Greed rules all

She stepped out of the Mercedes and gulped. This was the biggest gamble of her life. This was not the poker game that her hubby and their friends would play; this was playing for a new life, for them.

She looked towards the shanty her driver was pointing out and gingerly made her way, circumventing the cesspools in the way and the accusatory eyes peeping from shabby curtains and hovels, where TV played full blast.

She had forbidden her driver to "announce" her arrival. She did not want them to feel apprehensive. She had not foreseen her own nervousness. Picking up her courage, she raised her hand to knock at the door, but as the door was open and kids were running in and out, she guessed she must have been seen. She raised the tattered curtain at the entrance and croaked “Hello".

Akash could not believe his eyes, as he rose from his place on the floor, where he had been cutting vegetables for dinner. "Madam, you have come to visit me?!!!! In my home??!! Aai, come quickly. Madam has come to visit us." His mother rushed from the alcove which served as the pantry and kitchen and bed for her eldest child.

She saw the stately memsahib in her high heels and expensive clothes and a sense of foreboding gripped her. "What would such a rich woman want from her? A poor woman with an alcoholic husband and 5 kids? She wouldn't have come this far to ask her to be her domestic help, now would she?” She had heard Akash chatter about this very generous lady who would come to his boarding school which was run by a charity, for orphans and children whose parents couldn't afford to bring them up themselves, very often. 

The lady was often seen in newspapers, smiling, with her film star friends. She even knew Shahrukh Khan. She was the one who had given Akash his first English books to read, his first set of audio books to improve his English pronunciation, had enrolled him in an English medium school and was paying for his tuition and books and field trips. She had been to the lady's sprawling bungalow once, to thank her for her generosity. Although she was cynical about the philanthropy. She knew that rich people often took poor kids like hers under their wing, to show-off like trophies later, in their soirees.

She was fine with the arrangement, as it allowed her to realize her own dreams. Akash was ten years now, and if he kept on showing promise, he would soon be capable of getting a good job somewhere. He would escape the hell that she had to live through every day. No more beatings, no more fights and the cruelty that was meted out to her kids and herself every day.

The lady's appearance made her heart flip. Had Akash done something wrong? Was the lady here to complain and withdraw her support? Her dreams seemed to turn to ashes right before her eyes.

Natalia saw Akash's mother pale and involuntarily reached out her hand to allay her fears. "I am not here to complain or anything. I am here in fact to ask for a favor. Rather something bigger than that." She hesitated and was at a loss for words for the first time in her life.

She could handle her own couture house, her employees and her fickle husband but not this, without fearing ultimate rejection. Still, gearing herself up, she addressed Akash, “Sweety, why don’t you go outside and ask Prakash to give you your gift. He is seated in the car. You remember my car, right?" As Akash bounded away, she turned to his mother and blurted out, "We wish to adopt Akash; as our own; as our son. We can provide him with a fantastic life and he is so intelligent, that with our means, we'll be able to give him all that you cannot possibly give him. I mean, you have four younger kids to take care of. It's not like Akash is staying with you, as your child, as it is. Plus, he will escape your husband's beatings. Yes, Akash told us about that. It's not your fault that you were married to such a man but staying with him can't be too good for your son right? He too may turn into a violent alcoholic under his father’s influence. We will take Akash to London with us. My husband can get himself deputed there. Imagine your child will study in a foreign land!" 

Akash's mother listened in stunned silence. She could not fathom that her Akash could be wanted by somebody else. Then a surge of unreasonable jealousy, for herself, for her life with an abusive husband, for her younger children rose like a wave in her chest. "Of what good is it to me, if you take away Akash? I was hoping he will be employed in a good place after some years and support me. I am not earning enough as a domestic help and his father spends all his earnings in liquor. I had a little bit of hope and you want to take that away from me? All for a prospect of a foreign country?"

Natalia's business sense came to the fore. "We will give you with a bulk amount to provide for you and your family. You can deposit it in a bank and live off the interest if you please. No, I am not asking you to sell your son to me. All I am saying is that you need not feel cheated off a chance to do better in life. We will take care of everything, all legalities. Think about it. Talk to your husband and give me a call. Here's my card." She explained a bit more about the process and then left. Akash's mother stood rooted to the ground with the card in her hand.

That night, Akash's father came home drunk again and beat everybody up with a stick. His wife came to a decision, while nursing the swelling near her eye. She would give up her child to ensure he did not grow up to be like his father. She hated her life and if she could not change hers, she damn well could change her son's. 

Next day, she called Natalia, and asked her to start the legal proceedings for adoption. It was a long and laborious process, which Natalia's legal team, made short work of. Akash's father, dazzled by the prospect of quick money relented easily. To Akash, it was explained that he had a promising life ahead and that for his family's good; he must sacrifice by going to stay in a foreign country with his new family. Soon, they were invited to sign the final papers, to Natalia's home.

Her youngest one had not been well, so she had to carry her along. As the parents waited in the atrium of the palatial house, sipping chilled juice, Akash wandered around with the baby. The legal team arrived and had just started briefing them when the baby wailed loudly. Everybody turned towards the sound. The baby had tripped and fallen and had scratched herself. Akash had taken out his handkerchief and was tying it gently around the baby's leg, while cooing softly to calm her down. Akash's mother's heart swelled with pride and love. That moment, she decided, she would not give up her child. She may not have the best means to bring him up, but she had a heart full of love, which nobody else could match.

There was furor of course. Akash's father, Natalia's legal team, Natalia herself, cajoled, reasoned, threatened but to no avail. She dragged Akash out of the bungalow and hopped in the next available bus to home. Akash kept on asking the reason for the hasty departure but she was caught in her whirlwind emotions. She clutched her baby and Akash's arm and refused to open her mouth.

Once they reached home, she told Akash that she had refused to sell him to the rich lady. He would be loved by his mother and younger sisters, and would be their pride and joy. She watched her son's expression change from confusion to disbelief and then something else which she could not identify.

Natalia sat in her terrace garden, staring at the sea, holding her cup of rapidly cooling coffee. She was strained, tired and feeling dejected. She had tried to do something good for herself and for another person and the opportunity had been snatched away from her. She heard a sound and turned back instinctively. Akash stood in the doorway to the terrace, clothes muddy and soiled, face streaked with tears, barefoot. Natalia stood up in concern, "What happened? Is everything alright?" "My mother, she wanted to ruin me. She wanted me to be chained to my father like she was. She wanted me to suffer his abuses and beating like she did. She wanted me to be a slave to her hopes, earning all through my life to provide for my siblings while she churned out babies year after year. So, I put a stop to that and came to you. I am yours now and nobody can take me away from you." Akash cried. It was then that Natalia noticed the heavy stone pestle, splattered with blood, in his right hand.

Akash saw the expression in Natalia’s eyes change from concern to fear; to rejection and knew in that moment that his hopes had crashed to the ground. Greed rules all, even the innocent.