Trip to Tirupur
Another night was spent sleeping under the bed. It was quite uncomfortable and little Rupa came out with achy knees. She stretched her body and tried to remember the events from last night, she was hopeful that things would be better between her parents , last night was especially bad She hated it when her parents yelled at each other, which always ended with her mom weeping bitterly and her dad yelling at her and her sister. At times her sister also climbed underneath the bed to give her company. It was always hard to act as if they never saw the bruises on mom’s face which took weeks to vanish.
“ Hey Rupa, it is time for school, go get ready” fifteen year old Ruchi was ready with her ponytailed hair and ironed skirt and shirt
Ruchi was her best pal who realized how sad she felt when her parents fought with each other. The frequency of these fights was really starting to bother her. Rupa knew that Ruchi also cried at night but also knew that she wanted to act brave for her little sister, so Rupa tried hard to keep it with herself.
“Are they talking now, didi??” Rupa asked
“ I have told you, they will be okay soon, don’t worry” Ruchi said, “ Go get ready, I have toasted bread for you, you can have it for breakfast and take the same for lunch as well”
“ But I don’t want bread both times, I hate it now” Rupa liked variety in her meals which was not always possible especially now that their amma was not cooking much. The kitchen had a rather lazy look these days.
“Rupa, don’t argue, I did check in the fridge, there is nothing else”
Rupa decided to not worry her sister and decided to go and have a shower. She did not feel like singing today, she knew that anything could spark her dad’s temper. But she had not heard his voice since morning, she hoped that he had already left for work and then felt guilty about it.
Ruchi was ready with the comb to tie her pony tail after Rupa’s bath. Once they were ready for school they had their breakfast quietly.
“ can I go and say Bye to amma” Rupa asked
“ yes, but make sure that you don’t upset her” Ruchi was getting their toasts into their lunch containers
Rupa went by her parents room and found her mother on the bed. She looked like she had cried through the night. She climbed into bed with her and hugged her tightly. Her mom sniffled and tried to smile for her.
“Hey kutty, did you have something to eat??”
“Yes, Didi toasted bread for me”
“Pack something for lunch too, okay” amma said through her sniffles
“Okay, amma, don’t worry”. Ruchi came by to join in and said “ we have taken some left over food from the fridge”
Their mother called Ruchi over as well and hugged them tight.
“You take care of each other okay…”
“ yes amma,” they both replied
“why is achan so mean?? Rupa asked but soon she regretted it as Ruchi pinched her from the side and gave her an angry look
Their mother did not respond but looked with glassy eyes. She did not get up from the bed to wave good bye when the school bus came. Rupa stuck to her sister all the way to the school. Ruchi carried her lunch bag and water bottle to the entrance of the second grade classroom and insisted that she meet her at the school bus stop after school.
Rupa could not concentrate on her classes and kept thinking of her mom. Will she be okay. She may have taken another day off from work. Oh she did not ask her whether amma wanted to have a cup of tea, Rupa had learned to make tea with tea bags recently, Ruchi had taught her. When the teacher asked for her homework book she realized that she had left it at home, she may have left it under the bed where she had taken it to finish off the work. She could not concentrate on her work with achan’s angry outbursts booming all around her.
During recess she sat by the Neem tree and tried to pray to Hanumanji, she prayed that her parents will get along better and she also added in that she wanted to go to her nani’s place for a vacation some time soon. She liked her grandparents from mom’s side whom she was not allowed to visit very often, she had realized that achan would be grumpier after they visited them in Tirupur. Achan never came with them when they went to Tirupur and refused to even touch the pickle and chips that her nani sent. But he was always happy when they visited Madhurai where his parents lived ,even though his mother complained about Rupa and Ruchi’s behavior constantly. She could not stand the way her dadi complained about her mom’s looks and Rupa’s complexion. Ruchi had started to call dadi “thadaka” and had made Rupa promise that it will be their little secret.

They were quiet on the bus back home, both hopeful that things would be better at home now. She was praying that amma would have made something nice for dinner. They had been having cereal and bread for the past two days. It would have been okay if their maid was coming but she had also taken some time off to go to her native village. Ruchi’s reassuring hand tapped her on the back.
“it is okay Rupam, everything will be okay”
Ruchi called her Rupam when she was really concerned or when she was really angry with her.
When they got home her mom was sitting outside with a cup of tea , she was wearing her orange saree with black elephants, which was Rupa’s favorite. She hugged them close and said,
“Go eat your pongal and then we need to talk”
Rupa was happy that she had made pongal.
“Did you make mint chutney too”
“no kutty, just pongal, you need to wash your hands and eat fast okay”
“Why amma”Rupa asked
Amma did not respond but fed them both with her hands. Ruchi used to be embarrassed when amma fed her at times, but not today.
Once they had pongal and pickle amma asked them to pack their bags.
“ We have to take the five o clock bus to Thirupur, let us go”
Rupa was thrilled that Hanumanji had heard her prayers.” Oh good, let us go, let us go”
Ruchi asked, “when are we coming back”??
“ We are not, I cannot live with your dad anymore, let us get out of here before he gets back”
Rupa realized that the first part of her prayer was not answered and then she was not sure whether she was allowed to be happy.
Amma looked at both of them with teary eyes.
“Sorry, sorry……” amma said
“It is okay amma”, Ruchi said while wiping off her tears. Rupa did not know what to do so she ran in and started to pull out her clothes from the cabinet.
Rupa threw in her clothes and toys along with Ruchi’s clothes and books. Amma’s bag was already packed, amma took off the gold chain that she always wore and kept it beside the idol in the puja room.
“Why are you taking it off amma, I thought you are not allowed to take it off” Rupa asked anxiously
“Oh , I don’t want to loose it on the way, kutty, also it is not needed anymore”
“Oh, okay,” Rupa said as it had made complete sense to her, but she wondered why Ruchi’s eyes were flooding up.
The taxi was there to pick them up, amma had called for the taxi from the neighbor’s home. Ruchi kept the bags in the taxi, Rupa was happy to sit beside the driver.
Amma locked the door and walked out of the house . She turned to look at the house, again. She had lived there for eighteen years. Parvathy, who lived next door came out to wave good bye. Amma could not make herself to wave back
Ruchi and amma got into the back seat.
Amma told the driver “ to the bus station on the B side”
“okay madam” he said.
The taxi moved forward with a jerk
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