AnuKathaa

 “Ma, what is a 3-letter word for ‘distinctive time period’ that begins with the letter E?” called out Kirti. Busy with measuring out water for cooking the rice, Reshma couldn’t reply at once. Even as her brain raced through the possibilities of the word that would fit the clue, Reshma heard her mother-in-law’s voice, dripping sarcasm, chide the child. “Ask your father, Kirti, he’s more likely to know than your mother.” Reshma gritted her teeth, and began deep breathing, mentally counting from 1 to 10, like her colleague had advised. This wasn’t the first time her mother-in-law had tried to belittle her. “You should have learned to ignore her by now,” Reshma told herself, for the eleventh time in the 2 hours she’d been up that day. Before she reached 5 on her count, Reshma found she couldn’t continue her ‘breathing and counting relaxation’ because she was laughing. Her little angel had decided to take the old dragon head-on. “Dadi, you’re wrong, Papa is not good at crosswords.

The old man shuffled inside, glancing about, unsure of himself. He had never come to this huge store on the outskirts of his village. If his wife Lakshmi had been there, she would have taken care of all such things. But she wasn’t, so he had to simply do the best he could.   Looking at all the products, he wondered what Megha would like. The thought brought a wistful smile to his face. His daughter Megha. So excited about starting her new job tomorrow. It would be the first time she traveled from their village to the nearby town. He had seen more of the world than Megha and knew that everyone was not as nice as they pretended to be. But he didn’t say a word to her. No point alarming her beforehand. “Let her experience and learn by herself,” ordered the father in him, smothering the voice of the mother in him, that tried to counter by saying, “But she’s so young…” The saleswoman in the store sensed his confusion and with gentle probing questions, helped him make his purchase. He wal