Puri said, looking away, ‘Jijaji, the courts will remain closed in August. If you wish you can stay in my government quarter when you go to Simla.’
‘Why don’t you go to Simla?’ Kanta asked Kanak.
‘How can I drop
Nazir
and leave? Couldn’t even go to Delhi for a couple of days.’
Kanak had not finished when Nayyar said to Puri, ‘No, thank you. You mean I go to Simla for the sake of free accommodation? I will pay the rent if I go.’
Puri kept silent.
Kanak bowed her head, then got up and went inside the house.
Kanta went after her and saw that Kanak, aanchal over face, was crying. When Kanta tried to soothe her, Kanak said wiping her eyes, ‘These two will soon be close relatives, and look how they behave with each other!’
Kanak did not want to come outdoors, but Kanta insisted and dragged her to the lawn. They found Nayyar trying to make jokes to make up for his silly remark, and Puri smiling with his face turned away and acting as if nothing had happened.
Kanta began to shout at Nayyar, ‘Sometimes you really cross the limit! Is that any way to behave? What a response to a gesture of goodwill! Is this how one behaves with one’s relatives?’
Nayyar said in a serious tone, ‘I’m really sorry for what I said. But, Puri, I didn’t mean it as an insult to your goodwill. It was my frustration at not being able to go. Achcha, I ask you both to forgive me.’
‘Jijaji, it’s all right. I was really not that upset.’ Kanak’s anger melted away.
Although the unpleasantness apparently ended, it later surfaced again and became a serious bone of contention for Puri and Kanak.
By giving Kanak examples from Nayyar’s past behaviour, Puri wanted Kanak to admit that Nayyar was a malicious person and had an inferiority complex. Kanak refused to concede since Nayyar had apologized to both of them. This angered Puri and he said resentfully, ‘You’d rather believe him than me. What could be the reason behind such bias towards him? Have any of your dormant feelings for him been rekindled so that you have to control yourself in my presence?’
Kanak looked at Puri with reddened eyes full of tears, and asked in a firm voice, ‘What do you mean?’
‘I am,’ Puri said, trying to reply convincingly, and began to explain what he had said in psychological terms that had no bearing on their conversation.
Yet the scene between Puri and Nayyar had a positive outcome. Nayyar decided that since Puri was going to be a close relative, he would get rid of his old antagonism towards Puri. Nayyar’s behaviour at the time of wedding of Usha and Rajendra was in keeping with his decision.
But there was another disagreement between Kanak and Puri at the time of the wedding. When the bridal turmeric paste was applied to Usha and the singing of auspicious songs began, Puri’s mother shed a few tears for Tara.
Kanak said to Puri, ‘What could be a better time to invite your sister?’
Puri said, scolding her for a foolish suggestion, ‘Why do you want to cause a lot of trouble for everyone? Don’t you remember that I wrote and asked her to come here, and she did not even reply? She refused to come when the time was right. Don’t you know that Somraj now has two kids from his bhabhi. Why do you want to make life difficult for him, for Tara and for the whole family?’
In the last week of September, Kanta’s boy servant brought to the Kamaal Press a letter from Kanchan in Delhi that was meant for both her older sisters. There was also a note from Kanta that she was going to Delhi for two days after getting the news that her mother was not well, and asking Kanak if she wanted to go too?
Kanak could not be away from Jalandhar at that time. Puri was in Simla for the assembly session, and was not due back for several days. The house could not be left under Heeran’s care alone. Her mother-in-law in Basti Nigar Khan had been running a fever, and Kanak was expected to regularly visit her. She could hardly go to see her mother while her mother-in-law was unwell!
Kanak stopped by Kanta’s house on her way home from office. She said, ‘When Puri returns we both will definitely go to see mother. Otherwise I alone will reach Delhi next week Thursday evening. Send me a telegram about her condition.’
Puri returned to Jalandhar in the first week of October, but was too busy to find time to go to Delhi. In the meantime Kanta returned from Delhi and reassured Kanak about their mother’s condition. Puri also said that he may be free to go to Delhi after a week.
Next week, on Thursday morning, Puri was going for his bath when the telephone rang. Kanak answered, and said to Puri, ‘Listen, it’s Gill calling from the office. Your cousin Kishor Chand has come from Hoshiarpur, and is inquiring about Tara and Sheelo. Your cousin is on the phone now, you talk to him.’
Puri’s face took on a serious expression as he listened to the person on the other end. He said, ‘Ask Raldu from the press to bring you here. It’d be better to discuss all that when you’re here.’
