Society that time was not so good to the women folks. They were supposed to do all the work, both in house and fields but were not given equal rights by men. Education was certainly not on the agenda for girls and the only education they got from their parents was how to manage their homes and children. Most of the girls died young due to child birth problem and it was taken as a “Gods” wish where man has no control. The only doctors were “Hakim” (quacks) or witch doctors “Ojha” who made money out of the ignorance of the poor people. My grandmother too went to a couple of such quacks when she was unwell only to get some powders which had no effect ever on her poor health. She was accompanied to all such outside visits by Shyam. Days passed into months and her health was poor as ever. My Grandfather was most of the time busy with wrestling and body building and the only time he saw my grandmother was when he needed food. Hari was more concerned with his family and children and ensured that the mental pain of partition remained with my grandmother. The pain being tolerated by her was probably not seen by anyone as she preferred to keep all to herself. My father remembered that she was a beautiful lady and village folks called my grandfather a lucky man to have such a beautiful and dutiful wife. He also recalled that in her last days, her beauty remained but she lost a lot of weight. Her eyes sunk and developed dark circles around them. Her hand which used to hold heavy weights with ease could not even support her. My father was probably six years old then and Chandra about three. Shyam was more than twenty years old and was the only able bodied person in the family who cared to look after his mother in last stages.

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