The Forbidden Daughter

by Shobhan Bantwal

  It was merely a reflex, a physical reaction to the opposite sex.

  She’d taken enough psychology courses to know that was quite normal.

  Granted, Harish now looked rather distinguished in an academic sort of way. The crisp clothes, glossy shoes, and the professionally confident yet socially shy personality had a certain quaint charm. He was a genuinely nice man, too. Besides, she had loads of admiration for his superior intellect.

  However, she had no interest in him other than as a friend, she told herself firmly. She couldn’t!

  Halfway through the hemming, a knock sounded on the door and she let Sheila and Priya in. “Mummy!” Priya gave her an exuberant hug. The child had stars in her eyes and her face looked flushed.

  “Looks like you had a wonderful time at Sheila-tayi’s place,”

  Isha said.

  144 Shobhan Bantwal

  “Guess what!” Priya looked up at her. “Milind and Arvind got a new puppy!”

  “Isn’t that nice!” Isha glanced at Sheila, who pulled a disgusted face. So the puppy wasn’t Sheila’s idea.

  “Mummy, can we get a puppy, too?”

  This was what Isha had feared. The moment Priya had mentioned the puppy she knew exactly what her little girl was leading up to.

  Sheila held up a cautionary hand. “Say no, Isha. You’ll save yourself a lot of headaches. That puppy is a menace.” She rolled her eyes. “We’ve had that horrible dog for one day and already he’s chewed up two pairs of my sandals and an expensive handbag. Plus he’s stolen food from the kitchen. Our cook is ready to strangle the beast.”

  “That bad, huh?” Isha tried to sympathize, but her lips twitched. Poor Sheila looked like she was ready to choke the puppy, too. She turned to Priya. “You see how much trouble a puppy is? That’s why we can’t have one.”

  “Please, Mummy.” She put her skinny hands around Isha’s face to get her undivided attention. “I promise I’ll make sure our puppy doesn’t eat your shoes.”

  Isha put on her most forbidding expression. “No! We can’t leave a puppy here by itself all day while you and Diya and I are at school.” Besides, she barely had enough money to feed and clothe the kids, let alone a pet.

  “Oh . . .” Priya’s brow creased for a moment. “I can stay at home and take care of him. You and Diya can go to school.”

  Sheila started to chuckle. “Now there’s a novel excuse for cutting school. I hadn’t heard that one before.”

  Isha winked at Sheila across the room. “She can be very inventive in that department.”

  Taking Priya by the arm, Sheila pulled her over to the sofa.

  “Come here, darling. Your mummy is right. This flat is too small for a puppy, and all of you are too busy to take care of it.”

  Seeing Priya’s small face wilt, she added, “You know you can come to our house and play with Rambo any time you want to.”

  “Promise?”

  THE

  FORBIDDEN

  DAUGHTER 145

  “Promise. That way you get to play with Rambo and your cousins.”

  “Okay.” Priya’s smile returned with some of its former radiance.

  Isha observed the interaction between her daughter and Sheila, and her heart warmed. Sheila was so different from her parents. Isha had always thought fondly of her, but in the last few months she’d become Isha’s private savior, her best friend, the sister she’d never had.

  Isha looked at the clock and then at Priya. “Time for bed, pumpkin. Go brush your teeth and put on your pajamas while I talk to Sheila-tayi.”

  Now that the small matter about puppies was resolved, Priya took off for the bathroom.

  Meanwhile Sheila’s gaze fell on the dress Isha was hemming and the other two that needed buttons sewn on. She stared at them in astonishment. “Are you actually making those dresses?”

  “Yes.” Isha looked at the expression on Sheila’s face. “Are they that bad? ”

  “They’re that good.” She picked up one and held it up to the light. “This looks so professionally made. I had no idea you could sew this well.”

  “I’ve always liked sewing, but I never bothered doing it.” She didn’t have to, until now.

  Sheila put the dress down. “These are superbly tailored, like you’d see in a dress shop.”

  “I’m just trying to skimp on buying the girls’ clothes. When Mrs. Shintre gave me her old machine and some fabrics, I went a little crazy.”

