THE MAGICAL PALACE (39 page)

Ma came to the bedroom. ‘Rahul, I will go and see which window is loose. I will light another candle and take it with me.’

I was just falling asleep when a loud pounding on the door woke me up. Thinking that I had imagined the noise,
I closed my eyes, but it started again, insistent. I squinted in the light of the candle my mother held.

‘Rahul, there is someone at the door. Come with me. I do not want to open it alone.’

I followed Ma into the sitting room, padding behind her in my bare feet. She went to the door and said, ‘Kaun hai?’

‘Memsahib, there is a girl here to see you.’ The sentry was shouting to be heard above the howling wind and the water pouring off the palace terrace and eaves.

I watched Ma draw back the heavy bolt. She pulled the door open, sheltering the flickering candle in her hands. The chowkidar had a torch; the light from it illuminated a shrouded figure at the door, a shawl wrapped around the shoulders. It took us a moment to recognize the figure of a woman, dripping wet, clothes clinging to her thin frame. As she uncovered her head I gasped in surprise.

‘Mallika! What happened? Come in, come in, you will catch a cold.’ Ma took her by the hand and pulled her into the sitting room.

‘Please don’t tell my parents I am here, Mashi,’ Mallika said. She was pale and was shaking and there were dark circles around her eyes. The sindur in her parting coursed to her temples in bloody streaks.

Wanting to comfort my poor Mallika, I put my arms around her, holding her shaking frame tight. She finally grew still. ‘You will get wet,’ she said as she gently slipped out of my embrace.

‘Come, come. Change into some dry clothes.’ Ma had brought out a dry salwar kameez and took Mallika to the prayer room to change. Ma looked distressed and angry, her eyebrows knotted in a rare frown, and did not say a word while Mallika changed. She sat instead at the dining table,
wringing her hands and biting her lip. This was a different Ma, one I had not seen before. I went to her and put my hand on her shoulder, letting her know that she had my support. I knew deep inside that she would not send Mallika back to her parents. She straightened up and, gripping my arms so hard that they hurt, said, ‘Never cause so much pain to anyone, Rahul. Do you understand? Never.’

‘No, Ma,’ I answered seriously.

‘You are a grown-up boy now, Rahul. Let us help Mallika Didi. I am so glad I don’t have to do this alone.’ She smiled, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

I felt proud to have been trusted with her confidence.

When Mallika returned, she was dressed in the clothes my mother had given her. Her hair was still wet and covered the side of her face.

‘Where is Sanjib?’ Ma asked.

Mallika’s face crumpled and she started sobbing. ‘Mashi, I cannot live like this any more. I don’t know what to do. Ma and Baba will not let me leave him. He will kill me if he finds out I am here. Please help me. At first, I thought that it was my fault that he lost his temper with me all the time. I have tried so hard. I gave up Salim to make my parents happy and trusted them to do what was right for me, but … Is there no escape from this hell?’

She pulled her hair back from her face to show a swollen bruise on her forehead. ‘Today, he hit me again and dragged me on the floor by my hair. It is getting worse. His mother does not say anything to him. He accuses me of being unfaithful and seeing Salim secretly. Everyone is afraid of his temper. Tonight, after he fell asleep, I decided to leave him. I need some money, Mashi. I left all the jewellery they gave me back at the house. I will pay you
back. I promise.’ Her voice grew louder and more frantic as she spoke.

A loud roll of thunder silenced her.

‘Shh …’ Ma said. ‘It is all right, Mallika. You have come to your mashi for help—and I will not let you down.’ She walked over to Mallika and sat her down on a chair. ‘Mallika, you are like my daughter. Tell me the truth. Have you been in touch with Salim?’

‘No, I haven’t. I have heard that he lives in Madras now. He left Hyderabad before my marriage, to start a new life. The last thing he told me in a letter was that he could not bear to live here any longer. This city holds too many memories for him.’

The tea kettle started whistling, its strident cry audible even over the wailing of the winds. Ma went into the kitchen. ‘Here, have some hot tea,’ she said, bringing Mallika a steaming cup of tea with ginger, cardamom and cloves.

She then went to the prayer room and unlocked the trunk in which her jewellery was kept. I watched carefully, my eyes wide open. Ma came back with a bundled handkerchief in her hands. She untied it to reveal several hundred-rupee notes, all folded neatly. ‘Here, take this. There are at least five thousand rupees here. I have been saving them for an emergency.’

