Chapter 1
A 9 year old girl leant on her balcony overlooking her father’s rice field which flourished in the oldest city in Punjab, Jalandhar. A light breeze brushed her pale blue chiffon scarf off her head to her shoulders, the warmth of the dimming sun shone upon her soft brown skin. She had gazed over this view many a time but it was only during this late afternoon that she noticed something different. Beneath the pinkish orange glow of the sky she saw a patch of dry, dusty land far ahead. Upon this land, stood a lonesome building made from stone, wrapped in a blanket of rough, metal fencing. She remembered the stories her mother had told her about Jalandhar Central Jail, the very first prison for women.
The sky began to lose its radiance as dark clouds merged together. Her mother’s alarming voice broke her day dream. Her ankle bracelets jingled as she hurried back into her comfort zone.
The small grey jail stood far from amenities, the nearest town was a twenty minute drive away. Gangudin was the new recruit at Jalandhar Jail; he was a skinny, tall security guard, timid and dark skinned. He walked with pride in his new Khaki uniform of a short sleeved shirt and trousers. He thought keeping an eye on five female prisoners in one cell was going to be a piece of chapatti.
When he stepped into the open plan office, he was greeted by flies; he waved them away from his face. He stopped his hand from swinging across the senior guard’s head, who at that point had his back turned to him and was busy talking about the security procedures. He looked round to find a large desk, a couple of chairs and a line of filing cabinets. Opposite the office was the prisoners’ cage, numerous bars stood vertically from floor to ceiling. Each bar had a two inch gap that acted like a screen to separate the workers of law and the rebels who were rather pleasing on the eye.
Prisoners were not granted the right to privacy, a police guard would be watching their every move in the dark gritty cage at all times. Though the bathroom was the only unseen area, it defied using at the best of times.
Ramnath, a short, chubby officer finished his speech about the job. He paused for a moment and adjusted the needle to his wristwatch, the date was never correct. He squinted at the calendar glued on the front of the metal door and focused on the current date “5th Jan 1999…”he muttered something to himself then looked up at Gangudin.
He pulled up a flimsy wooden chair for the new starter, he thumped the back to secure it, Ramnath sat down on his comfortable cushioned chair. Gangudin stared into the cell just like a spectator would do in a zoo. He stopped staring when one of them looked straight into his eyes. He returned a nervous smile and sat down, after a moment of silence he had an amusing thought.
“So these are the criminals? They don’t look the type.”
“Hard to believe na, behind that beauty is evil,” Ramnath disgust for the girls was obvious.
Ramnath unscrewed a bottle of Desi Daru and poured the Indian liquor into two steel cups. He placed one cup before Gangudin and referred to it as “the perks of the job”
“What did they do?” Gangudin rested his elbows on the desk.
Ramnath opened the filing cabinet behind his desk and pulled out five tatty files. He went through each file containing criminal background information and police statements. He advised Gangudin not to put too much weight on the desk as it was on its last legs. Gangudin moved his arms off the desk.
He pointed at the cell and said quietly. “That one sitting on the floor... Watching us is Gulab Kaur Gurwala.”
Gulab sat crossed legged holding on to the dirty, rusty bars of the cell door. Her forehead was an inch away from the bars. Her dazzling hazel eyes focused on the officer talking, leaning on his ‘about to collapse any minute’ desk, gulping down Desi Daru like water.
Ramnath read from her file.
“Gulab is an irresponsible individual who ran away from her family home. She carried out her disgraceful habits such as smoking and drinking. She had intimate relationships with various men, without the intentions of marriage. She worked as a barmaid in a seedy bar near Chandigarh rail station. She lived alone in the flat above the bar where she freely carried out days and nights of sin. Gulab refused to pay her rent for 12 months and avoided paying her medical bill of 3000 rupees. Her careless nature placed enormous financial stress on the landlord, Mr Pingal who had no choice but to seek police assistance. Gulab was arrested on May 9th 1998, she agreed to forfeit the 12 months rent by going to prison and once released to pay the entire sum owed to Mr Pingal.” Ramnath closed the file and opened another.
