Ministrations from both Rudra and maasa seemed to have cooled down taisa.

"Don't reproach yourself Mahadevi. I know it's all Rudra's fault. You love him too much to deny him anything" taisa said giving a mock slap on Rudra's shoulder.

"You have always been the support system of our family. I can never accuse you of ever going wrong. I don't mind what the children do till the time no one accuse our family of losing their values".

I could see all the love pouring out of taisa's eyes for maasa. Though she had orthodox views, full credit had to be given to her for trying to excuse her children where she felt she could be lenient without harming the reputation of the family. Then again my feelings for her changed as I saw her in a new light and declared her company as quite livable, in my mind.

"Lekha dear don't let my words cower you down. I was just a bit taken aback by your dress. Come here sit beside me. Rudra, move aside and make space. I am still not done with you. I will talk to you later. "

I smirked at Rudra, a childish part of me wanted to stick out my tongue at him but then in this world I was considered an almost adult. I coyly sat beside taisa feeling like a person who got a surprise promotion. Taisa put her hand on my head and smiled.

"I can never be really angry with Mahadevi's daughter. If she is able to ingrain even half of her values in you I will feel proud to have a daughter-in-law like you. Not that I am not happy to get a daughter like you as you are right now".

I could sense her generosity towards me in that last line. In a way it was a relief for me that I didn't have to struggle much trying to find ways and means to please her. I made a resolution right there that if she was being so benevolent towards me, I would also try my level best to learn the ways of life here and make her proud. Even if it was for a short span, at least she would think fondly of me after I had vanished. I still wondered about when I might be transported back suddenly. I could make no head or tail of how I got here and what would trigger the 'back to the future' path.

Holi the festival of colors

"A week from today is Holi (an Indian festival of colors) jeeji, have you decided how we will celebrate this time? This is the first Holi of our lado (darling daughter) with us" said maasa looking at me, radiating love through her eyes.

"Oh! Yes... how could I forget? We will make it a grand celebration. We have to surpass all the Holis' lado had celebrated previously in her wanderings."Pride filled taisa's voice as she looked confident that I would indeed be surprised by the outcome. I smiled widely at her, nodding my head in happiness. Holi had always been my favorite festival, especially the part where we played with water.

"O... and maamisa it will also be the first Holi of bhaisa and jeeji together" exclaimed Lajo gleefully clasping her hand. I felt like clasping her mouthpiece with both my hands and never letting it go. My face had turned red from embarrassment and I couldn't even look at anyone.

"You should learn to call her bhabisa(sister in law)..."interrupted taisa but was stopped in mid sentence by the protests raised over the form of address, each girl citing her own say in the matter. I too grinned widely at their protest with my head down as was still feeling embarrassed. To me too jeeji did sound a much closer relation then bhabisa.

"Okay ...Okay... call her what you will. This generation has lost all sense of relations. How you manage Mahadevi I sometimes wonder"said taisa, her hands raised in universal gesture of surrender.

I realized how funny it sounded when the older generation degraded the senses of the newer one, especially as it was again repeated in our time. The whole embarrassing part was forgotten as the new debate started.

Maasa had to interfere to bring back the decorum. Jobs were assigned to all for Holi celebrations. The only work I got was to take help of few girls and make a new light colored dress for myself for playing Holi in. Generally people wore old clothes for playing Holi and donated them to the needy after washing out the color but since it was my first Holi with them, I was made to feel privilege. Maasa it seemed knowing my past wanted my experience to be extra special.

Since the schedule was tight the lessons were postponed by maasa. I tried to participate in various activities but wasn't allowed to do any strenuous tasks or maybe they feared disastrous results.

Gujiyas

The best part was eating hot gujjias(stuffed pastry sweet) after it had been freshly fried. Loads of other sweets were being prepared but this one had been my all time favorite right from childhood when my mother made it for the family.

Lots of village ladies had gathered with their set of rolling pins to roll out the dough for gujiyas. It seemed to be a kind of tradition that all the ladies of the village helped each other in making gujiyas so that loads of the auspicious sweet could be prepared in all homes. A kind of timetable was followed by all, as to which house was to be visited on which day. They all gathered up generally in the afternoon after finishing all their house work. It was and still is a tedious process especially when made in bulk.

I too helped in stuffing the filling though the sealing part was tricky. In our times we used moulds but here it had to be twist folded properly so that the filling didn't ooze out while frying. Lajo was a great help here as she demonstrated all kinds of designs I could make on the edge. As I got the hang of how much to fill and how to seal the pastry it became more of a fun job. The rolling of the pastry sheets was a bit daunting task for me as it had to be rolled out in a circle and had to be sheer, so I stayed away from that.

The ladies accomplished the task with loads of laughter and songs which I still couldn't get the hang of especially when they sang in a chorus. It at least wasn't a show stopper in my entertainment as I had plenty of people to gossip around me. The women were curious about me and asked all kinds of questions but I had been mentally prepared for it. I could feel the budding Sherlock Holmes in some, especially the mothers with marriageable daughters who might just be repenting missing out on the opportunity to woo Rudra for their lovelies. Gayatri and Vasundhara always on the vigil for such hecklers always turned up by my side when needed.

Outside in the courtyard it was a very men oriented scene. Large vessels had been installed in the courtyard where the colors were being prepared for the festival. Some were being boiled and some just soaked. I was instructed not to venture out as the men were all around busy with preparations. Though it was a modern household of 16th century there were some rules which were quite strict and one of them was to stay away from the gathering of men when they were not part of the family.

Jharokas

The inquisitive being in me though had a peek at all the forbidden activities through hidden jharokas(windows), the space between the door hinges and from the shadows on the roof top. Lajo for once was a great ally in these spying missions as the other girls had their assigned tasks to fulfill. She was so enthusiastic that sometimes I feared that she might get us caught.

We did get caught one afternoon as we stood hidden in a shaded corner of the roof covered by the branches of the huge neem tree. It seemed a great hiding place at that time as the neem camouflaged us from the people below and we could see the activities below without being observed. It seemed we were wrong, especially when it came to the trained eyes of a soldier.

Sorry for the delay guys, had laptop trouble. Hope for faster updates. :)

Do write what you feel about this chapter. More festivities ahead :D

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