by Sharon Maas
Inside it was cool, damp, musty, dark. David walked from room to room throwing open the shutters, but even then no sunshine entered the rooms for the verandah encircling the house kept out the glare — that was its purpose. The rooms were empty, except for the little servants' area where Fiona had lived out her last years. Forlorn, neglected, violated by time, the house seemed to cringe under their inspection, as if ashamed of its nakedness, of the blue-green mould covering the tiles and creeping up the once immaculate walls.
'It's huge,' said Saroj. 'What a pity no-one lives here, no-one cares, no-one looks after it. What a waste!'
'Now Fiona's gone maybe we could sell it, or else…' David began.
'I've got a much better idea,' Nat broke in. 'We'll clean it up. Get the garden put straight. And Saroj moves in when she starts at university.'
'Live here?' Saroj exclaimed. 'But it's much too big for me alone. I'd be lost!'
'You needn't live in the whole house. We'll begin with the front room and the verandah and the kitchen. And you needn't be here alone. Gita and Parvati can live here too. They'd both prefer to be near you in Madras than up country with me and Dad. And if you live in the city it wouldn't be much fun for Gita, but here…’
'It'd be perfect!' Saroj caught Nat's thought and as it took root her eyes began to shine. 'She'd be just like Savitri, living in paradise — but what about school?'
'Henry can move in too. He can teach her just as well here as in the village, the way he taught the Fairwinds children back then. What about it, Henry? Wouldn't you like to come back to Fairwinds?'
'Would I ever!'
'But... Savitri wasn't alone. She had me to play with,' objected David. 'Gita'd die of loneliness here, paradise or not. You know what she's like. You know how she needs friends, other children around her!'
'Well, why shouldn't she have them? If Henry's going to teach her he can teach others as well. Bring in some children — from the neighbourhood.'
'A school! That's what we'll do! Open a school for girls! Girls from the poorest families, bright little girls, eager to learn…'
'Oh, yes! I can just imagine it — so many rooms, so many classrooms…' Saroj almost ran out of the door and into the next room, seeing it all in her mind's eye, the little girls at their desks, shining dark eyes turned on the teacher, the chant of eager voices, their cries as they ran out at break, pigtails flying and skirts whirling, little bare feet pattering around the verandah. A playground, she thought. Swings, a seesaw… Fresh milk every day… We'll keep some cows. Someone to cook lunch… A Tamil teacher, art, music, a gymnasium…
'There's not enough room for everything,' she said. 'We need the whole house for classrooms. We'll build another house, a small one, living quarters for me and Gita and Parvati — over there — come Nat, let me show you, and maybe a boarding house for girls from the country, and —'
She took Nat's hand and dragged him down the verandah steps into the garden, pointing, exclaiming, gesturing.
David and Henry followed slowly.
'I've never seen her like this before,' David marvelled. Saroj had proved, till now, an interested, diligent, yet somehow restrained daughter-in-law, trying hard to find her bearings but never completely connecting. The dedication was all there but something was lacking. A vital spark? Zest, spirit, an elusive factor X? A certain glow, inimitable, ineffable. The thing beneath the surface, beyond technique: inspiration, imagination. Soul. Vision. Love.
As they joined her and Nat he said, 'We were just saying, Saroj, are you quite sure you want to be a gynaecologist? What about teaching as a vocation?'
Saroj threw back her head with a laugh. She put her arm around Nat's waist, leaning into him. 'No, no, I know what I want, and I know where I belong. But it'll take a few years to get there, and by then this —' she spread her arms to embrace all of Fairwinds '— should be on its feet and walking. We'll name it after Savitri. We'll dedicate it to her. The Savitri Iyer School. The SIS.'
David's eyes met Nat's and they both smiled. 'You know what, Saroj?' David said. 'I recognise the symptoms. You've got the Savitri fever. You'll never recover.'
Letter from Sharon
First of all, I want to say a huge thank you for choosing Of Marriageable Age, I hope you enjoyed reading Savitri, Nat and Saroj’s story just as much as I loved writing it.
If you did enjoy it, I would be forever grateful if you’d write a review. I’d love to hear what you think, and it can also help other readers discover one of my books for the first time.
Also, if you’d like to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the website link below.
A story is a wonderful thing to share with others—it connects us in so many ways, makes us all part of the same world, unites us in spirit. If that’s how you feel too, I’d love to hear from you—drop me a line on my Facebook or Goodreads page, or through my website.
Thank you so much for your support – until next time.
Sharon Maas
sharonmaasauthor
www.bookouture.com/sharonmaas
Glossary
Advaita — Non-duality; philosophical doctrine that nothing exists apart from the Spirit, that all forms are constituted of Spirit and physical differences are but illusion. The principal doctrinal division in Hinduism is between the schools of Advaita and Dvaita, duality, whereas Advaita is considered a natural development from Dvaita.
Ahamkara — sense of 'I', ego
Amma — Tamil: mother
Appa — Tamil: father
Arathi — the slow waving of a sacred flame during worship
Asramam — Tamil: ashram, spiritual centre, hermitage
Bhakti — spiritual love, devotion to God
Brahmin — member of the priestly caste in Hinduism
Dhal puri — flat bread filled with split-peas
Dhobi — Washerman, washerwoman
Dravidian — dark-skinned original inhabitant of South India
Dvaita — Duality. Dvaitists worship a Personal God separate from the worshipper — see Advaita.
Fakir — religious mendicant
Iddly — rice cake of South India
Jaggary — dumpy brown sugar
Kama — eroticism, sensual desire
Kolam — elaborate chalk or powder pattern before the threshold of a house or temple
Ksatriya — member of the warrior caste in Hinduism
Kum-kum — red powder worn on forehead
Kurta pyjamas — knee-length shirt or tunic worn over cotton drawstring trousers
Lingam — upright stone pillar representing Shiva or the Absolute
Lungi — wide cloth wrapped about the hips, typical men's wear in South India
Mantra — a sacred formula used as an incantation
Mitthai — a crisply fried sweet bread
Mudra — positions of hands and fingers in Indian dance, each with a specific meaning
Patti — Tamil: grandmother
Pradakshina — walking clockwise in a circle around a temple or a shine Puja — ritualistic worship
Rajasic — tendency outwards into activity; desire, aggression, ambition
Rudrakshra beads — rosary of beads dedicated to Shiva, used in the repetition of mantras
Sambar — spicy South Indian dish eaten with rice
Sannyasin — one who in quest of God has renounced home, property, caste and all worldly attachments and desires. Wears an ochre-coloured robe.
Sattvic — tendency inwards towards light; spirituality, purity, bliss
Shalwar kameez — women's wear consisting of knee-length dress over wide trousers
Sharpai — simple bed consisting of wooden framework and strapped surface
Shehnai — musical instrument like an oboe, often played at weddings in North India
Sruti — scriptural text, musical term
Tamasic — tendency into matter; darkness, sloth, ignorance
Tamby — Tamil: “little brother”, “little boy”
Tapasvi — person performing religious abstinence, austerities
Thatha — Tamil: grandfather
Tinnai — raised platform or front porch of a South Indian home
Vibhuti — sacred ash