Chapter 7 Part III-2

"Daughter-in-law," my father-in-law said to me after my husband left, "when you married my son, didn't anyone think to ask him if he had a family? Did your father marry you when he saw a bachelor?" "Dad," I said, "I don't know anything." "Where does your father live?" he asked. "Where is his family?" "It's very close to here. Why don't you go for a walk with Shankar tomorrow morning?" "How old is my grandson? Have you named him yet?" "It's three months old, and it hasn't been named yet."

"In that case, let's call him Subal. I have six children," he went on. "Only the eldest son got married, but with bad luck, they all had daughters, one after the other, all daughters. Two The son is not yet married, and then your husband. You don't even know what we do, do you? We're potters. What's your father's name?" "Upandronus Halder." "Oh, then you're from the Halders, aren't you?" I answered softly yes.He asked again, "Does he usually visit his grandson?" "Well, but rarely." I talked to him with my head down, the sari covering my brow.After dinner that day, he complimented my cooking in front of my husband, even though the taste was a bit too spicy for him.I was relieved that he wasn't mad at me anymore.

The next morning, my younger brother passed by my house. When he saw my father-in-law, he shouted outside the house: "Who is that, sister?" I told him that it was my father-in-law, and then went into the house and told the family that my brother was here. . "Where is he?" asked the father-in-law, "tell him to come in, tell him to come in." He rushed out to invite his brother into the house, and persuaded him a long time, but the brother said he had to go to the market and could not stay.When the younger brother came home, he told his father that my father-in-law was here.Dad was taken aback. "Rani," he said to his stepmother, "that is to say, Shankar lied to us when he said he had no parents."

"Let it go," said the stepmother. "What can we do now? Now that you know, go and see his father." In the evening, they came.Dad yelled outside, "Baby, I heard your father-in-law is here!" I was cooking and my father-in-law was sitting by and drinking tea. "Here he is," I said, "why don't you come in?" "Oh," said the father-in-law, "come in, brother, come in and sit down. Daughter-in-law, make tea for your parents." "No, no, we just drank." Dad declined. I knew that my father wouldn't drink it after soaking it, so I pretended I didn't hear it.

"Is the family okay?" Dad asked the father-in-law. "Very well, thank you, everything is fine. Tell me, you married your daughter to my son, but didn't tell us a word, what's going on?" "We didn't know that the second elder was still alive. He lied to us that he was the only one in the family. If he knew you, why didn't he tell you? I won't marry my daughter off casually." After a short silence, the father asked again : "So, will you take your daughter-in-law away?" "No, no. I have to go home and inform my family first. His mother really hopes that he can have a good wedding and bring his wife home...Look at this guy, he got married without saying a word."

"However, since it has become a fact," my stepmother said, "why not bless them and let them live a stable and happy life?" "We're going," said Pa. "I'll send my son tomorrow morning. Please come with him to my house." The next day, my younger brother came to pick up my father-in-law.When my father-in-law came back, he told me that he ate the food made by his stepmother with great relish—it was better than the food I cooked.He also loved my father's house and their way of life.The next day, he left, saying he would come back next month.

I've always wanted to name my baby.His grandfather named him Subal and my husband called him Budhan, but I don't like either name.My husband's brother suggested Gautam, which I loved, but in the end, I named him Subroto, nicknamed Babu. My father-in-law came back to pick me up in a month.As soon as he arrived he asked my husband if I could come home with him. "How could she just leave like this? We have to get her stuff in order and get her some new clothes." "Okay, but I can't wait too long. It's time for the crops to be harvested, and I have to go back. If she goes back with me, and she does the housework, your mother can help in the fields. I don't expect my daughter-in-law to help in the fields." We, but at home..."

"Okay, but wait two more days. I have to collect the debt. Once the debt is collected, you can go away." I can understand why the father-in-law is so anxious.Everyone in his family is busy, especially when the crops are being harvested.I figured he dropped everything to get me because they needed my help.So I decided to start as soon as possible.I don't know how to behave in their house, but I feel very happy-like going on a good trip.But I'm also thinking about how to live and who I can talk to.Who should I talk to if I want to talk about something intimate?If you are busy doing housework all day, who will take care of the children?On top of that, I don't know how long I'll be there.

