The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan

Author:Indu Sundaresan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780743436977
Publisher: Atria
Published: 2002-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

THIRTEEN

They rode through the dead nobles, who filled both sides of the road . . . Mahabat Khan, was seated behind the Prince, in order to introduce the head to Khusrau, and tell him their names. And as the corpses were dangling or swinging on account of the wind, he said to Khusrau, “Sultan, see how your soldiers fight against the trees.”

—B. Narain, trans., and S. Sharma, ed., A Dutch Chronicle of Mughal India

THE WARM, HUMID NIGHT SWEPT over Bengal in a rush. It had rained for five days, in a heavy, muffling downpour that clogged everyone’s lungs. The houses in Bardwan reeked of mildew and damp clothes. Mosquitoes came out in droves, humming about people’s ears, seeking blood and flesh with a persistence that no amount of smoldering neem leaves could diminish. Gossamer-thin white mosquito nets lay draped like ghosts over cots and mattresses. Mehrunnisa lay on her bed, staring up at the slow-moving rectangular punkah suspended from the ceiling. It faltered, then stopped, the pull rope hanging slack under the doorway. She waited as the humidity settled around her like a living presence, then said softly, “Nizam.”

Outside her room, the slave boy awoke with a start and, still half asleep, began again to swing his leg from side to side, setting the punkah, whose rope was tied to his toe, into motion again.

Mehrunnisa turned to Ladli, sleeping by her side, and peeled her head away from where it lay pillowed on her arm. Sweat matted the child’s head and glistened on Mehrunnisa’s skin. She wiped her arm and blew on her daughter’s hair. Ladli sighed and flipped over, arms and legs askew. Mehrunnisa raised herself on an elbow and looked down at her daughter. The heat of Bengal seemed not to bother her. Ladli slept blissfully, her mouth open, her breath coming in a whistle, for her nose was blocked by a summer cold.

Mehrunnisa touched her lightly, her fingers not lingering long enough for the contact to draw sweat. She skimmed over Ladli’s rounded calves and thighs, over the dimples on her knuckles, over the smooth skin of her chin. In the beginning, when Ladli had just been born, Mehrunnisa would stay awake nights just to watch her sleep. She had thought that need would soon wane. But now, six months later, it woke her sometimes with the same intensity. The wonder of her child never seemed to cease. Thank you, Allah. She leaned over to kiss Ladli’s nose. Still asleep, the baby put her hand on her mother’s head, and her tiny fingers curled tight around a lock of blue-black hair. Mehrunnisa smiled and gently disengaged the fingers.

The punkah on the ceiling creaked and then stopped again. Nizam must have fallen asleep again, Mehrunnisa thought. She looked up as the punkah started more furiously, swirling the air in damp circles around the bed. What was the boy doing? Just as she was mustering the strength to move, a figure loomed in the doorway. Ali Quli hesitated, then came rushing in, his footsteps loud in the almost silent night.

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.