RR
29th January 2007, 10:21 AM
Bait
- Sridevi
‘How can she alone go to school?’ thought Ammini to herself about her close friend. Shankari was good in studies and her parents had the money to educate her if she wanted. My mother will never allow me to study. We have to give the rent, pay for my brother’s education and save for my marriage. How can Shankari alone go to school and enjoy life while I have to work in the house everyday? ‘I will stop this’ she decided.
The next day Shankari had to start her sixth standard. There whatever had to be done had to be done in the evening itself. She waited for her friend to come out her house in the evening to play. Shankari came out after doing whatever work her mother wanted her to do inside the house, as usual everyday, to play outside for sometime.
The children then began playing with sand and water and leaves imagining themselves to be cooking for their husbands. One acted as the husband while the other acted as the wife and vice versa. Marriage was their dream, cooking, cleaning for the house and the family. The husband would come home tired, demanding attention and food. The wife would run to him like an attendant and serve him with sand made rice, curry, and side dishes etc. They made use of all the available articles in the surrounding for their play.
Ammini was waiting for an opportunity to start the topic to Shankari. Slowly she said, “jolly for me. From tomorrow you are going to school and I am going to be at home and play”.
“Why? You don’t want to go to school?”
“Oh no. Why should I? In another seven years or so my mother will get me married. On my wedding day I want to wear gold earrings, bangles, a beautiful nose ring just like my mother. To buy all this I am going to weave mats whenever I am free”
“Weaving mats. Isn’t difficult?”
“Not at all. My aunt does it every day. She is saving money for her marriage”
“Has she bought any jewels till now?”
“Of course. She has bought a lovely jimikki so heavy, almost one sovereign, hanging so long for her ears. It has bright white stones you know”
“I also want some thing like that. My mother will never make anything like that for me”.
“That is very easy. You just tell me. Both of us will go to my aunt’s house and tell her we are interested in weaving mats. She will arrange for that man to deliver the instrument the very next day. Actually he wants more girls to weave mats it seems. There is a demand for these mats everywhere in the market”.
When Shankari got married at the age of twentyfive, fifteen years later, she wore her golden jimikkis but sold them the next year as her husband lost money in business.
[tscii:937338d223][/tscii:937338d223]
- Sridevi
‘How can she alone go to school?’ thought Ammini to herself about her close friend. Shankari was good in studies and her parents had the money to educate her if she wanted. My mother will never allow me to study. We have to give the rent, pay for my brother’s education and save for my marriage. How can Shankari alone go to school and enjoy life while I have to work in the house everyday? ‘I will stop this’ she decided.
The next day Shankari had to start her sixth standard. There whatever had to be done had to be done in the evening itself. She waited for her friend to come out her house in the evening to play. Shankari came out after doing whatever work her mother wanted her to do inside the house, as usual everyday, to play outside for sometime.
The children then began playing with sand and water and leaves imagining themselves to be cooking for their husbands. One acted as the husband while the other acted as the wife and vice versa. Marriage was their dream, cooking, cleaning for the house and the family. The husband would come home tired, demanding attention and food. The wife would run to him like an attendant and serve him with sand made rice, curry, and side dishes etc. They made use of all the available articles in the surrounding for their play.
Ammini was waiting for an opportunity to start the topic to Shankari. Slowly she said, “jolly for me. From tomorrow you are going to school and I am going to be at home and play”.
“Why? You don’t want to go to school?”
“Oh no. Why should I? In another seven years or so my mother will get me married. On my wedding day I want to wear gold earrings, bangles, a beautiful nose ring just like my mother. To buy all this I am going to weave mats whenever I am free”
“Weaving mats. Isn’t difficult?”
“Not at all. My aunt does it every day. She is saving money for her marriage”
“Has she bought any jewels till now?”
“Of course. She has bought a lovely jimikki so heavy, almost one sovereign, hanging so long for her ears. It has bright white stones you know”
“I also want some thing like that. My mother will never make anything like that for me”.
“That is very easy. You just tell me. Both of us will go to my aunt’s house and tell her we are interested in weaving mats. She will arrange for that man to deliver the instrument the very next day. Actually he wants more girls to weave mats it seems. There is a demand for these mats everywhere in the market”.
When Shankari got married at the age of twentyfive, fifteen years later, she wore her golden jimikkis but sold them the next year as her husband lost money in business.
[tscii:937338d223][/tscii:937338d223]