After surveying the entire area, the three of them returned by afternoon. The eight-acre land was not all in one place. There was sugarcane in front of the house, a pomegranate orchard half a kilometer away, and a well near the river about one kilometer from there, with a small patch of land as well.
The aunt and her son immediately went back to their home. My husband ate lunch and rested for a while, and then we started cleaning the house.
Inside, on one side, there was their old cot. They had placed all the farming tools on it. On another side, there were nine or ten bundles of wheat. They removed the nets, cleaned the house, and spread out all the bedding.
I thought that after cleaning the house, the strong smell would at least go away. But the things on the cot remained the same, and they couldn’t be taken outside either. So, the smell didn’t disappear. I didn’t want to stay inside the house because the smell gave me headaches. I decided that until I got used to it, I would cook outside and sleep outside as well.
The doorway stayed shaded throughout the day. By evening, everything was settled. The buffalo was once again washed with sour water. Since I was used to cooking on a stove, I set up a fire outside and cooked there. The children ate and then fell asleep. After milking the buffalo, that evening, twelve women took me to twelve different houses. At their homes, they shared all the information about me. Every woman has this habit — to tell their husband about everything that happened during the day in the evening.
Just as we were about to sit down for a meal, an old man arrived. Everyone called him “Aba.” He owned a pair of oxen and came to say, “If you need any work done in the fields from now on, just let me know.” Though he was quite old, he still took the oxen to plow and sow the fields.
After he left, we had our meal, and then my husband went to start the motor near the well.
I was alone. The children were asleep. Vehicles were passing by on the road, so I didn’t feel scared. There wasn’t a single house attached to ours, so the atmosphere was completely peaceful. Darkness was all around, and the air was open and free. I felt like I had come to live in a good place. I was sure that my household would be settled well here.
But I didn’t know that from the very next day, my fate was about to change. Sorrow, struggle, hardship, tension, and the daily question of how to live — all these were going to happen to me. I had no idea this was coming. Bringing good thoughts to my mind, I fell asleep.
In my opinion, both the laborer and the owner need work. No matter how much land a person owns, they cannot cultivate it alone. And if we go to work for someone, does that make us any less than them? Our life changed with a daily wage of seventy rupees. The “Oh Dada!” became “Hey Dadya!” The very first thing that made my heart feel bad after going there was this.