‘No, Mashi, I … I cannot take this.’ Mallika stammered, her eyes brimming with tears.

‘This is the emergency. Please do not tell anyone about this.’

‘I will pay you back, I promise, Mashi.’ Mallika started sobbing again. ‘Oh, this is so horrible! I wish I had never been born, Mashi.’

‘I am like your mother—listen to me. Take this money,
go to Madras. Start a new life. I will give you the address of my old college friend and a letter to take to her. We lived together in the YWCA when I worked in Madras. She is an executive in an advertising agency. She can help you get started. Don’t tell anyone where you are going. You can contact your parents once you are settled. It is late now. You can sleep in the guest room. I will give you some warm milk to help you sleep. Rahul, go to bed.’

I stood up, but I knew I could not leave yet. I wanted to know that everything would be all right.

Mallika started shaking. ‘I can’t do this, Mashi. I can’t … If he finds out, he will kill me. And what about Shyamala? Who will marry her? I have ruined two lives, mine and hers. Should I just go back? Oh, leaving him is a mistake, isn’t it?’

‘No, Mallika. You have to trust me. Do as I say.’ Ma’s voice was firm and strong. ‘Everything happens for a reason. Ma Durga will take care of everything. I know how to convince your parents. Your duty now is to take care of yourself first.’

Mallika stopped sobbing and started twisting the end of her dupatta. After several moments, she sat up, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, bracing herself for the challenges that awaited her. ‘All right, mashi,’ she said finally. ‘I am ready to do it. I will start a new life. I will not let that bastard have the satisfaction of beating me to the ground.’ She smiled weakly at first, then her face grew determined. After a long, long time, she reminded me of my old Mallika, and I knew she would not turn back.

I went over to her and gave her a hug, then left to go to bed.

As I was falling asleep, I heard my mother in the kitchen, heating milk and speaking to Mallika in a soothing voice.

I overslept the next day and woke up to the sound of birds chirping. Rani had slept through the entire incident. The storm had blown over. The electricity was restored.

When I went to the guest room, Mallika was gone. I ran to my mother and asked her, ‘Where is Mallika Didi?’

My mother looked serious and raising her fingers to her lips, whispered, ‘Never ever tell anyone what happened last night, Rahul. If your father finds out, he will be very angry. And it is dangerous for your Mallika Didi too. You saw the way your Sanjib Dada had hurt her. If he finds out where she is, he can kill her. Promise me, you will never tell anyone. Not even Rani. This is our secret.’

I nodded in understanding. ‘Where is Mallika Didi?’ I asked again.

‘She is safe and will let us know soon. Remember, if your father finds out, he will be very, very angry.’

I understood the need to keep a secret. I had been doing it for a year, after all. I suddenly felt very adult, a part of this subterfuge and secrecy—Ma’s secret and mine, which no one in the world would be privy to. Not even Rani.

‘I promise, Ma.’

The phone rang that afternoon, just after my father returned from his trip. He was reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of tea. I pretended to read my book.

‘Anjali Didi, how are you? What? Are you sure? You mean she did not come to you? No, I have not heard from her. What is Sanjib saying?’ Ma managed to sound genuinely shocked.

I could hear Anjali Mashi’s sobs, loud and broken, even over the telephone.

‘Why don’t you come to see us tonight?’ Ma finally said and then hung up.

Baba lowered the newspaper and looked over the top of his reading glasses at Ma. ‘Well?’ he said expectantly.

‘Mallika is not at her husband’s. She left last night in the storm and has not returned. Sanjib is livid and went to Anjali Didi’s house to look for her. But they do not know anything.’

He sat up straight, took off his glasses and exploded. ‘What a terrible thing to do! Such a selfish and ungrateful daughter Mallika turned out to be! I don’t understand these children. Give them all the best opportunities in life—and they think only of themselves in the end! If our Rani ever behaved like this …’

Ma turned and walked out of the room.

Anjali Mashi and Binesh Kaku arrived that evening. The moment Anjali Mashi saw my mother, she burst into tears. Ma embraced her.

‘There, there …’ she gently comforted her. ‘What has happened is terrible indeed, but have faith. It is always as it is meant to be.’

‘Rahul, Rani, go inside with Shyamala,’ Baba ordered.