  Sheila became thoughtful for a moment, then snapped her fingers. “You know what? I have an idea.”

  “What?”

  “If you can create dresses like these for some of Palgaum’s rich kids, maybe you could start a business of your own.”

  Isha gave a hoot of laughter. It was the first time in months she’d laughed out loud, surprising herself and Sheila. “You must be crazy. Making a couple of frocks for my daughters is not the same as being a professional.”

  146 Shobhan Bantwal

  “But these are professional. All this lace edging and frills are hard to do. You already know how the women you and I socialize with go to Mumbai or some other big city to buy clothes for their daughters. If they could buy them right here in town, and have them custom-fitted instead of buying them off a rack in some expensive boutique, I’ll bet they’d prefer coming to you.”

  A tingle of excitement crept through Isha. Could Sheila be right? Did she have it in her to do something independent like dressmaking? “I don’t think I’m cut out to be a business-woman,” she said nevertheless.

  Sheila chuckled. “Cut out is a clever pun for a dressmaker. If you ask me, you never give yourself enough credit for being an intelligent and capable woman. In fact, we Indian women rarely expect anything from ourselves beyond playing adoring wives and mothers.”

  “But that’s the way we’re brought up, Sheila. We never think

  ‘outside the box,’ as they say.”

  “So you agree with me?”

  “I agree with your reasoning.”

  “Then this is your chance to prove to yourself that you can do something with your life.”

  “But what if no one buys my homemade dresses? Then what?”

  Sheila made a casual gesture with her perfectly manicured hand. “Then there’s always the orphanage job, isn’t there?”

  “True, but how am I going to advertise? How will I know if I can meet customers’ deadlines? I can only do so much with my regular job, the housework, and my kids.”

  Glancing at her wristwatch, Sheila rose to her feet. “Leave that to me. Just give me a couple of sample dresses. At my mahjong party next week, I’ll show them to some of our friends.

  We’ll see what they have to say.”

  Reluctantly Isha went into her bedroom and brought out two of her best creations: a white cotton one with eyelet edging in Diya’s infant size and the other a full-skirted pale blue with a darker blue embroidered collar and matching sash made for Priya.

  THE

  FORBIDDEN

  DAUGHTER 147

  “I’m telling you,” she warned Sheila, “Baba and Ayee will probably explode when they find out their rebellious embarrass-ment of a daughter-in-law is up to further tricks, like taking up tailoring, to further discredit them.”

  Sheila was quiet for a moment, making Isha wonder if she’d said something wrong. But Sheila picked up her purse, folded the dresses, and tucked them under her arm. “Ayee and Baba have other things on their mind lately to worry about such things.”

  Isha stilled. “Is something wrong, Sheila?”

  “I didn’t want to tell you this, but I suppose you’ll find out soon enough. Ayee’s been ill for the last few weeks.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.” Guilt crept up on Isha in an instant.

  Was it her own actions that had caused Nikhil’s mother to fall sick? “I guess I was selfish in thinking only of myself and my children when I decided to leave. But Ayee didn’t seem all that concerned when I told her I was leaving for good.”


  Sheila shook her head. “I don’t think your leaving has anything to do with this. She was complaining of chest pains and breathlessness, so her doctor ran some tests.”

  “How serious?” Despite her bitterness about her in-laws, she felt a twinge of regret. These were people she’d lived with for several years, and she’d considered them surrogate parents all that time.

  “They found two of her arteries were partially blocked, so they inserted stents in them.”

  “She looked okay when I left home that morning,” said Isha.

  “I know losing Nikhil was hard on her, but . . .” Was the heart blockage something that could be caused by trauma and heartbreak? Had Isha inadvertently been the cause of her mother-in-law’s problems? If so, she’d never be able to forgive herself.

  “The doctor says this started years ago, well before Niku’s death. Her cholesterol levels have always been high, and she’s overweight. These conditions run in her family. My grandfather died of a heart attack when he was quite young, and so did Ayee’s older brother. Besides, you know how Ayee and Baba hate going to the doctor unless they’re really sick. Anyway, 148 Shobhan Bantwal

  when the chest pains started, Baba forced her to see the doctor.

