DIL HAI CHHOTA SA

SOUVIK GUPTA

The story revolves around a brother-sister duo, Sanjay (Sanju) and Meghna, who
get trapped in the miseries of life at a tender age yet it is the childs heart that
survives and keeps alive a spirit to surpass all the grieves.
The story starts in Srinagar 1990. We see a happy and timid Kaul (Kashmiri
Pandit) family comprising of five people.
The head of the family is 35 year old Brij Mohan Kaul a school teacher who runs
his family by teaching Hindi at a Government school. He imparts nice learning to
his students and is loved by everyone around for his simplicity and honesty. His
wife Urvashi Kaul is a pretty woman of around 30 years. She is the ideal mother
and wife who takes care of everyone in the family. The seniormost member in
the family is Brij Mohans mother Bela.
Urvashis parents had cut off all ties with her ever since she visited Srinagar on a
trip, and decided to marry Brij Mohan and stay back.
However, the main protagonists of the story are two people Sanjay & Meghna
Brij Mohans children. Sanjay (13) and Meghna (8) are siblings and very close to
everyone in their locality. They study in the same school where Brij teaches
Sanju (std 8) and Meghna (std 3).
Sanjay is very good looking and he knows that. He is conscious about his
appearance. And he likes the attention he gets from the girls of his age. What he
likes even more is the jealousy other guys of his age feel for this attention.
Meghna is pretty in her own ways. She is introvert, unkempt, lost in her own
thoughts. Unlike children of her age, she is always lost in her own world. Matured
for her age, she understands human emotions better than her brother.
However, the two siblings love each other a lot. Sanjay cant tolerate one word
against his sister, and she keeps his secrets hidden whenever he does a mischief.
The closest friends of the Kauls is a Muslim (Nawaz) family comprising of 3
people Brij Mohans colleague and Mathematics teacher Salim, his wife Razia
and their son Shahid (around 13 years of age himself and Sanjays closest friend).
Shahid also has a soft corner for Meghna whom he adores for her sweetness.
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Like most families, the Kaul family is devout follower of Shaivism. The first major
event in the story is the celebration of Herath (Shivaratri) in the neighbourhood.
Urvashi takes Meghna along to the Puja and this is the first instance that a mark
of terror stamps the celebration. There is a blast at the temple which leads into a
huge chaos. Brij Mohan gets the news and rushes to the place to save his wife
and daughter. Sanju goes along. And after a lot of search, they finally find them
and bring them back.
Things slowly get better with each passing day. Though there is a huge panic
initially, the terror subsides for some time. Lives return to normal. Sanju and
Meghna once again start their lives on the serene valley of Kashmir roaming
around the land they called their home. Brij Mohan returns to his school. As a
devout Hindu, he takes up the cause of peace against mutual terror.
However, things slowly start getting out of hand and that their lives slowly start
getting murkier and scarier. Islamic fundamentalism in Kashmir slowly starts
getting violent. Sanjay and Meghna get scared with each passing day and at
night, when they hear of strange sounds, they crawl upto their grandmother for
solace.
And finally one day, Brij Mohan decides its time they leave their fondness for the
valley and shift to some other safe place. All the other family members resent the
decision but he is stubborn and starts making arrangement. Fate, however, had
other plans.
One day, the two children go out with their mother to the local temple, while Brij
Mohan stays back with Bela Kaul.
As they are in the temple, all hell breaks loose. While Urvashi buys stuffs for the
Puja, the two children witness a person as he rides a scooter along. Suddenly, a
black polythene bag drops from the lock behind. A young guy picks up the bag
and runs after the scooter but the bag blasts and the boy dies. Almost
immediately, a maruti van stops and they fire bullets ruthlessly on the people
around. Ruckus and Terror spread all around. People die countlessly. Urvashi
survives the attack along with her child, and they escape to their home. When
they reach their home, the remaining hopes are also shattered.
Their house has already been burnt down. Brij Mohan and Bela have died within
the house. The three are shattered. Like an angel, Salim Nawaz save them from
the scare and take them to his home. The mother and children get refuge in the
family. However, there is an increased pressure on the Nawaz family to escort
them out and hand over to the fundamentalists. So, one day, he decides to take
them away and send them to a friend of his to Delhi.
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Away from prying eyes, he decides to put the trio in a train to Delhi. They make
arrangements and provide stuff which they can utilise once in the new city.
Urvashi bids farewell, as Shahid and Sanjay hug each other and cry. They bid
adieu to their home and go away. As he drives to the spot from where the truck
leaves, their car is suddenly attacked on the way by fundamentalists.
Salim drops them off at a corner, and tries to guile the attackers away. Urvashi
and her children run all the way to the station. When they reach, the train has
already started. Urvashi carries Meghna in her lap who cries all the way, and holds
Sanjays hand. She pushes her children into the train, but at the last moment,
while she puts her foot on the board, the train picks up speed and she slips back
on the platform. The children shout in pain and terror, while Urvashi regains
herself and tries to get back on the train. Sanjay and Meghna stretch their arms
but Urvashi isnt able reach. And finally, she stays behind as the train goes away.
