Food that is cooked in the best of tradition, doesn’t taste palatable unless one is hungry. The sweet water in the river too feels refreshing only when one is thirsty. A dire physical need when satisfied gives an immense pleasure and relief to the individual. In fact the deeper the need, the more intense is the satiety one gets after fulfilling the need.

 

Love and affection one gets from one’s kith and kin too are as much needed in life as food and water. Interestingly, these too give pleasure to an individual only if he gets them when he needs them most. Therefore we need to create the emotional need for the loved ones’ affection. It is important to be away from one’s kith and kin once in a while to create that need and then enjoy the pleasure of reunion.

 

The train is chugging and carrying nonchalantly people rushing into reunions, along with their anticipation. The passengers include Rajarao, with a fluttering heart !

.

The train has been running fast for quite some time. But Rajarao’s excitement started only after crossing “sAmarlakOTa” from where “Rajamundry is just an hour away.

He is meeting his parents and siblings after nearly two and a half years.

He joined the work force two years ago and is going home for the first time after taking up employment. He could not go home even once in the past two years for one reason or the other. At last here he is, on his way to his beloved Rajamundry,

Train crossed Kadiyam.

“Come on, wake up now” Rajarao shook his wife.

“Hmm! I am awake” muttered Vasundhara sleepily.

“We are nearly there. Just another ten minutes”

She woke up automatically. His infectious excitement seemed to affect her, chasing away the drowsiness.

Train stopped in Rajamundry station. Rajarao peered out of the window, searching for someone.

“There she is!” he exclaimed having spotted his elder sister. His eyes shone with pleasure. Vasundhara grimaced.

“Uncle, how are you!” asked Chandram. Vasundhara felt happy seeing little Chandram.

“How are you, Chandram?” she enquired.

Rajarao’s elder sister, Neelaveni entered the compartment with her entourage. She is ten years older than he is. Her eldest daughter Rajeshwari is nearly sixteen years old. Second child Chandram is thirteen and the last one Rambabu is five. Her husband Bramhaji Rao is a renowned lawyer in Rajamundry.

“Hi! There you are! We were beginning to think that you have forgotten us!” she joked.

“No, no! Don’t bother about the luggage. The boys will bring them. Show them where your luggage is, that’s all. Chandram, you stand here and make sure they pick up our entire luggage. I would have brought one more boy to help us, but he could not fit into the car. Be careful when you are walking my dear, you are in the family way now!” she teased her sister-in-law.

Akka! When did you buy a car?” asked Rajarao.

Vasundhara guessed correctly that he asked the question deliberately, to make his sister happy.

Neelaveni’s is a peculiar character. Being very vain and self-centered, her sole ambition is to be appreciated by one and all. She considered herself as incomparable in intelligence, good looks, wealth or anything, for that matter. She strived to create a similar opinion among all her acquaintances. In addition, she generally befriended only wealthy people. But the only redeeming quality in her character is her love towards her kith and kin. There the issue of wealth and status doesn’t seem to hamper her much.

Within five minutes of our arrival she managed to inform us that she bought a car and she has three boys to help her. Now that her brother has given her an opportunity to describe their car, she might start a discourse on the car, thought Vasundhara dryly.

 

“Of course we purchased a car. Nearly two months ago. We will talk about all that later. The driver will start cursing us if we are late. I have not yet got my driver’s license. Till that time we have to depend on others,” Neelaveni concluded briefly.

 

The car sped through the streets. Neelaveni resumed her monologue in the car.

“Guess what, it cost us nearly twenty thousand rupees! Can you imagine how jealous all the neighbors are now? One contractor who is a friend of your brother-in-law has been moving heaven and earth to buy a car just like this, but is no way near it. He is willing to spend thirty thousand on a similar car. All the drivers who drove this car are amazed at its performance…”

“How many drivers did you change in two months?” interrupted Vasundhara with a tactless question. Neelaveni glared at Vasundhara, but laughed at the joke saying “oh, just four”. She resumed her talking.

Vasundhara fell into a thoughtful silence.

