Hullo! wishing you all a bright day of sunshine. I am here with a video on chapter seven of ‘Ripples Roping Memories’.
Rani’s mom dresses her up in a white saree. She looks at Rani and smiles. Rani goes to her aunt’s house at Ketannagar in Chitragaon for spending her vacation. She has high fever. She is thirsty and asks for water to drink during the night. She feels almost like a trance. Aunt Ragini is worried. Medicine brings the fever down. After a day or two Rani returns to Vanavli. Rani is shocked to see her soiled panties. She thinks that she is nearing the end of her life. She is quarantined during her menstruating time as a practice of tradition. Brothers and sisters are prevented from coming near her. They play with each other and while they play they touch Rani. Mom’s level of irritation increases when Rani has her periods. In the ninth grade, Rani bleeds incessantly for a month. She feels tired and dizzy. She turns pale. Aunt Hema sees her hands and face. She advises mom to admit Rani to a hospital. Rani is admitted to Ambika hospital. She is taken care of by Mrs. Brooks, a head Nurse and a close friend of dad. Mrs. Brooks provides Rani a saree which gets soiled. Rani is given milk and eggs. Rani takes milk and does not take eggs because she does not like it’s smell. She gives it to a lady patient on the adjacent bed. The lady asks Rani, ‘How many children do you have?’ Rani does not know what to answer. She keeps quiet. Rani takes the medical card to know the condition of her health. She stays for three days in the hospital before she is discharged. Her classmates Lakshmi, Dafny Williams and nuns from the convent come to see her. They cannot see her because she is discharged before they reach the hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. Brooks have a daughter and a son. Mr. Brooks works for the Railways. Mrs. Brooks is a head Nurse in Ambika hospital. The couple is jovial by nature. Children are smart and are schooling. Rani appreciates Mrs. Brooks because she manages her home and job well. Rani is given calcium, iron, multivitamin tablets along with milk to recoup. Rani has to stay home and the school authorities tell her dad that he need not worry. She will be promoted to the tenth grade based on her performance in previous tests.
The open space in front of Rani’s building complex is taken up by a builder. Noise of concrete mixers, laborers and cranes are heard. Aunt Janaki pays a visit to Rani’s house to enquire about her health.
After grandmother’s death, grandfather decides that Maya aunt should stay with him because he cannot get along with any of his daughters-in-law. Maya aunt migrates from Barona to Shimpli. Rani visits Subbu uncle’s house with brother Hari. Subbu uncle is working for Thomas and Fords Co. He lives in a rented house in Yamunanagar near Bill phata in Shimpli. Uncle is against aunt Mala having an oil bath. They have a son called Vijay who takes Rani and Hari to a nearby sugarcane field. He speaks village Marathi. He uproots a sugarcane from the field and offers it to Hari and Rani. They backtrack. On the way the terrain has various undulations, clay soil, rough rocks, thorns, weeds, sand and stagnant pools. One early morning aunt Mala gets up and is shocked because she cannot find Hari anywhere in the house. She searches for him everywhere and ultimately she finds him fast asleep under the cot. Although Mala is illiterate and hails from low economic strata of the society, she has the wisdom to restrict herself to one kid. Mala and Subbu make a happy family. They go for outings with their son, Vijay. Rani returns to Sagarpur with Hari by train. Train travel with Hari is traumatic for Rani because Hari stands near the footboard, gets down wherever the train halts and gets into another compartment when the train restarts.
Next year, Rani goes on another trip to Shimpli with her brother Hari. This time she visits Picchu uncle’s house in a village in Belami. The house is a one room kitchen. Rani is surprised to find that the ‘dal’ which Nisha Joshi has made does not have the seasoning of mustard in it. Nisha Joshi says, ‘ Rani dear, the mustard has got dissolved in the dal.’ Rani is confused. She asks Picchu uncle who returns home from his office. He laughs and Nisha Joshi joins him. Nisha Joshi speaks Tamil with Marathi accent. For ‘Podawai’, she pronounces it as ‘Podwe’. Rani is amused. Rani and Hari return to Sagarpur. Revathi is peevish. She steals money from mom’s purse. Mom finds crumpled notes hidden by Revathi in some place. Rani is amused by Uma who speaks her own Tamil, ‘ Mummy, ni en pikatla waa.’
So much for this video. Thank you for listening. We meet again for the next Video. Goodbye!
( Video can be viewed on You Tube by typing ‘Ripples Roping Memories’)