Sanjay and Meghna are now left alone to fight the world all by themselves. As
little Meghna cries, the elder brother has nothing to do but to protect her from
miseries and guard her from them. However, young that he is, Sanju can hardly
accomplish anything himself.
The next day, Sanjay and Meghna reach Delhi. The test of their journey starts
now.
Fighting with hunger of the past 24 hours, the little children have no option
available to them. As his little sister cries for food, Sanjay visit the stores begging
for some. But, no one shows mercy on them. It is during this time, that an autodriver spots the two kids. He agrees to buy them food. He puts them in his vehicle
and takes them to a decent food joint.
The kids devour the food and immediately start trusting the man for his act of
kindness. By his trickery, he learns the entire story from them their entire
background in details. He scares them of the conditions young kids face in big
cities and promises to help them.
He takes them to a leather factory in the border of the city. The vast building
seemed like a monster coming to grasp them within itself. The kids are scared
getting into it, but the auto driver gets and once in, theres a hardly way they
can come out.
The leather factory, secluded from normal civilisation is huge, with giant
network chains and huge infrastructure. Hundreds of children are employed in
labour to perform various tasks.
The auto-driver keeps them waiting in a room. As they sit within the confined
walls, the driver walks out and talks to the supervisors.
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Vishnu Singh a 35ish guy is in charge of all the kids over there. He is tall,
strongly built, wheatish complexion, with fair eyes; Vishnu is a terror signal for all
the children.
Vishnu looks after the recruitment of new kids and what work they will be suitable
for. He gets impressed by Sanjay the moment he lays his eyes on him. He is sure
that the mountain will have the spark he has been searching. But, he is reluctant
the weak timid Meghna in. But the driver convinces him, that it would be tough to
retain Sanjay without his sister, and they can actually use her for making him
work harder and as per their terms.
Vishnu agrees and they take in the two children. As the children cry and request
the auto-driver not to leave them in the place, he leaves without caring for them,
satisfied with the payment. The guards stop Sanjay and Meghna from leaving the
place. And they are confined. The brother-sister are deputed a new room to stay
together. Meghna cries from the horror of what she has faced, while her brother
convinces her that he will get her out soon.
Immediately, Sanjay is deputed to Vishnus own team, and Meghna is sent to
Latika Didis department.
Latika is around 31 years of age. She is a loud boisterous character, who gets
neurotic and scary at times. She is in charge of kids whom Vishnu find unsuitable
for his work kids who are weak.
Latika employs Meghna in what she thinks would suit best the little girl. Meghna
joins a group of girls who form the begging community who are also hired at times
for mourning in social grievance places or models for charitable organisations.
She meets others in her group. They are mostly girls, with few exceptionally weak
looking boys. She befriends a couple of girls Rashmi (a young girl couple of
years elder to her) and Deepti (around 5 years elder who starts treating her like
little sister).
Sanjay meets his fellow boys. He is put into the team of guys who are to deliver
leather good for smuggling. Sanjay is put as assistant to Mahip (an elderly bully)
who bosses them and makes them follow his orders. Sanjay hates the bullying
nature of Mahip but cant do much about it. He befriends a guy called Chhota
Rajan a jovial guy who stammered while talking. Chhota Rajan explains the
terms of work to Sanjay and tries to make him feel comfortable. At the same time,
as days pass by, Rajan informs that he dreams to escape the place one night.
Meghna and Sanjay gradually get into their respective groups. However, every
night, they come back and meet each other outside the giant dormitory and talk
to each other. They share their stories of days and nights; ensure this was a bad
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phase which wound end. As they feed each other, little Meghna caresses her
brothers hands which have been injured in the work, and he wipes her tears.
Sanju convinces his sister that one day they would flee the place.
The next night, while they are asleep, Rajan makes his attempt to escape.
Meghna sees him as he escapes the eyes of the guards and exits the house. She
tries to warn him but he asks her not to make sound and quietly steps out.
Meghna runs to alarm her brother of the event. As Sanju comes out, they see
Rajan about to cross the hurdle when Vishnus men catch him at the last moment.
As Sanju closes Meghnas mouth, they witness the men covering him from all
sides and shooting him to death.
The children look in horror, as the men lift Rajans dead body and put him in the
trash bin.
The next day marks the entry of a new character into their lives. RAMNATH
SALUJA.
Ramnath Saluja is the head of the entire factory. He is aged around 50. Ramnath
is stiff looking, with white hair, tall with a limp. Even Vishnu and Latika are
petrified of him. Evidently, he is very rich and has lot more to do than managing
the factory. Ramnath has come today upon hearing the news of Chhota Rajan. As
he addressed to all the children, the body of Rajan hung from a tree to illustrate to
everyone how horrible an attempt to escape can turn out to be.
Ramnaths words scare everyone. Later that night, when Sanju and Meghna meet
again, they decide not to try and escape, but wait for some time and the right
moment.
It turns out that Latika is Ramnaths mistress. She maintains a physical relation to
the much married boss, just to ensure she is in good books and her position in the
group is secured.
