Harshada

I have seen Harshada grow into a smart, confident, young girl almost in her teens from a sickly looking 5 year old taking unsure steps into my house, holding onto her mother's sari pallu, over the last few years. Ah! the things education and general exposure to life can do to a young fertile mind of a child.
Mangal, her mother has been working for our family for the last 7 odd years. Though Mangal has her many faults, prefering to spend her evenings after work romancing her various boyfriends, she does'nt want her daughter to have the life she has and does everything she can to make sure she does'nt have to. Her husband, many years older, turns a blind eye towards her infidelity but dotes on his daughter.
Harshada goes to school. Till last year she went to a municipal school, this year she moved to a bigger school which, I believe, is not free anymore. She also asked her mother for a computer. Her mother barely literate came and asked me how much a PC would cost.
I was a little taken aback and decided to speak to Harshada myself. I met her after a long time..corporate life had been taking a toll on me for the last few years and I had little time for anything else.
She had grown up.. a little woman, poised, confident, spoke hindi fluently, strangely perceptive and mature for her age. She looks after herself most days at home after school.
I convinced her to do some basic computer courses before making her parents buy her a computer they could ill afford. She happily agreed.
So I took her to Aptech to register her for a level one Vidya course, her delighted parents in tow, as soon as her summer vacations started . One got her a cell phone and the other showed her the bus routes and got her a pass.
Harshada completed her course, she comes home to practise on one of our laptops on Sundays sometimes. She wants to complete the level II in her next vacations and learn to speak english, she writes and understands the language fluently though.
She bought JB a book to learn marathi for his birthday, on hearing about us struggling with the marathi lessons for school, from her mother.
I have asked her if she will teach JB marathi..She will be paid for the lessons, her first little job; and we will also teach her english in return.
Looks like she will have a different life than her mother after all.