She lost her father when she was only 8. Her little brother, 4 and her mother, only a graduate, not familiar with the modern-working-women-culture of the big city, they lived in.
Her baba, being a self-built man with a clerical job in a private firm didn't leave much for their survival.
In the initial months of her father's death, near and far relatives would come and meet them bringing quality fruits, expensive clothes and toys for both Gaurika and Girish.
But eventually, the crowd of relatives started fading from the sitting room of their small house. Some grew bored of listening to those scarcities, some got exasperated of their little charity.
Regular once-a-week visits decreased to less than once-a-month, to mere phone calls.
Expensive clothes, toys and quality fruits turned to just fruits from the nearby vendors.
Gaurika's maternal grandparents were long gone before her parents got married, which didn't leave many people for her mother to share her agony with. Only an elder brother, who was married for 10 years, then but devoid of any children.
For him, when Gaurika was born, it was a shower of blessing and joy directly from Goddess Durga and hence the name. His little household business soared heights after her birth, which made him to believe Gaurika to be his lucky charm.
Gaurika, was a calm, quiet child with a vision, who would comfort the elders with her factual approach in the time of distress.
Beyond her baba's demise, Gaurika's calmness transformed into unmatched maturity. She was innocent, yet mature.
In all those years of hardships, her mother raised both of them with the money earned from stitching clothes for the fellow neighborhood women. A talent that was nurtured in her childhood, while Gaurika's grandma gave her a personal coaching in the household course she did to get married.
Gaurika and Girish seldom got any gifts. Never celebrated birthdays, being afraid of treating her fellow classmates from the school canteen.
Gaurika's Maamu (maternal uncle) loved both of them unconditional;y, but his wife was a nightmare to them. The least of what she wanted, was to be associated with them.
And so, Maamu used to meet them regularly, but in hiding.
Everytime, he visited them, he would hand them some money. Never counted, whatever he could pull out of his wallet, he would hand it over to his sister and the two kids.
Her mother would use it for the children or the household chores.
Girish would save it to spend in the school canteen or to buy something, he has eyed for himself at the nearby gaming shop or the mall in the vicinity.
But Gaurika; she would run to her father's bookshelf, pull out a random book and stick the rupee bill in it. Never read the name of the book. just kept it back in the little shelf of books.
She was fond of reading, a habit she inherited from her father.
And later, whenever she would feel like reading, standing in front of the shelf, picked up a book and opened it, a hundred or sometimes five hundred rupee bill would fall off from the book,
which she'd pick up with a beaming smile on her little face; The Little Surprises of her Life.
Her baba, being a self-built man with a clerical job in a private firm didn't leave much for their survival.
In the initial months of her father's death, near and far relatives would come and meet them bringing quality fruits, expensive clothes and toys for both Gaurika and Girish.
But eventually, the crowd of relatives started fading from the sitting room of their small house. Some grew bored of listening to those scarcities, some got exasperated of their little charity.
Regular once-a-week visits decreased to less than once-a-month, to mere phone calls.
Expensive clothes, toys and quality fruits turned to just fruits from the nearby vendors.
Gaurika's maternal grandparents were long gone before her parents got married, which didn't leave many people for her mother to share her agony with. Only an elder brother, who was married for 10 years, then but devoid of any children.
For him, when Gaurika was born, it was a shower of blessing and joy directly from Goddess Durga and hence the name. His little household business soared heights after her birth, which made him to believe Gaurika to be his lucky charm.
Gaurika, was a calm, quiet child with a vision, who would comfort the elders with her factual approach in the time of distress.
Beyond her baba's demise, Gaurika's calmness transformed into unmatched maturity. She was innocent, yet mature.
In all those years of hardships, her mother raised both of them with the money earned from stitching clothes for the fellow neighborhood women. A talent that was nurtured in her childhood, while Gaurika's grandma gave her a personal coaching in the household course she did to get married.
Gaurika and Girish seldom got any gifts. Never celebrated birthdays, being afraid of treating her fellow classmates from the school canteen.
Gaurika's Maamu (maternal uncle) loved both of them unconditional;y, but his wife was a nightmare to them. The least of what she wanted, was to be associated with them.
And so, Maamu used to meet them regularly, but in hiding.
Everytime, he visited them, he would hand them some money. Never counted, whatever he could pull out of his wallet, he would hand it over to his sister and the two kids.
Her mother would use it for the children or the household chores.
Girish would save it to spend in the school canteen or to buy something, he has eyed for himself at the nearby gaming shop or the mall in the vicinity.
But Gaurika; she would run to her father's bookshelf, pull out a random book and stick the rupee bill in it. Never read the name of the book. just kept it back in the little shelf of books.She was fond of reading, a habit she inherited from her father.
And later, whenever she would feel like reading, standing in front of the shelf, picked up a book and opened it, a hundred or sometimes five hundred rupee bill would fall off from the book,
which she'd pick up with a beaming smile on her little face; The Little Surprises of her Life.
hail it !
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