Puri sat down in a chair in his sleepwear of lungi and vest made from khadi, his right fist under his chin to support what was weighing heavily on his mind. He said, as if thinking aloud, ‘Don’t know what more problems this girl will bring upon us.’
‘What did you say? Who?’ Kanak asked concernedly.
‘Tara, who else?’ he said, removing his hand from under his chin and taking a deep breath. ‘Kishor Chand said that Sheelo’s husband Mohanlal told him that Tara took Sheelo away from her husband’s house pretending to send Sheelo to her parents’ home. Sheelo never reached Hoshiarpur. Nobody knows where she is.’
‘When, how did Tara take her?’
‘We’ll find out when Kishor Chand arrives,’ Puri said, looking into the space beyond the window. ‘Sheelo already had a son before the Partition. Where could she go? How did Tara meet her? What more trouble has Tara created now for us?’ He went to have his bath before Kishor Chand’s arrival.
Kanak had never met Kishor Chand. Hers had been a court marriage in Delhi. Babu Ramjwaya had been peeved at not being consulted about the marriage arrangement, and for not being included in the wedding party. Even though that had saved him the expenses of the customary present of cash and clothes to the bride. He did not give up his grudge even at the time of Usha’s wedding. Masterji had gone to Hoshiarpur to personally invite his elder brother, but Babu Ramjwaya did not relent and, thus, once again avoided the responsibility of sharing the expense of a girl’s marriage in the family. Puri reminded Kanak of that incident, and said irritably, ‘Those people had taken offence and had broken off relations with us. Why are they now dumping their problem on my head?’
Kishor Chand was very upset about Sheelo’s disappearance. There had been no letter from Sheelo and Mohanlal for the past three years, or any reply to the letters sent to them. A letter had arrived ten days previously
from Mohanlal’s father Jaikishan demanding an explanation for not receiving any news about Sheelo returning to her husband. If Sheelo was not sent back immediately, he had threatened, they will arrange a second marriage for Mohanlal, and will not have any more responsibility towards Sheelo.
The letter from his daughter’s father-in-law had come as a complete surprise to Ramjwaya. Where had his daughter been all this time? He had sent Kishor Chand immediately to Delhi to find out.
Kishor Chand’s questions had made Mohanlal bristle with rage. He had said: He did not reply to the letters because Sheelo never wrote to him during the three years she has been away. She often insisted and kicked up a fuss about going to her patent’s home, but he could not get any leave. Finally he decided to send her by the train on a Sunday morning, and told her to inform her parents to receive her at the station. When he returned from his office on Friday, he found the doors to his room padlocked. The neighbours gave him the key, and told him that Sheelo’s cousin came and took away Sheelo and her son in a taxi. The cousin said that Sheelo was going to her parents.
Kishor Chand had refused to believe that the cousin could be Tara. Mohanlal had explained: Tara had not died in the fire at her in-laws. She had come to meet Sheelo several days before taking her away. Tara had told Sheelo that she worked in some government office, and had found Sheelo’s address in Shakti Nagar from the claim application submitted by Mohanlal. Sheelo’s leaving on the sly had galled Mohanlal so much that he neither had wanted to write to her parents, nor had tried to contact Tara. He did not think it worth the trouble to go after a woman who had shown such insolence! He had thought that eventually Sheelo would be sorry and beg for his forgiveness, and he would take her back. He was not a bit concerned about her, and it was not he, but his father who had sent the letter to Hoshiarpur.
Mohanlal had been so mad at everyone in Sheelo’s family for her uppity behaviour that he had not even invited Kishor Chand to stay for the night. Kishor Chand had thought that it’d be useless to question him about Tara. As there was no time to write to Jalandhar and wait for an answer, he had taken the night train to Jalandhar.
Puri, his chin resting on his fist, listened considerately to Kishor Chand. He was at a loss to explain the mystery. After some thought Puri said, ‘Tara didn’t come here. We’ll have to inquire at Delhi. You’ve been travelling
all night. First have a bath, and drink some tea or lassi. Then we’ll decide what to do next.’
Kishor Chand said with surprise, ‘Why didn’t Tara come here? She must have written something about all this.’
Puri shook his head.
‘What kind of behaviour is that?’ Kishor Chand said disgustedly. ‘Neither at her parents’ home, nor with her in-laws! And ruining other marriages on top of that.’
Puri looked away and kept silent.