Impulsively, I ran to my father's house and asked my aunt if she could let her daughter take me to my father-in-law's house. "Who?" she asked me.I begged her to let her second daughter Mazbudi take me there.My aunt agreed, so I ran to Maz Buddy and asked her, "Hey Buddy, will you come with me?" "where to?" "My father-in-law's house." "Mama will I go?" "I've already asked her. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, so you'd better get ready. We'll have to walk a bit, so I hope you can persevere." With that, I headed home.

My father-in-law told me it was about three miles to get to his house.This made me a little worried, but then he told me: "I know it's a bit difficult for you to walk so much, so I asked Shankar's brother to drive an ox cart to pick you up." He came to see me before and told me in detail what kind of behavior is considered decent in my husband's house. I was ready early the next morning.Went out to pick up Mazbudi, only to find she was already on the way.So, we set off together and got on the bus.After getting off at the station, I saw someone standing beside a bullock cart.Mezbudi said to me, "Quick, cover your head!" I immediately covered my head and climbed into the bullock cart.This is my first time riding a bullock cart.Mazbudi was dying of laughter as the car rocked and swayed, and I laughed silently with my head covered in a sari.My father-in-law followed by bicycle.When the bullock cart passed the big wheel marks and ditches on the road, it would bump up and down and shake from side to side.Mazbudi thought it was funny and kept giggling, and I kept trying to quiet her down.The road stretched forward, stretched, and it felt like it had no end.After passing one village after another, I kept asking how far it was.

