Woman’s Day Out

Woman’s Day Out!

                                                                                        -Farnaaz Islam

Meghali packed the last packet of food and put it into the fridge. She had packed dinner for the four days she would be away. Oh, all these preparations were for her dear husband, Sagar. Breakfast and lunch were not on her list of worries. He could prepare breakfast himself and he could have lunch in the office canteen. She had pressed four of his shirts and trousers and stacked them away carefully. She reminded Sagar where the keys were again, and he had said ‘Okay’ without looking up from his beloved newspaper. Was she forgetting something?
Meghali worked as an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department of Guwahati Engineering College. The college would be closed for four days and she could hardly believe she was getting such a long vacation. But the problem was that her husband had not got any holiday. He worked in the State Bank Of India. Unlike other occasions when she always decided to stay back if their holidays did not coincide, she decided she would visit her parents and parents-in-law. All by herself. Sagar hated to be parted from her, even for a day. When she went to her parents’ place to stay over for a few days, he would sulk. But this time, she had other plans. She had eagerly bought two mekhela- chadors for her mother and mother-in-law from the ongoing handloom expo.
Meghali soon got ready. She was wearing the mekhela-chador gifted to her by her mother-in-law. Sagar was waiting outside, ready with the car. She locked the house and went downstairs, carrying her luggage. She got into the car and they drove off. As she had expected, Sagar was not venturing to make any conversation. She put on the FM radio. The song, ‘Lamha lamha doori’ was playing. The silence between them was broken by the melodious song and later by the non-stop chatter of the RJ. Soon they reached the place in Khanapara from where all the buses and wingers plied from. Both of them got down. Sagar locked the car and carried her luggage, and went searching for a good bus for her. The cacophony of the bus conductors and winger conductors was blaring out from everywhere.
“Baideo, hekhon etya najai. Amar khon jabo. Uthi lok. (Sister, that winger will not go now. Ours will go. Get in.),” one of the winger conductors was shouting.
“Tezpur! Tezpur!” a bus conductor yelled.
“Khali gari, khali gari (Empty bus! Empty bus!)” another called out.
Some of the bus and winger conductors were literally grabbing the passengers’ luggage so that they would give in and travel in their wingers and buses.
“Sah! Gorom sah! (Tea! Hot tea!)” one of the roadside tea sellers was calling out.
Meghali would first go to her parents-in-law’s place in Golaghat. Then she would visit her parents, who lived a few miles away. Finally he found a good bus going to Golaghat and got up on it with her. He asked her to sit in a seat he thought where the sun would not bother her. He placed her luggage above her seat. “Call me when you reach home,” he said curtly. She nodded. “You eat well and take care. Call me if you need anything.”
“What I need is going to Golaghat.”
Meghali laughed.
After some time, when the bus was full, the driver started the engine. Sagar immediately got down. He waved at her from her window. The bus sped away. Soon the conductor came to collect the bus fare. Meghali handed him two crisp hundred rupee notes. He returned the change. She hugged her handbag in excitement. Soon she would meet her dear parents and parents-in-law after a long time. The greenery outside lifted her spirits. Her dear home, Assam was so beautiful. Even in summer the heat was bearable, unlike in other states of her country. The weather was always pleasant, and it often rained. The breeze which entered through her window refreshed her.  The familiar sights made her very happy.
After a few hours, the bus reached Golaghat. Meghali got down. The conductor helped carry her luggage. The bus left soon afterwards. She saw Rahim, the friendly rickshaw driver, who used to drop her to school and tutorial classes. She called out to him, “Rahim da, sini pua nai neki? (Rahim da, don’t you recognise me?)”
Rahim immediately cycled his rickshaw towards her. “Why won’t I recognise my bhonti (sister)? How have you been? How is Sagar?”
Meghali got up on the rickshaw with her luggage. “Rahim da, take me to Sagar’s place.”
Rahim cycled toward Gohaingaon. The two chatted like old friends. When they reached her parents-in law’s place, Meghali got down and handed him twenty rupees.
“Arre, you have come after such a long time. I won’t take any fare today. Next time.”
Meghali insisted that he take the money, but Rahim was adamant. He bid her goodbye and cycled away.
She had not informed her parents or parents-in-law that she was coming to meet them. It was meant to be a surprise. She pressed the doorbell and waited. Her mother-in-law opened the door. “My, my, look who’s here! Come in, dear! Why didn’t you tell us before? I haven’t cooked anything special today…” Her mother-in-law prattled away.
“It’s okay, Maa. Whatever you cook is always delicious. I just wanted to surprise you,” Meghali said as she touched her mother-in-law’s feet.
“God bless you, dear.”
