After watching Naina get into a rickshaw, Rama gathered some of the laundry that was drying in the balcony and headed inside. She absentmindedly checked the dal brought over by Vimla and decided that just making a simple cabbage stir-fry would be enough for their meal. Pouring herself the leftover half cup of tea she settled at the dining table. Her mother had retired to their bedroom for a little rest.

As she glanced at the red wedding invite laying on the table, her mind drifted to the earlier declaration from her daughter. How could she stress on Naina why keeping these relations was necessary? Or at least maintaining the pretence! When it was time to find her a groom, presenting a picture of a united family front would be important. The prospective in-laws would judge Naina's ability to keep their family together based on whether her mother had seemingly instilled these values by example.

She had tried to explain all these social norms of behaviour in the past, but Naina refused to see past the facts. And the fact remained that after her husband's untimely demise, her in-laws had asked her to return to her parent's house, along with her six-month old daughter.

At times she felt like she could hardly remember any of her married life. She had been with Rakesh for roughly a year and half, about a quarter century ago. There were some rosy memories of the early days of marriage... but it was all over, almost as soon as it started.

* * *

Her father Mahesh Garg had been a Munshi, or the equivalent of an administrative clerk for a grain merchant. His income had sufficed their small family, but it had not entailed them to many luxuries. They lived in a small town called Khed which was about an hour's distance from Ahmedabad.

Rama was an only child. She had completed the second year of her degree course, when some well-wisher had suggested the alliance with Rakesh Agarwal. Though the boy was not highly educated like his other two brothers, he had a steady job as a librarian in a school in Rajkot. Considering the brothers lived together, it was understood that his wife and children would lively comfortably as part of the joint family.

As the boy's family was not expecting a large dowry and seemed agreeable enough, Rama's parents had pursued the match. Some three to four months later, Rama had left her education behind and found herself trying to learn the dynamics of her new home.

Her two new brother-in-laws were amicable. The elder sister-in-law Beena was a bit of a bully and the younger sister-in-law Bela, who had arrived just a few months before Rama, was still too new to say or do anything much.

Rakesh like most newly married men was on cloud nine. One reason being the rather obvious one, he finally had a pretty paramour-come-wife. But the bigger reason for his joy was probably the fact that he now had someone to boss around! Finally, there was one person who would not taunt him or answer him back and who considered it her good fortune to be allowed to be at his beck and call.

To be fair to him, he had done what most husbands from his time did as an expression of romance. Occasionally he brought her some gajras or bangles, and took her to the temple on Friday evenings. A visit to the temple was usually followed by a walk while munching on some roasted peanuts or an ice-cream if it had been a payday that week. And Rama was happy.

Then the morning sickness had set in and she had been happier than ever! Beena, though married for many years, had not conceived yet. This meant her child would be the eldest in the next generation and everyone started pampering her, of course in moderation! The family started expressing their hope that Rama would bear a son, and seeing that her mother-in-law had borne three sons, it was considered an almost certainty! The pregnancy had been fairly uneventful, and during the eight month she had headed to her parents' home for the delivery.

The news of the birth of a daughter was conveyed by her parents with some anxiety and was received in the Agarwal household with some mixed feelings. When her in-laws visited her in the hospital, Rakesh had held his daughter tenderly and remarked on her beautiful and alert eyes. While Beena had said "It's ok. The important thing is you are healthy. God willing, next time it will be a son." in voice that sounded more like a condolence than congratulations.

On the day of the naming ceremony, when nobody had any suggestions that appealed to Rama, she had chosen 'Naina' considering that was what Rakesh had seemed to like the most about his daughter.

She had returned to her in-laws when Naina was about two months old and had resumed her duties in that house. Bela had just learnt that she was expecting and the household's focus and expectations for a male heir had shifted to her.

Rama did not visibly protest against the taunts from the elder women in the family for the daughter she had birthed. Her husband had not faulted her for giving him a daughter and that had been enough for her. She had been far too in love with her tiny bundle of joy to really care about what others thought. Naina's every smile, her tiny delicate fingers and yet her firm grip, even her cries demanding to be fed that very instant, had enchanted Rama and wrapped her in a happy bubble.

Very unfortunately, a few months later the bubble had burst. Rakesh had passed away in an accident, leaving everyone extremely shocked and distressed. Rama had found the strength to keep going only due to the tiny baby in her lap.

Slowly the taunts from Beena and few others had started. Naina was labelled as the bearer of bad luck and responsible for the tragedy which had struck their family.

The tiny babe just gurgled in response, never understanding what she was being accused of. But it infuriated her grieving and recently widowed mother.  She started showing her fiery side, refusing to put up with such nonsense.

