It has been such since time immemorial, that men and gods alike have pitched women against each other. From apsaras to mere mortals, every vessel of feminine energy has been made to feel worthless at least once.

Laughable, how they ridicule the womb through which creation sprouted.

But what has caught the attention of Nandini, are women who willingly barter their bodies for sustenance. Some have been forced into it, carrying wounds of shame like warriors on battlefield. Rest have camouflaged themselves within the forest of lust.

"The yagna is turned inauspicious by the sinful oblations. And the fire burns vigorously to remove the stains."

The seer nods. "Such is life."

"Would you respect such a woman?" Nandini asks.

The seer looks down with a pale gaze. The question remains unanswered.

****

Unfazed and jubilant, Tirtha gobbled up his lunch- a scrumptious meal of rice and dal, potato fritters and katla kalia. He was the last one to sit, and now finishing his meal alone. Maya and Rani were there to serve him.

"Rani, did you not make papad today?"

"Do you want to have some?"

"Absolutely!" He licked his fingers. "Fry it till deep-red."

Rani left to make the snack-cum-palate-cleanser. Maya fanned Choto Babu. As soon as the latter was sure no one was going to interrupt, he grabbed Maya by the hand and pulled her on his lap. "So," he sniffed her, "how was my uncle?"

Maya jerked away from his grip and stood behind the chair. "I am not here to sleep with people. I will cook, I will clean-"

"You will cook for me an aphrodisiac, and clean up my semen. Understood?"

"Choto Babu," Maya inhaled and caught the breath ina gulp, "you are the son of a Rajon. You are respected in society. Please do not force yourself on a woman. Maa Kali lives in your house. She will be furious."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I am not." She clenched her fingers around the stick of the fan. "I don't want to entertain you with my body. I am here as only a servant who will work in the kitchen and the temple. My duties are bound."

"You won't decide what your tasks are. I will."

"The Rajon will."

"I am the future Rajon."

"At this rate, the future is uncertain."

Tirtha took up his glass and splashed the water on her. Rolling his eyes, he went back to eating. Maya's hands made sure he was feeling the coldest swish of breeze from the fan. If only she could hit him with that on the head, but she wasn't so stupid.

"You are very stubborn. But you don't realise that men love it. They will see you as a challenge and would want you more," Tirtha said. "Even if I stop perturbing you, someone else will take up my job. You must submit to a man ultimately."

"I will submit to Shiva."

Tirtha roared with laughter, smacking his thigh in amusement. "Really?" He gestured her to come closer. When she didn't obey his order, he raised himself up from his chair. "Playing with me won't take you anywhere but my bedroom."

Before he could do something unthinkable, Rani walked in with a plate of papad. Seeing her, he quietly sat down and munched on the food. Maya, now teary-eyed, struggled to fan with her quivering hands. Tirtha got up to wash his mouth, and on the way deliberately stepped on her feet. She yelped, earning a delighted smirk from him. Done with his mockery, he didn't return to the hall.

"Did he approach you?" Rani slid into a chair. The wrinkles above her eyes pressed down as her pupils narrowed to two slits. Such was the intensity of her gaze that Maya cowered.

"I can't do anything he wants," Maya said, a lone tear trickled down her cheeks. "I will die but won't sleep with any man who isn't my husband."

"Well, first of all, it's not guaranteed that sleeping with your husband will give you either status or pleasure. Secondly, you never know what happens in life."

The deadly silence weighed on them both. Rani wiped the table.

"What do you mean?" Maya stopped her from leaving.

"I mean to say..." She gently freed herself from Maya's hold. "We are women, Maya. They worship us only in temples, not beyond its sanctified grounds."

Her words rang a bell in the mind of the truth-seeker. Maya heaved a sigh; in this age, the monster too kissed the feet of the Mother, only to assault her at night. People were bereft of conscience. She wondered if she would have been the same if she were a man, as rich and educated as the Mukherjee. Somehow, being a woman allowed her to go closer to Devi, but at the cost of so much pain.

