Janaki Amma
Janki Amma was 90 years old. She had lived a reasonably long life, but now her old age had rendered her relatively weak. Lying in her room, in one corner of the house, she would try to hear the soft sounds and voices coming from outside and comprehend what might be happening there. If there were any birthdays or weddings in the neighborhood, she would wish to go and play some songs with the Dholak. But now, it wasn’t easy to get up from her bed and go to the bathroom without help. The daughter-in-law used to take care of her, but perhaps the pressure of the work made her irritable, and many times she got angry and shouted at Janaki Amma.
The voice of Janki Amma had also become weak due to the decline of power. One day she shouted to call the daughter-in-law, but there was no reply. Janki descended from the bed and reached the bathroom with the help of the wall. But there, she slipped and fell. An empty steel bucket also fell with her. The bucket caused a loud sound, which the daughter-in-law heard. She came to the bathroom, and seeing her mother-in-law lying supine in the toilet; she lost her temper.
She said to Janki Amma in a loud voice, “Could you not call me? Do you have any grudge against me? If against happens, people will say that the daughter-in-law did not care properly. “
In the meantime, Janki Amma helped herself sit up on the floor of the bathroom. Then the daughter-in-law grabbed her arms and helped her stand, took her to bed, and made her sit on it.
After the daughter-in-law’s departure, Janki Amma thought that ever talked to her mother-in-law in a loud voice. She also served her in her old age.
Then she was lost in her old memories.
Janki and Suresh got married very early. Suresh then studied in class XII, and Janki passed the eighth class. That was the trend of that time. Marriages were done at a young age. Janaki remembered that she had no joy in her marriage. She feared going to some unknown place husband and thought separation from her parents was killing her. At the time of departure, she wept to hug each member .of her family.
Janaki’s color was wheatish, but she was beautiful. Suresh was tall, stout, and fair. Within a few days, her fear disappeared, and, She fell for Suresh. Suresh also took care of her. For further studies, he went to the city. Most of Janki’s time is spent on household chores, and the rest on waiting for Suresh. She used to think that she would stay with Suresh. That day also came, and she departed from the in-laws and went to the city in a government jeep with Suresh. Suresh became a deputy collector. He got a government bungalow, car, and helpers. Janaki was happy and afraid also. She noticed that when they went out, people respected them. Sometimes she was also afraid and worried she was from a village and not much educated. Let some modern city woman should snatch away Suresh from her. Janki Amma often quarreled with Suresh due to this insecurity. He had to constantly assure her that his attention was on her side only.
When Suresh was alive, Janki used to quarrel with him every other day. Now when he was no more, she taunted at his garlanded photo hanging on a wall of her room. As soon as the daughter-in-law left, she murmured, looking at the pictures of Suresh on the wall, “Have you ever cared for me? Neither took me anywhere for a tour. You left for heaven also alone. What would have happened if I also came along? “
Janki Amma had become tired from the exercise of falling, getting up, and going to and walking back from the bathroom. She felt sleepy, and soon she fell asleep.
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