There were still a couple of bites of food left on the plate when a strange, whimpering sound began coming from the room. Shobha was standing beside her father. When Ram Anjor looked at her questioningly, she said,
“Babu… you eat. I’ll go check.”
Responsibility had forced the girls to grow up before their time. Shobha knew that one didn’t get up after abandoning a meal—or leaving a served plate unfinished. She ran to her mother. Piyari was twisting half her body restlessly, breathing rapidly, and the strange sound was coming from her throat and nose.
Shobha quickly sat beside her mother on the cot and rubbed her body, speaking anxiously.
“What happened, Ma…? Does it hurt that badly? Don’t worry. I’ll send Babu to Vaidya Babba’s house right now. He’s practically finished eating. There are only two bites left.”
But it was as though Piyari couldn’t hear Shobha’s voice at all. The child wasn’t strong enough to support her. Her tiny wrists didn’t have the strength to steady a body whose soul was preparing to depart. When her mother paid no attention to her words, Shobha screamed again from where she sat.
“Babu…! Babu…! Come look! Look at what Ma is doing… what’s happening to her…!”
Hearing Shobha’s voice, Ram Anjor quickly washed his hands and hurried to Piyari, wiping them on his dhoti as he came.
The moment he saw Piyari writhing on the cot, Ram Anjor understood that she was about to leave this world of illusion and begin her eternal journey. The sudden improvement in her condition that morning had already planted a seed of doubt in his mind. Could it have been the brief flare of a lamp just before it goes out? His fear had come true.
He quietly came and sat by Piyari’s head. Helpless, Ram Anjor knew there was nothing he could do. All he could do was sit there in despair and watch everything happen before his eyes.
By then, Babhna, Parbha, and Jagdev were standing around their mother’s cot. Ram Anjor seated Hardev beside Piyari, hoping that the saying was true—that a mother’s life force dwelled in her children. Perhaps her departing soul would return out of love for her nursing infant. Perhaps Yamaraj might show mercy, if not to anyone else, then at least to this innocent child, and change his decision to take Piyari’s life. Hardev began pulling at the sari covering his mother’s chest. He tugged at it again and again, rubbing his mouth against it after pushing the fabric aside, trying to satisfy his hunger.
But no miracle came.
Piyari’s condition continued to worsen.
Seeing no other option, the despairing Ram Anjor decided that since Piyari had never known peace or comfort in life, she should at least be allowed to make her final journey in peace.
The children screamed and sobbed at the sight of their mother’s condition. Hearing them cry, Ram Anjor’s mother, his brothers, and their wives all came running. Everyone nearby who heard the commotion rushed over as well.
But before Ram Anjor could do anything, his mother Godavari arrived. She quickly told the eldest daughter-in-law to bring tulsi leaves and Ganges water.
As soon as they arrived, she had Ram Anjor place the tulsi leaves and Ganges water in Piyari’s mouth. Then she gave him a coin and had him perform a cow donation.
It was as though Piyari’s soul had been waiting only for these rituals. The moment the cow donation was completed, her eyes rolled back and her body went still. Still hungry, Hardev let out a scream with all his strength.
Before Hardev had even turned one, Piyari closed her eyes forever. It seemed this was the only way she could escape all her troubles… all her suffering.
Ram Anjor’s mother, Godavari, lifted little Hardev from beside Piyari and held him against her chest. Wiping away her tears, she pulled both her grandsons tightly into her arms.
Piyari was taken down from the cot and laid outside on straw spread across the ground. Ram Anjor seemed to have lost all sense and reason. His eyes were dry. He sat outside beside Piyari on the ground, his head resting in his hands. He couldn’t understand how he was supposed to face this sudden disaster…
Even unwillingly, Ram Anjor’s father and brothers had to protect the family’s honor in the village community. So they began preparing to perform Piyari’s last rites according to tradition.
Just a few hours later, Piyari was wrapped in a bright red sari, vivid mahawar painted on her feet, while Ram Anjor filled the part in her hair with vermilion. As soon as this final ritual was complete, everyone lifted Piyari onto their shoulders and set off. All five children followed behind for some distance. Little Hardev clung to Babhna in her arms.
Before long, the purification and thirteenth-day rites were completed as well. Babhna became the head of the entire household. It was now her responsibility to raise all her brothers and sisters like a mother. With the wisdom of the eldest, she took on the burden of the whole family.
And Godavari… it was as though all her bitterness had been washed away when Piyari died. She tried her best to care for her grandsons and granddaughters. But her other sons and daughters-in-law disliked seeing their mother sympathize with the youngest son’s family. They absolutely could not tolerate her having anything to do with them. The household was theirs now, and everything went according to their wishes. Their parents had become nothing more than decorations at the doorway. If they no longer earned money, then they had no right to spend it either.
Regretting the way they had treated Ram Anjor before, they did their best to help him. Defying the entire household, they would give the children milk.
Babhna was growing up now. Ram Anjor felt ashamed to take her to the temple, and between fulfilling the responsibilities of the household, he had no time either.