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( 22 )
The newborn child was being bathed everyday in a spathe of the areca palm, which grew abundantly in Puthiyaveettil House. When I saw my grandmother helping my mother to take a bath, I was wonderstruck. But my mother would always complain about the services provided by grandmother and hot dialogues would be exchanged between them. Then I would think, "poor grandma, how much work she does ! But my mother always complaints against her". There were many cut pieces of clothes to be worn by the little child whenever she pissed. All the changed clothes were washed by grandmother. The poles used as clothline were full of the newborn child's clothes. Whenever rain comes, my mother would shout, "take those clothes from the clothlines". When the rain goes, she would say, "there is noone here to spread those clothes in the clothlines".
The newborn child was always crying. She slept on a special kind of towel. Beneath that towel, there was a thick sheet so that whenever she pissed, the bed shouldnot become wet. When I saw the child suckling the breastmilk, I wondered - 'how complex is the human body ! I haven't studied these things in my school'. A thought came to my mind. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him ; male and female he created them"( Genesis 1 : 27 ).
I had already entered to the midsummer vacation by that time. I don't remember whether I went to mother's house or not. Those times are completely vague in the realm of consciousness. I must have plucked cashewnuts, collected the ripe mango fruits and taken enough jackfruits. But, I remember one thing. One day, vellyechi ( Peter's mother ) called grandmother to give some buttermilk. She went and brought buttermilk from there. Kochechi used to give one cup of buttermilk many times.
The verbal exchange between my mother and grandmother increased day by day. At last a day arrived when she couldn't bear it anymore and decided not to stay in my house even for one more second. She decided to return to her house. Three months hadnot been completed after the birth of my sister. But I am sure that it occurred after two months. Grandmother changed her dress, put on chattayum mundum kavaniyum ( the traditional dress of Christian women ). But there was a problem. She hadnot travelled alone till then because she couldn't read the nameboard of the buses. I expected that my father would accompany her to her house. I searched for my father to find out what was he doing. He was in the kitchen, in the casual dress, doing some work, standing near the fire - place. I returned to see grandmother ready to go outside. She said, "I am going, my girl, I came here, leaving your grandfather and my two youngest girls alone there. I must go now".
She climbed down the steps, wiping her tears and entered the road. She turned to the left and reached beyond the upward slope. Some buses would stop there because there is a little more distance between the busstop near the English medium school and that near the Govt Upper Primary School, Kadayiruppu. I came to the front courtyard and looked at grandmother who was standing beyond the upward slope, alone. The 1st bus came and fortunately, it stopped there and carried her to Kolenchery. "What would she do after reaching there ?", I thought. "She has the ability to ask others about the details of the buses", I tried to console myself. I slowly walked towards the kitchen. I looked at my father from behind and thought, "why does he not utter a word about grandmother ! Is he a cruel man ? Are the stories about him correct ?" I slowly entered the kitchen. My father said to me, "your grandmother has gone. Now, you have to do some work in the kitchen everyday. Don't you hear ?"
( 22 )
The newborn child was being bathed everyday in a spathe of the areca palm, which grew abundantly in Puthiyaveettil House. When I saw my grandmother helping my mother to take a bath, I was wonderstruck. But my mother would always complain about the services provided by grandmother and hot dialogues would be exchanged between them. Then I would think, "poor grandma, how much work she does ! But my mother always complaints against her". There were many cut pieces of clothes to be worn by the little child whenever she pissed. All the changed clothes were washed by grandmother. The poles used as clothline were full of the newborn child's clothes. Whenever rain comes, my mother would shout, "take those clothes from the clothlines". When the rain goes, she would say, "there is noone here to spread those clothes in the clothlines".
The newborn child was always crying. She slept on a special kind of towel. Beneath that towel, there was a thick sheet so that whenever she pissed, the bed shouldnot become wet. When I saw the child suckling the breastmilk, I wondered - 'how complex is the human body ! I haven't studied these things in my school'. A thought came to my mind. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him ; male and female he created them"( Genesis 1 : 27 ).
I had already entered to the midsummer vacation by that time. I don't remember whether I went to mother's house or not. Those times are completely vague in the realm of consciousness. I must have plucked cashewnuts, collected the ripe mango fruits and taken enough jackfruits. But, I remember one thing. One day, vellyechi ( Peter's mother ) called grandmother to give some buttermilk. She went and brought buttermilk from there. Kochechi used to give one cup of buttermilk many times.
The verbal exchange between my mother and grandmother increased day by day. At last a day arrived when she couldn't bear it anymore and decided not to stay in my house even for one more second. She decided to return to her house. Three months hadnot been completed after the birth of my sister. But I am sure that it occurred after two months. Grandmother changed her dress, put on chattayum mundum kavaniyum ( the traditional dress of Christian women ). But there was a problem. She hadnot travelled alone till then because she couldn't read the nameboard of the buses. I expected that my father would accompany her to her house. I searched for my father to find out what was he doing. He was in the kitchen, in the casual dress, doing some work, standing near the fire - place. I returned to see grandmother ready to go outside. She said, "I am going, my girl, I came here, leaving your grandfather and my two youngest girls alone there. I must go now".
She climbed down the steps, wiping her tears and entered the road. She turned to the left and reached beyond the upward slope. Some buses would stop there because there is a little more distance between the busstop near the English medium school and that near the Govt Upper Primary School, Kadayiruppu. I came to the front courtyard and looked at grandmother who was standing beyond the upward slope, alone. The 1st bus came and fortunately, it stopped there and carried her to Kolenchery. "What would she do after reaching there ?", I thought. "She has the ability to ask others about the details of the buses", I tried to console myself. I slowly walked towards the kitchen. I looked at my father from behind and thought, "why does he not utter a word about grandmother ! Is he a cruel man ? Are the stories about him correct ?" I slowly entered the kitchen. My father said to me, "your grandmother has gone. Now, you have to do some work in the kitchen everyday. Don't you hear ?"
When I heard those words, I had a feeling that I had become alone and my future would be a challenging one.
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