The Glowing Bride

Jhaverchand Meghani (1896–1947) wrote astir a 100 books—novels, biographies, and collections of stories, poems, songs, and plays. His life’s ngo was to sphere the culturally chiseled practice of Saurashtra—a ample peninsula jutting into the Arabian Sea from India’s occidental state, Gujarat, known arsenic Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace and the past earthy situation for Asiatic lions. In 1922, Meghani embarked connected a multiyear travel crossed Saurashtra to papers its oral folklore earlier it was mislaid to the forces of colonialism, industrialization, urbanization, and preindependence nationalism. The deficiency of due roads oregon railways meant traveling implicit treacherous terrain for days connected horseback, camel, oregon bullock cart to conscionable villagers, rebels, and outlaws, and navigating treacherous terrain. This story, “The Glowing Bride” (original title: “Parnetar”), is from the 2nd measurement of a five-volume collection, The Essence of Saurashtra, published betwixt 1923 and 1927. It takes spot successful Ranavav, the mounting of legends from the epoch of the Ramayana, an past Indian epic. In a preface to The Essence of Saurashtra, Meghani insists that his humanities figures are depicted simply and truthfully, without embellishment. Like the champion folklorists, helium recognizes that folktale is “autobiographical ethnography”—how a civilization describes itself alternatively than however outsiders picture it. My translation aims to sphere taste specificities—the meals, the clothing, the textures of regular life, the Hindu cosmological worldview of the last act—while offering readers a universally resonant communicative astir love, innocence, and the accidents that tin signifier our lives.

—Jenny Bhatt, translator

 

On the occidental borderline of Sorath, determination is simply a colony called Ranavav. It is named aft a celebrated section well. Once upon a time, farmsteads flourished successful that portion similar perennial blossoms. As newborns clamber implicit their parent to suckle astatine her life-giving breasts, truthful the families of an agrarian Kanbi assemblage ascended the hills and nestled into Mother Earth’s thigh to turn atom and gain their livelihoods. This is simply a communicative astir that time.

Kheto Patel was 1 of the Kanbi landowners successful that region. He had a girl whose luminous quality earned her the sanction Ajwaali, meaning “glowing.” But they called her, simply, Anju. Whenever Anju smiled gently, it was arsenic if, for a moment, rays of airy radiated everywhere. Starting aboriginal successful the morning, Anju would navigator 10 to 12 hearty flatbreads for her father’s meals. She would muck retired the stalls that housed their 4 bulls and cleanable the courtyard, turning it into a fresh, garden-like sanctuary. Then she would beverage their 2 buffaloes, grasping their udders arsenic heavy arsenic a man’s biceps and pulling them truthful skillfully with her fists that creamy streams of beverage would gush forth. Swiftly churning that freshly drawn buffalo milk, she would marque arsenic overmuch buttermilk arsenic possible.

Many visitors came to connection Kheto matrimony proposals for his beautiful, accomplished Anju. Kheto would ever reply, “My girl is inactive excessively young.”

***

One day, a chap Kanbi younker came to Kheto Patel’s house. He had scarcely immoderate covering to screen his body. His look was sallow and dull. But determination was a look successful his eyes that stirred compassion. Kheto Patel hired the younker arsenic a tract laborer for the mutually agreed compensation of 3 meals a day, 2 sets of clothes, 1 brace of shoes, and, erstwhile the harvest was ripe, arsenic galore atom stalks arsenic the young antheral could reap by himself. The caller hire, Mepo, got to enactment close away.

Anju herself would spell to the fields to springiness Mepo his regular lunch. Anju looked guardant to taking him his repast truthful eagerly that she would decorativeness each her chores good earlier noon. A immense dollop of food connected 2 hearty flatbreads, a mates of juicy coleus stems that she would acceptable speech to pickle successful lime brine specially for him, and a chill earthen cookware filled with thickly flowing buttermilk—when Anju gathered these items and went to the fields, her look looked much exquisite than astatine immoderate different clip of day.

Sitting beside Mepo, Anju would provender him, coercing him with mock threats. “If you don’t eat, past your parent volition die.”

“I don’t person a mother.”

“Your begetter volition die.”

“I don’t person a begetter either.”

“Your woman volition die.”

“Her parent is astir apt inactive raising that girl—my aboriginal wife—somewhere retired there.”

“Then whoever you attraction for astir volition die.”

On proceeding that past threat, the lad would go ravenous again. Day by day, his happiness grew unbounded. Once the lad asked, “Why bash you amusement maine truthful overmuch kindness?”

“Because you’re an orphan; you person nary parents.”

Another time, connected proceeding the repetitive kinchuk-kinchuk dependable of the h2o instrumentality that helped irrigate the field, Anju asked, “Mepo, what mightiness the instrumentality and the axle beryllium saying to each other?”

Mepo said, “The instrumentality is recalling his erstwhile life. He’s saying to the axle, ‘Lady Axle! In that erstwhile life, you were a Patel landlord’s daughter, and I was a mediocre laborer …’ ”

“What a brave hero! Finally you blurt retired what’s connected your mind? You’ve go alternatively bold for a meek small monkey, haven’t you? Just hold till I archer my father!”

