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They were all lucky. Manju was beautiful and she was easy. She had a feeling for tradition and had settled, in Pavna’s opinion, almost too easily into the marriage. It was Pavna who had insisted that she keep her studies up and on the side try to generate a little money for herself by way of a small exporting business to Europe. She had wanted her daughter-in-law kept busy and not wandering the house with nothing to do. It was her house, and that was her province. If they had any fewer servants then it would have been a different matter. Here they all were, nearly a complete family, if only the girl would show and not decide that she made a foul mistake and head back to Delhi.
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Arrival
The new tenant had no intention of turning back. It was however proving impossible to get through the small crowd that had formed around her on the street outside; she had already made three false starts towards the bougainvillea gates of the address she’d been given. She gave up and resumed her seat on one of the suitcases, swearing. ‘Come, it is not that bad.’ The voice came a small white-haired man who had appeared by her side. In reality he’d been watching her for a while, prepared to step in if the street got too interested in her arrival. He was wearing the uniform of a guru – white dhoti – red tilak - and carried a monkey stick and used it now to gently beat the crowds away, whilst they in turn chided him, pleasantly mocking him |