Sitting on the scaffolding was a little green-golden bird
,its brown beak and its greenish tail twitching.It's little eyes moving rapidly
from one corner to another like a detective looking for clues in an old mansion
.With the thud of the coconut on the ground,this little creature flew sweeping
the entire sky ,it's tiny green feathers and wings spread out in the air.Joins it's companions-Flock of birds could be seen swarming like the bees in the bright blue sky .
Ajji came out running hearing the thud sound.Dressed in her old zari
sari,vermillon on her forehead and barefoot,she came out hauling the maid's
name."Shanta! Shanta!" "What happened ? What was that big noise?
"
Shanta-Ajji,I think the coconut from the tree in the
backyard fell down.
Ajji- Oh my God! Shanta you must immediately go and get it .It
is a very bad omen for a coconut to fall down at this duration of the day. I
will go and cook food at once , only then you shall come into the house and
keep the coconut inside.
Shanta- Okay Ajji . Till then, I will clean the courtyard,
water the plants and put kolam .
After a while ,Ajji in her "madi "clothes called out for Shanta again.Shanta hurriedly came and handed over the
coconut to Ajji.Forbidding the maid to enter the house, Ajji took it inside
the house ,and put it in the kitchen.
Shanta entered the house from the backyard door, washed the utensils ,cleaned the barn and left..Ajji took a broom, held it along with a old cloth
and swept the prints on the floor left by Shanta in the house.
After few hours-
"Ajji Ajji!! Where are you??
Murthy ,is that you??
Yes ajji, it's me.
Wait for a moment.I am feeding the cows.
A small little girl dressed in her traditional skirt and
blouse , a gold necklace with a pendant
reaching her stomach hangs in her neck , wears a pair of bangels in each hand,and anklets ringing each time she moves a step
forward.As Ajji approached the drawing room, where stood Murthy and his daughter, Ganga, runs towards Ajji and touches her feet.Ajji
chanted a few slokas and blessed her by resting her hand on her head.Murthy tells ajji that it is Ganga' birthday.Returning from Lord Vishnu's temple, they paid a visit to Ajji to take
blessings from her.They sat for a while in the drawing room talking about the temple's priest , the fair,
the new garment store that opened last
week, about the sarpanch's daughter's love marriage which appalled everyone in
the village, the cows of Ramu which got stolen overnight, the newly-wed couple -Bharat
and Geeta, etc etc.Murthy and Ganga left Ajji's house after presenting her a green blouse piece,a small box of vermillon and a few bananas on the occasion of Ganga's birthday.
It was nearing lunch time so Ajji went inside the kitchen ,took
out the banana leaves from the shaft and washed them with water.She set up the tiny stools with banana leaves on the floor in the kitchen, and waited for her husband to come
from the field. Two hours passed, unfortunately there was no sign of her
husband. She was thinking of going to the shop at the corner of the street to
telephone the post man-Ranga so that he
could call her husband from the field.Within some time, she heard footsteps nearing and came out. Her husband,
dressed in white dhoti-kurta was walking tardily into the house with a packet .
She immediately got a pot of water for him to wash his feet. After washing his feet,he came
in, gave Ajji the packet. She kept aside the packet in the bedroom and served
him food . His favourite dish-Payasam was made today.But , he didn't seem
happy. Ajji was very amazed by his unhappiness. Generally, he would appreciate
her dish but today something seemed different. He hadn't uttered a single
word after coming back from work.Ajji didn't dare to ask or question him.She reckoned it was about the scaffolding-their house.
He lied down on the bed, looking at the cieling.The cieling
had no fan. It was white.The white paint was chipping off.He looked around the
room.There was an old photograph hanging on the wall.It was a family photo of
their family.Himself,his wife and his son-Chandra.An old black umbrella on the wooden table reminded him how he dropped his soon to the nearby school during rainy season.His hands held on to the side of the table when he remembered the
instance where his son had to move out of the village to another town for his
job.He recalled how Chandra argued about shifting house
.After a while he called
out "Seeta! Seeta!. Ajji entered the room hastingly fearing
mishap."It is sold"he said heavyheartedly. Ajji looked outside the window.She could see the scaffolding
clearly now.Her tears rolled down,touching her cracked lips.