The women did not have the heart to criticize the bloused lady at the start of the conversation. As they looked at each other’s faces, a middle-aged woman begged Poomari, asking, “Why are you preparing padhani (palm nectar) here, auntie? Can’t you boil it in the market?”

Poomari replied, “Can’t you hear the dhamukku sound? If I boil it over there, I won’t be able to get even a coconut shell. Even a small grass wouldn’t survive where the maharaja’s troops stayed.”

A short-tempered woman from the hamlet harshly teased the old woman as the blouse-dressed lady scrubbed the calf’s back and looked at her mother-in-law in wonderment, and gazed at the women’s exposed chests in disdain and pity. The woman from the mob said, “If we do not abide by the caste rules, they will cut our alternate hand and leg. Tell your daughter-in-law to be like us and not wear a blouse above her waist. Don’t force us to go to the Kacheri (office) to complain about you.”

When the blouse-dressed lady glared angrily at them, Poomari pleaded, “She has been wearing this blouse for ages; it’s a custom of her village. Do you really want to take her blouse off? She’ll be humiliated if you do. Will you tolerate if you are asked to undress your sarees? She can’t overcome her natural shyness. My son somehow won her heart and brought her here. Ignore her for some days and it will be fine. What can we do? She lives with verve in her life.”

One of the women replied, “Our caste ladies is not allowed to get angry, auntie.” Poomari snapped back, “Why not? Then take off your saree also, will you?”

The woman said, “Auntie, we consider your age. It won’t take much time for us to go to Kacheri. You should do something. Those upper caste used to make their house women beautiful – with combed hair, koppu (flower design earrings), charadu (twisted chain), nethi sutti (blaze on their forehead), thandai (ankle ring), salangai ankle bells, bangles, bracelet, kasumaala (necklace made of gold coin), kantimala (chain made of basil stem) and – made them stand on their attics so that they were visible in the maharaja’s eye. He would then enjoy them in his tent and offer them twenty kottam-s of vidhapaadu (farm land). Similarly, if you decorate your daughter-in-law and make her stand on the way of the maharaja, he will abduct her and offer you vidhapaadu also. Look at the way this old dame speaks!”

Poomari became furious, like the goddess Bhadrakali. The girls had never seen her so angry. She said, “I will cut out your tongue. Don’t treat all lower castes like you. When I was a child, the predecessor of this maharaja came to this side. He fell in love with a lady with six-foot-long hair. He ordered servants to find the girl, and they did. They brought a palanquin, jewels and asked her to come to the maharaja. But the noble lady… she stayed here as a goddess even after her death. She drank the extract of golden cerberamanghas nuts to kill herself. My daughter-in-law is also like her. Mind your own business. Our ladies wear blouses in many places and loiter. What is wrong with her doing this? It’s a mistake for you not to act like her.”

“Alright, you make our life difficult too. You… your daughter-in-law… and the circar – settle among yourselves..”

“Can we leave it like that? If the Karyakkara (bureaucrats) comes, our backs will also be stoned.”

At this, the blouse-dressed lady stared furiously at the group of women, and one of them pinched the waist of another, who in turn pinched the shoulder of the other, and all the women quickly glanced at each other and ran away like scattered gooseberries.

(to be continued…)

This post is a part of the Blogchatter Half Marathon 2023 by https://www.theblogchatter.com/