Man of My Heart

1 Social Worker

Part 1 Social worker

It was a late evening. A girl was standing at the end of a lane with her two-wheeler. It seemed she was waiting for someone. She saw a car coming towards her. She started her scooter hurriedly and got ready. She moved when she made sure that the car was going to enter the small lane. Yes, the car entered the lane. The girl rode her bike before the car not giving the space to overtake her bike no matter how many times she heard the car horn. The man who drove the car got irritated. He knew she intentionally rode the bike restricting his car from overtaking her. Suddenly she raised the speed of her scooter.

That was when the man in the car saw a few guys on the side of the lane. They looked at the scooter girl. They commented something and laughed. They took a step towards her but stopped seeing a car following her.

The carman was shocked to see them having alcohol bottles in their hands. The lane was the back of a famous private college in the district. There were many trees inside the college campus. Those were blocking the street light from spreading light to the street. The lights on the road also were dim. That made the lane look dark. It seemed the lights were only for formality. The alcohol guys didn't bother about anything. The girl's scooter and the car crossed them.

The girl stopped her scooter at the end of the long lane. Putting on the side stand of the scooter, she got down from the scooter and stopped the car showing her hand. The man in the car pressed the brake. She came to him and tapped the car window. He lowered the window and switched the light of the car on. He got stuck for a few seconds seeing the girl. She looked simple yet beautiful. He was curious to know why she stopped him.

"I'm sorry sir. I troubled you. Did you see the guys?"

He nodded yes.

"They trouble people a lot... Especially girls who come alone but they won't dare if someone is there. That's why I blocked your way. I'm sorry..."

"Why don't you file a complaint against them?"

"No use... People did that many times but nothing happened. The police pretended like taking action. The road looked normal for two days. After that, again they start... (she sighed.) Today there was only one gang. Sometimes we don't even get space to ride the bike..." She said.

He looked at her shockingly and became thoughtful. He was supposed to ask her something but she started walking while saying,

"Once again sorry and thanks" The girl left the place, starting the bike.

The man started the car and followed the girl until she took a right turn. He rode the car straight to reach his destination.

After a few minutes of the ride, the girl stopped the scooter in front of a house and saw a woman in her middle forties waiting for her.

"Khushi... why are you late today?" the woman asked.

"I had to wait at the DARK STREET for more than half an hour, Amma" Khushi said.

"Don't know when will this condition of our district change" Khushi's mother Garima murmured.

"Has not Babuji come yet?" Khushi asked.

"No... he will be late today."

"But why?"

"The new Collector is taking charge tomorrow. So, he will come only after clearing all the pending petitions"

"But, he never keeps pending petitions..."

"It's not enough if your father alone works hard but those who work under him... if the VAO (Village Administrative Officer) cleared the petitions, the RI (Revenue Inspector) won't... if the RI cleared it, then the ZDT( Zonal Deputy Tahsildar) would not... what will he do then? He could clear only after they signed it"