By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,
Guwahati: Popular German rock band Scorpions’ one of the songs go like this ‘Sometimes I think I’m going mad/We’re losing all we had and no one seems to care/ But in my heart it doesn’t change/We’ve got to rearrange and bring our world some love/Cause we all live under the same Sun /We all walk under the same Moon’.
Here, in one of the remotest parts of Assam in a tiny hamlet called Amtola in Kamrup district bordering Meghalaya, there is a true listener to this song in the form of one Abdul Rahim. The poor carpenter has proved that there is still ray of hope existing even in the crisis hours of humanity. When the air was filled with hatred in the hour of BTAD (Bodoland Territorial Area Districts) violence in the state during 2012 Rahim set up a supreme example by adopting an unknown woman deserted in the streets to prove that humanity was always at the top.
Rahim family with Janmoni Boro.
And the rest is the history as Mamoni Boro got a new life at the caring hands of Rahim and his family. One year after she was found on the Guwahati-Shillong road with mental imbalance, Mamoni has become an integral part of Rahim family. She also got a new name in the form of Janmoni out of love and affection by the neighbours. Janmoni is an Assamese name which is generally addressed to one’s beloved.
“We had no idea that she was, leave alone the religion or caste when we found her back in 2012. She was just a human being in crisis and I did what I should have done being a fellow human. Initially, when we did not know her identity my family and neighbours used to address her as Janmoni,” small time carpenter Abdul Rahim told this correspondent at his residence on the bank of Umkhri river which is some 15 kilometer from Guwahati.
Now, she is like any other member of their family and takes part in their household activities after undergoing a series of medical treatment at Shillong and Guwahati Medical College Hospital during the last one year.
Janmoni Boro taking part in the house hold activities of Rahim family
“We feel extreme delight to see her talking and be happy but we are sad that she is yet to get fully recovered. There is also a sense of feeling like her family must have been in search of her. If somehow her family members can take her we will be happy,” Rahman said. He, however, added that his family will be even happier to keep her along if she continues to be happy with them.
Though Janmoni could not remember all the details of her past, she said that she was from a village Doloigaon in Rangia. She also remembers the names of her parents and husband.
“My father’s name is Seniram Boro and mother’s name is Jayanti Boro. Dilip Boro was my husband,” said Janmoni in very soft voice. She also wrote down the name of her school as Balagaon Lower Primary School. She also said that she wants to go back to her native village to be back again at her new place.
Now, she is still undergoing medical treatment. “I don’t want to count how much money I had spent with her. She has become just like a family member and I’ll be happy she recovers soon,” Rahim said.
It was way back in June in 2012 when one Saleha Begum found Janmoni to be lying on the road. She brought her and handed her over to Abdul Rahim. To make the matter worst she was seventh months pregnant during that time. “She gave birth to a healthy baby girl who was adopted by a neighbour as Janmoni was mentally imbalance during that time,” said Majida Begum, Rahman’s wife.
Abdul Rahim, who took the responsibility to take care of Janmoni
Initially, the family had to face lot of problems as some of the neighbours used to question their gesture as having some hidden agenda. “People use to say too many things. Some even did not like me bringing her to my home. But how can a helpless woman can be left alone on the streets,” Rahim who is the sole bread earner of the family said.
Then the happier days start to begin when one day suddenly a word ‘Maa’ came from Janmoni’s mouth while she was taking bath in the river. “I got pretty excited when we heard her uttering a word. While taking bath when she was pushed in a light moment she shouted maa and that’s the beginning and after that she gradually started to speak,” he remembered.
Thanks to Mother Teresa who had a deep influence on Rahim when he was a teenager at his school. “I was lucky enough to come across Mother Teresa and that episode has changed my life forever. I can sense the pain of being lonely and unwanted,” an emotional Rahim said.