Intermission by Nirupama Subramaniam

Author:Nirupama Subramaniam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2012-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

24

THE WOMEN OF Trafalgar Towers are getting ready to celebrate karva chauth. Most of them will fast through the day until they set eyes on the full moon and then, in the presence of their husband, they will break the fast after making an offering of water to the moon and performing the ritual puja. In the afternoon they will gather on the lawns of Traflagar Towers, shimmering like exotic jewels after hours spent at beauty salons to recapture some of their bridal glory. Their hands will glow with mehendi and their hearts will fill with the pride of being virtuous women. They will admire each other’s clothes, complain good-naturedly about the foibles of their men and the gentle tyranny of mothers-in-law. They might even play tambola to pass the time until the men return from work.

Sweety looks forward to karva chauth. On the day of the fast, she receives a fine piece of jewellery from Amandeep, a generous gift from her in-laws, and an opportunity to pamper her body and face for a good cause. It is not compulsory in her Sikh community, but her mother-in-law has been observing the karva chauth fast since her own marriage and it is a ritual enshrined by Amandeep’s Hindu grandmother, Beeji. Amandeep’s family has their own partition story, which she has heard from his grandmother, a resilient woman who passed away a year ago, at the age of eighty-nine.

The grandmother was born a Hindu in pre-independence Lahore, the only daughter of a wealthy landowner. During the days immediately after the partition, her parents and elder brother had refused to leave their house and lands, believing till the end that the frenzy of Hindu-Muslim riots was temporary and would never reach their own doorstep. Their Sikh neighbours were more pragmatic and made plans to move to India with whatever valuables they could gather. Beeji’s parents feared for her safety and sent her along with the Singh family, who treated her like their own daughter. Her family planned to reclaim her once the furore died down. Beeji never saw them again. After living with the Singhs for two years as they moved from a refugee camp to their own home in Delhi, she married their eldest son, Sukhwinder, Amandeep’s grandfather. Though she did not formally convert, Beeji adopted all the Sikh customs. She went regularly to the gurudwara, organized paath at home and helped at the langar. The karva chauth fast was a practice she brought to her new family. It was also a thanksgiving ceremony for the gift of her own life, which she owed to her husband and his family.

The story appeals to Sweety. She imagines that the young Beeji, who must have been beautiful, and the dashing Sukhwinder Singh had fallen in love with each other. This is Sweety’s first karva chauth away from her in-laws. They plan to visit them in the evening for the feast that follows after sunset but she will spend the afternoon on the lawns of Trafalgar Towers with her neighbours.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.