Surangi, The Child Bride

Part 5

It was almost a week after the arrival of the bride in the Oak household and by now Surangi was given permission to switch her attire from the tedious nine yard saree to her usual outfit of parkar-polka, consisting of a bodice and an ankle length skirt, similar to ghagra choli or pattu pavadai. These clothes were made of pure cotton; making them comfortable to wear and also allowed the wearer the much needed freedom of movement. It let Surangi go back to her carefree state.

She gave her jewellery to Yashoda for safekeeping; who locked it away in her heavy brass container. Her bangles and bracelets, chains and necklaces and other ornaments were not safe to be worn by a child like her. While being married she was given a long mangalsutra of two rows of black onyx beads strung in gold, with two small gold cups which had been filled with turmeric and kumkum respectively. She had to wear the mangalsutra inside out to indicate that she was newly married.

This heavy mangalsutra was now replaced by a muhutra mani, a short string of black beads with a simple gold bead in its centre. Her pearl nath was put away and a tiny gold stud called chamki took its place. She wore pearl tops called kudi in her ears. A few glass bangles for her wrists and her silver toe ring called jodvi made her look the adorable child bride that she was. Now she was ready to run around the house and yard to her heart's content, though moderated by Madhav.

Madhav's Aaji had to go to her parental home far away for a condolence visit because she had lost her brother and she was accompanied by her younger son who was Waman's father. The whole household seemed to have relaxed with Aaji gone and Raghav insisted that Surangi address him as Mama (maternal uncle) and Yashoda as Mami (aunt) instead of the tedious traditional honorifics. He was, after all, as he explained, her mother's distant cousin.

Waman and Surangi had become close friends and when Madhav was busy he took her on a tour of the whole house, including the upper story and the mala or loft. The chireybandi wada was an old structure but still solid. Teak beams and rafters supported the plastered and painted walls made of reddish laterite blocks called chirey. The sloping roof was covered with baked red Mangalore tiles. As per tradition all houses in the lane called Chitpawan alley belonged to the same Konkanastha Brahmin community, who were strict vegetarians unlike those living in the Baman alley, who were Saraswat Brahmins and would eat seafood and occasionally, meat.

When Madhav found out that Waman had shown Surangi around the house he was mildly annoyed. But when he saw them giggling and swinging together in the large wooden paalna (baby cradle) he really blew his fuse. "Get off just now!" He shouted at them. "Paalna modail na? Akkal nahi tumha doghana!" Unable to express the true reason for his irritability he scolded them for being brainless twits and for trying to break the cradle.

"Come, mother has asked me to show you around the garden and the orchard!" Trying to make it seem as if this was the most important job under the sun, he literally dragged Surangi along by her arm while Madhav trailed them. "This is the angan and our tulshi vrindavan, you will water the tulshi each morning with the women of the house and also light a lamp here each evening during shubam karoti. The neem in the yard purifies the air and its bitter leaves are medicinal, we bathe in their decoction regularly to keep skin disorders at bay. Chewing neem sticks keeps teeth and gums healthy. And the nimboni, the fully ripe fruit has a sweetish pulp. Peel it properly first before eating."

"The drumstick tree is very valuable, its pods, tender leaves and flowers are all edible and nutritious. This jambhool bears large juicy fruit. The awla (gooseberry) is good for pickles, candied fruit and supari. There are other fruit trees such as payari and alphonso mangoes, coconut palms, pomelo, custard apple, love apple, papaya, banana, guava, lime and jack-fruit. There are a few areca nut palms and betel leaf vines along with a tamarind in the backyard."

"This is the herb garden. There is coriander, ginger, turmeric, mango ginger, mint and curry leaf. Maka and brambhi are good for hair along with hibiscus. Aloe gel is soothing and smooths hair. Durva or trefoil is needed for puja. The hedge is made of henna. Among flowers there are hibiscus, plumeria, magnolia, bakul, parijaat, mogra, chameli and many more. Enough for now, we can see the vegetable patch later; we grow most of the produce that we consume." He led them back to the house.

"You know vahini, Dada is acting all grown up after your wedding, I think he is doing that to impress you!" Waman whispered to Surangi, as they sat on the large jhopala or wooden swing in the foyer while munching on homemade mango candy. They piped down conspiratorily as soon as Madhav reappeared and joined them on the swing. He offered them some cashew nuts and took over the job of moving the swing.

"Go Surangi vahini, yetas?" Chandri asked Surangi if she wanted to join her, in her native Malvani dialect. Chandrika was the daughter of Shewanta, the maid who worked for the Oak household. Chandri was a year older than Surangi and attended the local girl's school that Surangi was supposed to join soon. When she was not occupied with school work Chandri usually remained in the Oak household, helping her mother or taking the four buffaloes for grazing and for a dip in the pond every morning after they had been milked.

"May I go with her and the buffaloes to the pond?" Surangi asked Madhav and Raghav for permission. "Fine, but come back in time. I have to take all of you to the market; we need to buy some things for the home and everyone's school supplies. Surangi, do you like limbu soda?" Raghav asked her. Surangi nodded excitedly at the promise of fizzy lemonade which was made by plunging in the marble of goti-soda bottles (Codd-neck carbonated water bottles) as it was poured over salt, sugar and lime juice. This was going to be an exciting day for Surangi.