Mathabai was a woman in her late forties who did the dishes and washed clothes in my ma’s house.
\nShe was our source of all neighbourhood gossip. She was a feisty woman who had a drunkard for a husband.
\nHe used to beat her up every now and then.
\nThat did not stop Mathabai from shoving him right back and cussing him out all the way to the end of our alley.
\nFor me -as a child- it was high drama but as i grew up i realised that inspite of all the odds stacked up against her,
\nshe single handedly raised her kids, sent to them school, married her daughters and finally retired when her sons had jobs of their own and could support her.
\nThe thing i most remember about her is her big kumkum bindi- the size of a rupee coin-and her nine yard saree with a khun blouse.
\nKhun was a satiny cotton brocade material. I occasionaly see women wearing nine yard sarees but i rarely see any khun blouses any more.
\nI don’t have a nine yard saree but here is a pic of me wearing a khun blouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mathabai was a woman in her late forties who did the dishes and washed clothes in my ma’s house. She was our source of all neighbourhood gossip. She was a feisty woman who had a drunkard for a husband. He used to beat her up every now and then. That did not stop Mathabai from…<\/p>\n