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| You are here: COL home > Festivals & Religion > Navarathri > Articles > Vijaya Dasami | ||||||||||||||||
Vijayadasami
What could poor Yechumu do? Or her mother, Chinnamma? Chinnamma's husband ran a club, unsuccessfully. When it failed and creditors started coming for their money, he ran away leaving no trace. From that day, the burden of running the household fell on Chinnamma's shoulders. She tried to make ends meet by doing odd jobs, pounding flour, grinding dough, household work, cooking. She also got a job in Lawyer Vedandham Iyer's house as a cook for a measly wage of Rs.5. Not only was this pitiful sum inadequate to feed the two of them, she also had to pay a rupee and a half from that towards house rent. In such a situation, who wanted Navarathri, thought Chinnamma. Could she be blamed for thinking so? After all, Navarathri was not going to ease her circumstances, was it? When little Yechumu saw the beautiful Navarathri dolls in the shops, she told Chinnamma: "Mother: I am going to keep kolu in our house too -- all of six steps! Will you make sundal for me?" Chinnamma was quite cross. "Where would you go for dolls, you silly girl? As if your father left you some ancestral property! You want to keep kolu, as if you are the daughter of the Delhi Badshah!" Poor Yechumu! What did she know of rich and poor? "But why is it I don't have any dolls? Why don't you get me some?" she asked, hugging her mother's legs. Chinnamma's heart melted. She tried to explain. "You silly girl! Were would I go for the money? I don't have any money, little one, - just my mangalsutra. What do you want me to do?" But Yechumu was persistent. "Why is it you don't have any money, mother? Everyone has lots of money. The lawyer's wife has pots of it! Why don't you ask her for some?" Her harried mother didn't know what to say. She looked around her, at the ragged state of their lives, and said, "We will see." She wiped the tears from her eyes and went out. Those words sparked hope in Yechumu. She visited each of her friends and spoke of the kolu she was going to have. A big one, with six steps! And they were going to buy the dolls soon! Navarathri evening -- but no sign of the dolls! Poor Yechumu was on the verge of tears. She fought with her mother, demanded her dolls 'now' and cried her heart out. Her mother could only hug the little child and stroke her hair. Yechumu refused to eat that night and cried herself to sleep. For a long time, Chinnamma sat near the well that night, wondering if she could summon up the courage to ask her mistress for a loan. After all, this was the festival season. On the other hand, her mistress might think, " Here she is, employed just two weeks and already begging for a loan". Worse, she might even say so to her face! At least now, she was getting some money and she was able to buy a little food. What if even that came to an end? There was no answer and she slowly drifted off to sleep. Page 1 of 3 >> Other
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