He took a gulp of his drink and continued with the next file. “Preeti Kaur Phull”.
Preeti sat cross legged in her corner of intelligence jotting down something in her navy blue notebook; she would move her lips every time she wrote something down. Her dark skin glowed when she thought of a useful idea to note. Her big chocolate eyes twinkled as they scanned the mouldy ceiling. She mumbled something to herself, nodded and continued to write.
“Preeti was an over privileged girl who disrespected her guardians, being her aunt and uncle, by frequently staying out late and talking back to her elders. She wanted to move away from home to Mumbai without getting married. Her argumentative nature encouraged her to humiliate her guardians by running away from home on the night of May 6th 1998 (Witness statements enclosed). Preeti admits to stealing a police vehicle for joy riding purposes” he took a gulp of his drink then opened up file 3 and pointed out the prisoner who stood out from the others. “BILO KAUR BHAMRA”
Bilo tied her chunni round her waist and loosely tied back her perfectly straight dark brown hair. She danced round the cell to the music in her head and couldn’t help humming out loud. She imagined herself to be on a tropical island, her ocean blue eyes saw a world that no other could see, since it was better than the one she was trapped in.
“Bilo is a self obsessed and shallow individual with no respect for the feelings of others. She accepted the marriage proposal from Timmy Bhogal, a wealthy young businessman from England. On the day of the wedding, she saw Timmy Bhogal in person and refused to go through with the wedding ceremony. After having forced her father to spend his hard earned life savings on her wedding she stormed out of the temple and ran to the 24 hour- Singhsbury Superstore car park. Here, she broke into a Maruti 2000 and vandalised four other cars. When the police arrived, Bilo refused to co-operate and physically abused a fellow police officer.
The incident took place on May 7th 1998. Bilo pleaded guilty to vandalism of five vehicles, attempted theft and assault on a member of the police force.”
Gangudin gulped down his drink eager for a refill and to find out what the other two had done. Ramnath did the honours of topping up their glasses. He pointed to the cell, “The one lying on the floor is Jagero Kaur Jhita, the other girls call her Jags”
Jags rested on her 2 inch thick so-called mattress; she tried to sleep whilst Bilo hovered round like an irritating fly. She tossed over on her side and buried her head under her pillow in an attempt to control her temper.
“What did she do?” Quizzed Gangudin.
Ramnath flicked open her file and read out the statement.
“Jagero is unable to control her temper and is mentally unstable. Jagero accused her husband Sandip Singh Thind of having an affair as an excuse to abuse him. In every account it was Jagero giving the verbal and physical abuse. Sandip Singh was an honourable gentleman who never spoke to outsiders about the problem with his wife, with the hope that his love for Jagero might just change her violent personality. All his efforts failed when Jagero imagined that he was having an affair with another woman. She violently attacked Sandip and didn’t stop beating him till the police arrived at the crime scene.
Jagero pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm with intentions to kill on May 8th 1998.”
“My god!” Gangudin was stunned.
“I told you not to be deceived by beauty, all beauty has a beast hidden within.”
Ramnath opened the last file with the name BAKSHO KAUR BANSAL printed in bold, he pointed out the prisoner who had her back turned to them.
Baksho would stare through the bars of the window for hours; the view out of this window was far better than the one inside. She would stare at the lifeless land and watch the day disappear like the life she once had. A harsh, dusty breeze blew the thick strand of her jet black hair that rested gently along her high cheekbones, she blinked and brushed her finger just below her eye then continued to stare into the barren land. Her dark brown eyes were swamped with flashes of her past that she just couldn’t get rid off no matter how much she tried.
Ramnath read out from her file, “Baksho Kaur Bansal gladly accepted the marriage proposal from Jagjit Singh Chana to fulfil her father’s wish of being the wife of a successful businessman. The Chana family treated Baksho with respect and love. Baksho was jealous of the close relationship her husband had with his parents and siblings. Despite the Chana’s efforts to make Baksho a part of the family, she made many attempts to cause feuds among family members (please see witness statements attached). Baksho’s malicious behaviour forced Jagjit to turn to alcohol. When her mother-in-law tried to pacify the situation Baksho got angry and brutally attacked her. Baksho was in a sound state of mind when she confessed to the police that she murdered her mother-in-law by setting her on fire on the evening of May 5th 1998.”