Such were the guiltless flirting games they played.

***

In this delightful manner, the summertime passed. Mepo had worked hard to plow the tract and marque it arsenic pliable arsenic a brushed mattress. Forget astir weeds; helium did not permission adjacent a azygous stray leaf of writer standing. His hands were covered with sores from perpetually digging retired the dry, dormant stalks. Anju would travel and stroke her cool, brushed enactment connected those sores. She would tenderly pluck the thorns from his feet.

When the monsoon rains poured down, it was arsenic if Mepo was being showered with bully fortune. The sorghum and millet stalks grew truthful ample that helium could not clasp 1 successful a azygous fist. In the afternoons, erstwhile Mepo stared, unblinking, astatine the gangly crop, Anju would ask, “What are you looking at?”

“I’m looking to spot whether this volition beryllium capable atom for a pistillate to hold to wed maine this year.”

“But what if you didn’t request immoderate of this atom to get a wife?”

“Then I would decidedly beryllium called a destitute orphan who has thing to connection his bride!”

***

The day for the large harvest time was set. During each of the days starring up to it, Mepo chopped a bale of greenish writer to springiness to a blacksmith successful the village. They had go bully friends, and the craftsman had made him a tiny sickle. After it was forged, the metallic sickle was cleaned and whetted with h2o from the Ranavav well. And however did it crook out? It had specified a well-honed crisp borderline that, if it got adjacent enough, it would apt chomp disconnected full arms oregon legs and nonstop them flying done the air.

On the greeting of the much-anticipated harvest day, Mepo took his brand-new sickle and began tackling the heads of grain. By noon, helium had already cleared three-quarters of the field.

Kheto Patel came to instrumentality a look and near goggle-eyed. Back home, Patel said to his wife,, “Patlaani, we are ruined! By the clip nighttime falls, that lad volition person brought down each receptor of atom successful our lot. Per the agreement, each that helium reaps volition beryllium to him. What volition we devour for the remainder of the year?”

Anju heard her father’s lament. She began adorning herself with her finest weaponry: a voluminous skirt successful passionate purple, with mirrorwork embroidery for bully luck, and a flowing veil of bridal crimson to screen her head. She combed her hair, looped her agelong braids implicit her forehead, and filled the parting with agleam reddish sindoor similar a caller bride.

Gathering the provisions for Mepo’s meal, Anju acceptable disconnected earlier than accustomed connected this peculiar day. For lunch, determination was a decadent caller treat: ghee-drenched laapsi cooked with roasted wheat flour, saccharine jaggery, creamy milk, chopped nuts, and prime bits of dried fruit.

Mepo sat down to eat. But his bosom was not capable to calm itself today. Anju chattered astir assorted topics to support a lively speech going, yet helium showed nary interest. Stuffing his rima hurriedly with a fewer morsels, helium rinsed his hands cleanable to awesome helium was done eating. Untying the fragrant cardamom she had secured to 1 extremity of her veil for an after-meal digestive, Anju offered it to him. He did not attraction adjacent for that uncommon and cherished cardamom today. Mepo got up.

“Now beryllium down, travel on! You won’t stay wifeless if you miss cutting a mates of ears of grain.”

Mepo did not output to her. He did not adjacent grin astatine her quip.

“Today, your grainheads are dearer to you than Anju, right?”

Mepo’s bosom did not melt.

“Look, I’ll person you wed to your aboriginal woman for free. Sit with maine for a bit. Here, look astatine maine astatine least!”

Mepo turned successful the other absorption and walked toward the ripened atom stalks.

“Wait. Why won’t you listen?” So saying, Anju ran to him.

The grip of the sickle was tucked into the waistband of Mepo’s tunic, and its curved leaf hung loosely astir his neck—as was the customary signifier for tract laborers erstwhile they took a interruption from cutting grain. In her earnest, guiltless passion, Anju grabbed clasp of that sickle grip and tugged Mepo toward her, demanding, “You won’t clasp still, volition you?”

Mepo stood still. He stood inactive forever. With conscionable the slightest tug, that Ranavav-whetted sickle sank heavy into his neck. Right earlier Anju had raised her limb to drawback that handle, Mepo had smiled astatine her ever truthful slightly. That amusement, too, remained frozen connected his face.

Mepo had wanted to marry. Mepo was married. In those aforesaid good apparel from harvest day—that voluminous skirt successful passionate purple with mirrorwork embroidery for bully luck and that flowing veil of bridal crimson—Anju laic connected Mepo’s ceremonial pyre beside his corpse. The deity of fire, Agni, blessed them with a marital furniture of glowing, rose-red embers.

From that clip on, this verse has been sung successful the loving young couple’s memory: 

A sickle truthful beardown and keen,
It reaps humans, racks them high.
A virgin successful Ranavav, serene,
Mounts a burning furniture to die.

Also, from that clip on, the celebrated Ranavav good has remained sealed and buried.

Today, determination is simply a ample memorial connected the spot wherever the good erstwhile was. Except for the verses, nary disposable motion oregon show of the good itself remains.

 

Author’s Note: Fictional names person been fixed to the characters of this communicative due to the fact that the existent names could not beryllium confirmed.