And She Called Her Maa

Sudha was somewhat upset for the last two days.

And... she was cooking since this morning.

Sudha, who was cooking in the kitchen, heard pieces of balls dipped in honey and mixed with sugar candy.

While listening, his mind-brain was reaching again and again in the velvet streets of the maternal home, where the cool shadow of mother's loving lap was seen waving.

"How beautiful my princess's hair is, so silky!...No one can see it!"

Sudha's mother-in-law Gayatri ji, while applying oil to her only sister-in-law Kavya's hair, was speaking while taking her blessings.

"Offo mama! Stop it.

Lost in the mobile phone screen, Kavya suddenly realized that she was getting late, her friends would surely be coming, with whom she had decided to go to the beauty parlour.

"Okay princess , go...but apply sunscreen lotion and go! I had soaked almonds for you at night. Have peeled them too, eat them and go!..."

,

And listen my dear daughter...! 

By the way, my Lado is already a big beauty, but I want her to look the most beautiful in the world on the day of engagement and marriage! ,

Even... my future son-in-law is one in a million, a prince indeed! Pride was also overflowing with each and every word of the love-filled speech.

In this middle-class family, this scene of mother-daughter pampering had become almost a daily thing these days.

,

 Ever since Sudha's marriage was fixed to a suitable son of a richer family than hers. High-end businessman, Sudarshan of a prosperous household, a gentle boy and a small happy family. The only demand of the boys was that the girl should be very beautiful, highly educated, skilled in household chores and the marriage ceremony should be organized with great pomp and show. There was no special demand for dowry, just whatever the bridegroom willingly gave.

There was a sudden visual change in this affection-drenched atmosphere when Kavya's voice was heard shouting,

"Mamasss my new leather shoes look so wet! Who did this?"

"Hey! I told Sudha to polish that!... Hey Navya! Where did she die? What did you do to the shoe! Kavya is getting late and..Can't get a job done waste!"

Gayatri ji started cursing her daughter-in-law like everyday.

Daughter-in-law Sudha who was standing with tea for mother-in-law and almond shake for sister-in-law Shuchi, neither of them was seen till now.

"MummyI had polished the shoe and kept it safely, show me where it is in sister's room!” The poor thing was horrified at the unfounded allegation.

Taking the shoes in her hand, she said, "Didi, she is looking so bright! She is not wet at all."

"Okay, okay! Don't argue! ...She never does any work properly, so Kavya must have felt... take son, drink this shake quickly, you are getting late, aren't you?"

Gayatri ji said taking a cup of tea in her hand.

As soon as she took a sip of the almond shake, Kavya frowned and said, "How pale it looks, sister-in-law! Don't know when your hands will taste like Mama's!"

"It was not faded sister! I had tasted a little while making it...!" Sudha spoke haltingly in a low voice.

"Hey Karamjali!...I made it for Kavya and you made her a liar after drinking it....that's why it looks pale!"

Gayatri ji screamed looking at Sudha with burning eyes.

By then, Kavya, who had emptied the entire glass of shake, started saying bitterly,

"Uffff....let it go mama! No one taught her anything good at her home!...and she must have never seen all these special things in her home, she must have been greedy!"

Before...

Kavya's talk could have been completed, Sudha, who had been listening to mother-in-law and sister-in-law for no reason, suddenly did not know what happened, instead of bowing her head as usual, she started staring at both of them with a strange look. This act of his was completely unexpected for both mother and daughter.

"Look, look! Her insolence..How she is doing tongue twisters without speaking!"

Today Sudha neither lowered her eyes, nor bowed her head on the ground, even after listening to her mother-in-law's words showering embers from her eyes, on the contrary she started smiling and...

And..

Then started laughing softly. Laughter slow at first, then louder, louder.

gradually...The tone of his laughter kept getting louder.

...ha ha ha!...ha ha ha!! She kept laughing, just kept laughing...!!!

This was an extraordinary event for both mother and daughter. Impossible! How can this be possible?

At first, both of them kept looking at her in bewilderment for a few moments. Then when Kavya regained consciousness, she grabbed Sudha by her shoulders in panic and shook her.