Gangudin was horrified, he took a look at the cage, Baksho was looking out of the window.
“What a disgrace, our Punjabi girls do not do this.”
“Any daughters Gangudin?”
“Oh no, I’ve been blessed with two sons.”
“You’re lucky, very lucky! Let’s drink to that!” Ramnath raised his glass and tapped it against Gangudin’s.
Gulab was in the midst of an intense day dream of breaking out of the muggy cell, hyped with rage, leaping over the desks, smashing the bottle of Desi Daru across one officers’ head and giving the other a backhanded slap. Then she pictured herself sitting in her favourite restaurant- Curry Hut, where she’d be waited on hand and foot. Munching as many curries as possible, meat and non-veg, her favourite dish- Saag paneer with tandoori roti, various biriyanies, chutneys; mango was on top of her list.
Her vision was rudely interrupted, it was like a record being scratched when Bilo tripped over the mattress, fell on top of Gulab, pushing her face against the bars. Gulab had two vertical black marks on her forehead. Jags watched the amusement and burst out laughing when she caught sight of Gulab, she was almost in tears.
“That’s great! I haven’t got a mirror but I’m getting the feeling that I’ve got bar marks on my forehead! Thanks Bilo!”
“I’m sorry it was an accident” Bilo tried to help rub out the bar marks.
“And that’s the story of your life luv,” said Jags whilst stretching her arms.
Gulab slapped her hands away and disregarded apology that came across as childlike, repetitive whining “I’m sorry!”
Bilo gave up grovelling and stomped over to Preeti’s intelligence corner hoping to find a bit of sympathy, which Preeti usually offered, but this evening was different. For two hours she had been drawing up some kind of plan. She was so deep into her work that the others thought it best not to disturb or question.
Baksho finished contemplating for the evening; her desire for change was growing by the day, she leaned back against the wall and looked at the others.
“This is getting stupid now,” Baksho crossed her arms as she leant against the wall
“Do you think I wear bar marks on my forehead as a fashion statement- urm no!” Gulab rubbed her forehead vigorously then asked “Have they gone yet?”
“No, I was talking about being in this damn cell! I’m not spending the rest of my life in this shit hole watching… that every night,” Baksho looked ahead at the officers knocking back drinks, one after the other.
“You should have thought of that before you fried your mother-in-law,” Jags sat upright and leant against the wall.
Baksho ignored the unnecessary remark and began to pace the cell. Jags looked up at the ceiling; she noticed a leak in a corner and focused in on it for a couple of seconds, she was soon distracted by Baksho’s footsteps.
“Ok if I haven’t got Bilo hover crafting above my head, there’s always a crazy Baksho walking, just give it a rest already!”
“Pacing is the only thing that is keeping me sane, I need to get out of here.”
Preeti finished jotting down various escape methods, she looked up at the others. “Where there’s a will there is a way,” She smiled.
“Why don’t you tell us what you have to say?” Asked Bilo thinking they were playing her favourite rhyming game.
“According to my plan, we won’t have to stay here another day.”
“Hurray!” Gulab cheered, then a moment later, “Sorry, couldn’t think of another rhyme.”
“You have problems with that most of the time,” Jags stood up and stretched her arms.
They huddled round Preeti to see what she had planned. “What have you got?” Asked Baksho in a quiet tone.
“But that didn’t rhyme,” Bilo looked confused.
Baksho gave her a perplexed stare and wondered how on earth she had put up with playing this stupid rhyming game, for 9 months! She huffed, “And it was I who committed the greatest crime.”
Bilo clapped her hands, Preeti whispered the plan she had in mind. She paused when she heard footsteps, actually more of a stumble followed by a thump against the cell door. She quickly slid the book under her mattress. Ramnath tapped his cane on the bars and tried to stand straight, the last of the 7 drinks had shot straight to his head.
“What ya doing, you stupid tarts!” His bad breath reeked from a meter away.
