"Now stop crying, tears don't suit you princess.....Gaya!... Gaya! where are you? Come here quick.."
"What is it Kani Periyamma?"
" Gaya, go to the kitchen and get some milk in a bottle.."
" Umm... But Periyamma"
"What? Go quickly, can't you see that your baby sister is crying?"
"Shouldn't Amma be feeding her?"
" You think Kala will do that?" asked Kani sharply " Now, stop wasting time and do what I say..."
" Seri (ok).." Gayathri went into the kitchen.
Kani was sitting in the living room with the little girl in her lap. Kayal and Valli had not come out the room for a long time, Ramachandran was sitting outside in the portico and Kaleshwari had fallen asleep in her room.
The baby kept crying in small moans. Kani felt helpless. Every baby needs a mother's warmth it cannot be substituted by anything else.
Kani was trying her best to soothe the baby when Ramachandran walked in and sat on the wooden sofa.
"Kani Anni, the baby has been crying for quiet sometime, is everything alright?"
"Oh Athan, I guess she is just hungry, I have asked Gaya to get some milk.."
"Anni, how can I thank you, you have done so much for us.. I wish I could do..."
"Athan please, I am doing this for my sister's family... what's wrong in that.. I consider my sister's daughter my own"
"Thanks a lot Anni"
"Periyamma, here I have got some milk" said Gayathri as she handed over the bottle and went and sat next to her father.
"Appa"
"Yes Gaya.."
"When will we name her?" asked Gayathri
Ramachandran smiled at his daughter's eagerness "Very soon Gaya, Why don't you think of a name? You can also ask your sisters, and all of you can come up with a good name.."
" Well, then I shall go and ask Kayal and Valli" said Gayathri as she hopped down the sofa and skipped to her sisters' room.
Ramachandran and Kani sat quietly preoccupied in their own thoughts, the baby squirmed now and then as she drank her milk. Suddenly, Kaleshwari came rushing out of her room with a bag in her hand.
"Kala what happened where are you going??" asked Ramachandran as he got up from the sofa and walked to his wife.
"I am leaving this house" replied Kaleshwari in a dazed voice. She looked like she was in a trance.
"Kala, what has got into you?" questioned Kani in a shocked voice.
"I just want to get out of here" said Kala in a raised voice and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Hearing their mother's voice, the girls came out.
"Amma is everything fine?" asked Valli in a timid voice and went to hold her mother's hand.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed. A terrified Valli stepped back to her sister and held her tight.
"Kala you are just not well" said Ramachandran trying to calm his wife down, "Come let's go to the room and Kani will get you something to eat."
YOU ARE READING
The Fourth Daughter (ON HOLD)
General FictionRamachandran and Kaleshwari were a typical India couple of the 1970s who lived in a village in Tamil Nadu, India. When Kaleshwari is blessed with not 1 but 3 consecutive daughters their lives turn miserable. The family is rejected by their own re...
