I is for... Ila ki Amma

Ila ki Amma carefully rolled up her ponytail into a bun and tucked her cotton blue saree on her rather hefty waist. She then separated the big dishes from the small and started rubbing them one by one with dishwashing soap.

She hummed music from Bollywood while washing the plates, then sang folk songs while doing laundry, and while she mopped the floor, she chuckled from time to time, perhaps thinking of some funny anecdote which she would share with Mummy later.

After finishing all her work, Ila ki Amma sat on the chauki in the kitchen, dunked Parle G in her chai, and spoke to Mummy about her day(s).

‘I’ve told you many times to give Bitiya sugar and curd in the morning during her exams, but you always forget. She will come fusht, I am telling you,’ I heard Ila ki Amma tell Mummy. Ila always sported a big round black dot of kajal on her forehead till she passed class 7. I don’t know if she ever came fusht, but she did ward off evil. ‘Kaala tikka protected Ila from the monkey that entered our house 10 years back, you have to trust these things,’ she repeated the story for the hundredth time.

When Ila turned 14, she revolted, and her mother could not fight her way back onto her forehead. They didn’t speak for a week; Mummy had found out.

After sharing her wisdom on yoghurt and sugar, Ila ki Amma left our home for the next one. ‘I will come,’ she declared while leaving because I am going was a wrong thing to say.

She worked five houses including ours. Each home had a devi of a Bhabhi and a devta of a Bhaiya. Roma aunty cut her salary from time to time, but Ila ki Amma 'understood' and blamed it on their financial troubles. ‘Where will you find such a maid who is always so bubbly,’ Mummy said to Daddy when he grumbled about her singing.

‘She is too much. Very noisy,’ Daddy complained reading the newspaper. ‘Where does she stay? U.P. administration has ordered demolition of a long list of jhopdis near our house. I wonder if she will have a place to live from tomorrow.’

This was serious. There was a lot of illegal construction near our locality which was home to many low-wage income workers. The government interfered from time to time, but they were resilient. Whenever they pulled down a series of homes, the workers would find temporary accommodation at their relatives, and build back after a few weeks. ‘Where else can we go, this is our home and close to where we work,’ Ila ki Amma would defend.

Next day Ila ki Amma didn’t come till 11 a.m. Mummy got worried if her house was destroyed and she was now homeless. She started doing the dishes with my help and prayed everything to be ok.

We weren’t expecting her the next day too, so we finished the chores early in the morning. At 9.30, Ila ki Amma entered our home with a morose look on her face.

‘What happened? We heard about the demolition.’ Mummy asked her with concern.

‘Oh yes, municipality sent cranes yesterday and broke our doors and windows. We had to pack everything and leave.’

‘You could have taken leave today also, why did you come?’

‘Why wouldn’t I come? We already knew about this since last week and so I had shifted everything to my brother’s house two days back.’

‘Oh, I thought you must have been under stress yesterday so that is why you didn’t come.’ Mummy said.

‘Arre nahi, Bhabhi. Actually, yesterday when I was leaving for your house from Savitri bhabhi’s house a black cat crossed my path. You know what an evil omen that is. I had to turn back and go back to my brother’s house. Too much risk.’

Mummy took the chauki in the kitchen and sat down with her palm on her forehead. Ila ki Amma was an item.

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This story is a part of AtoZ challenge by Blogchatter. For the 2020 challenge, I'll be writing some travel stories and some stories that originate in my life but find a way into this blog through fiction. I am new at this, so please be kind!!!