Maya completed her meal, having no fish or non-vegetarian item. She walked past the temple in the courtyard, glancing at the smiling idol of Kalika. She wasn't going to enter it, now that she was aware of her restrictions. Did her awareness keep her away from the Divine? In normal circumstances she wouldn't have thought such, since a daughter is expected to observe the rituals following the cremation of a deceased loved one. But so many questions created havoc in her mind. First, her Baba wasn't cremated but sacrificed as a bali undoubtedly by a Mukherjee or under their order; second, the words of the Rajon did make some sense, and she felt he wasn't lying when he told somebody superior to him had given the instructions; third, the fact that Hrishav had given her the saree of Maa and the vision she had during aarti.

Boro Babu was an exquisite mystery. She could hate him or love him, but never ignore. The ire that he churned in her core made her more curious to dig about him. He behaved as if she were some poor illiterate girl who only pretended to have knowledge, but also gifted her something of Kalika.

Was he too, then, instructed by someone?

"Who is this person that governs the Mukherjee?"

Thinking in solitude, Maya spent her time tending to the flowers. Not a disturbance interfered with her peace. Butterflies and hummingbirds brought a glow to her dull face. She saw the birds drink and bathe in the fountain.

The sun was going down. At such a moment, a guard came.

"Korta Maa is calling you in her room. First floor."

Korta Maa? Maya squinted. "What?" The Rajon lost his wife. Tirtha neither Hrishav was married. Then whom was this dumb guard calling the mistress of the household?

A rosy colour lit up his pallid cheeks. "Well," he suppressed a grin, "now that our real Korta Maa, the wife of the Rajon is dead, Bonolota wants to be addressed like her. And no one apparently stops her. Or let's say, it didn't work."

"The Rajon allows it?"

"What else will he do? He is a slave of the senses as much as any other man. During the reign of Korta Maa, she lived in the baiji area. With the prostitutes and dancers. After her death she came and occupied this house." The guard looked around and then lowered his voice, "Boro Babu was offended. He really loved Korta Maa, as if she was his own elder sister. Mamoni was also critical of this decision. But no one could stop the Rajon. Some will say Bonolota knows black magic, but I believe it only works because the Rajon subjects himself to the sweet torture of lust."

"That's horrible." Maya clicked her tongue. "I hope the Rajon at least waited some months before bringing in his mistress?"

"He did. But it didn't take long for Bonolota to come and mark her territory. When around six months had passed the demise of Korta Maa, she came and settled here. You know," he beckoned her to give a ear, "she even wanted the gold jewellery of Korta Maa. She had told the Rajon to give half of them to Mamoni, and half to Tirtha's wife when he would marry. You should have seen the fight between the ladies. It's disgusting how a lowly woman like Bonolota dared to scream at the sister of a Rajon. She didn't get the jewellery, and on top of that was soon sent to Kashi for a vacation. Now she has returned again."

"It seems no one here likes Bonolota other than the Rajon. He is tolerating her."

"Uh huh," the guard chuckled, "you are wrong. Choto Babu is also after her. But the walls have ears. I may speak ill about the rest but not Choto Babu. He has the temper of a storm."

Maya shrugged. "So I must call her Korta Maa too?"

"Yes. Even if it burns your tongue."

Maya felt bile rise to her throat. She could puke out whatever she heard. The rich were so filthy- father and son after the same prostitute. It couldn't be worse.

She went to the room of Bonolota. Inside, Rani was drying the hair of the mistress from the fumes of dhunuchi. The lady sat in front of a mirror and admired her spotless reflection. Maya knocked on the door.

"Come in."

She asked Maya to sit on a stool. "How is Sonalota?"

The atmosphere was so unsettling. Maya felt her stomach knot. Her sweaty fingers clutched the aanchal. "She is happy," Maya said. "A mother to a son, and very well-off."

"Not as good as me, I assume." Bonolota giggled. Putting a paan in her mouth, she spoke with a thick accent, "They all think I died. I didn't. I escaped the hands of my cruel in-laws. Or rather, they sold me to the brothel. Honestly it's better than being caged in a house you can never call home."

"I agree," Rani chimed in. Her withered expression suddenly shone. "You aren't anyone's slave now. You can go wherever you want and do whatever you want. And earn too."