Jags tried to ignore him, however, her attempt failed when he continued to hurl abuse at them. After listening to his slurring and swearing for 5 minutes, she walked up to the cell door and glared at him. He stopped swearing and returned a similar look.
“We were plotting to kill your mother for giving birth to an overweight useless lump of humanity!”
“Shut your mouth before I come in there and...” His nostrils were flaring.
Jags moved closer to the bars “And what!” She held the bars. “What are you going to do!”
It was only a matter of seconds before she erupted, Ramnath felt insulted, he debated whether he should enter the cage. Jags had an intimidating streak to her. She was tall, attractive, athletic and 90% of the time wanted to kick the shit out of someone or something. Her striking chocolate eyes would give the most deadly of stares. He didn’t want his image tarnished before the new recruit, little did he know that Gangudin had passed out from knocking back the intense drinks.
The light bulb flickered just above Baksho’s head, she grabbed hold of Jags and pulled her away from the barred door and turned to Ramnath.
“She didn’t mean that, please don’t hurt her we know what you’re capable of, I apologise on her behalf,” Baksho tried to sound sincere.
Gulab ran over and got her knees and even got the crocodile tears involved. “We all apologise for her behaviour, please don’t harm my friend she’s promised to take me to curry hut when we get out of here.”
Ramnath felt as if he was in control now “Do you think that I! Officer...” He was drunk and furious and was having problems in finding the words to finish his sentence.
Bilo yelled out “Ramnath!”
He looked at her then back at Baksho and continued. “That I Officer Ramnath will let her get away with insulting my Mata ji!” He shouted whilst striking his cane.
Gulab got up and placed her hands on her hips, “I kind of hoped so, I didn’t shed these babies for fun mate.”
Bilo was baffled and before she opened her mouth to question, Preeti whispered in her ear. “They are just pretending, now don’t say anything.”
Bilo nodded. “So I can say anything other than the word anything?” She gave Preeti a serious look.
Preeti was about to nod then realised that she completely misunderstood, “No! We’re not playing that game,”
“What game are we playing?” She innocently asked.
“Bilo just shhh hoja,” Preeti replied patiently.
“That’s new, I can do that- what do I get if I win?”
“A get out of jail free card,” Preeti watched the guard reaching for the keys hanging from his belt.
He managed to grab hold of the bunch of 15 keys, it took him a good 5 minutes to find the key to the cell. Finally he managed to unlock the door.
“Watch now, I will show all…. Seven of you a lesson!” He stumbled into the cell and slammed the cage door shut.
Bilo looked around in search of the mysterious other two people he had counted.
Baksho, Gulab and Jags formed a circle round him. Ramnath’s buzz was beginning to wear off as he realised that maybe walking into this cell wasn’t such a bright idea. Jags stood before him, clenching her fists as she glared into his eyes. If only looks could kill, we’d be falsifying our tears at Ramnath’s funeral. Baksho told Bilo and Preeti to get out and tie up the other guard before he woke up and if he was to awake “Smash a bottle over his head” so they dashed out of the cell.
“Stop! Get back here!” Ramnath tried to run to the door, Gulab stuck her foot out and tripped him up. He hit the floor like a sack of potatoes.
He picked himself up and got ready to strike Gulab with his cane, as he swung it back, Jags caught hold of it. She spun him round and pushed him up against the cold crumbling wall. She had waited nine months for this moment. Ramnath felt her nails digging into his neck.
“Do you still want to show me what you’re made out of?”
“He’s a dead man, any final requests?” Asked Gulab.
“Let me go! You are making a big mistake!” He struggled
Ramnath called her bluff and much to his surprise, she was far from bluffing, she released her anger that had built up over the last nine months. The animal cage echoed with the sound of bones cracking and screams of pain.
Meanwhile Preeti and Bilo raided the entire police station to find anything that could be of use. Amongst the rushing and searching, Bilo noticed that Gangudin was in the midst of waking up. He was tied to the chair with rope, handcuffs, telephone wires and toilet paper… mainly Bilo’s doings. Preeti stopped running around aimlessly when she saw a mummified Gangudin. She paused for a moment then decided not to question Bilo’s methods as time was ticking. Gangudin was woken up by the loud CLANG sound and found his colleague splattered across the bars of the cell door.
