Hush a Bye Baby

Episode 6

13

Twenty-four hours later, Reshma looked at the ensemble laid out on the bed before her. It was one thing to wear it in Kolkata. There, it had been a great disguise as she'd done her bit of snooping into Rimjhim Ganguly and Esther. But here, in Mumbai, where she could be spotted and recognized? The material looked like it had been dyed in Gelusil. The hem of both the ghagra skirt and pardi had a scalloped lace trim. Purple and red roses, with leaves the colour of the Hulk's skin, wound their way around the bottom of the ghagra four times. The flora also crept around the hem of the poncho-like pardi. Suddenly the black of the abaya seemed infinitely more appealing. Sighing, Reshma flopped on the bed and remembered Zainab's one condition.

'Of course I'll help you,' her aunt had said when Reshma had gone to her. 'You're family, Rashida. But if you're coming with me to meet a good Bohri family, then you have to wear the rida. I know it doesn't matter to you, but it does to me. I have a reputation.' Zainab did have a reputation, and a good one, which was the reason Reshma had turned to her in the first place. There was no one in the city's Bohri Muslim community, particularly in South Mumbai, who didn't know and love Reshma's faiji, Zainab. When she'd been young, she'd been the ideal that parents pointed out to their daughters, urging them to 'be like Zainab'. Now that she was older, she was the one everyone turned to for advice and help, both of which she gave generously along with delicious food from her kitchen. Her doors were always open, confidences were shared spontaneously - in short, Zainab was the perfect person to cajole information out of the one Bohri couple on Nandita Rai's list of patients that fit Reshma's timeline. Fortunately for Reshma, Zainab was also her father's beloved sister and one family member who, thanks to her love for Rekha as SP Namrata Singh in Phool Bane Angaray, was extremely excited about Reshma getting a job with Mumbai Police.

When she returned from Kolkata, Reshma decided it was time to use Zainab's considerable social expertise. The moment she had mentioned the name Sara Lakdawala to her, Zainab had perked up. 'Yes, of course. Mariam's daughter-in-law,' she said, nodding. 'There was a little bit of a fiasco because first she wasn't getting in the family way, and then she got pregnant but lost the baby very early. It was very sad. Then she insisted she and Ilyaas, Mariam's son, live separately. That's why they had to get two floors in that fancy tower in Mazgaon. They moved there last year - the daughter-in-law, your Sara, she said she wanted her own household. Mariam behaved like the girl was asking Ilyaas to move to another country. Silly woman.' As Zainab started talking about Mazgaon real estate prices and the percentage by which they were likely to escalate, Reshma patted herself on the back for having picked the perfect person for the Lakdawala interview. It was the first one she was feeling confident would go well. She needed it to, too. Not only was Hadpude getting visibly irritated by her inability to crack interviewees, she'd been on 'sick leave' for the better part of the week that she'd spent in Kolkata. Reshma needed something to distract Hadpude's attention from how little she'd done, so a lot rested on this Lakdawala interview.

Unfortunately for Reshma, Zainab was also a fan of the rida.

What was worse - having to interview the Lakdawalas herself, on her own and getting nothing, or wearing that rida, sitting quietly and making mental notes while Zainab got the information Reshma needed out of the Lakdawalas? Sighing, Reshma wore the pardi and tied a firm pink bow under her chin.

***

The Lakdawalas lived in one of the new skyscrapers that had pierced out of Mazgaon in the past few decades. On their way, Reshma went over what she needed Zainab to find out. She told Zainab of the suspicions they had about Nandita Rai, the calls that had come in on the helpline and that the investigation was hitting a dead end because there was only Seema Punjabi's testimony. 'So basically, I need you to get Sara Lakdawala to talk about Nandita Rai as a doctor,' said Reshma. 'I want to know if she suspects Nandita Rai suggested abortions to patients pregnant with girls. In Sara's case, it could be that the in-laws asked for an abortion because they didn't want her to have a daughter.'