THE BRIDES - meek, curt and silly

33. Devaki - behind the scenes

Shyamalamma sighed. She knew Eesha didn't take her words into consideration. She didn't mind it, she knew Eesha needs a lot of work. But what hurt her was the kind of pain that sweet soul was in. She was so so scared the previous day when Eesha had walked out of the house as if she was in a trance.

She didn't wait. She had called Bhairav immediately. She didn't know if Bhairav reached on time. She had worried that she might have reacted late. What if she had stopped Eesha from going? She had asked herself.

But that was all past. She was going to take care of Eesha even more carefully now. She would help Bhairav in every which way possible.

Bhairav! She had known him since he was a baby. But she had never seen him so angry. She could not even imagine what had happened to Eesha. It must have been something very bad.

And when she had to report the days happening to Devamma, she felt like a failure.

Devamma didn't comment on the topic. She had just asked the to get the girls closer. She didn't know what was going on in her mind. But Devamma must have her reasons. So agreed quietly.

"Eesha?"

"Hmm?"

"I heard you were going to help Reema learn cooking?"

Eesha nodded absent mindedly. She hadn't given that so much thought. Reema did not ask her again, so Eesha didn't bother her. But that evening Reema had called, asking to teach her making dosas. Eesha had agreed to teach her over the weekend.

"That's nice. But dear, remember. You are the eldest daughter-in- law of this family. It is your responsibility to make sure that all three of you get along well. Right?"

That caught Eesha's attention. Get along well? But how could she possibly do it? What right did she have, to do that? She wasn't the eldest.. Oh... But she was the eldest daughter-in-law.

She felt stuck! Should she stay away like Radha ma'am asked or get involved like Shyamalamma expects?

Eesha felt she was in a vicious cycle and the end result would always be her getting punished.

Tulasi looked at Stuti. She was helping her with the dishes. What was all that talk about her being rude? Would a rude and disrespecting girl help a maid with the dishes? Durgakka would probably have to rethink about her opinion. But that was a topic for an other day. She had to convince Stuti to join the cooking session the next day.

"So Stuti," she started tentatively. Stuti sighed. Tulasi found her indifferent attitude very cute.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Nothing much," she mumbled.

"Oh! Boring".

Stuti rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you spend time with Eesha and Reema, like last time?" She added. She crossed her fingers, mentally!

"Last time was a fluke," Stuti muttered.

"Aah.. fluke! What did you talk about?"

Stuti scrunched her face. Why was this woman so intrusive?

"Nothing much. Eesha Akka and I talked about some books, Reema.." Stuti was cut short.

"Books, huh? Eesha loves reading right. I heard that she has finished reading all the business magazine. Poor thing must be bored out of her mind," Tulasi added trying to have a sympathetic look.

"Stuti dear, you have so many books, why don't you share them with her?"

Stuti had thought about it. She wanted to share her Amarachitra comics with Eesha akka. She had told she was interested in mythology.