"Oh .what are you doing sister-in-lawsss!...have you gone mad?"

Here Gayatri ji, still looking at him with fiery eyes, said with disdain,

"Oh, this is so wretched!... My daughter keeps burning every moment!..I can't bear to see her getting married in such a big house, isn't she from a small house!"

Now once again...

Sudha's laughter suddenly stopped. Bewildered, she kept looking at both of them for a while. Then all of a sudden she started crying with her head down. In no time, she started crying bitterly. Then she went on crying, kept on crying.

Don't know what was there in her cry, in the compassion flowing from her eyes, that...

Today Gayatri ji suddenly felt a twinge in her heart. Perhaps by pushing back her inner mother-in-law, the mother had come in front for a moment.

A mother could not see any child crying. Today Gayatri ji also had a daughter-like love for her daughter-in-law Sudha.

 That mother could not think of anything else, so she held Sudha by both hands and made her sit on the sofa nearby and filled the glass with water kept on the side table.

"Come here daughter .Drink some water and tell me what happened to you? ,

When Sudha became a little normal after drinking a couple of sips of water, then looking at her deeply, he asked,

 "What happened to you all of a sudden!... You never used to do this! ... My heart was set that no shadow had come over it."

Kavya, who was staring at him for a long time, also said, "Bhabhi, you had scared me... what happened suddenly?"

 Now understanding the situation, Sudha bowed her head, saying nothing. Silently started looking down at the floor.

"Are you feeling well?...Don't say anything!...My mind is getting very nervous now!"

Gayatri ji shook her and started looking at her carefully.

And then...

Sudha slowly raised her neck with an effort, tried to look into the eyes of mother and daughter with empty eyes, even to find something lost.

"Now say something!" There was a combined sound of mother and daughter.

For the first time, Sudha felt the warmth of a little bit of emotion in the questioning eyes of both of them. Perhaps that's why his heart, which had been lying like an iceberg for a long time, started melting. She slowly began to speak in a muffled voice,

"My mother also used to pamper me like this. I was the apple of her eyes!..A wrinkle on my forehead used to make her restless!... She used to speak so softly while teaching me to work that I never knew to learn anything.

And ya know...

Then when my marriage was fixed here, after that she didn't even let me pick up a straw from her hands so that her delicate bud doesn't get tired, never let me wash a glass of water so that the redness of the palm doesn't decrease, salonapan doesn't fade, Like you think for Didi!..

but... see...

No one is going to see me today,... There is no place left for the hands which are not cut or burnt, cooking, sweeping-wiping-utensils...the rest is torn by the detergent!"

Both of them were shocked to hear it for the first time.

 It was surprising that instead of scolding or arguing with Sudha, both of them were silently looking at her as if painted today.

Hearing this, tears welled up in Gayatri ji's eyes.

And... Kavya was also not able to stop herself from crying.

And here, lost in herself, Sudha kept on talking... kept on talking. The things in his mind were not coming to an end. Don't know how much something had accumulated in her mind which she wanted to throw out today itself.

' one daughter, marriage is taking place in a well-to-do family, son, Raj has to pay some price. Will do his Navya there! ...Everyone will keep their princess as queen there, see!" She sobbed and continued to speak,

"...the princess...the queen...who is she, how is she, how does she live in her in-laws house, no one sees her afterwards!"

Now Sudha was out of breath while talking continuously. As soon as she became silent for a few moments, it seemed as if silence had spread over there. There was a storm of thoughts going on in the mind of his mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Suddenly Gayatri ji felt as if there is a mirror with two panes in Sudha's hands, in one pane her own past and daughter's future are reflected in the other pane and the scenes are changing rapidly on both sides.

After a brief silence, Sudha's mumbling voice emerged.

Now Gayatri ji felt that all her senses have changed into ears and eyes. What she had never heard even after hearing, had not seen even after seeing, s speaking herself!!!

And in the midst of the whirlwinds of thinking, she saw, sudha is crying.

She hold her and sudha was feeling the fragrance of mother's lap today in the fragrance of Gayatri ji's lap.

Today in this house under one roof… all the three women had shared their sorrows and all three had become one, this is called family where all share their sorrows and become one.