It is humanly impossible to work as a domestic staff in Neelaveni’s house. In Neelaveni’s opinion, domestic helpers are not human but just a peculiar species that merely resemble humans. If they seem to be happy, she gets annoyed. “How can they be so happy when they are so poor?” she wonders. If they seem to be decently dressed, she taunts them with “don’t waste all your money on clothes now. However well you are dressed you are just a domestic servant, aren’t you?” If their dress seemed to be shabby she enquires viciously, “Why do you dress so shabbily? Any way since you get all your meals free from me you should be saving all that salary you take home! Shouldn’t you?”

With all this taunting no self respecting person can work at her home for a long time. As a result she could never hold on to domestic help continuously for more than two years.

The car eventually stopped in front of Neelaveni’s home.

Rajarao stared open mouthed at the building. It was totally different from what he remembered.

“What are you so surprised about? This is our house! We spent fifty thousand and remodeled it in the latest fashion. It is almost brand new. In this whole town you will not find another building so well furnished! There are many houses which cost more, but are not as elegant, said the inspector who visited us last week. Your brother-in-law helped him in a court case.”

“Of course!” laughed Vasundhara loudly.

Neelaveni again glared at Vasundhara.

Neelaveni, who mercilessly ridiculed others, is not sportive of any comments about her, even in jesting. She draws a circle around herself and her family. She watches the rest of the world from within the circle. She has long ago decided that only the life within the circle is worth living and all the rest is useless trash.

She is sure that the only way to earn money respectably is to practice law. The medical profession with suffering patients, dirty diseases and stinking medicines is insufferable. The commercial business enterprises with income-tax problems, cheating, black marketing etc are plain fraud! Engineering with bridges, cement bags, back breaking work is so boring and dull! The only way to be rich and famous, in her opinion is to be a lawyer, like her husband. “My husband? He is just a clever man and a fighter for justice. He earns all this money by just arguing in courts! ” she asserts. She refuses to be drawn into any discussion about this. In fact she doesn’t encourage debating about anything. She just declares her thoughts and views and there is no room for counter opinions.

When she purchased a sari, it became a trend setter in the fashionable circles of the town. Looking at the house they built, the master builders were ashamed of their silly constructions. When her eldest daughter fared very badly at her examinations, the entire school staff was shocked in disbelief and the headmaster personally came home to enquire what the matter was! In short, she is the envy and role model of the entire neighborhood.

This was the gist of Neelaveni’s monologue after dinner. The audience mainly comprised of Rajarao and Vasundhara. Vasundhara tried to listen patiently, but she found it uncomfortable to sit in the chair for long time, due to her physical predicament. She wished she could go to bed, but felt it would be impolite to leave the room in the middle of a conversation.

“Madam, I cleaned the dining table” said the kitchen helper.

Neelaveni paused blowing her own trumpet for a little while to ask “already? You are a lazy duck! I will check the table and if I find it dirty, you’ll be in trouble. What is the matter? You seem to be in a hurry today! Did a new movie release or what?”

“No, madam, I completed every thing quickly. I thought there maybe other jobs today as we have guests” he gave an ingratiating smile.

“You liar! In fact, there is lot of work to be done. Put all their travel clothes in the washer. Tell the cook to mix the ice-cream mix, and milk and freeze it. Put the new mattress on the bed. Be careful while making the beds. We spent nearly five hundred on it” she instructed. She felt grateful to the boy who gave her a chance to recite the consumer goods she accumulated and felt obliged to add “if you do all this without any mistake, I will give you money to go to the movies.”

He left the room with a “yes, madam”.

Akka! I am thirsty” interjected Rajarao.

“Someone, please get a glass of water from the refrigerator” ordered Neelaveni. Rajarao drank the water. The water was cool, but it did not have the natural sweetness that water generally has.

Vasundhara was very impatient during the three days she spent there. Though there was no dearth of hospitality, she was very unhappy with the family of her sister-in-law. She felt the atmosphere very suffocating. To make matters worse their behavior was entirely anathema to her principles. She found, five years old Rambabu bullying the domestic helpers very annoying. It is the adults in the family who should correct the domestic staff if needed. Little children ordering the staff about looks very crude .

 

Once they were on the bus to Ravulapalem, Rajarao said “I know that you were very much irritated at my sister’s house. I too don’t agree with her behavior and ideas, but I always remember that she loves me very much.”

