As she stared at the weeping woman, Sugandhi suddenly realized that she had not heard her husband’s voice for quite some time.
“Don’t cry, Selvi. I’ll go check on your uncle and come back. We’ll talk,” she said, returning to the front room.
But in answer to her thoughts, all she found was her husband’s fixed stare. It seemed as though life had already departed from that suffering body through his eyes and journeyed into the vast solitude beyond. Soon, messages began flying through mobile phones, and the events that had to happen began to unfold.
“Was it only after her husband died that Malliga’s life changed, or had it begun before that?” Sugandhi’s mind murmured as she sat beside her husband’s body, her attention fixed on the corpse.
“After her husband died, Malliga stayed at her elder brother’s house and raised her child. I shouldn’t say this without mentioning it—Sugandhi spent generously on the education and expenses of her daughter-in-law and grandson. That is why he is doing so well today. Jona has got a job in America and is taking his mother there. He is a good boy.”
Details about Sugandhi’s family were being shared among the people who had come to the house of mourning.
The funeral rites for Sugandhi’s husband were completed, as were the customary ceremonies, and everyone began leaving for their respective homes.
Her daughter repeatedly asked Sugandhi to come and stay with them, but her mother refused. She said she would visit from time to time. Jona too asked his grandmother to come to America with him, but Sugandhi refused.
“Grandma, why stay here alone? You can come and live with us, can’t you?”
“Until now, Grandma can still walk well and see well, Jona dear. When I can’t manage anymore, you will come and look after me, won’t you? For all these years, I have not seen the outside world. Let me see all of this for a little longer.”
Jona’s heart ached as he thought about what his grandmother had really seen during all those years—apart from his grandfather’s phlegm, faeces and urine.
Even when Jona offered to arrange a full-time helper and a driver, Sugandhi refused. Instead, he arranged for someone local to come whenever necessary and made sure there was a driver nearby whom she could call whenever she needed. Only after making all these arrangements did Jona leave for his maternal uncle’s house, from where he would travel to America with his mother.
Jona touched his grandmother’s feet. Sugandhi drew a cross on his forehead and asked him:
“You remember what I told you, don’t you, dear?”
“I remember it very well, Grandma. Whenever I marry, I must respect the woman who comes into my life as my wife as a human being and take good care of her.”
“Hmm… You must remember that even when I am no longer here. That is why I did not let you grow up in this village. Your uncle is a good man. I sent you to live with him so that you would grow up watching him.”
“You will see my wedding too, Grandma, and you will see my children’s weddings as well.” He kissed her cheek.
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