  That’s how they found out she had a blockage.”

  “How is she doing now?”

  Sheila looked up at the ceiling, biting her trembling lower lip.

  “She’s seems okay at the moment. The pain’s gone and she has eased back into her old social life, but she has to watch her diet and take better care of herself.” The tears abruptly started to pool in her eyes. “I know she’s not a warm, caring woman, but . . .

  She’s still my mother.”

  “Of course she is.” Isha tried to think of something appropriate to say, but she couldn’t. What could she say? She wasn’t even a part of that family anymore, but technically she was still a Tilak, and they were still her in-laws. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Sheila shook her head, looking so miserable that Isha instinctively put her arms around her. She couldn’t help the tears of sympathy that stung her own eyes. Sheila was hurting and so was she. The woman who was her children’s grandmother was ailing, and that hurt, too.

  Sheila extricated herself from Isha’s arms and sniffed. “I better leave before Priya comes out and finds both of us crying.

  She’ll start asking questions.”

  “All right.” Isha quickly dried her eyes and opened the door for Sheila. “I wish you’d told me earlier.”

  “You have enough to worry about. The last thing you need is more worry and guilt.” Sheila stepped outside the door, hesitated for a beat, and stopped again. “Maybe it’s best that I tell you this. Ayee’s now convinced that Diya is responsible for everything, including her heart condition.”

  Isha took a fortifying breath. “Is she still in that ‘blame the baby’ mode?”

  “I’m afraid so. I just thought I’d warn you before you heard it from someone else. Ayee was telling that to all her friends who came to visit her during her illness.”

  “I see.” Isha tried to summon a smile despite the tightness in her chest. “And do you believe that, too?”

  “Never! I’ve never subscribed to that nonsense at any time in THE

  FORBIDDEN

  DAUGHTER 149

  my life. I think we all come with our fates sealed and delivered the day we’re born. Someone else can’t change what’s going to happen. I love Diya like my own.”

  “Thank you, Sheila. And I’m glad you warned me. Just keep me informed of everything, will you?”

  “All right.”

  Isha waited till her sister-in-law walked away, then closed the door and heaved a deep sigh. If Ayee’s condition worsened, how was Baba going to survive losing his son and possibly his wife, too? And why was her Diya, her innocent little baby, being held responsible for all the unfortunate things that were happening?

  If only her in-laws would see their beautiful granddaughter and find out for themselves what a sweet fountain of joy she was.

  But that would never happen. Ayee would never want to lay eyes on her imagined nemesis.

  For the first time since Nikhil’s death Isha felt sorry for her father-in-law. Despite his rigid ways and complete lack of warmth, and although she couldn’t forgive him for spanking Priya so mercilessly, Isha felt something akin to pity for him.

  On the one hand she thoroughly resented the man and on the other she sympathized with him. Was it possible to have such polarized feelings about someone?

  In the next instant she realized her softer sentiments were because of Nikhil and Sheila. He was their father and now anything she did that hurt him would hurt Sheila. But if she did feel sorry for Baba for some convoluted reason, what could she do to help? He’d only spurn her offer.

  She decided it was best not to tell Priya about her grandmother just yet. In any case, the child had almost forgotten her grandparents by now. Priya rarely talked about them anymore.

  That night, as Isha lay in bed, mulling over Ayee’s illness, she made a decision to talk to Harish about it. He’d be able to explain it in layman’s terms. Modern medical science had supposedly made heart conditions more treatable these days.

  Ayee would be fine. She had to be fine.

  Chapter 18

  Isha sprinkled the finely chopped coriander to garnish the chicken curry, and then set it and the salad on the dining table. It was a simple meal with an accompanying vegetable dish, rice, and chapatis.

  After much debate over whether to cancel Priya’s birthday party because of the news about Ayee’s illness, Sheila had convinced Isha that they should go ahead with the plans. Besides, Priya was looking forward to it so much, Isha didn’t want to break her heart. The previous year, she’d had no party at all.