In the bus-stand at Ravulapalem, they were received by Rajarao’s younger brother. Vasundhara smiled happily at her young brother-in-law. “How are you vadina?” Subba rao asked.

“Don’t ask! Just faring like you” she answered with a grin.

Subbarao failed in his fourth-form examinations and is about to reappear for the examinations. Vasundhara too had to give her fourth-form examination twice in her school days. Since she had already told about this in her letters, Subbarao understood her teasing and started pouting.

“Oh, you two! We just arrived and you are at it again” Rajarao chided his wife playfully. They reached Rajarao’s home in ten minutes.

Vasundhara’s mother-in-law Parvatamma was standing in the door way waiting for them. She stopped them in the entrance and told the daughter-in-law, “Please wait for a while, dear. Don’t enter the house right away” and she ran into the house. Vasundhara waited near the entrance. Rajarao paid the rickshaw driver and Subbarao lugged the bags into the house.

Personally Vasundhara had no problem standing there, waiting for her mother-in-law to complete the formalities, but she felt uncomfortable standing there outside, after a long journey. Neighbors were peeping in curiously to see who the important guest in the neighborhood was. The lady fetching water whispered to her companion, “I think their daughter-in-law has arrived from the city.”

At last Vasundhara entered the house.

“I don’t know how much you believe in all the rituals and formalities, but as long as we live you have to follow them” said Paravatamma. She liked saying that once in a while, though no one objected to any of her rituals.

When the son and daughter-in-law went inside, Venktramiah folded the newspaper he was reading and said, “I think Raja has arrived.” Rajarao smiled shyly at his father.

“And how is the mother-to-be feeling?” he enquired. Parvatamma answered his questions since both of them were too shy to speak to their father.

Vasundhara always felt amused in her parents-in-law’s place. Rajarao has two sisters, and two brothers, unmarried. She loved their company and their chit chat. But they get hardly any time for idle gossip. Their mother enters the conversation suddenly. The generation gap puts some strain into the conversation.

“Do you have the Tulasi plant in your back yard?” she questioned her daughter-in-law.

“No, mother” Vasundhara dutifully answered.

“Oh God! You could have taken a sapling from someone and planted!”

“No, mother. Out apartment is on the top floor and there is no back yard.”

“So what? You can fill a tin with some mud and plant it. I can’t understand how you can eat and sleep without worshipping Tulasi! This is what education does to people..” she would grumble.

Tulasi has very good medicinal qualities. That is why our ancestors believed in worshipping it” Rajarao tried to fish in troubled waters!

“This time when you go, I will give you a small sapling. I am telling all this for your own good. Whether you believe it or not, you have to follow these rituals as long as we live” she started again.

Vasundhara could not control her giggling any more. “Why are you tickling me”, she blamed her sister-in-law for her burst of laughter.

“When did I tickle you vadina?” Subhadra asked innocently.

“Stop tickling her, this minute. She is in the family way, stop playing silly pranks on her” mother-in-law came to her daughter-in-law’s aid.

Vasundhara thought this an opportune moment, and said,

“Mother, I do want to take that Tulasi plant this time when I go. It will be of great sentimental value to me”

Parvatamma was dumbfounded with joy, but had to rush into the kitchen to attend to the cooking.

“Trying to be smart, eh? If I had this kind of smartness to butter people, I would have landed a job here in the University” Rajarao whispered.

“You would have done that if you had smartness of any kind!” she retorted.

When Rajarao cannot think of any clever retort to his wife’s taunts, he gives her a look full of love . That makes her bashful and shy and she cannot find her words for quite sometime. That gives him respite and think of another clever retort. He did the same now.

Vasundhara avoided looking at him and turned to Subba Rao to ask,

“Where is your brother? Has he disappeared somewhere?”

“He went to Mr.Bhadram’s house, to bring a jack fruit.”

“Why do we need a jack fruit now?”

Answer came from the kitchen, “what do you mean why? You have to eat a jack fruit now, to beget healthy and beautiful children. You have to follow the rituals as long as we…”

“Do not say children mother! One child is enough. Don’t scare me now”, Rajarao interrupted his mother’s flow.

Mrityunjayarao entered the room carrying a jack fruit.

“Hey, vadina is here” he exclaimed happily.