Finally, the car finally stopped, and there was a woman standing in front of her. The husband's brother said, "That's my aunt." I quickly climbed out of the car and touched her feet. "Come in, come in," she said.The mother-in-law moved out of the jute bed.I sat down after touching everyone's feet.I found my mother-in-law cooking over a log fire, which worried me a bit - how could I cope?I used to cook with coal.After a while, my aunt took me to take a bath in the pond.I was so happy to see the water, I immediately wanted to jump in and have a swim, but I restrained myself.What would they think? The water is beautiful, clear, calm as glass, sometimes warm and sometimes cool.I always find an excuse to go to the pond.Once in the water, just keep playing, like a child.People ask me if there is no water in my house, and I say yes, but not as clear as this pond.One day, my husband's second brother, Anil, asked me if I could swim.I said yes, and he said, "Let's go to the pond and see who gets across first." "Okay, let's go!" The pond is very wide, we entered the water together and started the game.He gave up halfway through the swim, but I swam to the opposite side in the blink of an eye.The people on the shore were very surprised.Who would have thought a city girl could swim so well.Some said it was the first time they had seen someone swim across in one breath.Some even went to my house to chat with me.Many neighbors in the neighborhood asked my father-in-law about me. "Why?" they said, "is this your wife or your daughter? She doesn't cover her head in front of you." "So what?" my father-in-law said, "I told her not to cover her head. She's just like my daughter." It's true, he once told me that it doesn't take so much trouble to cover her head in front of him , just cover your head when other people are around.The reason, he explained: "This is a rural area, and people's minds are not very open." In fact, people there were very curious to see that a city girl like me could still do housework.My parents-in-law stopped worrying, and my aunt told them that she thought I had a good temper.Everyone was nice to me and seemed to like me. I like the big house and open yard of my father-in-law's family.They also have a large piece of land that can produce enough food for the whole family for a year.There, I was the first one to wake up every morning.I'll clean up the house and make good tea for everyone.At this time, the others woke up, each ready to face a new day.They used to say that no one ever had tea ready early in the morning until I came to their house.They let me stay longer, but I don't know if it is possible.However my cousin was not happy at all and she kept insisting on going back, which of course I couldn't tell them. I have a higher status in my family than I deserve because I have a son.In that home, they gave my children a lot of love.There is also an eldest daughter-in-law in the family, but she and her husband are at odds, and no one talks to them properly.They live in a room alone and have separate meals.I was determined not to get involved in any family conflicts and would talk to everyone, which I actually did.But others made it very clear that they didn't like it.I also listen to them talk about it, but don't let myself be affected.Their conflict is mainly in property.The husband's eldest brother thought that since the family had been separated, he should be given his share of the land.However, the father-in-law feels that as long as he has not passed away, he is the only property owner, so he will not divide any property.They've been arguing about it all the time. In order to subsidize the family, my sister-in-law earns money by processing and selling rice flakes.I don't like to see her working so hard.One day, the father and son quarreled in front of me, and the son hit the father violently.I felt very sad when I saw this scene.I don't want to be there any longer.A few days after this incident, I asked my father-in-law if he could send me back—I told him my cousin had been insisting and my aunt was pushing me to go because my husband was home alone and he needed me.My father-in-law said, "I can't just let you go back. Gotta get you some new clothes—otherwise what will your parents say?" I told him not to worry about these things, my parents wouldn't know. Days passed and my departure kept getting delayed.I have been there for a month.They were all too willing to keep me: I did all the housework and they had time to work in the fields.One day, my cousin asked Anil if he wanted to go hiking with us nearby. "But can you climb it?" he asked. "We'll see," she said.So Anil turned to me and said, "Come on, brother and sister, let's go!" I don't know if I can go that far, but he persisted. "You can do it. Go!" The mountain looked close, but when we set out to climb it, it seemed to recede into the distance.Finally reached the foot of the mountain.Looking up, it is towering and steep. I don't know if I can climb it, let alone I have a child with me.Anil carried the baby over, maybe he thought I couldn't climb a mountain with a baby in my arms.But when my cousin and I had almost climbed the hill, he fell behind.When we climbed to the top of the mountain, he yelled: "Sisters and sisters, come down quickly!" His voice sounded very scared, so we stumbled down the mountain.But when we came down, he was laughing. "What are you laughing at?" I asked him. "Are you so afraid of monkeys?" he asked. "you saw it?" "Oh, my God, didn't I just see the monkey, look at you!" He laughed.Because of him, we didn't have time to look down at the small houses scattered around on the top of the mountain.Of course, we are not afraid of monkeys.Back home in Dalhousie, there was too much of that stuff.They often come straight to the house! When we got home, everyone asked me if I had climbed the mountain. "I thought she couldn't climb it," said Anil, "but she left me behind!" People were amazed how easily a city girl could beat their country girl.My mother-in-law said, "She is not so much Manhal's (my father-in-law's name) daughter-in-law as his daughter." I had never seen such an empty and open place before.The dwellings were so scattered that it was half a mile to go to the store to buy salt.That's not to say I haven't seen villages before, but nothing like this.Surprisingly, I stayed at this place for a whole month.At first, I thought I wouldn't be able to stay this long, but gradually everything became possible, and I was even able to cook with a wood fire.The only thing I can't do is crop work and bake puffed rice.My husband's family would be very happy if I could do these jobs too, but that's unlikely. The day to leave finally arrived.Anil took me home on behalf of my father-in-law.By the time we got home, everything had changed.The original home was replaced by a new house.My house moved from one side of the road to the other, a few feet away from the road, and stood side by side with Sandia's.The balconies of the two houses are close together, with only a narrow gap in between.The yard is not big, but better than before. From the new house, we can clearly see Shashiti's home and her family.They have three sisters, the eldest is called Shila, and the second is called Tushu.I got on really well with all of them, but I was closest to Shasti, also known as Pratima.Shankar didn't like me going to their house, but I didn't care.I don't see what's wrong with going there: they're normal people in my opinion.All three sisters are married, but none live with their husbands.Shashiti's son is fair-skinned and handsome. He is slightly older than my son, but he is blind in one eye.I like these three sisters very much. No matter who visits their house, whether the person is a big shot or not, they are kind and friendly.