BHOPAL : It happens only in films. Two sisters of Malathi, a village near Silwani in the Raisen district, will tie Rakhi on their only brother for the first time in 16 years on Rakshabandhan, that falls on Sunday.
Vijaya, 18 and Shyama, 16 (names changed to protect identity) were sent to the St. Francis Sevadham Bal Ashram in Sagar – a shelter home – when they were toddlers. And their brother Rambabu remembered nothing about them, barring a faint, fleeting memory.
It was providence that made their union possible. “A girl from our village, who studied in the Convent School at Silwani told me that one of my sisters is her classmate,” he told Free Press over telephone. And then he discovered that the other one is in the Ashram at Sagar.
An overjoyed Rambabu then decided to bring them back home and thanks to his diligence and the help extended by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Raisen, this Raksha Bandhan will be very special for both the brother and the sisters.
Rambabu success is even more remarkable given the fact that he is illiterate and drives the tractor of a rich farmer to put food on the table for his family.
Rambabu further said, “After the death of my father, I started living with my Buaa (father’s sister). I was 7, when my Tauji sent my sisters to Sewadham Ashram, Sagar without informing us. When I came to know that the elder of the two was at Silwani, I couldn’t resist myself and I went to the school – 30 km away – with my wife Janki Bai. But the school authorities did not allow us to meet her. They said I will have to obtain permission from the Ashram in Sagar.”
Rambabu then travelled to Sagar to bring his sisters home but the Ashram refused. Even his sisters didn’t recognise him.
Undeterred, he filed a complaint with the Child Welfare Office (CWC), Raisen. They forwarded the case to Child Line Raisen for investigation. “The CWC officials assured me that my sisters will be sent home but before that I will have to submit some documents to prove that they are indeed my sisters. I got the needed documents made from the Sarpanch of the village and submitted them,” he said.
And after one year of making rounds of various offices and spending
Rs 25 000, the CWC finally handed over his sisters to Rambabu July 28.
According to the chairperson of CWC, Raisen, Sandeep Dubey, Vijaya and Shyama were daughters of the second wife of Rambabu’s father. His father had remarried after the death of his first wife – Rambabu’s mother.
His father died when Rambabu was 7 and his sisters were infants. Thereafter, his father’s scheming elder brother – afraid that the widow would claim a share in the family property – drove her out of their home and put the two little girls in the Ashram. Rambabu had faint memories of his sisters but didn’t know their whereabouts.
However, the tale of avarice and conspiracies had a happy ending. Vijaya and Shyama are back home and they and their doting brother can hardly wait for Rakshabandhan. “We are elated. We will be going to the market in the evening to buy Rakhis. Tomorrow (Sunday) will be the great day for us,” said Vijaya and Shyama.
The fragile thread of Rakhi could hardly have been more meaningful.