Her father-in-law entered the drawing room just then. “Oh, it’s you. I thought I heard such happy and loud voices and wondered who your Maa was talking to. How are you, dear? How was your journey?”
“Deuta (father), I am fine. The journey was okay,” she said and touched his feet. He blessed her.
“You go freshen up. I will go make some tea,” her mother-in-law said.
“Maa, as long as I am here you don’t have to do anything. Let me make tea after I freshen up.”
“No, dear. Not today. You do everything from tomorrow. I won’t stop you.”
“Okay, I can’t win an argument with you, Maa.”
Meghali went into Sagar’s room, in which she slept whenever she came to visit her parents-in-law. When she had finished freshening up, and came into the dining room, she found that Maa had already served tea with various sweets and biscuits. “Luckily some guests had come yesterday to our place, and so some sweets were there in the fridge.”
Meghali and her parents-in-law sat down to enjoy their tea. Her father-in-law enquired about her teaching and job. Her mother-in-law asked about Sagar and her health and how they were getting along. “Does he help you with household chores? I suppose you don’t let him do a single thing?” Maa asked her. Meghali smiled, and bit into her singara.
After tea, Maa told Deuta, “I have made a list of things. You must go to the market and buy them.”
“Jo hukum (your orders will be carried out),” Deuta bowed in mock curtsy. He then went into the kitchen and brought out the grocery bag. “You two chat, I will be back soon.”
Meghali went into Sagar’s room and took out the mekhela-chador she had brought for Maa from her luggage. She then went to the drawing room and placed it in Maa’s hands.
“Ooooh, it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed. “Where did you buy it? I never manage to get such lovely designs.”
“The expo, Maa. I am glad you like it.”
“Here we never have expos unlike in Guwahati,” Maa opined.
“Maa, you have put up new curtains. They look nice.”
The two chatted like old friends who had met after a long, long time.
Deuta reached home after some time. He had brought lots of vegetables, fish and chicken and his bag was sagging under their weight. Maa immediately went into the kitchen and began washing the vegetables and fish. She kept the chicken in the freezer. Meghali knew she would not be allowed to do anything so she just hovered around Maa. Maa cut the vegetables and cooked them. She then took out the bothi to cut the fish. When cooking was over, Maa and Meghali sat in the veranda and chatted. Maa showed her some new embroidery designs she had got from a neighbour. Deuta was reading his precious India Today which Meghali had brought for him. Now and then he would comment on something they were discussing.
Soon it was dinner time. Maa had prepared many Assamese delicacies- khorisa, ou tenga aru dhekia saakor anja, poka tetelire borali maasor jool, madhukhulengere bonua mosoor dail, bhedailotar bor……Everyone tucked in and ate with relish. “I wish I could cook like you, Maa,” Meghali reminisced. She thought to herself, “For me and Sagar, delicious food means eating out. Which is unhealthy. I must also learn to cook such healthy and tasty food like Maa.” Meghali insisted on washing the dishes and for once, Maa did not protest. Meghali washed the dishes and retired for the night. She set the alarm at 5.30. As she lay in bed, she reminisced about how she and Sagar had got married. Her family and Sagar’s family were friends. So they used to visit each other. She used to call Sagar’s parents Maa and Deuta even before her marriage. Unlike most couples in love who had to struggle to convince their parents, Sagar and Meghali did not have to fight any battle. Sagar’s parents were overjoyed on knowing that they loved each other and welcomed her as their daughter-in-law with arms opened wide. Meghali’s parents were also pleased to find that their daughter had chosen a decent man like Sagar. Lost in these thoughts, Sleep invaded her senses.
The next day she woke up when the alarm started ringing. She took a bath and wore a mekhela-chador. She hurriedly prepared breakfast for the three of them. Toast, poached eggs and tea. By the time breakfast was ready, Maa and Deuta had woken up. They had breakfast together. Maa then went to take her bath. Meghali took the opportunity to prepare lunch. She took out the chicken from the freezer and put it under water. She ground ginger and garlic into a paste. She then took some curd in a bowl and whipped it well. She added ginger-garlic paste, Kashmiri red chilli powder, salt, a bit of turmeric, garam masala, azwain powder, pepper and lemon juice. She waited a while for the chicken to de-freeze. In the meanwhile she made some salad. She also fried some brinjal. Then she washed the chicken and added it to the curd mixture, mixed it well and left it in the fridge to marinate. By then Maa had come into the kitchen. This time she hovered around Meghali. Meghali heated some oil in a pan and added tomatoes, capsicum and onions. Then she fried them and added the marinated chicken.