Puri maintained a serious demeanour while talking with Kishor Chand, but when he went to have his bath, Puri said worriedly to Kanak, ‘I just can’t understand what Tara is up to? Why is she bent on taking revenge? Why did she mislead a married woman who has a child into ruining her own life? We’ll be in an awkward position if tayaji came here and created a scene. Tara is bent upon giving us a bad name. What can anyone do now when Sheelo’s been away from her husband for three years? She was always a bit of a flirt.’
‘Bent on revenge!’ Kanak was shocked. ‘What did you say? What revenge? What do you mean?’ she asked.
‘Nothing. It’s just that I’ve so much on my mind,’ Puri said, jerking his head.
Kishor Chand was very agitated. He returned to the living room after pouring a few lotas of water over his head, his dhoti folded and wrapped around his waist, and continued to dry himself with a towel. Kanak avoided looking at him, but Kishor Chand did not seem to notice. To him such behaviour was customary and everyday in galis and mohallas. Kanak got up and went to the veranda at the back. She called out from there, ‘Please come. Tea and lassi are ready.’
Kishor Chand came to have lassi without bothering to put on a shirt. He said to Puri, ‘Let’s go to Delhi together to solve the problem Tara’s created. Why did she take Sheelo away from her husband’s home without our permission? Will she take care of Sheelo and her child all their life if Mohanlal were to remarry? Let’s leave today.’
‘I’ll go with you,’ Puri agreed. ‘But what does Mohanlal have to say about this? Why was he silent for three years?’
Kishor Chand said irritably, ‘He was so angry that he refused to talk about it.’
‘Well, then, why didn’t Sheelo write to her parents about it? She could have let you know if her husband was harassing her.’
‘How do I know? Tara had met her and Sheelo probably had confided in her. They must have cooked up a plan together. Tara is older than she is. Sheelo was always running to your house to ask her advice for the smallest reason.’
‘Not that much older. Only about six month’s difference between them,’ Puri said.
‘Well, she’s older. They were close to each other. Sheelo must have confided in her. Tara dumped her husband and her own parents so that she could have fun. Must have told Sheelo to do the same.’
Kanak did not appreciate Kishor Chand’s comment. She looked at Puri.
Puri protested, ‘What do you mean? Tara is highly educated, and that has allowed her to be appointed to a respectable position in a government office.’
‘What’s such respect worth if she’s not with her husband?’ Kishor Chand cut him short. ‘She and you can live and behave as you want, but why did Tara lead Sheelo astray?’
‘What do you mean astray? Sheelo’s not a baby,’ Puri’s tone became serious.
‘Mohanlal may be upset, but Sheelo could also have had some reason to be angry. She couldn’t have left her husband just because Tara asked her to do so,’ Kanak said to her husband, but it was meant for Kishor Chand.
Puri motioned her to keep quiet, ‘Yes, Sheelo should have written to her parents if there was a problem. She had studied enough to be able to write.’ He tried a different track, ‘We can’t know the whole story unless we go to Delhi and find out for ourselves. We’ll leave tonight.’
‘Masterji does not live here? Where’re chachi, Usha, Hari?’ Kishor Chand asked.
‘Hari left for his college just before you arrived. Pitaji and mother have gone to Sonwan for a few days. Pitaji misses Sonwan a lot. Change your clothes. Want me to give you something to change into?’ Puri wanted Kishor Chand to put on his shirt.
‘I have clothes.’ Kishor Chand scratched his hairy chest and continued to sit.
Kanak got up from the table. Puri and Kishor Chand went on discussing various aspects of the problem. Kanak used to leave for office by 9.30 a.m. If Puri was home, they left together. Kanak would give Jaya a wash and
change her clothes before leaving. She served a meal to Puri and Kishor Chand, but ate in the kitchen.
Puri explained to Kishor Chand, ‘It’s no use if we reach Delhi in the evening or at night. If we take the night train we’ll arrive in Delhi just after sunrise. You must be tired after travelling all night. The bed is ready for you. Rest for a while. I have returned from Simla after several days and must take care of some business at the weekly office and the press. I’ll be back by afternoon.’
Delay at home had made them miss the bus, so Puri and Kanak had to hire a tonga to their office. Puri had been reserved and unemotional with Kishor Chand. His frustration now boiled over. He said in English so that the tonga driver would not understand, ‘All this is going to create quite a scandal. Can’t this idiot understand that if Sheelo has been in hiding for three years she must have left her husband, or she would have gone back to her parents. She can run away or go to hell for I care, but why did Tara meddle in this affair. That’s why this man is bullying us. We’re not responsible for Tara. I’m only concerned about my reputation.’