem on the blackboard. He is chastised by the teacher in front of sixty students. He feels insulted in front of his classmates. One day, he decides to cut class. He dresses up everyday to go to school but runs away to travel via train without ticket in the women’s compartment to St. Thomas Gate and back to Bhimpoli.
Thank you for listening. We shall continue with Nimmi’s brother in the next video. Till then, goodbye!
Video can be viewed on You tube by typing, ‘ Spinning into a Career’ by Usha Raman.
