Lost Dreams in the Shadows

 In a small, decrepit house on the outskirts of a bustling town, lived an old woman named Sapna. She had spent her entire life in poverty, struggling to make ends meet. Just like her name, she had dreams of a life which forever eluded her.  As a teenager she was married off to a man named Raja. Just like her, the husband too was a Raja in dreams. Her husband, Raja, was a hardworking man, but they were forever trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. Day in and day out, they scraped by, barely surviving on their meager earnings.

One fateful day, tragedy struck when Raja was involved in a fatal accident while pulling his hand rickshaw. Sapna's world came crashing down around her as she mourned the loss of her beloved husband. The weight of grief hung heavily upon her frail shoulders, but she soldiered on, driven by memories of their enduring love.

In the days following Raja's demise, Sapna was left to pick up the shattered pieces of her life. As the meagre rations in her kitchen dwindled, she was wondering how to eke out a livelihood. Maybe venture out to the streets in search for work as a domestic help or maybe a daily wage laborer. As she was ruminating in these thoughts she was rummaging through their humble belongings, she stumbled upon a small box hidden beneath the side of the bed where her husband used to sleep. With trembling hands, she opened it, and to her disbelief, she discovered a small fortune in cash carefully tucked away by her late husband. The five hundred- and one-thousand-rupee notes were something she had very rarely held in her hands.

A glimmer of hope flickered in Sapna's eyes as she realized that, finally, their years of hardship might have come to an end. The money Raja had saved was intended for their retirement, a future they had long dreamed of but never attained. At least now, Sapna thought, she wouldn't have to beg for food in her old age.

However, fate had a cruel twist in store for Sapna. As she sat in her bed, her ears picked up a snippet of news on the radio crying hoarse from her neighbor’s shanty, the Indian Prime Minister's voice filled the room. He announced the sudden demonetization of 500- and 1000-rupee notes, rendering them worthless pieces of paper. The news left Sapna dumbfounded, her mind struggling to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

The next day, clutching a 500 rupee note, Sapna shuffled into the nearby grocery store to buy some essentials. The kindly old grocer, who had known her for years, noticed her confusion. With empathy in his eyes, he gently explained the implications of demonetization, enlightening her about the urgency to exchange the old currency notes at the bank.

Fear and trepidation gnawed at Sapna's heart as she embarked on a journey she

had never taken before. She made her way to the bank, her weathered face reflecting the weight of a lifetime's worth of hardships. Uneducated and unaccustomed to such formalities, the bustling bank intimidated her.

As Sapna approached the bank teller's counter, she handed over her treasured rupee notes with hope and desperation etched in her eyes. But instead of compassion, she faced accusations. The skeptical teller, eyeing her worn-out clothes and frail appearance, accused her of theft, refusing to believe that the money was the hard-earned savings of her deceased husband.

Undeterred by the bank teller's accusations, Sapna returned day after day, standing under the scorching sun in front of the bank, clutching the worthless notes. Little by little she turned weak with exhaustion while the passing away of Raja was gnawing an ever-increasing hole in her heart. She pleaded with the bank officials to recognize her dire situation, to understand that the money was her only hope for a dignified life in her old age.

As days turned into weeks, Sapna's health deteriorated, her body frail and weak from relentless exposure to the elements. But her determination never wavered. She refused to give up, for she had nothing else to lose. The world around her moved on, unaffected by her suffering, as people rushed past her without a second glance.

One scorching afternoon, Sapna's body could no longer bear the burden of her struggle. She collapsed to the ground, her breaths shallow and labored. Her fist, still clenching the worthless currency, opened as she drew her last breath. The few thousand rupees fluttered through the air, a pitiful testament to a shattered dream.

As Sapna's life ebbed away, a horde of desperate onlookers descended upon her fallen body. They jostled and fought to snatch the fluttering bills from the air, their greed overpowering any semblance of humanity. The money that was meant to secure Sapna's future slipped through her fingers, only to be torn apart by the hands of strangers.