Sita

Raghu and Shobha, lived in the town of Gulabpuri. Raghu worked in a packaging factory on daily wages and Shobha made an earning by working at some of the households helping with their domestic chores.​

They were married for eight years but life still seemed empty to both Raghu and Shobha. After years of prayers, God finally answered their desire. Sita was born.

She was a smart girl even as a little child and was a darling of the neighbours too. Sita went to a nearby school and she was a bright student at school. As a child, every evening she used to entertain her parents with the lessons from her classes.

Sita’s education had to be stopped at 10th grade because it was believed that it would be difficult to find a suitable groom for her if her education was continued. Further, Sita’s parents could not afford to fund her education anymore.

After years of physical activity, Shobha developed severe joint aches in her legs and arms and hence was unable to continue her work. The family was now dependent on the sole income of Raghu and that was barely enough to keep the family running.

Sita took over her mother’s jobs. She woke up early in the morning to finish all the work in their house before leaving to attend to the other jobs. Sita was loved by everyone. She was gentle, obedient, sincere and reliable. During festival seasons, everyone would buy her a new dress and give a big box full of sweets to take home.

In the same town lived Kishan, a well-respected man who had lost his wife as soon as their son Ram was born. Kishan refused to marry again and he brought up Ram to be an obedient and well-mannered young man.

Kishan used to run errands like grocery shopping, looking after the gardens and occasionally be a driver for the women of some well-to-do households, when they went shopping. When old-age started taking toll on Kishan, Ram took over his father’s duties. He was very sincere and punctual on his jobs and always was mindful of the respect and regard that his father had earned from others.

One day, a good friend of Kishan visited him. He approached the topic of Ram’s marriage and suggested asking for Sita’s hands in marriage to Ram. Kishan immediately took the suggestion on board and approached Raghu and Shobha. They were very delighted to hear the news and soon agreed to fix a date for the wedding.

Sita and Ram got married at a temple nearby and they lived with Kishan. Both of them continued their work. Sita also regularly visited her parents to check if they were keeping well. She would set aside a small amount from her salary and handover the rest to her mother. Shobha refused to take money from her daughter but Sita insisted and Kishan was also very supportive.

Meanwhile, news was making rounds in the town of Gulabpuri that some foreigner family was planning to move into a big bungalow that was under construction. Everybody wondered why a foreigner would move into their town, but that certainly got the town talking and buzzing with excitement in anticipation to see the occupants.

The foreigner family finally moved into the bungalow. The family consisted of a husband, wife and their little daughter. Many residents of the town volunteered to assist in unloading the furniture and setting up the house. It was an excuse for them to see the foreigner family at close quarters and talk about them to their family when they returned home.

One evening, Kishan was approached by the security guard of the bungalow. The family was looking for some domestic help and somebody to help them with random errands, as they were not familiar with the place. They were promised a very good salary. The names of Sita and Ram came to the mind as soon as this was mentioned.

When they discussed this with Sita and Ram, they initially refused the offer. But upon further coaxing from Kishan, Raghu and Shobha, they agreed to be the full-time assistants of the bungalow.

Sita was amazed by everything at the bungalow – the size of the bungalow, the rooms and polished wooden furniture, the floor that shined like a mirror, all glass utensils that she had to handle carefully, the little daughter who looked like a doll with rosy cheeks and golden hair, the soft clothes that they wore which felt like satin and slipped through her fingers, how they ate with a fork and knife and the music that the cutlery made on the plates and lot more.

What amazed her most was the bath-tub. Never had Sita seen something like this before in her life. She was surprised when the bungalow memsahib called her into the bathroom one day to help her with something. Memsahib had just stepped out of the tub and Sita could not believe that somebody could actually have a bath in it.

Ever since she saw the tub, Sita spoke about it every evening to Ram. She was fascinated by the bubbles that clung to the taps and the smell of the soap that lingered in the bathroom and on the skin.

One afternoon, when Sita was dusting the master-bedroom, she had a thought. The memsahib and family had gone out for the day. So it was just Sita in the house and Ram who was working out in the garden.

She silently rushed into the bathroom and gently closed the doors behind her. She squeezed some generous amount of bath soap into the tub. Then she filled it with warm water from the tap. Sita undressed and slipped gently into the fragrant bubble bath.

She thought she was floating in a tub of clouds. She giggled as the bubbles tickled her skin and popped as they came close to her face. The warm water felt good on her skin as she enjoyed scrubbing herself. She began humming her favourite song and splashing water with her legs in joy. Just then she noticed the door to the bathroom open.

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Image Credit: http://lkramer14.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/an-impossible-dream/​

 

Thank you Suresh! I will read yours shortly. But hang on, you call it 'short story' ???

 

I am wondering too Rgs! :thumbsup
Thanks for the appreciation.

 

Thank you!

 

Oh sorry Viswaji! There is no next part. I will leave it upto you! I would like to know too .