Kalpana woke up groggy, sticky, sweaty again. It was Ganesh Chaturthi today and she felt like fate had dealt her a nasty blow yet again. All that she wanted was to have a normal day… but perhaps the definition of normal was this, for her! She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself with the warm smell of karpoor intermingled with the Chafa flowers. The ring-ring of the bells and the jingle-jangle of the aarti cymbals did nothing to elevate the intensifying pain from the pit of her stomach. “Why today?” she muttered as she jumped out of under her blanket and checked the bed for stains.

Of all the days, her period had to come today! She closed her eyes for a moment, pursing her lips tightly, wondering if she could manage to hide the fact from her family… especially Tai-ajji. But she knew the combination of Aai and Tai-ajji could put Holmes & Watson to shame with their sleuthing skills. It did not help that in the one-bedroom matchbox of their apartment in Mumbai’s Pivla-bagh suburb, everyone was in each other’s business, body odour, and blood, all the time. “There’s no escaping. Hopefully, it won’t be a long one this time” Kalpana half-hoped.

She quickly showered and got dressed in the new orange and gold salwar Kurta set, taking care not to leave traces of blood, or sticky paper from the period pad she wore. She was quite sure tai-ajji had the olfactory power to sniff out period blood all the way from across the room, where she now sat bending forward and back as she recited the Ganpati Atharvashirsa for the fourteenth time. She had a tradition of reciting it 108 times on Chaturthi day and Kalpana was in mood to break her resolve. Grabbing her handbag and slipping into her golden sandal shoes, she made for the door, not waiting as Aai shouted from the kitchen to her “Aga, its upvas today, have some sabudana khichdi before you go… don’t touch that vada pav today.”

Kalpana’s marathon down the stairs was interrupted as she soon as fathomed that the pain in her stomach was going to lasso her in all dramatic attempts to escape. She slowed down and went clip-clip-clop down the stairs individually rather than taking two of them at a time. She had planned to start her day by visiting Pivla-Raja the most famous Ganesh idol of Bombay, that stood a mere ten-minute walk away from her home. Being the first day of the 10-day Ganesha festival she was sure to be welcomed with empty lanes so that she could easily walk in and take His darshan.

“Don’t go near the God when you have your period” tai-aaji’s recurrent warning rang in her ears. It was a common phrase around her house now. And tai-ajji did not care who was around – the doodhwala, the istriwala, neighbouring Patil kaku, Sudya anna… all knew when Kalpana’s period had arrived! Heeding the unsaid yet omnipresent warning Kalpana quickened her pace as she neared Pivla-Raja’s pandal and kept walking till she was out of the lane. A lump welled up in her throat at the feeling of yet another innocent hope being dashed to the rocks.

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon