Raindrops

Rain started pouring down suddenly and Rekha ran up the stairs to collect the dry clothes from the roof. Radha was still sitting on the cot in the covered verandah next to the animal barn.

“Radha, Radha! Come on, get up. Help me. Bring Nandi inside and tie her in the animal barn. She will get wet outside.”, Rekha shouted from the roof while trying to keep herself dry with a plastic sheet which she held with one hand above her head. 

“Didi, I am scared of her.”, Radha shouted. She was looking at the rain water getting collected in the small puddles. She dropped a few leaves in the puddles to see their movement. It was the first rain of the season and the smell of the wet mud was very refreshing. 

“Beta, please get up. You won't do it for your didi? She would say nothing to you.”, Rekha convinced her. 

“Only for you”, Radha stood up half heartedly. 

She ran out of the house into the front porch towards Nandi. She tried to befriend her by patting her shoulder and then untied her. She had been afraid of Nandi since her childhood. Nandi mooed as she got drenched in the heavy rain. She followed Radha peacefully into the house and Radha tied her in the animal barn. As she walked, the bell tied around her neck ringed. Radha mixed fodder for her in the big stone enclosure. Their father brought Nandi home when she was just a couple months old. She was a beautiful white cow. Her mother had died and Kishan’s friend, whom she originally belonged to, didn't want to bring her up. So, Kishan, their father brought her home. He said that the girls should have fresh home milk in abundance. Nandini and the two motherless girls, were brought up by Kishan. 

Their mother died when she was giving birth to their youngest sister. The village dai could neither save the mother nor the girl. It had been five years. Rekha took care of the household. Preparing meals, burning the stove, cutting down wood into smaller pieces to put into the stove, feeding Nandi, milking Nandi, cleaning the house, washing clothes, and taking care of Radha and their father were her day to day chores. 

She came down with a pile of clothes in her arms. She was almost wet and was sneezing uncontrollably. 

“Come, didi. Sit near the stove. You are completely wet. Let me get a towel for you”, Radha said affectionately. While rubbing Rekha’s hair with towel she hummed their favourite song, “Barsa pani, barsa pani, ayi megha, ayi megha”.

“Let me make some tea. When will Baba come back? It is raining so heavily outside.”, Rekha showed her concern.

“I don’t know. Didi, can you also make some pakodas?”, Radha gleamed.

“Okay gudiya, I will make some. Baba will also be back from the bazaar by then.”, Rekha said while getting up to go to the kitchen.

Tall and slender Rekha with her brown complexion and big eyes looked beautiful while moving around in the house. 

“Beta, are you all inside and where is Nandu?” Kishan called out while entering the house.

Nandi mooed. 

Kishan said while laughing, “oh! She registered her presence. Now, what about my darling girls?”

Both the girls giggled. “Papa, you can see us. We are making Pakodas and tea for all of us”, Radha said smiling. 

“We?” Rekha questioned while laughing. “How was Bazaar today papa?” she enquired her father.

“It was like always. We have made enough to keep living. See, what have I got for both of you!”, Kishan said.

Both the girls ran towards their father and waited for him to open the brown bag he was holding. 

“What is it Papa? Open faster na.”, Radha said impatiently.

He opened the bag and took out books from inside. He handed some of them to Rekha and a few to Radha. 

“Beta, I know, I have not been able to send you to the school. After your mother, you have been looking at the house and nothing else. What would I have done without you? That is why I keep bringing books so that you can read at home. You will read the books na?”, Kishan asked with wet eyes. 

“yes Papa. I have already read the ones you bought last time.” , Rekha hugged her dad and then went to the kitchen.

“I thought these are some toys. “, Radha sounded disappointed. 

“haha, you are so naughty. Books are the trunks of wisdom beti. You should read a lot so that you know everything in the world. Okay?”, Kishan asked Radha.

“Yes, papa”, she stood up and went to the water puddles ad started splashing the water with her feet.