“Has your husband come back yet, Chetna?” asked the tailor’s wife. “I think Sundar left her for a very valid reason. Such a handsome man he was. I still can’t understand why he married a dumb and ordinary woman like Chetna” said the barber’s young daughter.
Chetna drew her breath sharply. Their nasty words seared through her very soul. But as usual, her downcast eyes hid all her emotions. Chetna rinsed her clothes in the clear river water, hoisted her basket on her head, lifted her pot of drinking water without taking anyone’s help and walked away from the riverside in a dignified manner. She could feel the hot tears coursing down her face. But she brushed them away roughly with her shoulders.
Back home, she kept her emotions firmly under control and focused only on rustling up an excellent meal. Prema, her mother-in-law helped her with all the chores. When they sat down to eat their lunch, Chetna did her best to push the nasty comments that her neighbours had passed at the riverside to the back of her mind. But couldn’t. She brushed away her tears angrily and tried to eat. But ended up choking on the food.
Prema gave her some water to sip on, hugged Chetna tightly and said, “Everything else can wait. Eat. Now. The dal is excellent. And so is the brinjal curry. I’m not moving from here until you finish eating.”
Chetna did what she was told. She ate. With relish. And realised that the dal and brinjal curry had indeed turned out very well. Even her cold bajra rotis were delicious. She licked the gravy off her fingers and knew she was an expert cook.
Prema waited for her to finish eating and said, “The same old women? No? What kind of nasty comments did they pass today? They haven’t stopped passing comments even though Sundar left us. What do they gain by hurting others?”
Chetna shrugged and said, “I want to prove all those women wrong. And I wanted to discuss my plan with you today.” Prema was curious and said, “What plan?”
Chetna said, “The Purushotham Maas begins next week. I’d like to fast. Most people visit the temple and eat only one satvik meal every day. I’d like to cook different satvik dishes every day and sell them outside the temple. That way we get to earn some money too.”
Prema squeezed Chetna’s hands tightly and said, “My intuition was right. I knew you were a sensible and understanding girl the minute I saw you. You have astutely gauged our financial condition. We cannot survive for long with my meagre savings. I too will fast during the Purushotham Maas and help you with the cooking. This is indeed an ideal way to earn some money.”
Chetna muttered grimly to herself, “And also prove my point to them.” Chetna and Prema spent the rest of the week preparing a variety of farali snacks and sweets. On the first day of Purushotham Maas Chetna offered her prayers to Purushotham Bhagawan, cooked 2 farali and 2 satvik dishes and set off to the temple after finishing the household chores.
She wondered if anyone would buy her snacks and food. But to her utter surprise, everything was sold out within a couple of hours itself. So she continued selling snacks and farali food all through the Purushotham Maas and earned a tidy sum too.
Chetna knew her enterprise would work well even after the Purushotham Maas ended. Prema too supported her wholeheartedly. And Chetna felt very satisfied because she was now respected and appreciated for her skills and foresight.
And Chetna was relieved and amused because the other women had finally stopped passing nasty comments about her whenever she went to the riverside to do her washing. She had managed to prove her point to them. And she felt very very good about it.
On the last day of the Purushotham Maas, Chetna felt deeply content. The void in her life remained. But she was grateful that Purushotham Bhagawan had helped her forge a new path for herself.
∞∞∞
“I’m sure the bride’s father agreed to give his daughter to Sundar only because Prema lives in a brick house and has some money,” said the grocer’s wife. The milkman’s daughter-in-law said, “The girl’s father must be extremely poor. That is why he is marrying off his only daughter to a man who has a fancy city education but no income.”
Sundar curbed his anger, waited till all the rituals were complete, narrated everything to his mother, Prema and wife, Chetna and said, “I will return to this village only after I get a good job somewhere. I am determined to prove those nasty women wrong. ” He knew his mother and newly-wed wife could survive on his mother’s savings for at least a year. He had one full year to prove his point to those gossipmongers. So, before the hapless women could respond Sundar walked out without a backward glance.
He walked and walked – on and on – with these thoughts in mind – for two days. And on the third day, he slept out of sheer exhaustion outside the premises of a newly built temple in the village next to theirs.
Sundar woke up with a start when he felt someone shaking him. The middle-aged man standing in front of him said, “Why are you sleeping here outside this temple, young man? You are dressed in your wedding clothes. Are you planning to get married in this temple? Where is your bride then?”
Hearing the man’s kind words, Sundar blurted out everything to him. The man said, “Well, young man, I am Sheth Narayan. And you may find this difficult to believe – but I was looking for a well-educated young man to take care of the administrative work of this temple. If you meet my expectations, I may have an interesting offer for you at the end of one year.”
Sundar thanked Sheth Narayan profusely. He worked zealously and learnt many things from Sheth Narayan. Sundar’s knowledge and Sheth Narayan’s experience worked wonders. And in no time many devotees started visiting the temple and attended all the festivals they hosted too.
A year later, Sheth Narayan said, “Sundar, I am very satisfied with your work. You are indeed a devout, sensible, honest and knowledgeable man. I will be constructing another temple in your village soon. And I want you to supervise the construction and take care of the administration of that temple. It’s been a year since you left your family. Go home now. It is the last day of the Purushotham Maas. I’m sure your family will be happy to see you.”
∞∞∞
Prema and Chetna woke up in surprise when they heard a series of loud urgent knocks on their door. And when they saw Sundar standing in front of them, they were stunned with surprise.
A week later, Prema said, “If you think about the past year, you will realize something. People will gossip about anything and everything if they are idle. They will continue to do so even now. Of course, their barbed comments hurt.
But in trying to prove your points to those women, both of you discovered your true potential too, isn’t it? So remember one thing. Don’t let such comments affect you. You don’t have to justify yourselves or prove anything to them. It is enough if you prove things to yourself.”
Chetna and Sundar nodded in assent thoughtfully and said, “Yes Ma. You are right. Sometimes we wonder why Purushotham Bhagawan tests us so much when we have done nothing wrong to others. But the challenges he creates in our lives are actually His blessings in disguise.”
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