The Sari Shop by Bajwa Rupa

Author:Bajwa, Rupa [Bajwa, Rupa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2005-05-25T22:00:00+00:00

12

Rina Kapoor’s wedding would always be remembered in Amritsar as the Grand Affair where forty different kinds of desserts were served.

There had been so much talk about it that Ramchand was dying of curiosity. When Mahajan went to the Kapoor House himself to settle the bills, he was graciously given an invitation card for the wedding.

Mahajan came back and showed it to Shyam and Rajesh, ‘An invitation to the Kapoor wedding,’ he explained, unable to keep the pride out of his nonchalant voice. Shyam and Rajesh had been visibly impressed, examining the expensive-looking card from all angles. Then, with Mahajan’s permission, they passed it around. ‘Imagine how much each card must have cost,’ said Gokul. ‘It is shiny, like the paper of those foreign magazines.’

It was. When Ramchand took the invitation card in his hands, he was very impressed. It wasn’t just expensive-looking, it was beautiful. The card was made of thick, firm silver paper and had a large, flamboyant ‘Om’ embossed on the front in a brilliant blue. Inside the letters were printed in English, cordially inviting everyone to grace the auspicious occasion with their benign presence. Ramchand ran his fingers over the letters, happily noting that he could read almost all the English words on it. He noted the date, time and venue.

Hari was very excited, ‘All the top people of Amritsar are going to be there. Will you go, Bauji?’ he asked Mahajan.

Mahajan shook his head sadly, ‘I won’t be able to. My nephew is getting married on the same day. Must be an auspicious day, there are weddings in many families on that day. I won’t be able to go to the Kapoor House. You know, my nephew’s father, my brother, is dead, so I have to be there.’

Everyone nodded with a look of understanding sympathy.

Hari cleverly put in, ‘You are like a saint, Bauji. Always duty before pleasure.’

Mahajan looked pleased and went downstairs, while Hari nudged Gokul slyly and everyone laughed.

*

On the day of Rina Kapoor’s wedding, Ramchand thought about it all morning. Mahajan had taken the day off for his nephew’s wedding. ‘Must be stuffing his fat face with pakoras and samosas and sweets, while we work on an empty stomach in this tomb-like shop,’ said Hari. Since he had been eating alu tikkis all day from a paper bag and hadn’t done any work, determined to make the best of Mahajan’s absence, no one paid him any attention. However, Gokul did tell him that it was important to respect both your instrument of work, if you were a craftsman, and your place of work. He said it could be very inauspicious for Hari to call the shop where he earned his living a tomb. At this Hari muttered rude things under his breath against the shop and against Mahajan and against ‘that bloodsucker Bhimsen Seth’, and then went out to buy warm groundnuts. Gokul began to say all sorts of uncomplimentary things about Hari, more out of habit than any real rancour.

Ramchand was still wondering about the wedding at the Kapoor House.

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