Translated from the Original Hindi by
Kanwar Dinesh Singh
“Three thousand? But the balance written on the slip is four thousand!”
“O, it’s okay, Uncle ji! Now you will give me a discount too, won’t you? Well, tell me, what will you have—tea or cold lassi?”
“I won’t take anything, dear. Look, I’m letting the lights go on for another day only for your sake. And you’re giving me a thousand rupees less than the due amount. Pay at least two hundred rupees more for the tempo fare.”
“All right, Uncle Ji, take two hundred rupees more…You’ll remember me for this! Happy?”
After the tent-house men left, Mausa ji, who was sitting near Babu ji, smiled and said to Vandana, “Daughter, here too you’ve saved money!”
With a proud smile on her lips, Vandana dragged the big sack lying in the courtyard to the store.
“What’s in this sack?” A question mark emerged on the faces of her mother boiling milk in the kitchen and her aunt standing by her.
“The items of ration the caterers had left in the palace; Didi stuffed them all in sacks and brought them home in her car,” the housemaid washing dishes told them.
Ding-dong—as soon as she heard the sound of the doorbell, Vandana hurried out of the store, saw the rickshaw-hawker at the gate, and asked him to come in with a hand gesture, “Come here, Brother!”
“Radha, you go in and bring the beddings of the temple from the store here. I’ll arrange the utensils by then,” Vandana came out directing the maid.
“When did you tidy up these beddings?” Babu ji asked Vandana in surprise.
“As soon as I woke up in the morning, I called up the secretary of the temple to collect the beddings and utensils. At least we can save charges for today,” Vandana replied, picking up the large pot containing many small utensils.
“Sis, Vandana handled the entire wedding very well. Along with the rituals, she also took good care of the guests. Catering, tents, and the palace were all very well organized,” Aunty said to Vandana’s mother, complimenting her. Milk was boiling in the soak and rising to the top.
Vandana was reckoning each utensil and ticking for them on the list, and her Aunt’s compliments made her bloated with pride.
“You are right, Sis! Look, now it was a petty altercation with our daughter-in-law that Saurabh left us for her and did not even attend his sister’s wedding. Yet, Vandana handled everything so that we did not even feel the absence of Saurabh. Our Vandana is a daughter no less than a son….”
Suddenly everyone was shocked by the sound of tinkling…Vandana’s hand was stripped of the pot, and all utensils were scattered here and there. And the milk was boiling and falling off the brim.