This further angered Beena, and she started her campaign to get rid of the mother and daughter. Beena started raising a hue and cry about the lifelong expenses that the family would have to bear. It was a well-known fact that Rakesh barely had any savings. But just the question of expenses did not seem to have the required effect on her husband and especially his younger brother Anand. Anand was more of an idealist at heart and wanted to be fair to his demised brother's wife and daughter.

Noting this, Beena started alluding to the fact that it was improper to have a young woman in the house and how society might start questioning the attachment of the two brothers to their widowed sister-in-law. Anand's wife Bela, though a kind-hearted young woman, was too naïve and probably still not secure enough in her own relationship with her husband. Beena's forecast started fanning Bela's insecurities and her husband stepped back in an attempt to protect his own budding marital relationship.

Rama was handed over what little savings Rakesh had and the measly jewellery she had been gifted by her in-laws at the time of the wedding and was sent back to her parents. The house that the Agarwal family lived in was a rental property and there were no real assets that Rama could claim to.

It was ironic, that just a few months before Malati had been very sorry to say goodbye to her little granddaughter when Rama had headed to Rajkot, but she was truly distraught when the baby arrived back for good.

Mahesh and Malati did their utmost to ease their young, bereaved daughter's pain. Time and the little cherub had helped them all get on, if not actually get over the huge loss. Naina become the reason of the smile on their faces. She kept both the women on their toes all day. Every evening, when she first crawled and later scampered over to greet her grandfather as he arrived home, his weathered face would light up.

Few months after her return to Khed, one day a yellow post card arrived with the news of Anand being blessed with a daughter too, who had been named Preeti.

Four years went by, during which the Agarwals visited Rama only a handful of times.

And then, fate frowned on Garg household once again. This time, Mahesh's heart succumbed to the stress it had been under for the past few years. The three females left behind struggled for a while to make any sense of the situation.

While the four-year old's only concern was the sudden disappearance of her grandfather, the older women had to deal with the more practical challenges of life, like income and expenses. With Mahesh being a private employee with a small business, there had been no substantial pension to fall back on.

***

As she washed and put away her teacup, Rama recalled Vimal's query from earlier that day regarding contacting the prospective groom's family. She had not been upfront about the reason for the delay. The truth was, there was no point in pursuing any alliances for Naina at that moment. Most of their savings would be gone post her mother's surgery and even simple weddings cost a great deal.

Her mother's dig at her when she scolded Naina about taking this assignment was well deserved, she thought guiltily. Though she mostly maintained a level-headed pragmatic approach to their life choices, at times her fears did overshadow her. And sometimes her shame too. Amma was right, their circumstances had robbed Naina of her years of carefree youth.

Naina had grown up knowing a life of moderation and hardships. Yet, had always smiled easily all through her childhood. But Rama had watched her smile falter these last few years. Though her daughter tried to stay upbeat and toiled ceaselessly, a big part of her sparkle had gone missing. Rama wasn't sure exactly when that happened, she had probably been bogged down with worries of her own to notice the exact moment of change. When she tried to question her, Naina brushed away her mother's concerns, mostly pleading just tiredness or work pressures.

Though Naina never made any reference to it, her mother worried if she had started resenting the fact that all these household responsibilities were holding her back from starting her own marital life. After all, some girls her age had already become mothers.

Almost a year back, she had one day surprised the two older women by pulling the poster of Salman Khan off the wall of her room. She had ripped it and dumped the pieces in the garbage. When Rama questioned her sounding shocked, she had replied a little tersely that she had outgrown his charms. Rama couldn't understand where had her daughter gone, the one who had gazed at that poster with a dreamy look for years.

Rama had assumed it had something to do with the photo of the prospective groom that she had shown Naina. Did her daughter find the boy so undesirable? A small part of her had felt irked at Naina, finding this sort of expectations of an extraordinarily good-looking spouse very unrealistic. They were a barely middle-class family, where the most important quality in a prospective groom was a stable income and a decent family. Plus, the boy had been pleasant looking.

Of course, nothing much had come off the meet and greet that followed a few days later. Naina had sat there, dressed in a peacock blue saree and flowers adorning her hair. The boys and his family had made some small talk and asked a few questions. Seeing the way the boy gazed at Naina throughout the meeting, Rama and her mother had their hopes raised for the next twenty-four hours. Then the matchmaker had come back asking how much dowry they could afford and hearing the answer the boy's family had not expressed any further interest. Surprisingly Naina had seemed the least disappointed of the three women.

The postman slipped a blue inland letter under the door breaking Rama's reverie of the past. Noting it was addressed to her mother, she headed inside "Amma, here's a letter for you from Rashmi aunty." Malati patted a spot next to her on the bed and asked her to read it aloud. Some ordinary news, shared by one of their relatives, was absorbed for the next few minutes.

Note - I wanted to cover Naina's family background properly, as I am making a big deviation here in that regards. The next part will be up by the weekend kicking off Samaina interactions! Thank you all for your patience! :)

Big hug, May.