When it was lunch time, the three sat down to enjoy Meghali’s cooking. Maa and Deuta were all praise for her. Maa asked her the recipe of the chicken dish. After lunch, Meghali was ready with a notepad and pen and went to Maa. “Maa, I need the recipes of the dishes you cooked yesterday.” Maa meticulously narrated the recipes and Meghali noted them down carefully.
In the late afternoon, Meghali made tea for everyone. After tea, she told Maa and Deuta that she would be leaving for her parents’ place. She touched their feet and they bid her a tearful farewell. She took a bus to Dergaon.  She got down soon afterwards. The evening was growing old. The red of the Krisnasura was giving competition to the red of the setting sun. The sky was blushing with the setting sun. A cool breeze was blowing. The birds were flying back to their nests. She pressed the doorbell of her home and waited. Her father opened the door. “Oooh, Maa!!! It’s you. Come in, come in.”
“How are you, Deuta?”
“I am fine, dear.” He then called out to his wife and son, Palash.
Meghali’s mother and her brother, Palash came out into the drawing room. On seeing Meghali, they shouted in joy. Maa and Palash hugged her and she touched her parents’ feet. Palash carried her luggage to her room. He was going to appear for his Class 12 Board exams soon. Mother, daughter and Palash sat down for a face-to-face chat after a long time. Her father was watching them silently, sometimes chipping in their conversation. Palash was so excited that he fired her with many questions, not even stopping to hear her replies.
Her mother then gave her brother a list of groceries to be brought. Palash went out.
When he came back, laden with groceries, her mother became busy preparing several dishes. When it was dinner time, the four sat down to tuck into Maa’s delicacies. She had cooked tengesi julere horu maas, bilahire rou maas, konbilahi diya mosoor dail, narikolere bonua hahor anja, saulor gurit letiyai bhoja kumurar sokol. For sweet dish there was konidhanor payokh.
After dinner she went into her room and brought out the mekhela-chador she had bought for her mother. “Really nice, dear. But you shouldn’t have!” her mother beamed. She then gifted her brother a mouth-organ which he was longing for a long time. He was pleased beyond words. She presented her father with a copy of Prantik, which she had bought from the bus-stop and which he happily started reading immediately.  Meghali then brought out her notebook and pen and asked her mother to explain the recipes of the dishes she had cooked for dinner. She secretly thought happily that she would make all these dishes and surprise Sagar. She then played a game of Ludo with Palash, and won, as usual. After chatting some more, Meghali went into her room and got into bed. She called up Sagar. They spoke for a few minutes, each asking about the other’s well-being. Sagar mostly spoke in monosyllables and Meghali knew he was not very pleased about her trip. She then fell asleep.
The next day, she woke up hearing the chirping of birds. Hearing their sweet voices, she lay in bed for some time, as if listening to their conversation. In her city she rarely heard any birds. Her parents were already up. Maa was making breakfast. Lusi bhaji and tea. Meghali went to take her bath and returned to the dining table and ate breakfast with her parents and brother. After that she started preparing lunch. Maa protested, but Meghali would not listen to her. She cooked Deuta’s favourite chilli chicken. That day also went by in catching up with each other’s news. In the evening, Meghali and Maa went to the naam-ghor. There they met their neighbours and friends. She was very happy.
The next day also went by pleasantly but quite fast. Einstein’s theory of Relativity was really true. In the afternoon Meghali packed her bag and took leave of her parents. She touched their feet. Her mother was wiping her eyes with the end of her mekhela-chador. Meghali also found her eyes wet. Palash looked crestfallen. Her father went to drop her to the bus-stop in his old scooter. She bid him goodbye and boarded the bus. The bus then stopped at Gohaingaon. From there, she boarded another bus to Guwahati.
When she was about to reach Khanapara, she called up Sagar to pick her up. When she got down, she found him waiting for her. How terribly she had missed him. Did he also miss her? Or was he glad that he had got respite from her non-stop chatter? Sagar picked up her luggage and walked to the car. They got in. Sagar’s mood seemed good. He seemed secretly pleased about something. He even initiated the conversation, which was rare. They talked like old lovers meeting after a long time.
The next day Meghali was waiting for Sagar to return from work. She had cooked bhedailotar bor, bilahire rou maas, konbilahi diya mosoor dail, narikolere bonua hahor anja, saulor gurit letiyai bhoja kumurar sokol. For sweet dish there was konidhanor payokh. The aroma of the dishes invaded their nostrils. When Sagar returned, and freshened up, she laid out the table for dinner. On seeing all the dishes, he exclaimed, “Oh my God! Where did you learn to make all these dishes? Smells great.”
And Meghali watched with pleasure how Sagar eagerly tucked into the dishes.