he was supposedly recruited as a private chauffeur. After a few months the mother received no further money nor even any news of her husband. The telephone rings without being answered regardless of the time that Pinkyâs mother calls.
From then on she raised Pinky and her other children by herself. She works with my sister in the brick factory. All day long the women dig clay with their bare hands and make bricks using a mould marked with the name of the owner, going back and forth over several hundred metres to dry them in the sun. Pinky and I first struck up a friendship during these school outings. She knows a lot of things, but her reserved manner makes her seem rather stand-offish. She doesnât have many friends, and very few children like to playwith her. During playtime she stays by herself in a corner of the yard.
Arjun, the head teacher, calls us together and asks us to be sure to be at school the next week. I expect another school outing to the museum.
When I get back home the subject of marriage is the centre of the conversation again. The son of one of my uncles has asked to marry me. Ma tries to convince me to meet him.
âHeâs a relative and is ready to accept the dowry that weâre offering.â
âI donât care where he comes from and what heâs ready to accept. I donât want to get married, and thatâs final!â
âDonât be selfish. Think of your family. You think that your father can keep on working in these conditions? His back hurts constantly and he has trouble breathing because of inhaling tobacco for years, and he does all that to feed you. Do you realize the sacrifices that he has been making all this time?â
âIâll help him. Iâm quite willing to work after school so that he can make his daily quota of cigarettes.â
âYou understand nothing, my girl. You cost us too much, and if we donât get you married while you are young and attractive nobody else will want you.â
âI donât want to get married, do you hear me? I am enrolled at the school, and I intend to keep going there!â
âYouâre not the one who decides! The Kalindis all marry at your age. If you want to keep on studying you can sort that out with your husband. Our duty as parents is to find you a husband before itâs too late.â
âI donât want to get married!â
The conversation breaks down into yelling. My father interrupts us: âStop carrying on like that, both of you! Do you want the whole village to hear you?â
âYour daughter is stubborn and doesnât understand her luck in having so many marriage offers. Sheâs only thinking of herself and her blasted school. As if food was free! I told you that enrolment at the school was a bad idea, but you didnât listen to me. This is the result. You can deal with it. And then you can go and explain to your nephew that he canât marry your daughter Rekha, because according to the latest news sheâs the one who decides not you!â
âBe reasonable, Rekha, this marriage offer is a chance for you. You ought to seize it, both for your own good and also for the good of your family. Think of your brothers and sisters, please,â whispers my father in an affectionate tone.
âI donât care! I want to go on learning and working at my studies. Thatâs what you advised me to do not so long ago. Remember?â
âYes, but that was temporary. We sent you to school while we were waiting for you to find a husband. Now you donât need to study any more.â
âTemporary? But you know how difficult school is! I am one of the best in the class, and you want me to abandon everything just because a boy who doesnât even know me wants a wife in his house?â
âWhen I married your mother I didnât know her either. That didnât prevent us from starting a family â¦â
âA family that you