Shanta: The eggs in the other basket
1979
Mallika was cleaning rice at the dining table when she, Padma, and Amma joined her. This batch of rice had even more stones than usual, but Ayah-ji didn’t even see most of them and refused to go to the eye doctor. So difficult Ayah-ji was. The time of Mallika’s concussion, Ayah-ji had known very well that Mallika had forgotten her magenta saree, sweater, and shawl in the bus, but she’d kept mum till Shanta finally got it out of her. Then she had asked Ayah-ji about the other saree, the purple batik one, that Mallika had lost, and Ayah-ji had retorted, ‘What do I know, you think I work in a saree shop?’ She was the limit. Padma let Ayah-ji get away with everything.
Mallika put the thali of rice to the side and looked at them, her eyes full of app