“Oh yeah? What about me? Do you have any eyes for your brother as well?” Rajarao asked in mock anger.

“Nope! Because there is nothing special in you brother! Whereas vadina, well she is a special person now. Aren’t you, vadina? That’s why I brought a special jack fruit for her.”

“Do you mean to say that you went all the way to their house just for bringing this jack fruit for me? I don’t believe a word of it” said Vasundhara.

“I solemnly swear on this jack fruit” he showed the fruit.

“That’s alright, but I heard across the grape vine that Shyamala too is in the town”

Suddenly he felt very shy and couldn’t speak. He graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree just that year. He was planning to complete a master’s degree. His parents were planning to get him married to Shyamala soon after that. His shyness indicated that he too was happy with the proposal.

“Oh! That was why he wouldn’t let me go to bring the jack fruit”, Sumati , her other sister-in-law exclaimed.

 

“You have to eat food for two people now” Parvatamma loaded Vasundhara’s plate with food.

“Actually, mother, you know more about my eating habits than my own mother! But you seemed to have given me enough food for three people. So I have to leave some of it out” Vasundhara tried to gently convince her mother-in-law. Rajarao whispered again “buttering, eh?”

 

Paravatamma demanded that Vasundhara cannot take an afternoon nap since it is not considered very well for the child. But when Vasundhara went off to sleep in the afternoon, she left her quietly to take rest.

Parvatamma projected herself as a self-styled dictator, but in reality she is too naïve to take anything seriously. Her emphatic talking and inefficient working reminds one of the political leaders of out country, who tend to talk big and produce less. When she dispels advice to her friends she never bothers to see if the advice is needed by them or not. She just likes to exhibit her knowledge of the various issues and hence she distributes advice freely.

Vasundhara measured her innocent nature right in the beginning of her married life and took advantage of it unashamedly. In fact by playing upon her mother-in-law’s easy going nature, she landed herself in troubles, many times.

Pravatamma’s behavior towards her son too was quite amusing. She cooks a dish claiming it to be Rajarao’s favorite. She might not even be thinking of him when she made the dish, but she declares it while serving the dinner. Ironically it would be what he hated most. He would ask, surprised, “but mother, I hate this vegetable!”

“Is it? You loved it when you were a child” she would insist.

“No mother! Even as a child I hated it. Remember, in our vegetable garden I pulled out this plant and you were ready to hit me” he would clarify further.

“Oh yes, I remember now. I am so sorry dear! You come once in a while and I ended up doing what you hate most, what a mother I am! Can’t understand why I keep forgetting things”, she would say sadly. The pain that she claims to feel also would be hard to find in her heart. She tells it merely out of habit. Then she would go on to lecture about her forgetfulness.

True, she did love her son very much. But she is a person who talked more and worked less. As a result, she never paid any attention to his real likes and dislikes. Rajarao is so much used to her behavior that he likes it that way. He would be very uncomfortable if she behaved in any other way.

After a week in Ravulapalem, one day Rajarao said,

“Mother, in another week my parents-in-law will be here to take Vasundhara home for delivery. Before that I want to go to Amalapuram to see Shakuntala”. Shakuntala is Rajarao’s other older sister.

“You can go if you wish to, but don’t take Vasundhara, she will be very uncomfortable traveling. I am telling for your own good, and do as I say whether you like it or not. As long as we live…”

“No mother, we went together to see the eldest sister Neelaveni. If I go alone to Shakuntala’s house, she might be offended. She might think we don’t love her as much as Neelaveni because of her financial status.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Don’t worry mother, I will look after her” assured Rajarao.

As usual Parvatamma agreed. The point is not her agreeing, because she will eventually agree. It is the time she took to agree that is more an issue!

When they were about to start, someone inauspicious crossed their way, so they had to go into the house again, drink a glass of water and start again. The water taken out of a bronze pitcher, was sweet to taste, but slightly warm.

 

 

When they were in the bus, Vasundhara commented, “I know that mother loves us very much, but wouldn’t it be better if she could change her methods slightly?” He very well knew what she meant. But like any other son, he didn’t like being critical of his mother, that too in front of his wife. He side tracked the conversation with, “it is not the behavior that counts, it s the love they give us that is more important.”

