Perspective No.4 - Sketchstory No. 34 - 'Flowers for the widow?' by Sandhya Srinivasan

From the time she was a child, Shalini had loved the ritual of making jasmine garlands. The flower seller would come and measure out the jasmine buds and then in the evening, her mother and aunt would settle down to make the garlands. 3 long ones for the gods’ pictures, and 4 smaller ones – for the two of them, Shalini and her sister. How swiftly their fingers would move to wind the string around the flower buds. They would have bloomed by the next morning and the whole house would be fragrant with the almost intoxicating smell of jasmine. Her mother would plait her daughters’ hair, then raise one thick strand and insert the garland through the gap. Most days, she would make two plaits for Shalini, and the garland would be strung from one plait to the other. Shalini preferred the days when her mother ran out of time and just made one plait, because then one end of the garland would flap around her shoulder, and she could smell it if she just turned her head a bit. 

After she got married, Shalini had continued to love wearing flowers in her hair, and her husband Pratap used to love watching her braid her hair and clip on the flowers before leaving for work. Her mother-in-law, following the custom of widows not adorning themselves, had stopped wearing the garlands herself many years ago, but always kept a string of jasmines away for Shalini while decorating the gods in their pooja room. 

Today, they had just completed the 13th day rituals after Pratap suddenly passed away of a heart attack, and Shalini came into her room to change into her new sari. She found this ritual of wearing new clothes while still so completely heart-broken very strange, but the priest had insisted on this process as it declared an end to the funeral rituals. Her mother in law had left her new clothes on the bed and gently patted Shalini on her head before leaving the room. Shalini now sat on the bed, completely stunned – along with the sari and blouse, her mother-in-law had also left a packet of bindis and a jasmine garland.

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