Our Mindset Episode 10
I had no idea the electricity schedule had changed in the morning.
The water I had stored yesterday ran out by the time I made tea. There was no water left for cooking or drinking.
When I asked my husband, he said, “The power was out since 4 PM yesterday. It’ll come back at 4 PM today.”
I asked, “What about water until then?”
“There’s a water tank near the school. I’ll bring some, but first, I need to spread the corn. The machine is coming soon for processing.”
Just then, the landlady arrived. Ever since we had come here, I wasn’t sure if my aunt-in-law ever actually slept or not.
Now that she had labor available, she wasn’t sure how much work was too much. Sitting comfortably in her vehicle, she instructed me, “Come to the field when the machine arrives. We need to start processing the corn.”
This was the first time she had actually started giving me tasks in the field.
The leftover chapatis from the night before were eaten by the children with tea. For a moment, I felt relieved that their hunger was satisfied. Since my husband still hadn’t returned, I went to the field. He was still gathering the corn stalks in one place.
I said, “Please bring water first.”
He replied, “I’m clearing the area for the machine. I’ll be there as soon as I finish this.”
Trusting that he would come soon, I returned home. But time kept passing, and he didn’t show up.
Now the children were asking for water. “Papa will bring it when he comes back. Play for a little while,” I consoled them.
After waiting a little longer, I sent Aparna with a brass pot to a neighbor’s house to fetch some water. The little that was left after they drank, I drank myself.
I told them to keep playing for a while and went back to the field. There, under a coconut tree, my husband was eating the lunch that my aunt-in-law had brought.
He had a bottle of water beside him. Every day, my aunt-in-law brought two or three bottles of refrigerated water with her. She never drank from the well in the field.
Seeing him sitting there, eating, while knowing that there was no drinking water at home for the children, hurt me deeply. Without saying a word, I walked away.
I thought that seeing me upset would make him follow me back. But he never came. He didn’t feel the need. He was satisfied.
Soon, the children started asking for food.
There were some leftover puffed rice from the market, so I gave them that. But then I worried—what if they asked for water afterward?
Panicked, I rushed back to the field. He was filling sacks with corn.
Before I could say anything, my aunt-in-law said, “Help fill the remaining corn sacks. Once it’s done, he’ll bring you water before the machine arrives.”
Holding onto the hope of finally getting water, I started filling the sacks as fast as I could. But my luck had abandoned me, while my aunt-in-law’s fortune flourished.
Just then, Mangu arrived with the corn-processing machine. We still had some corn left to pack.
Seeing this, the machine operator said, “If you need more time, I’ll go process Lakshman Anna’s corn first and come back around 4 PM.”
My aunt-in-law quickly assured him that the sacks were ready and even started working herself.
I turned to my husband and pleaded, “Please bring water first.”
Mangu snapped, “Should I stop the machine now just to bring you water? There’s a water tank by the roadside—go get it yourself, or wait another hour until the corn is done.”