Mulaquaat #1
By Koel Sen
Yerwada Women’s Jail Pune
26 June 2018
She says, “It’s nice, not as bad as I had expected”.. Maa already looks different.
“No cots in the barrack… But the womens cell seems OK. Bedsheets and blankets are clean atleast. The women here, mostly the convicts try their best to work hard cleaning the jail premises, so that their sentence gets reduced.”
“I gather a lot of strength looking at these women here. These women are spending so much time in jail for theft and small time crookery. Some who have got life have been charged with murder. But they are so young. It’s sad.”
“I have a small notebook and pen… .”
“So you should start writing about this experience Maa”, I tell her. “Sketch out these characters, write their stories.. and yours, then I can make a film out of it”, and we both laugh.. .
Our laughter ran in echoes over a thick glass wall separating us both. A cheap intercom acted as the umbilical chord that once connected us. We laughed and laughed till tears fell out of both our eyes. “We’ll get through this”, I said. She kept her hand on the cold glass wall, I kept mine till we both could feel each other’s warmth cut across its harsh coldness.
July 2, 2018 at 4:18 pm
The life in a prison and the relationship between a mother and her daughter is poignantly explained