Last Sunday while having breakfast, Bulu asked: Sumi, can you please call my mom, I don't have enough balance in mine. She took her phone, searched for the name 'Sasu Mama' and dialled her mother-in-law's number. The phone did not connect. She looked at him and said: It says the phone number does not exist. He replied – ah... I guess her Jio phone number is not working since yesterday. Can you try her other number? She nodded her head as affirmation. Again she checked her phone to dial her mother-in-law, but she could not remember what to search for. She looked for every possible combination - Mom, Mama, Maa, but that's not there. She panicked as she was unable to recall how she has stored her MIL's number. Had she saved the number by her name? Is it even possible? She realised that she failed to recollect her MIL's name? But, this is not her fault. She has entered the house just a year back. She has not heard anyone call her by name. ‘Heitii Sunucha’, ‘Jhia’, ‘Bhuaja’, ‘Bada Apa’, ‘Bulu Bou’, ‘Mama’ – these are the words by which she is being called day-in and day-out. She did not even get a chance to enquire about her name. When Bulu and she, were buying the house, the home loan forms only asked for his father’s name. She has had just heard her MIL’s name when her marriage invitation was getting printed. Now, what will she ask her husband, and how? Will it sound good? How will he react when he hears that she has forgotten his mother's name.
To avoid all these, she quickly raced to the bathroom. Bulu grabbed her hand and asked: What happened? Is everything fine? Why are you running so fast?
She turned pale and replied: My stomach is upset. And she closed the door.
She sat in the bathroom and kept on scrolling through her phone and finally she could find her MIL's name in the marriage invitation PDF. Then she remembered that she had saved the number as – Ranju Aunty.
This took her thoughts back to three years before to the day when they had met for the first time. It was raining heavily, Sumi saw a mid-aged beautiful lady getting soaked in rainwater and trying to stop autos, but her efforts going vain. Sumi asked her if she needs a lift till Vani Vihar Chakka. She hesitantly said yes. She had dropped her near the auto stand, and they had exchanged their numbers as goodwill. That time Sumi had never imagined that this incident will build up a new relationship between them.
She breathed a sigh of relief. She washed her face and came out.
Her husband asked - How are you feeling now? Should we go to a doctor?
She smiled while dialling her 'Ranju Aunty', and answered him: Splendid.
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