Read This Is Not That Dawn: Jhootha Sach for Free Online

Sheelo in school. Even though she was just fifteen, people thought she was older at least by a couple of years. She was even the same height as her elder brother.
    Tara’s mother was unhappy about her husband’s unrealistic ideas. What need was there to educate a girl so much, and so quickly? Who would be tempted by the dowry of a poor schoolteacher’s daughter? Masterji’s expectation that his daughter’s intelligence and education would attract a bridegroom was being proven false. Only the wife of her husband’s elder brother could be of any help to Tara’s mother in such a difficult situation. For this reason, even at the risk of neglecting all her work at home, Bhagwanti went to her sister-in-law’s house to lend a hand in the making of papad and
bariyan
, and to spin cotton stuffing from old quilts for making dhurries.
    Sheelo’s mother was two years younger than Tara’s mother, but being the wife of the elder brother, her status was that of the senior daughter-in-law. A woman’s standing is the reflection of her husband’s social position. Ramjwaya’s first wife had died after giving birth to a son. Ramjwaya’s second marriage brought Sheelo’s mother into the family. As is customary, she got more care and attention.
    She had a fondness and taste for dressing up. She would not go out without wearing silk. Tara’s mother’s clothing and behaviour appeared lacklustre and inferior when she walked beside her elder sister-in-law. Wrapped in a thick muslin chadar and wearing a discoloured silken lehanga or shalwar, Tara’s mother seemed five years older than her age. She had been wearing the same two one-tola gold bangles on her wrists since her marriage. Sheelo’s mother wore two tissue-paper thin, well-starched ‘chhabbi’ brand muslin dupattas together that looked white and frothy as foam. Different gold bracelets and bangles appeared on her wrists. Her smooth glowing face and her pride in her youthfulness made her look even younger. She also carried herself with authority.
    There was the same contrast between Master Ramlubhaya and BabuRamjwaya. Masterji always had a worn look, and wore a round brown hat and a coat that buttoned up to the neck. Out of thriftiness he always shaved his own beard; moreover, he only had Mondays and Thursdays off from school, and he never bothered to shave his chin on those two days. His moustache, two-thirds white, covered his lips, and after drinking water he always had to wipe it dry.
    Babu Ramjwaya was issued a summer and a winter uniform by the railway, but for social occasions he did not wear the company’s clothing, wearing his own instead. He wore a starched turban of fine muslin, a very white starched shirt with a collar, and loose pajama trousers. The red silk brocade ends of the pajama waist-cord peeked out slightly from under the edge of his shirt. He wore a coat with a collar, cotton or wool, according to the season. He had never worn a necktie or Western-style trousers. The barber shaved his chin every other day, and trimmed his salt-and-pepper moustache along the line of his upper lip to keep it looking neat. There was always a certain smoothness to the skin of his face.
    Lala Sukhlal Sahni had come to express his condolences at the mourning for Babu Ramjwaya’s mother, and his wife had come for the syapa ceremony. Lala Sukhlal had no family relationship with Ramjwaya; rather, they had a deeper, professional relationship. Ostensibly, Sukhlal transported goods towards the east and the west of Lahore, but he had other dealings as well. One of his businesses had to do with the forwarding of parcels sent by rail.
    When Lala Sukhlal Sahni’s wife Jayarani came to the syapa ceremony, she already was in a state of mourning. Three months earlier her daughter-in-law had passed away. The talk of her daughter-in-law’s sickness and death led to hushed hints and suggestions for a second engagement for her son Somraj.
    Jayarani said to Sheelo’s mother, ‘Bahin, you