Night Jasmine

Untitled Part 1

"Mashima, ei biral ta ki korche?'", the little girl asked the old maid, curious about the house cat's behaviour who, unlike on other days, seemed least interested in being fed scraps and instead let herself be pinned down by a fat tom who looked like he was trying to strangle her. They seemed to be engaged in a terribly noisy mewing duet.

"Tomar putul kothay?"Mashima enquired where her doll was, trying to distract the underage eyes from the feline conjugal scene, as she hurried her indoors.

Life was changing around the eight year old Sanyukta. Her parents took their son Ankit along but left her in the care of maternal grandparents in Kolkata as her father set up a new business in Rajasthan. Already the girl could switch effortlessly between Hindi, her native Marwari, Bengali and English which she picked up in her all-girls school.

The families were orthodox Marwaris of modest means- known for their thrift and strict vegetarian diet. The women were mostly home-makers while the men managed the world outside. Family weddings and festivals were occasions to be celebrated with great enthusiasm as they provided the bani-thani (decked up) women with a social outlet.

Sanyukta was a keen learner. She easily out-performed the other girls at school although there was not much appreciation to be had from her people- girls were meant to handle the home and hearth, not to crunch numbers. Food meant everything-the women spent hours cooking at home, and even at her age she was expected to contribute in the effort of making mangodi, papads and pickles for the larder.

The lack of motivation from home drew her attention outward. The streets of Kolkata beckoned with the humble temptation of mouth-watering puckhas, ghugni and ghoti gorom. Marwaris kept away from fish and fowl but could hardly resist the mishti-doi, pantua, roshogollas, and sandesh. The vibrant Burrabazar came alive especially during the puja festival with textiles, costume jewellery, puja articles and sweet meats. Old Ambassador taxis and the ancient trams ferried people to and fro. The hand-pulled rickshaws negotiated the by-lanes made even more inacssesible by the monsoon floods. Power-cuts were frequent. Protest marches with their echo of "cholbey na" slowed things down, but neither grown-ups nor the children cared-that only meant more leisure and playtime!

And just when the city was beginning to grow on her, she was summoned by her parents to join them in their new home across the country!