Not again. This was the nth time I am listening to everybody repeating the same word. I am sleepy and hungry but nobody cares. I rubbed my eyes again to make it clear how sleepy I was. Nobody even noticed me.

"Bye Chaitra, bye Manvendra, bye Anika. Happy journey! Call us when you reach Aurangabad. Tell us about your train journey," screamed someone.

Here we go again. This time I cried loudly so that the familiar-scent lady hears me. Sure enough she did. She sat down and made me lie on her lap. A dark fabric enveloped me.

"Evandi, going to Aurangabad is necessary? I mean Anika is still an eleven months old baby. How will I take care of her, alone?"

"I am there to help you," he replied.

"Inka chal andi, you won't be in house for twelve hours; you sleep for eight hours, remaining four hours is enough to spend with your child?"

"See I was missing this rant of yours."

"This flattery doesn't answer my question."

"What do you expect me to do? I have to earn for my family."

Again they started talking. Why can't they let me sleep peacefully? Why is this place shaking so much?

*

"Aiyyoo Anika! This is the fifth time you're peeing. I am just sick of cleaning this. In another four hours, I don't know how many times I am supposed to clean this," scolded the familiar-scent lady. What is that sound?

"Your father says that he will be helping me but look at him, sleeping like a log. He has the audacity to snore when I am cleaning here. Just because I am staying at my Amma's house is a problem for him. How can I stay in Hosur when there is a water problem? How will he know how much water is needed, especially for babies."

What's she telling?

"Chaitra, I heard everything."

"Praise Lord Shiva! I am glad you heard it. I don't have to repeat anything. Since you have got up, take care of her, I will go and wash these blankets."

"You're washing them here?"

"I am washing with plain water. After reaching home I will wash them properly. You don't have to tell me what to do, I have been doing this for the past ten months."

"Chaitra-"

I saw her disappearing in the dim light. Where did she go? I started crying. "Baby, don't cry, your father will sing a lullaby for you."

He started singing something which I didn't like. So, I started crying again.

"You can't even take care of her for five minutes."

Upon seeing her, I stopped crying. She tucked me with another set of blankets and sang me to sleep.

***

I. Don't. Like. This. Why is it so cold? Here I go, and I start crying. Then I was hushed, patted with a towel, massaged with lotion and dressed with layers of clothes.

"Chaitra, are you both ready?"

"Yes, we are ready. We will be in a minute," she replied. I was lifted from the bed and taken into her arms. From there we walked to some place where I was handed over to someone. I know him. I have seen him many times. We all started walking towards the stairs. Step by step we got down carefully.

No sooner did we reach the road than I heard some sound. I was scared yet I didn't cry. Not exactly but I was about to cry. the familiar-scent lady saw my face and tickled me around my neck. I started laughing.

"Anika, that was just a dog barking loudly," she was trying to explain. Suddenly he screamed, "Arre baap re! Anika look that squirrel is climbing on the tree."

He pointed towards a tree. I tried to look at it. I see something is moving. Something small. But I can't exactly figure out what it is. We continued to walk until we reached a tall red box. It looks nice. Why have stopped here?

He opened the door and held something in his hand. I saw him pressing something and tapping his fingers. Then he started talking, "Hello. . . I am good. How is everyone?. . . Yes, we are calling from PCO. . . We will fix Sunday evening calls? It will be convenient for us. . . surprise? What surprise? Please Amma, break the suspense now, I might have to leave for Mumbai. . . you cannot be serious? Okay, I will call Arun and confirm it once."

Suddenly, I felt the grip around my arm tightening. "You've to go to Mumbai? For how many days? You didn't even tell me. What happened to your promise that you will help me in taking care of her? If you had to go to Mumbai, why did you bring me here?"

"Maybe Arun and Pratap are coming to Aurangabad," he replied and started pressing something. "What!"

"Your brother and my brother are coming to stay with us."

"I heard for the first time. Now how will I cook for them? Aiyyoo, what am I supposed to-"

"Hello. . . Namaskara. . . I came to know from my mother that Arun and. . . that's wonderful. . . When are they going to come?. . . Next Saturday?. . . okay. . . I will give the phone to Chaitra."

He gave that black coloured receiver and took me from her arms. We both left the rectangular box. It was suffocating inside the box. This feels so good. I was staring at strange things around me. He was telling the names of these things but I couldn't remember any of them.

When the the familiar-scent lady came out of that box and gave something to a man standing next to it, I was happy to see her. I wanted to go back to her arms but she didn't take me. I started crying as she ignored me. But through the walk, nobody talked except my giggles.

***

Telugu translation:

Inka chal andi: That's enough