'Do you think we should get another bottle?', he asked me after we had finished our last bottle of whiskey. 'It is only 10, we should get one more and order some chicken', I remarked.
We were out for our weekly bender, working in Gurgaon had its perks one of them being the BYOB places where one could go and drink till they dropped. Our weekly bender was more often a daily one, we all worked nearby and the best place to meet was here.
'Aren't you guys done?' a raspy voiced Karishma asked. 'We have just begun and if you want to go I can call you an Uber' I said. Karishma was not a heavy drinker in fact the whiff of our whiskeys was enough to get her drunk for a week. But I knew her hint and it was time I wrapped up and left too. We finished our second bottle quite quickly and the five of us left around 12am.
Karishma lived nearby so I was the desginated driver to drop her home. She lived in one of the Gurgaon high rises built on the erstwhile Aravalis. It was now 12.30am and she was busy talking to her boyfriend when I dropped her home.
I was back driving to my house on the now nearly deserted Aravali road. I bent down to find my cigarettes, I was down to three and I needed to buy some more. The road had nothing and I knew I'd have to detour towards the infamous Mangar village. This village once ruled by highway robbers, now it has one too many all night dhabas and weed sellers. I picked up my pack from my usual shop, he used to be a highway robber now he sells 10 bucks cigarettes at 15 which he says is far more profitable than robbery.
The night was dry and the air was slightly chilly, she was standing near the road with an aluminum suitcase and what looked like a bundle of clothes in her hand. She was shivering, it was not that chilly I thought. I usually never stop to give lifts and especially not at this time of the night.
'You lost? Need me to call someone for you?' I said. The shivering girl looked up to me and I could see her red eyed face with dried tears. 'I have no one to call, can you drop me to the bus stand?' she said squeakily.
'It is 1 am, I don't think you will get a bus now, are you lost?'
'I..I need to get out, they will not take me back, please help me, I have money'
'Get into the car and I can take you to the police, I have friends, don't worry you will be fine.' I said reassuringly.
She got into my car and I called up Karishma and explained to her who after shouting at me for ten minutes for picking up a random girl, asked me to come over to her apartment. We reached her apartment and I asked the lady come inside. 'Don't be scared, I am not going to harm you, my friend lives here she can help'. The lady came out of the hesitantly. I took her bag and asked if she wanted me to carry her sack she was holding.
It was then this little sacked moved and I heard a cry, it was a baby. She had her infant child in her hand. 'I am sorry, I thought those were clothes.' I said. 'I wish she was that, but she is my curse' the woman replied. How could that baby be a curse, I wondered.
We went to Karishma's apartment and the woman placed her child on the bed. She was too frail and it seemed she had been standing there for hours. Karishma took her in for some fresh clothes. The baby started yelping and I had no choice but to take her in my arms. I removed the cloth covering her face. She was more beautiful than a million lillies. Her eyes were the color of the sea, blue with a tinge of green. I took my handkerchief and cleaned her snot and tears, the baby cried too much with her mother.
'We have to call a doctor, she is running a high fever and they haven't fed her since she gave birth. The baby hasn't eaten either.' Karishma said. 'I think we should get the police here as well' she said.
I called Fortis and they asked me to bring her to emergency and the police said they would meet us there.
The doctors took the baby and the mother into ICU, they both were at a high risk as they said. The infant was starving the mother had no post natal care and here uterus still had the umbilical cord which was infected now.
The police were surprisingly compassionate and one of the inspectors got me tea and took my statement. All of us stayed together that night as these 24 hours were the most critical, we sat in a row silently praying. The humanity within us be it the cops or the doctors and nurses was still alive even though the ones who kicked this woman and her child was dead.
'You need to come with me', a sharp voice broke my thoughts, I looked at the time and it was 6am. The doctor led me to the room where the lady was lying, they had covered her face. 'The time was 5.45am and she died of acute infection in the stomach and she left you this', he handed me a piece of paper.
It read: you did what no man ever did in my life, you showed me compassion... take care of my child, it is a lot to ask and I don't know you but just do what you can. God bless you, son.
'How's the baby, doctor?' I said holding back my tears. 'She is weak but shows recovery, we won't know for sure till another 24 hours. I shouldn't have but I read what she said, I can find a good foster family and help in any way I can.'
'Can I see her?', I said. 'She is in ICU, but you can look at her', he said
There she was this beautiful stranger who was fighting such a hard battle, she barely opened her eyes and he world has gone. Her mother died an unknown death, no one knows who they were and where they came from. This little girl had no future from the moment she was born. The angel had no guardian angel.
'I'll adopt her', I thought to myself loudly. 'You are 27, don't rush into things, we will find her a family', Karishma said. 'I'll adopt her, I don't care.' I said.