"If only everyone was as liberal as you, Rani. They will humiliate me because I fought for my rights, for I played politics. People don't like it when a woman has a razor-sharp attitude." She turned to Maya. "What do you think?"

"Sonalota misses you."

"You didn't answer me." Bonolota slyly smiled. "Leave it. The Rajon wasn't ready to reveal the name of his mistress to Chandaneshwar, but I think I will convince him. It will be a good revenge on the people who left me in the middle of the ocean."

"Be harsh to them," Rani advised. "Your parents didn't even try to find out what happened to you. I bet they will disown you when everyone gets to know you are now the Rajon's mistress, but you tell them that you have thrown away garbage from your life."

"I am dead to them. If someone must disown, it is I. And Maya, when my position in the Mukherjee family is made public, you will go and tell my sister that I sleep on the Rajon's bed and wear the most expensive sarees from their business."

"Yes." Rani took a paan too. "Maya, did you know that the royals have a business? Well, Mamoni is a painter by profession. But Boro Babu runs a saree business. Sells a lot and has wealthy customers from the city. He has also given some lands on lease."

"I didn't know exactly," Maya said. "But I had thought so, since I saw some saree merchants in the puja. And I had heard that Mohan sells sarees?"

"Yes. Mohan works under Boro Babu."

"What else do they do?" Maya asked in a bubbly voice, putting up a facade of innocence.

"Hmm, Korta Maa will know more," Rani said.

"Oh!" Bonolota immediately jumped into conversation. "In his young days, the Rajon used to take part in jatra. You know, drama? A terrific actor he is! But he left it when the duties of maintaining a royal household became more important. His father also wasn't supportive of it. Now his only profession is a priest."

"Equally great," Rani said.

"If Hrishav hadn't started a business of sarees and didn't do clever investments, their prosperity would have declined." Bonolota casually called the Boro Babu by his first name. "That's why even though the other Rajas of Bengal are suffering, people still revere the Mukherjee."

"Does Choto Babu do nothing?"

Maya's inquiry was too funny to Bonolota, who swung her legs and cackled like a witch. When the fit of madness dimmed, she took a breath and said, "If Hrishav doesn't marry soon and bring a son, the Mukherjee will die. Tirtha is as bad as Samba from Mahabharata. He is born to destroy, not preserve."

"Choto Babu is interested in her," Rani said. A shroud of darkness fell over Maya, but the old cook ignored the piercing stare of the displeased girl. "But this one is just not giving him a chance."

"You aren't after my Rajon, are you?"

Maya scoffed. "I am after no one!"

Bonolota measured every curve of Maya's body with her experienced perception. "You look fecund. Give Tirtha a baby. With the lack of heirs, the Rajon will be forced to accept you."

"I-" There was a lump in her throat, and a hazy veil of sadness occluded her vision. "I can't. I respect the path you have chosen, or have been pushed into. But I will kill myself if I ever have to watch the moaning face of that brat."

She covered her mouth. Did I just curse the prince in front of the Rajon's mistress?

Bonolota, however, was impressed. "I applaud your courage and determination. But know the world will make you bend if you are so rigid. You need to be a little flexible, a little amorous. Passion is a nice thing, Maya. But I won't tempt you in if you don't want to."

"Thank you, Korta Maa."

Bonolota's smile reached her ears when she heard Maya call her so. She opened a box that was kept on a table beside and fetched out a gold bangle. "These were given to me by my parents for my marriage. I find in them the ugly remnants of a past I do not wish to return to. I have amassed more gold and silver as a prostitute than a domesticated housewife. Here, take this. And if anybody asks from where you got it, don't hesitate to tell my name."

Maya took the gold bangle and excused herself. Now outside the room, she eavesdropped on the gossiping women.

"She is feral. She has that rage in her," Rani whispered. "It will take a very rough man to tame her."

"God knows what she will do. See me, I had to accept life. And now I am fine."

Maya thought it better to not linger for the sake of her own sanity.

****

word count: 2500 words

Not much happening now. But much happening. Old Rani is so very interesting lol.