Savita is separated from her husband and lives with Priya's family in a small apartment on the second floor of a building in Udyog Vihar.
She splits her time between Priya and her brother in Ludhiana, so as to not be a burden on either one. Most of the time though, she's in Udyog Vihar because Priya's husband is very understanding and doesn't make her feel unwelcome, and after all how long can she live at her brother's.
He doesn't say anything either, but her sister-in-law makes it known that it is enough that the brother supports his parents, must he support a sister too? Besides, she can get easy work in Udyog Vihar.
Not easy easy, because garment factories are shit places to work in, but more like jobs are available readily enough in peak season. In the lean periods she is content to wait with the others in front of the Pir Baba mazhar, hoping for a dehari job. It isn't a complete waste of a day if the contractor happens to have nothing for her; she'll walk to some factory gates with a couple of friends and give it another shot. Sometimes, after a gate or two, they'll hunker down in the shade with some peanuts and gossip and laugh their behinds off, secretly pleased to have nothing to do. But ofcourse, it is only because Priya and her husband make enough to comfortably support her and their two boys.
Vinod is fourteen and prefers cricket to homework. He and his younger brother go off in summers to Ludhiana, to be with their grandparents. I hear they prefer Ludhiana because the neighbours play better cricket. And ofcourse, Ludhiana is several hundred kilometres away from school and homework.
They are back by August though. And Priya doesn't have the festival rush for blouse and kameez orders for a month. Her tailoring shop-ladies only-never really closes, but lean times in the factories usually means less orders for her. She'll accompany Priya some days to the mazhar for the adda, but she's not going back into the factory anytime soon. Sure, her husband put a chunk of their savings into starting his own workshop and then got cheated out of his promised order, but he still has the machines he invested in. An order or two will always come in, and coupled with his factory job, they'll make enough. Just barely enough; enough enough so she doesn't have to do that shitty job, atleast for now. Perhaps when Vinod goes to college...
What will that boy study anyway? He's barely passing Class 6. Look at him bunking school because he's 'unwell'. The temperature is barely registering on the thermometer but with Dengue and Chikungunya and this...this...zeke fly thing, it's better to observe a little. I hope it isn't anything serious.
Oh well, he might as well come with me and Priya to the mazhar today. But ofcourse this turns into a veritable outing! He's had his eye on that mobile photo booth for a while now. Today he coaxes us to enter it and take 'family passport photos'. It's cheaper than the studio, he said, and that's true. But still, Rs. 60 is a lot, one full bottle of coke. If he wanted it that badly, couldn't he have atleast looked a little bit more happy? Stupid boy.
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Ok, I'm kidding.I have no idea who these three are. They just happen to be the 'backside' of my today's bus ticket. Calcutta, you're weird.
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