‘She still has an image to keep, doesn’t she? She depends on it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she came knocking on all our doors tonight with a special prayer,’ Manjeet said.
‘I’d show her these and she’d leave in an instant,’ Arvinder replied. She held out her palms. The women snickered at what was clearly another one of their inside jokes – something about Arvinder’s fortune lines, Nikki guessed.
Sheena looked up. ‘Nikki, don’t concern yourself too much with Tarampal,’ she said. ‘As long as the men don’t find out about these stories, we’re fine.’
Nikki thought about the temple’s dining hall, and the strict divide that ran like an invisible force field between the men and women. ‘I trust that won’t be a problem,’ she said. ‘None of you really chat with the men, do you?’
‘Of course not. We’re widows. We don’t have any more contact with men. We aren’t allowed,’ Preetam said.
‘Not such a bad thing,’ Arvinder said.
‘Speak for yourself,’ Sheena retorted. ‘I didn’t have as many good years with my husband as you all did with yours.’
‘Good years? Between the cleaning, cooking and fighting, where was the time for good years?’ Arvinder looked up at Nikki. ‘The girls in your generation are luckier. At least you get to know the person before marrying him. You can separate the idiots from the bloody idiots.’
Manjeet giggled in appreciation. Sheena remained pensive, her eyes downcast. Nikki could sense that it was time to change the subject. ‘Who has a story to share?’ Nikki asked.
Arvinder’s hand shot confidently into the air.
The Shopkeeper and His Customer
The shopkeeper was busy stocking his shelves when the door of the shop opened and a woman walked in. She was slim but her hips were wide and she was wearing modern English clothes but she was Punjabi. He asked her, ‘Can I help you?’ She ignored him and went to the back of the shop. He thought she might be a shoplifter but then he wondered how she would smuggle the stolen goods out of the shop in such tight-fitting clothes. He followed her to the back of the shop and saw her looking at the rows of spices.
‘Which one do I use for making tea?’ she asked.
The correct answer was cardamom and fennel seeds but the shopkeeper did not want to say. He wanted her to keep asking questions in her very sweet voice.
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I don’t make tea.’
‘If you tell me, we can make tea together,’ the woman said. She smiled at him. He smiled back and leaned close to help her with her choices. ‘Maybe it’s this one,’ he said, picking out a packet of mustard seeds. He held it to the woman’s nose to give her a whiff. She shut her eyes and inhaled. ‘No,’ she said. She laughed. ‘You don’t know anything.’
‘I may not know anything about brewing tea, my dear,’ the shopkeeper said, ‘but I do know how to keep that smile on your face.’
He put the packet of seeds back on the shelf and tucked her hair behind her ear. She leaned towards him and gave him a kiss on the lips. He was surprised. He was not used to this sort of behaviour in his shop, even though he had started flirting with her first. The woman took his hand and led him to the back room of the shop and turned around to face him.
‘Why is she leading him to the back room? Shouldn’t he take her? How does she know where it is?’ Preetam asked.
‘Don’t interrupt me,’ Arvinder snapped. ‘Do I butt in when you are narrating a story?’
Sheena put down her pen and gave her wrist a stretch. ‘This is hard work,’ she commented in English to Nikki.
‘It’s not making any sense,’ Preetam argued, ‘unless she has actually been there before. Maybe she is a girl that he wanted to marry but his parents wouldn’t allow it so she has come back in a disguise.’
Arvinder looked irate but Nikki could see that she was considering the suggestion. ‘Okay, Sheena, put in that detail as well.’
‘Where?’ Sheena asked.
‘Just anywhere. So anyway, we’re getting to the best part. The woman started taking off her clothes. She twirled around until her sari had completely unwound from her body.’
‘I thought she was wearing modern clothes,’ Sheena said. ‘Why is she dressed in a sari now?’
‘Saris are a better image.’
‘So change that as well? No modern clothes?’
‘No woman wearing a sari would be as forward as that.’
‘Rubbish. All over London women are carrying on like this, no matter what they wear.’
‘London, maybe. The goris do this, but not in Southall,’ Manjeet said.
‘In Southall too. You know that hill behind Herbert Park? Young boys and girls are always meeting there. We had relatives visiting one summer and we took them there in the evening to see the sunset. We saw a Muslim woman wearing a full hijab dashing from one parked car to another – from one man to another. All kinds of things happen,’ Preetam said.
‘Is that where Maya got caught then?’ Manjeet asked. The room became a vacuum. The women shifted in their seats, reminding Nikki of the uncomfortable looks on the faces of those women in the langar hall when the Green Dupatta had been holding court. Something about Kulwinder’s daughter made people react in this way. ‘What?’ Manjeet asked, looking around. ‘Tarampal isn’t here any more and I never got the full story because I was in Canada.’
‘He found text messages on her phone,’ Preetam said. ‘That’s what I heard anyway.’
‘You heard, but what do you know?’ Arvinder asked, turning to her. ‘I didn’t raise you to speak ill of the dead.’
‘Hai, but everybody knows now, nah?’ Preetam said. ‘It’s been nearly a year.’
‘Not everybody,’ Sheena said, nodding at Nikki. ‘And she doesn’t need to know. I’m sorry Nikki, but this is a private matter. It’s not something Kulwinder would like us discussing.’
It was another reminder that the women did not fully trust her. Why can’t I know? she wanted to ask as the women exchanged looks and glares. Sheena looked particularly annoyed. It all made Nikki more intrigued by Maya and her salacious past. It was more for curiosity’s sake that Nikki wanted to find out about Maya, but perhaps she’d also have a better chance of building her relationship with Kulwinder if she knew. She considered bringing this up with the widows – after all, it was in their best interests that Kulwinder thought the English classes were going well – but Sheena suddenly took over directing the class.
‘Go on with your story then, Arvinder,’ Sheena said. She pointed to the clock. ‘We don’t want to be here all night.’
There was a noticeable pause. The women looked at Nikki. ‘Yes, let’s move on,’ Nikki said. ‘We were right in the middle of it.’ She gave Sheena an appreciative smile, which was returned. The others began to relax.
Arvinder shrugged. ‘I don’t know where to go next.’
‘Describe his organ,’ Sheena offered. ‘Big or small?’
‘Big of course,’ Arvinder scoffed. ‘What’s the point of a skinny carrot entering you?’