Small Acts of Freedom by Gurmehar Kaur

Author:Gurmehar Kaur
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9789387326675
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Published: 2017-12-22T05:00:00+00:00

12

Saharanpur, 1980s

A point came when it did not make sense. They were both growing up. Something had to be done. Soon their dadaji, their paternal grandfather, the head of the house, would refuse to let them travel in the bus alone. It was too risky to send two pubescent girls to the city on an empty bus every morning, especially during winter when the fog was dense. People would talk.

Amarjeet was smart and she had learnt how to work around everyone. She had started giving tuitions to the village children and turned a small room in the house into a tailor shop. This seemed like a harmless way of putting food on the table while staying within the security of the four walls of her own house, provided it did not offend the elders or disturb the ‘culture’ of the household. People were much kinder to them now that she was helping their kids pass their exams. Over time, she had also begun to develop something of a friendship with the women in the village. They would have long conversations while the women waited to get their suits stitched, altered or fixed. Small acts of kindness by people made survival a lot less difficult.

And yet, this was no way of living a life. There were no picnics, no clubs and definitely no ‘ice cream evenings’. Sometimes, if she was feeling particularly happy, she would get a rasgulla or gulab jamun from the sweet shop in the village. This time, when Pammi and Raji fared well in their classes, there wasn’t a rasgulla waiting for them. She knew they would have to be sent away to her brother’s house if she wanted them to complete their education.

Despite the resistance from home, she finally convinced their grandfather to let her send them away to her brother’s. It was a tough choice to make, but it was an important one. Both of them were put on a train and sent all the way to Uttar Pradesh.

They missed their mother terribly, but they were happy to be with their mamaji and his children. Amarjeet’s brothers loved her and her two daughters very much. The girls were always more than welcome at their houses. The house in Saharanpur was the closest thing they could have to the house in Nangal. It was a huge house with a large backyard that was home to different trees: jamun, guava and orange. Most of their time was spent playing hide-and-seek or running around the house. There were five cousins in total, including Pammi and Raji. This was the kind of house they had wanted to be in all the time.

But in their hearts, they knew this was not permanent. They knew it was difficult for their uncle to take care of them all the time. No one ever said anything, but there were these backhanded compliments and taunts they had to listen to every now and then from their neighbours or distant relatives. While the boys were fed eggs and meat, they had to do with rotis without ghee and simple gravy.

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