“You are fined Rs. 500/-”, said honorable judge.
“Saheb, I am not guilty “, replied Ramdeen.
“Thousand rupees”, judge ruled .
“Saheb, please, I am a poor man”.
“Thousand five hundred or fifteen days imprisonment”, judge closed the file and took up another case.
Ramdeen could not pay any fine hence was jailed for two weeks. I knew Ramdeen since last four years . He has been visiting me for health checkup of his second child who is suffering from kidney ailment. This time he came after an unusual long gap. “How is it that you came after such a long time, Ramdeen? “I asked.
“Saheb , its all game of stars”, he replied . Later he narrated the chain of events that led him ‘behind bars’.
Ramdeen used to sell cloth bags at one of the busiest traffic points in the city . This was his only source of income . He was blessed with a daughter . At a very tender age of two, she had developed redness of eyes and gradually lost her vision. Ramdeen took her to government hospital but did not get any benefit. His second child, a son, was healthy but had developed nephrotic syndrome, a kidney ailment, for which he used to visit me frequently. I was moved by the tragedy of his children. I took opinion of my ophthalmologist colleagues . The girl’s blindness was caused due to Vitamin A deficiency. But by the time she was seen by my colleagues, her blindness had become irreversible.
Whenever her father and brother would visit me, she would accompany them holding hand of her brother . My heart would bleed for the poor child .
Off and on, police constables would pester Ramdeen for putting up the shop at traffic point . Everyday, police constable would take bribe from him and let him do his business . But one evening , he could not bribe the constable on duty and hence he was arrested, produced before the court and fined . He was told to pay a fine of Rs. 500. When Ramdeen tried to explain it to the judge, his penalty was doubled and then tripled. As he was unable to pay penalty, he was put behind the bars.
“ I have stopped selling cloth bags , sahib”, said Ramdeen. “ I am working as an attendant in a shop now ” , he replied.
“But why have you given up your business of selling bags?” I enquired.
“Saheb , in my life , I have never been humiliated so much. I had never seen the prison before . I always thought prison is for thugs . For initial two days even my wife did not know my whereabouts. She was shocked to learn that I was jailed. My neighbours look down at me and my family. Even the children from the neighbourhood have stopped playing with my kids.” His eyes turned moist. “ I shall never sell bags again, it has robbed me of my pride.”
I could understand that Ramdeen has lost confidence in himself. The judgment delivered by the judge changed his life. There stood the man humiliated and shattered, father of two ailing kids, one of them being blind forever . I looked at the far window to hide tears in my eyes .
After a few days I happened to pass by the same traffic point where Ramdeen sold his bags. There still were a few bag- sellers selling cloth bags. A police constable was standing nearby sharing some tobacco with them , but Ramdeen was not to be seen . I have not seen him since long now.
