A Rescue and a Remedy, by Baidnath Kumar, Ranchi
Born and raised in Samastipur, Bihar, and currently living in Ranchi, Jharkhand, Baidnath is a social worker who has saved thousands of children from human trafficking.
August 30th, 2020, was probably one of the longest nights of my career, and many of the nights to follow were also long, drenched in silence, full of moments building up in anxious anticipation.
On that night, I, together with an anti-trafficking team from Jharkhand, reached a small village in Haryana, to rescue a seven-year-old girl. Her mother had been married off at the age of 14. After spending four years with the husband, she managed to flee and register a case of human trafficking against him. Unfortunately, she had been forced to leave her daughter back in the village for several years.
When we arrived, though we had an entire police team with us, the local villagers put up a tough resistance. They were hard to reason with, especially amidst a pandemic that had seemed to spare none.
One of them said, “The girl is too small. Her father is in jail, and the mother has left her alone to her fate. We cannot hand her over to you. It is the mother who is responsible for the plight of the little girl.”
I could see the block in the mindset that was blaming the mother, and it was difficult to break through. I told them her side of the story, but in vain.
“You can tell us any story, but we won’t let you take the girl away from here,” another villager said.
Things started looking increasingly difficult. I again spoke to a few village elders. The talk went on for hours. I’ve had the experience of facing such resistances before, though, so I didn’t give up. I continued trying to convince them. Finally, after two days, they relented, and we brought the child back to Jharkhand, to her mother.
The shadow of COVID was hanging heavy in the air across India, and death was having the time of its life. In the 14 days of quarantine that followed my trip to the village, my wife, our three-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son, and I all tested positive. The government hospitals were full of patients, and private ones charge Rs. 20,000 a night.
Thankfully, everyone in my family except me had only mild symptoms. Putting all faith in my karma, and understanding that my level of exposure had been greater than theirs, I locked myself up in one room, while my wife and children stayed in other rooms in our home. I didn’t want to further expose them, as I had read that doing so could lead to more serious illness.
Every other day, my little girl stood outside my window, hoping that I would soon snuggle her. I looked away as tears rolled down her eyes and my oxygen level depleted. The television only showed news of deaths. Everything around me was a blur as my breathlessness increased. The speed dial on my phone was always set to my doctor’s number, and I began using a forsaken part of our garden to find some fresh air. Multi-vitamins and zinc went in regulated quantities into my body.
Even as my body became a harbor for medicines, I believe prayers worked the wonder– the prayers of all the children I’ve rescued from being trafficked, and the prayers of their parents, who pinned their hopes on me.
I was healed, others were healed, more people got the disease, hospital beds saw new occupants, old deaths were replaced by new deaths … and as this has gone on, many children have continued to get lost in the realm of pandemic time. For that one little girl we reunited with her mother back in August, rescue was her relief. Rescuing is my remedy.
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(This story was prepared for an “Imagine Another World” online storytelling workshop held October 14, 2020.)
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