Surangi, The Child Bride

Part 37

"Vahini, if you don't mind, may I have a word with you? It is about Chandri!" Shewanta approached Yashoda cautiously. After the midday meal was served in the Oak household Shewanta ate her lunch quickly before turning her attention to the dishes. Her practiced hand polished the tin-lined brass cooking pots till they shone like burnished gold. Yashoda and Sharayu often marvelled at her stamina. Shewanta was not one to indulge in idle gossip, preferring to keep herself busy with work. After the dishes were done she would head home, take a short nap, cook her family's dinner and then return to help Yashoda around the kitchen.

She had worked for the Oak family for nearly a decade and a half. After he brought her home as his newly wed, her husband, who worked as a farmhand for the Oaks, introduced Shewanta to Saraswati Kaku. She in turn directed Yashoda to assign her work and ever since Shewanta had served the Oaks diligently. In return the family looked after them well,  always paying a fair wage. It was custom among prosperous  farmers to share a part of their farm produce like paddy and legumes with the farm hands. Not only did this cement the bond between employer and employee, but a healthy well-fed workforce performed more productively. 

On the two major festive occasions of the Konkan, Ganpati and Diwali, the house help would receive new sets of clothes. The generous Yashoda never stinted while buying sarees for Shewanta and skirts and blouses for Chandri. In a tradition long established by Saraswati Kaku the hand-me-downs of the family were distributed before they saw much wear and tear. As new brides Yashoda and Sharayu would be apprehensive about being admonished by their mother-in-law if their clothes appeared even a bit frayed. They realised much later that her intention was benevolent, she meant to pass on those clothes to the poor while they still had plenty of wear left in them.

"Vahini, you had asked me to look out for a girl to be sent to Mumbai, someone to assist Vidya Tai with her baby. If you don't mind can we send Chandri for the job?" Shewanta asked Yashoda who looked surprised.

"But Shewanta, your daughter is your right arm, why do you want to send her away from you? Besides, Chandri is not doing so badly at school." Sharayu asked, echoing Yashoda's thoughts. Sharayu was a month away delivering her baby. The children were nearly done writing their annual exams and Surangi and Madhav were looking forward to visiting Mumbai. Waman had chivalrously offered to stay back to await the birth of his younger sibling and Surangi, impressed by his maturity, had promised to bring back his favorite treats when she returned from the holiday.

"Vahini, you know Chandri has been "sitting aside" for some months now. I had not expected her to mature so quickly. But nature knows best! You know how it is, matchmakers are already sending proposals. If we keep her here the pressure to marry her off shall mount. I'd much rather send her to Mumbai to help Vidya Tai. She can even attend municipal school if Tai does not mind. Who knows, she may find a better match at the right time and have a more meaningful life in the city.  Please consider the offer. I have even tied her little bundle of essentials to ease her travel!" Shewanta's eyes looked hopeful.

"Shewanta, why do I get the feeling that you are not telling us the whole truth?" Yashoda sensed that there was something more to the matter. Shewanta  hesitated for a minute. She trusted the Oak women. She decided to come clean.

"Vahini, ever since Chandri has matured I can barely sleep at night. I imagine boys crawling out of the woodwork to try and take advantage of her. It has happened before, girls have gotten into trouble after succumbing to temptation. A cousin of mine- someone took her innocence and left without taking responsibility. She was fortunate her in-laws never found out that she was pregnant before marriage. I still remember how her mother would avoid contact with us because she was ashamed of her daughter's condition- a case of a koel egg sneaked inside a crow's nest. I don't want to be in that woman's shoes. I don't want Chandri to be married off so soon, but it is risky to keep her here without marriage. If she is sent to live under Vidya Tai's watchful eye she may turn out better." Shewanta's expression reiterated what she had just spoken about. 

Yashoda assured Shewanta that she would discuss things over with her husband and mother-in-law before making a decision. She would have to wait until evening to know.

Shewanta's fear was not entirely baseless. Surangi had noticed the gradual change in Chandri. Sometimes she would lag behind trying to fit in with girls who were much older than her. She keenly observed how they dressed and behaved and would try and imitate them. She wore bright glass bangles on her wrist, never forgot to line her eyes with kohl and would feel flattered if any boy gave her fragrant flowers. She would scrub her skin vigorously while bathing in the hope that her naturally dusky skin would somehow change itself to become a shade lighter.

When Chandri first told Surangi that she was "touched by the crow" Surangi knew she had hit the inevitable milestone in a girl's life. The difference was that Brahmin women preferred to use the term "untouchable" to describe the temporary status of banishment wrought upon a woman when she was on her period. Surangi knew that there was a strong connection between the onset of puberty and the way grown-up girls carried themselves.

She suspected that Chandri wore her new-fangled maturity like a badge of honour. She had left her skirts behind and switched to wearing her mother's sarees. Chandri was neither very pretty nor was she plain to look at. But even Surangi noticed that she acted differently, especially when there were boys present. She alternated between shying away and trying to seek their attention. She would daydream more each day. 

Fortunately Chandri's bearing remained unchanged around Madhav and Waman. Surangi would steal glances at Madhav trying to guess how he felt about the older Chandri. At this stage, however, Madhav's books were his only obsession. And Surangi was glad that was so. It made her want to study harder to try and keep up with him as well as she could.