Stolen Sorrow

Botulinum toxin, one of the most poisonous biological substances known, is a neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The clinical syndrome of botulism can occur following ingestion of contaminated food, from colonization of the infant gastrointestinal tract, or from a wound infection.

The toxin is produced under low-oxygen conditions. Botulinum toxins block nerve functions and can lead to respiratory and muscular paralysis. Human botulism may refer to foodborne botulism, infant botulism, wound botulism, and inhalation botulism or other types of intoxication.

Foodborne botulism, caused by consumption of improperly processed food, is a rare but potentially fatal disease if not diagnosed rapidly and treated with antitoxin.

Homemade canned, preserved or fermented foodstuffs are a common source of foodborne botulism and their preparation requires extra caution.

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Fatima scrubbed the floor again. It looked clean enough to her , but her mistress was still frowning. “Can’t you do one thing properly?” screamed her employer, Shah Bano. “Look at the tiny brown stains here.” Shah Bano pointed at a spot with her toe. “Remove these!”

Fatima got up to get some detergent for the stains. But before she could even straighten up, Shah Bano caught her by her neck and pushed her down forcefully. “Finish what I’ve told you to do first! How dare you get up before that?”

“I just wanted to get some soap powder”, pleaded Fatima.

“You will scrub with water and your bare hands”, ordered Shah Bano. “Do you think we buy costly detergent for the likes of you? You’re just a servant here, understand? I won’t have you wasting my detergent and my soaps, and my oil, and…”

The list went on, and meanwhile Fatima managed to get rid of the stains by scraping them out with her nails. “…and I will not have you wasting your time as long as you are here during the day. Make sure that you’re always working. I already pay you more than you deserve, and I don’t pay you to have you loitering around and resting, do you hear?” Shah Bano finished.

Fatima nodded, having heard the same lines from her mistress’ mouth several times earlier. “The stains are gone now”, she said weakly, before making her way to the kitchen, where she had to cook the day’s lunch. Shah Bano seemed satisfied with the floor now and did not follow her to the kitchen to oversee the cooking. Fatima heaved a sigh of relief to find herself alone.

Fatima was an extremely poor woman, who worked as a maidservant in the rich Khan household, an influential family in their town. While the master, Khan Sahab as he was called, was a very kind and generous man, his wife Shah Bano was notorious for her miserliness and greed.

Fatima had taken up the job of a maidservant there thinking she would have a few hundred rupees more to feed her two young children, ignoring the tales of horror she had heard from the others about Shah Bano’s cruelty.

For the measly salary she got, Fatima had to sweep and scrub the villa spotless, wash vessels and clothes, help the gardener, cook the day’s meals and do odd jobs around the house. She led a hand-to-mouth existence, with her four-year old son and her 10-month old daughter. Her husband had passed away just after her daughter was born.

Fatima started cleaning the fish that was laid out in front of her. She thought of her children waiting at home for her with hungry mouths. She would get her salary today, she consoled herself. All the hard work of the day would be worth it when she got the money.

Shah Bano came rushing into the kitchen just then. “Stop cleaning the fish”, she ordered. “We have guests coming. You must cook some mutton for them, not fish.”

“Should I go to the butcher’s…” began Fatima.

“There’s no time for that”, said Shah Bano. “I have canned mutton up in the larder. Take them out.”
Shah Bano’s house was always well stocked with the best of things, and some of them came from the Gulf countries. She gave 5 cans of mutton to Fatima to cook. She opened the sixth can, but kept it aside after glancing at its cover.

“Shouldn’t I take that one?” asked Fatima.

“No. Keep that aside. I’ll tell you what to do with it later”, said Shah Bano.

The guests came and went, and the feast was a success. Fatima waited silently for everyone to leave to go and ask for her pay. At long last, late in the evening, as Fatima heard her mistress going upstairs to bed, she gathered courage to go and ask her.

Shah Bano frowned. “Money? What money? Oh, your salary… No I can’t pay you now… Come back tomorrow. And clean the kitchen before you go.”

Fatima turned away, dejected. What would she feed her children now? As she cleaned the kitchen, she saw the opened can of mutton lying there. It looked like Shah Bano didn’t want it, or else she would have come charging back to ensure that it had been kept back inside. It was not a big one, but Fatima thought how it would probably feed her children for a few days. Would Shah Bano notice if she took it with her?

Fatima quietly took the can home with her. She did not want her children to feel hungry and that was all that mattered now.

She went home and fried the mutton strips in a little bit of oil and some salt, and fed it to her son, Ali. Ali was ecstatic. “It’s delicious, mother”, he said joyfully. Fatima didn’t have any of it herself, and gave the baby some milk.

She kept the remaining away carefully, hoping that it would last another two days.

The next morning, Fatima’s neighbor, Sharifa rushed to the Khan household to meet a scowling Shah Bano.
“Where’s that thief of a servant? Your friend Fatima?” demanded Shah Bano. “She stole a can of mutton from my kitchen last night!”

“Fatima cannot come to work today”, said Sharifa. “Her son passed away.”

“Well, serve her right!” said Shah Bano unkindly. “She shouldn’t have stolen from my house. She paid for her sin with her son’s life.”

Shah Bano went inside muttering. She did not stop to think that the mishap had been because of her, because of the can of food that was well past its expiry date, and because she had refused to pay poor Fatima on time.