Sita's Ascent Read Free Page A

years, when the
     sisters-in-law met, they entered the inner courtyard of girlhood familiarity. Over
     the last few months, now that Sita was pregnant, Urmilla had created a checklist of
     her cravings. They seemed different from most pregnant women in Ayodhya.
     ‘Your child bears the mark of a foreigner,’ Urmilla said the
     other day as she came in hastily with a bowl of soft skinned almonds. Sita loosened
     her hair for the massage before her bath. Both women looked at each other. Urmilla
     bit her lip and said, ‘Oh, Sita, I didn’t mean
     …’ Sita burst out laughing. ‘Of course, you
     didn’t mean what you said.’ Urmilla was embarrassed. It was too
     clumsy a mistake and, relieved by Sita’s quick response, she began to chew
     the soft almonds before she offered them to Sita. ‘All I really wished to
     say was that this child will bear the mark of our birthplace,
     Mithila.’
    Sita lay down on the mat ready for the
     warm oil, scented with camphor and hibiscus leaves, to be massaged into her long,
     bee-black hair. Urmilla’s fingertips were firm, pressing all the pressure
     points at the back of her neck.Sita winced with pleasure as the
     tension was released from her neck.
    ‘How strangely time heals,
     Urmi. I had never thought I would be able to laugh so easily about the whole
     foreigner thing,’ Sita said thoughtfully. ‘Some were eager for
     me to return. But how quick the others were to test me and see if I had indeed given
     in to Ravana.’
    ‘Be careful, Sita. After all
     these years, much as Ayodhya is our home now, we too are foreigners here,’
     Urmilla said as she looked towards the door, hoping no one was listening. Ravana was
     a dreaded name even after his death. ‘After all, when women marry they get
     adopted by their husbands’ people,’ she continued.
    ‘I think we need to turn that
     urn of thinking around, Urmi! When we left Mithila we were not orphans. Our husbands
     came in search of us.’
    ‘Well, they didn’t
     actually come
in search
of us. There was a challenge
     announced for your swayamvara, inviting princes from all around,’ Urmilla
     added, smiling, mocking Sita’s claims about Rama and Lakshmana making it
     their mission to seek brides.
    ‘Yes, but Rama and Lakshmana
     happened to be there because Vishwamitra brought them after restoring peace to
     Dandaka forest—and who knows what plans destiny had for us all to come
     together in this lifetime. Anyway, the point I was making was that we women have to
     changethings around—our husbands’ homes do
     not adopt us; we adopt
them
and create homes and
     families around them.’
    Urmilla kissed Sita’s
     forehead, saying, ‘Long may that thought prevail, Sita. Let your child
     hear that and carry it forward, whether it is a son or a daughter.’ She
     was swift in moving from the role of friend and oracle-bearer to that of masseuse.
     ‘Okay, now let’s see how the great belly is doing.’
     Sita swept the cloth off her belly. The shaft of sunlight peeping through the
     skylight of the bath chamber swathed her belly.
    Urmilla anointed her palms with warm
     coconut oil and placed them on the sides of Sita’s stomach.
     ‘Great mover! I hope he’s a dancer first, then a
     warrior,’ she said.
    ‘How are you so sure it is a
     he?’
    ‘Protrusion of the belly.
     Pushing its way into the world, only a man can do that,’ Urmilla said with
     her arched brow and cheeky smile. They both giggled abashedly.
    Sita sighed with happy exhaustion.
     Urmilla began to gently massage the oil on the stretched skin of the stomach and
     hummed softly. Sita drifted into a doze for a few seconds. The sun’s rays
     had shifted and a delicious aroma wafted in from the royal kitchen. As she woke,
     Sita placed her hand on Urmilla’s and said, ‘You know, a
     foreigner is not just someone from another place. Here it has come to mean someone
     who is threatening because hethinks or acts differently. And,
     when they