She remembers how she would always try and avoid the rituals around festivals. The socializing, the pujas, the fasting…Ma would constantly pester her to take an active part in these things as she would be expected to continue the tradition after marriage. ‘Oh please!’ she would scoff and walk away. All of it looked very artificial, very insignificant to her.
Then, she got married and moved to another city.
Now, in this strange new place, she doesn’t have any family around. Nobody to see whether or not she is practicing the family rituals.
Like every day, she sits to have her morning cup of tea with her husband. He opens a new pack of Parle-G and offers her. She refuses...
‘It’s Shivratri. I’m fasting today.’