We trooped away obediently to the dining room, but stood at the door, listening. Shyamala looked shaken up. But we were all happy for Mallika for leaving Sanjib. I ached to tell Rani and Shyamala the secret, but I knew I could not. Too much was at stake.

‘But Didi, what if she is dead? What if she has been attacked and killed in some bad neighbourhood? A girl all alone, and so beautiful too. How will she manage?’ Anjali Mashi was saying in anguished tones.

‘Mallika is intelligent and educated. She probably had some money saved up,’ Ma said in a soothing tone.

‘She has brought disgrace to us. She has rubbed black shoe polish on our faces. Everyone is going to be laughing at us!
And who will marry Shyamala after this? It is a mistake, a big mistake to let our daughters think for themselves. What am I going to tell Sanjib? He will divorce her. My daughter, a divorcee!’ Binesh Kaku’s voice shook with anger. ‘I bet she has run away to be with that no-good blighter of a Muslim boy.’

Anjali Mashi burst into a fresh torrent of tears on hearing this.

‘Binesh Dada, this is no time to be angry.’ Ma tried to placate him. ‘She will surely contact you soon. If she left her husband’s house, she must have been really unhappy.’

‘She is a wilful and disobedient girl! Sanjib is a good man, despite all his faults. He is a good provider and she is lucky to be married into a solid, traditional family like his,’ Binesh Kaku retorted.

‘This is indeed terrible. Chhee, chhee …’ Baba shook his head dolefully.

After a few minutes, my mother said, ‘Let me make some tea for us all.’

As we heard her walk towards the kitchen, we ran quietly to the veranda, where we heard from Shyamala all that had happened that day.

‘Sanjib Dada arrived this morning. I have never seen him so furious. He looked as if he had come straight from bed. His kurta pyjama was wrinkled and his hair was wild and tangled. He started shouting for Mallika Didi the moment he arrived, as if she was hiding somewhere. He looked in each room, under the beds, even in the prayer room. It was a long time before he believed that she was not there. After that, he made threats that he would divorce her if she did not come back by the end of the day. I hid upstairs until Ma asked me to come down and swore on my head that she
had not seen Mallika Didi. I think that is when he finally believed her. He left in a towering rage.’

I wished I could tell them my secret and reassure them, but I had to keep my promise.

‘I hope she has found Salim,’ Rani said softly. Shyamala and I nodded fervently.

As they left, Anjali Mashi wiped her eyes with the edge of her sari. Shoulders hunched, his eyes far away, Binesh Kaku looked old and defeated.

We did not hear about Mallika for a month. My final exams were knocking at the door and I was studying hard in the study.

‘Sanjib has filed for divorce,’ my mother told my father in the next room.

‘Chhee, chee … What is going to happen to that family now? Mallika has really made sure that they cannot hold their heads high in society any more.’ Baba was appalled. ‘Binesh is very angry with Mallika. He says he has disowned her already.’

‘How can he do this to his own daughter?’

‘I understand why he did it. Mallika has destroyed his good name in the community.’

‘So, because she left Sanjib after he abused her, she is to be punished for that?’ Ma snapped.

‘Marriage is forever. Once a man and woman are married, they need to be together, no matter what happens. What will happen to Mallika now? Do you think she will ever get married again? She will be a bloody divorcee.’

Baba said the word ‘divorcee’ in a tone that reminded me of the way Ranjan and the boys had said the word ‘homo’. There was such disgust and revulsion in the word that I remembered how I had felt when I discovered that I was different from the
boys in my class. It was becoming clear—it did not matter whether one was in school or at home, the one who broke the rules was always the one who paid the price.

‘I support her no matter what.’ Ma’s voice was steely.

I felt very proud that she had had the courage to speak the words in my heart.

‘Don’t talk like this in front of Rani and Rahul. I don’t want them to get any ideas.’

‘Are you telling me that I cannot give my daughter good advice? I think she needs to know that she has options. Do you want her to end up stuck in a marriage that she cannot escape? A marriage in which her husband beats her? Times are changing, and we need to be flexible.’

I froze in the study, alarmed by the coldness of my mother’s tone. My parents were about to start fighting. I was scared again. Would my father disown my mother and sister like Binesh Kaku was threatening to disown Mallika? It was a deeply unsettling thought.