  And there was such little joy in her children’s lives to begin with.

  Priya was in her element, dressed in her new dress, her pigtails secured with matching pink satin ribbons. Her little girl looked like an angel. And she became six years old today. Nikhil would have been ecstatic to see Priya reading and writing and learning so many new things in school.

  At least he’d had an opportunity to enjoy the first five years of Priya’s life. But he’d never see his younger child, the baby he’d fought so hard to save when she was no more than a tad-pole swimming in Isha’s womb.

  The doorbell rang and Isha brushed aside her thoughts to get the door. Sheila stood outside with a cardboard box in her arms—the ice-cream cake. As always, she looked perfect, complete with shoulder-length hair fashionably styled, electric blue crepe-silk sari, and matching sapphire and pearl jewelry at her THE

  FORBIDDEN

  DAUGHTER 151

  neck, ears, and wrists. Isha never stopped marveling at her sister-in-law’s skill at looking so poised and attractive at all times.

  Arvind and Milind stood on either side of their mother, each one holding two presents. They were typical boys and Sheila had a hard time keeping their clothes clean. But today the boys looked well scrubbed in their clean pants and T-shirts. Their dark hair was brushed back neatly and their cherubic faces with the gorgeous hazel eyes were a quite a sight. Isha knew they had been told to be on their best behavior for their little cousin’s party.

  “Wow! What a striking threesome!” Isha exclaimed with a grin. “Come right in. The birthday girl’s been waiting for you.”

  Priya greeted her cousins and aunt with a gleeful whoop.

  “Yeah, presents!”

  With an indulgent “Happy Birthday” for the animated Priya, Sheila put the ice-cream cake in the small refrigerator in the kitchen. Then she bent down to lift Diya off the floor and into her arms.

  “What time should I serve dinner?” asked Isha.

  “Kumar is coming directly from work,” replied Sheila, glanc-ing at the clock. “He should be here soon. We can have an early dinner and then cake later.”

  “Doctor-kaka is coming to m
y party, too,” announced Priya, while her impatient hands were already tearing into the gifts.

  Sheila’s brows flew up. “Doctor-kaka?”

  Isha busied herself with picking up the scraps of wrapping paper Priya and the boys were strewing around. “Priya asked Harish Salvi and I seconded the invitation. It just sort of . . .

  happened.”

  “I see.” Sheila gave her a veiled look. “Looks like Priya is becoming rather fond of this Dr. Salvi. She’s mentioned how nice and how clever he is several times recently.”

  “He seems to have a way with children. Priya and Diya like him a lot.”

  “And he’s coming here today, huh?” Sheila threw Isha that oblique look again. “I’ll tell you what I think after I meet him. If he’s that good, I might switch my boys from Dr. Bajaj to him.”

  152 Shobhan Bantwal

  “But you’re addicted to Bajaj,” reminded Isha, tossing the scraps into the dustbin.

  “He’s getting a bit cranky in his old age. The boys are beginning to grumble about him.”

  “Then you might seriously consider Harish Salvi. He’s not a rich, established old chap like Bajaj.” Isha went into the kitchen to get the plates and spoons, with Sheila close on her heels.

  “He’s quite young, and has started practicing recently. But he’s thorough and he’s patient. He explains things well when I ask questions.”

  “We’ll see,” said Sheila.

  The doorbell rang again. One of the boys ran to get the door.

  Isha looked up to find Harish standing on the threshold, looking a little awkward. He was dressed in elegant black pants and a steel-gray shirt. He held a package in his hands. With his straight bearing, glasses, and old-fashioned haircut, he could have passed for a young college professor.

  A surge of warmth crept up on her the moment their eyes met. Despite knowing he was coming, the joy of seeing him was unexpected. “Hello, Harish. Come on in.”

  She introduced him to Sheila and the boys. When all the formal namastes were over, he handed the gift-wrapped package to Priya. “Many Happy Returns, Priya. I hope you like what I got you.”