Slowly, the two children get involved in the activities they are assigned to. And
everyday is a new experience for them in some way or the other. Sanjay learns
the tricks of his business. He comes to know how to dodge the police and how to
get orders passed. The smuggling industry is a tough place to work in, and
survival comes at a cost. On one day, while they attempt to smuggle products,
the cops arrive at the place. While they run and board the bus, two of their fellow
companions fail to reach it. Sanjay asks their driver to stop but no one pays heed.
As the cops surround the two laggards, Mahip shoots them down to ensure they
dont leave any witnesses behind.
Meghna slowly learns how to manage a baby while begging on the streets. She
comes to know how to count on the child to get alms. It gets very difficult for her
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to tackle all of it. But she manages it slowly. Rashmi and Deepti help her adjust to
everything. She sees different aspects of metropolitan lives. The first time, the
cop runs after her, she gets terribly scared and starts crying. Deepti gets her an
ice-cream to calm her down. And slowly, she gets tuned to all of it.
On the other hand, Sanjays popularity in the group gradually increases. Even
Vishnu always looks at him with a favourable eye. This gradually creates a
problem for Mahip who could see his position gradually losing in the party. They
often land up in arguments and are constantly in loggerheads. And one day, they
get into a major brawl. As they beat each other, others try to interfere and stop it.
Little Meghna tries to interfere, gets majorly injured as she falls on the axe which
seethes through her leg.
Sanjay takes his sister up in lap and runs to get her medical aid. The only person
who can help him get his sister to the clinic is Latika. Already suffering from zero
commitment and no love from Ramnath Saluja, Latika places one condition before
Sanjay to take his sister to the doctor. It is the first time, the 15 year old guy loses
his chastity to secure his sisters life.
Meghna gets well. But Sanjays relation with Latika continues. Though Meghna
wants her brother to come out of it, Sanjay doesnt pay any heed to her. And
slowly, he starts using this as a pawn to get more and more influential. What he
forgets that this would bring him directly against the man on top. Ramnath Saluja
gets to know this, and he comes down.
He doesnt get into a direct confrontation with Sanjay, but warns Latika of dire
consequences in case this continues. But, by now, Latika is already upbeat about
teaching the man a lesson for betraying her. And as she had developed a soft
corner for Sanju, she decides to help him out of the entire chain.
She calls Sanjay and Meghna and discusses her plan. A few days later when
Vishnu is out on a heist with his gand, Latika calls up the police and tells their
information. The police arrive on the place, and already aware of the situation,
Sanju had already decided how to escape both the parties. Its only when the
gang reunites that Sanju is missing. Neither are they are able to trace him out. By
the time, Sanju had already run away to the pre-decided spot where Latika stood
with Meghna. She flees the brother sister couple and send them away from all of
that.
Sanjay and Meghna board the train to Mumbai. Jubilant are they on finding the
new lease of life away from all in which they have been stuck. When they reach
the new city, a lady was waiting for them at a scheduled spot. The kind hearted
middle aged lady, Gandhari, take the two kids in. They live a happy life, along
with Gandharis little daughter Sugandhi. She arranges a job for Sanju at a local
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garage, while Meghna toes with her to the rich family she works for. However, as
per Gandharis advice, neither of them reveals their actual identity or past.
Entering this family marks a new phase for the brother and sister.
The prosperous Bansal family reside in their plush bungalow.
Headed by the 60 year old retired patriarch Mithilesh Bansal along with his doting
wife Pratibha their two sons Vikram and Balraj their respective wives Ipsita and
Trishna along with children Saumya, Ishika Neel and Rishi!
Prosperous as this family is, it is harping on the recent change in business
scenario. With Mithilesh just retired from corporate work, the work and
responsibilities have been divided between the two sons. Meghna watches in
wonder as the kids spend their lives in luxury contrary to the lives they spend in
their small house. She again reminisces her family in Kashmir and gets sad.
However, in the love of her present family at the slums, she slowly starts coping
with it. On the other hand, Pratibha Bansal gets fond of her for uncanny reasons.
She gets extremely fond of little Meghnas sweetness, beauty and resemblance to
a dear person.
She hatches the topic one day to Mithilesh. The latter gets very angry, but takes
notice of the fact as well. And in his own way, he starts getting attached to little
Meghna. Sanjay, on the other hand, gradually gets stronger and more responsible
in the hard work. Yet, he revels in the honesty of the person he is working for. The
garage owner Gaitonde treats him like a son and cum student and teaches him all
the expertise required in the field.
It was during this meanwhile that, one day, Meghna chances upon her mothers
photo in a cupboard of the house. Seeing her mother almost releases her pain,
and she cries uncontrollably. And all her past life and family are disclosed to the
Bansals. Mithilesh, who had decided not to keep any contact with her family, is
shocked to hear the state through which his grandchildren have been, and brings
them home. The entire family is displeased with this news, they cant accept the
girl they treated as maid as a part of their family.
Sanjay and Meghna enter the Bansal family. Despite the opposition from others,
they revel in the love showered by the grandchildren, unaware that Ramnath
Saluja was coming back to their lives.

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