“Holy cow!” Gangudin’s eyes widened.
“Where?” Asked Bilo looking round like a mad woman.
He wriggled like a worm and realised that he was sealed to this chair, “OH NO! I can’t move, help… BACHAO!!!”
Preeti built up the courage to pick up the empty bottle, took a deep breath and swung the bottle across his head then checked if he was still breathing, she was relieved that he was still alive.
Baksho and Gulab were worried that Jags was not going to stop battering Ramnath, Gulab tried to pull her back.
“Enough Jags he’s as good as dead!” Stressed Gulab.
“Ok,” Jags caught a breath and put her hands up to show that she was calming down.
As Gulab moved away, Jags thought of the way he had taunted them every day, the degrading and perverse comments rushed through her head and within a second she dived back to battering the limp, unconscious body on the floor.
Baksho dragged Jags away from Ramnath and pinned her to the wall.
“Come on Jags! What does it matter we’re free!”
Jags stopped struggling and almost froze for a moment, she thought about the word ‘free’ and what it actually meant, were they really, ever going to be free? Was this going to be the starting point of a race that had no finishing line?
Gulab ran back into the cell to get the heavy bunch of keys from Ramnath. She wondered why on earth there were 15 keys when there were only three doors that had locks in the whole building. She flung the keys over to Preeti, the heavy bunch landed in her hands. Preeti spent a few minutes working out, which key could unlock the door that led to freedom. Her hands began to tremble as she inserted a key into the lock.
For the first time in nine months, a full moon shone upon the dull land outside Jalandhar Central Jail. Preeti and Bilo found a police van parked outside. Bilo couldn’t believe that they were breathing in open air. She squeezed Preeti’s arm with excitement and shrieked.
“Is this really our escape or am I dreaming? Oh my God! Pinch me, actually no! I bruise like a tomato.”
Preeti huffed a little laughter, “What? No you’re not dreaming, let’s get the others” she rushed back inside.
They found a box of handguns in one of the drawers, Baksho took a gun and a fist full of bullets and wrapped them in her chunni. Jags got hold of a gun and aimed at Ramnath who was flat on the floor like a helpless insect. Her hand was shaking as she pulled back the trigger. Gulab caught sight of her and hastily grabbed Jags arm and lowered the gun.
“Did you want to be in for life?!” Stressed Gulab, waving her hands frantically.
Baksho looked at Gangudin, he was twitching his eyes, Baksho ran into the cell and pulled off Ramnath’s belt and rushed over to Gangudin and tied it round his mouth.
They managed to drag Gangudin with chair into the cell and locked it. Baksho’s heart was racing, she spotted the Police radio system behind the desk. Preeti dived over and disconnected any cable she could find, she made sure that the phones too were disconnected. Baksho was little shocked at how their chain of thoughts had synchronised beyond words.
They hurried into the van one by one, the driver’s seat was left empty. Bilo held out the bunch keys and gave them a little shake. “Ok that’s all five of us in the van, so! Who’s driving?”
Baksho huffed and snatched the keys and jumped into the drivers’ seat. She managed to pick out the correct key in a couple of seconds. She started up the engine, released the hand-brake and stamped her foot right down, the engine roared as the tires screeched. Heads jilted back as the van smashed through the wooden exterior gates and left Jalandhar Jail in the distance, coated by a thick cloud of dust and smoke.
The girls silently prayed to leave Punjab before the alarms went off at the prison. Preeti sat in the front passenger seat and took wild guesses with the directions. All she knew was that they had to avoid heading towards Pakistan, crossing that border would be close to impossible, entering Kashmir would result in being shot down by terrorists. The safest option would be to travel south, towards Delhi or Rajasthan.
The girls in the back cheered when Preeti tuned the radio and began singing along to an old Punjabi song playing on the crackling radio station. Baksho focused on the road ahead, she tried to look mildly happy but that didn’t work. She hadn’t really smiled or laughed for over six years.