Mockery of a Humiliation

It was afternoon time. Chinimaya Didi, had just taken a bath and she was enjoying the warmth of mild winter sun. Her hair was still wet and left open, which she let it that way to sun dry it.

Near by her, a bunch of preteens and teenage girls were also relaxing; doing what they do during winter vacations, some were knitting and some were helping their friends to make woolen balls and then they were chatting like girls of that age do most of the time.

Moti Tamang, entered on the scene from the toilet area and unintentionally stood in a distance from where her shadow some how bothered Chinimaya Didi [boys room nanny]. Without a warning, Chinimaya didi, started scorning Moti didi, for overshadowing the warmth of winter sun. Then, it was not the culture inside Bal Mandir, to request for some thing. One just shouted, until they leaked or scorned most of the time, without giving a hint of some body's action.

Therefore, Moti didi, was not aware, why she was scorned. Like any teenagers, she was also not careful enough to watch and learn and then try to understand, why she got so angry. So what she did next, irritated the nanny even more, because the nanny had used words like ‘maharogi’, meaning the mother of all illness. Moti didi, went gingery without giving much thought to the words, that was hurled at her. Her both hands faced upwards with twisted fingers, she bent her body in awkward position, her head turned in side ways, her eyes was darted in odd directions, with her mouth open in a bizarre way and twisted. Then, in that odd shape of her body, she took some wobbly steps forwards. This made all the girls erupt in laud laughter, but that exactly irked the nanny to the max.

It is natural that, what make no sense to adults, makes teen laugh hard, more they don't get it, more they find it amusing. Its kind of a triumph for the preteens & teens.

With her mouth still twisted on one side particularly  she asked, “what she should do now ?” not even understanding what she is doing and why she did that the didi, asked in very scornful tone, “ …. and why are you acting like that ?” “you said I am a ‘maharogi’ meaning incurable diseases, so I have just become like one of them”, Moti didi replied, unaffected by her angry tone. She had just imitated, one of the down syndrome children in the Bal Mandir, without even realizing it.

That mockery of humiliation was some thing very amusing to the teen bunch of girls but it added the anger of the didi, and she started scolding them for being so rude and disrespectful towards elders.

She turned towards her colleague, who was there chatting with her from the very beginning and then said in angry tone, “these children are impossible”, the other nanny, Chandra didi was also boy's rooms nanny, supported her feelings. But their scorns were somewhere buried under the loud laughter of teen girls.

This incident was unusual in many ways, specially it mocked the humiliation instantly. Moti didi, was just back from Japan, after a month stay. She had won the special prize, through a dance competition. She had been to Japan through a cultural exchange. She was good and unbeatable in her hobby. Her new found confidence which made her airy about everything around her, could have been the contribution of her recent achievement. Some time, she must have forgotten that at the end of the day, she still lives in the Bal Mandir.

When I look back, I think Moti didi, or one of such act was the reason, which made it possible for us to tolerate all the scornful remarks hurled at us. That mockery was some thing fresh and on the face of somebody, who hurled the scornful remarks.