17 Everyone Pushes A Falling Fence

Bali Mansion

Crossing the threshold, Katyayani entered the corridor and stared morosely at the locked doors of her parents' chambers.

She hesitated for a moment before turning away and walking down the corridor to reach her own room. Each courtyard in the Bali Mansion had a small kitchen attached for making snacks or tea. In the case of Katyayani, it was even equipped to prepare full meals. This was done by the order of Kirtidev since he was aware that Katyayani didn't like to get her meals called from the main kitchen.

Even though the matter had not been brought up openly, the elders of the family were aware of the reason behind this dislike. Right after her parents' death, the six year old Katyayani had suffered neglect and indifference in the hands of the females of the household.

The meals were delivered cold and sometimes were worse than even what the servants ate. Not the kind to take it lying down, Katyayani's newly arrived four attendants under the directive of Mandodari had started using personal money left behind by Kadambari, Katyayani's mother, to arrange for food and personal items from outside.

By the time Kirtidev got to know about the matter, Katyayani had long overcome the confused hurt at this behavior of her family towards her.

Since that day, she was given full freedom to arrange her life on her terms.

Currently, Eka was struggling to get the fire going in the cold kitchen. Thankfully, someone had thoughtfully stocked up the fireplaces and filled the shed with firewood and charcoal.

Chatvari had lit up all the fireplaces and even the charcoal burners in the passages were emitting warmth, trying to dissipate the gloomy chill which was in the air.

"As expected from the Bali family, nobody has even bothered to send a cup of tea for Young Miss. I hope she doesn't feel obligated to go and pay her respect to any of those old witches right away. They are not worth it," Eka complained under her breath.

Chatvari entered the kitchen to wash off the coal marks from her hands and was just in time to hear Eka's grumble. "You are reacting as if this is the first time that something like this has happened. Why are you boiling your blood over it? Trini has already gone to the back lane to retrieve the goods. Dvi would have sent the carriage by now with hot food and the rest of the items. Just wait a while. At least, the place has been cleaned and aired. Do you remember the last winters when we came here? The beddings were musty and moth ridden and the place had accumulated a few inches worth of dust. Young Miss had been heartbroken to see the place in such shambles. At least, it is not so bad this time round."

Eka nodded somberly and said, "Nevermind. It's good for her to see things as they are. Better to have no expectations than to hope and see it get smashed."

Chatvari smirked. "Although we have our people working in the mansion, it is necessary to have them stay by the side of the masters which they have been assigned to 'serve', else a lot of this work could have been done before we arrived. Forget it. Anyways, our young miss's habits and needs are best known to us. Hence..."

Inside her room, Katyayani took off the travel clothes and went behind the embroidered silk screen to change into a comfortable, flowing woollen dress. Washing her face with the cold water kept in the copper basin, Katyayani walked across the room and went to sit at the broad window sill which overlooked the area behind the mansion.

The small estate which was adjoining the mansion was a farming area spread across a few acres. There were a few tenants and their families living there and raising chicken, ducks, cattle and sheep. Every month, the better products were sent to the mansion and the rest were sold at the market.

This was only a small piece of land. The bigger farmland was located fifty kilometers in the east, where more than 100 acres of land and the farmer families on the ground were the property of the mansion. This was a big source of income for the Bali mansion and was part of the ancestral heritage.

The farmland's income was quite good and the reason for it lay in its unique geographical location. The place was backed by hills and there were mountain springs not too far away. The land was rich and fertile, suitable for digging fish ponds and raising fish for commercial purposes.

In the past few decades, the money for Bali Mansion's household expenses had come from this farmland's income. But as the family grew and the expenses also rose, Kirtidev asked the sons to contribute to the common household fund.

Being a minister in the royal court, Rudradev's income wasn't comparable to that of his merchant brother, Jayantdev. Hence, Jayantdev volunteered to contribute more, on the condition that he get a bigger stake in the ancestral property!

Katyayani's room window overlooked a small no-man's land which lay between the mansion and the farmland. This area was no more than half an acre which used to be filled with exotic flowers and majestic trees once upon a time. Right in the centre of this land was a small lotus pond.

Katyayani's eyes could see a worn-out swing hanging from the tall gulmohar* tree. The flame-like red flowers were currently not blooming on the tree branches due to winters. But the cotton padded seat of the swing still carried the faint memories of her happy childhood. A smile grew on her face as she looked at the lotus pond. The gulmohar tree and the lotus pond had been reared and maintained painstakingly along with many other foliage by the old lady of the family, Katyayani's paternal grandmother.

From the time that she got married and came here, her grandmother had devoted a lot of time and affection to this place. But, no one amongst the current members of the family was interested in maintaining it. Except for a high fencing defining its border, the place had been left to its own devices.

At the time of her moving away from the Bali Mansion to Mandh Mountain, the little Katyayani had tried to think of many ways to be able to transport the pond and the tree with the swing to her new residence… but that remained as an unfulfilled dream, like many more.

*Gulmohar tree - royal poinciana which belongs to the family of fabaceae. It is noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of flowers and that is why it has earned another name of 'flamboyant' or 'flame' tree.