What's her mistake ? - 41

Nammu Aunty did not become dull just because the girl uttered the word cancer. Probably it was the exhaustion which led to the tiredness. I immediately rushed to her and held her and led her to chair and made her sit down.

The lessons of the day took place in a small room in the house of the chief, the smart lady. I bade goodbye to the children myself and led Nammu Aunty to the house.

She slept for some time and then got up to cook. It was a wonder that she could bring so much taste to an ordinary rasam! I think cooking done with shraddha makes it very tasty. The additional taste would be added when the person serves with love and affection.

She did not talk much. She carried one of the many books she brought from Dammu’s house to her bed and started reading.

I shut the house and slept.

I immediately drifted into sleep. Many people started appearing in my dream. I saw Nammu Aunty’s husband, her sons and the daughter. I saw the oncologist and Dammu. There were sequences which were totally unconnected. I woke up with a start.

“Son, did you not get sleep?” Nammu Aunty called from the room.  She must have heard me suddenly sit up and cough. ”Have a glass of water, chant the Lord’s name and go back to sleep”

I mumbled an affirmation and tried to sleep.

But now the sleep eluded me. I started wondering about the sons of Nammu Aunty. I even thought about the daughter. Is she okay now? Has she recovered from her injuries she had during the accident? May be the oncologist has the answers.

Are the sons still paying the money for Nammu Aunty? I should call the third son and check.

The day started quite early. By the time I got up, Nammu Aunty had already started preparing coffee in the kitchen.

She greeted me with a ‘good morning’ and handed over a tumbler having coffee. Like I said earlier, I must have been very lucky to drink such a heavenly coffee! I felt so happy just by having a cup of coffee prepared by Nammu Aunty.

There was a knock at the door with a young voice calling “Nammamma! Nammamma!”

Nammu Aunty opened the main door and found one of the students of yesterday’s class. In her hand was an ash gourd. “My mother wanted me to give this to you”

Nammu Aunty took it and smiled at the girl. Then she asked, “See you in the evening?”

“Yes, nammamama” the girl replied and sped to her home.

I spent some time to see whether I can do some gardening. I found the backyard was having a compound made of bougainvillea plants. So, it was safe to plant some vegetable plants.

I started cleaning and digging the place. Nammu Aunty continued reading.  She sat on a small flat stone behind the house below a Honge tree. There is a saying that the shadow of Honge is like mother’s lap. So, a ‘mother’ was sitting below the shadow of another mother’s lap!

We had Ash gourd sambhar and rice. Dammu had sent various types of pickles. So, the food was good.

Nammu Aunty looked peaceful. She even had little more food than the usual. Was it because she was feeling content here?

She did not complain of any pain or irritation. May be the medicines are showing the results. All for good! I thought feeling happy.

I found that Nammu Aunty slept for some time in the afternoon. Her lesson was to be at 5 pm.

I took the chance to call the oncologist to know about Nammu Aunty’s sons and daughter.

The oncologist said that since two months the money has not come from her sons. The daughter seemed to have a very slow recovery. But still a long way to go.

“I did not insist to her sons to send money because Damayanti has promised to look after Nammu. But I feel the sons are hatching a plot. They are too silent for comfort. Can you check please?” he said.