 

Shakuntala was older than Rajarao by just two years. She was married to Sankarrao, a school teacher in Amalapuram. During the time of the wedding, theirs was quite a wealthy family. But only later everybody knew that Sankarrao’s father was a spendthrift and left a quagmire of debts for his son. Though they owned a house in Amalapuram, their main income was his salary as a teacher and as a result they are considered as a lower-middle-class family.

Being extremely self-respecting, they never spoke of their financial troubles to their kith and kin. They have four children. The first three of her children are sons. Though Sakuntala was a shrewd house wife, some times they did end up borrowing money to cover some of their expenses.

When Rajarao and Vasundhra entered the house, Shakuntala and Sankarrao were reading a magazine together, sitting on the floor. They moved away from each other in embarrassment when they saw the young couple. Shakuntala exclaimed in joy, “”hey! It is Raja!”

Rajarao looked at his sister. Her eyes were shining with happiness. He was sure the happiness was just on seeing her brother.

Vasundhara was busy examining the house. This was the first time she came here. The house looked very simple, but very clean. People too looked very simple, but very dignified. There was certain liveliness among all the family members.

“Now look who is here! Why, Vasundhara, are you longing to see your parents or what? Why did you go down so much?” Shakuntala teased her sister-in-law, gently. She hugged her affectionately and led her inside.

“Raja, do you want some water?” she yelled from inside.

“No, akka” he yelled back.

Bava, where are the kids?” he enquired.

“They have all gone for playing. They should be back anytime now. Jyothi is sleeping inside,” replied Samkararao.

Shakuntala lit the coal oven and enquired about Vasundhara’s health. She put a big pan on the stove and yelled again, “Oye, Raja!”

“Coming, what is the matter” Rajarao came in running.

“Now, what do you have to talk so much to your brother-in-law? Go and get an easy chair for her. She will be uncomfortable sitting on that wooden chair.”

Rajarao ran to get an easy chair.

Vasundhara was surprised. She was never before here, but she was feeling very comfortable. No body ever ordered Rajarao about with so much of authority and confidence. Neelaveni had no thoughts about her discomfort on the sofa after many hours, while Shakuntala figured it out in a few minutes.

“Raja loves my cooking, especially pesarattu! But it is difficult to make pesaratut on a short notice, so I will make it tomorrow. Now we will make do with upma. For tonight’s dinner I will make patholi, chutney, and onion soup. Will that be ok?”

Vasundhara listened dumb struck. She seemed to remember Rajarao’s favorite dishes better than their mother.

She enjoyed the hot upma.

They ate an early dinner and went out to the movies.

Shakuntala’s children seemed to be quite disciplined and well behaved. They played and spent all their time with Rajarao. Jyothi was slightly shy since she had never met her uncle before.

After coming back from the movies they spent some time talking casually. It was a plain talk, in which there was no back biting or criticism of others in their circle. They retired to their room later to sleep.

Before going to bed, Vasundhara commented,

“You want to go back tomorrow, but I want to spend two more days here!”

Rajarao too felt the same.

“I went to three places so far and I saw three different kinds of people. I am sure all of them love me equally. But why do I feel so relaxed here, more than any where else?” she asked him again.

“Anybody who can love from heart will show the same hospitality that Shakuntala has given. Neelaveni does love us. But the hospitality that she shows us has nothing to do with her love. She treats us like any other guest. She wants us to feel great about her hospitality and her home.

My mother has no care about hospitality. She doesn’t realize love needs to be shown in deeds too. She has no thought about our comfort or discomfort.

Shakuntala doesn’t care what we think about her hospitality or her home. She treats us like this, just because she loves us very much.”

They started back for Ravulapalem on the following day, afternoon. They felt thirsty and Shakuntala gave them water to drink. The water was from a mud pot and it was cool, sweet and nice to drink, very refreshing.

[End]

 

Published on thulika.net, October 2004

 

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Glossary :

Vadina – elder brother’s wife

Akka – older sister

Bava – Older sister’s husband

Pesaratt – Pancakes made of green gram.

Note – This story titled “upa sAnti” was published originally in Andhra Prabha in 1971 and later in their anthology “rasika rAja taguvAramu kAmA” (1996).

Our sincere thanks to the Authors for their kind permission to translate it.