Bheela’s Blog -022
17 April 2021
Episode 21 Recap
Oshin’s elder sister Haru arrives home after completing her term as a household live-in maid. She will be joining a textile mill soon.
Oshin buys a slate and chalk from the money given by Haru. She writes letters to her dead brother Shunsaku. Crop condition is not good; this year, the rice crop might fail. Father Sakuzo is upset.
For detailed episode 21, please click the link below:
https://bheela-wadehra.medium.com/bheelas-blog-021-f3354301061b
Episode 22
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
Mom Fuji walks carrying the new baby at her back, tied with a cloth. Oshin rushes behind her to catch her steps. Father has called Oshin to talk to her. Oshin asks her mom what’s father is going to speak to her? Will he yell at her again? Mom Fuji is always so positive; she replies that Oshin babysits the new baby the whole day. She does household chores too; hence father has nothing to yell about. This keeps Oshin wondering as to what her father wants now.
Father is sitting with grandma. Fuji and Oshin join them; Fuji seems tired of walking; she removes her scarf from her head. Once mom and Oshin settle down, the father starts telling them about the situation in the village. He informs them that about 800 families from Japan have gone to Brazil. Two families from their village have gone there too. The soil in their area has become poor, and the weather hasn’t improved. Their fields are no more suitable for rice cultivation.
All the sharecropper families have come to a dead-end here. They can never go ahead in life in this village. Father says that he can understand why people want to move. He mentions some diseases has spread in the area; they will have no rice crop production this year. With this situation, they will be in debt for the rest of their lives. He feels like giving up. In this condition, he has taken a decision to emigrate to Brazil.
Mom and Grandma are both taken aback. Oshin doesn’t have any idea of Brazil. Father says, how else can they get out from their debt situation. Mom protests that we are all from this place and we belong here. They have all worked hard for their land. In a desperate, sad tone, Father says that what good has come of it by working hard. They can’t even eat their fill here. They work so much all day long until their limbs can no longer move. Mom asks him is there any guarantee that Brazil will be a better place? It will be a strange land. What if things don’t go right there also.
Father shares the information he has got from the other villagers. He says that Brazil’s soil is rich. It seems the Sun there shines all year round! There are absolutely no winter months in Brazil. That should make things much more manageable. Brazil’s Government will give the Japanese immigrants land, which will be their own land. Whatever they plant and harvest, it will all belong to the immigrants. Not only rice, but they can also grow sugar cane and all kinds of other crops. They can make money and own land. He tells them that he has applied for their family to be among the next group going soon. So, he asks them to get ready to travel.
Fuji protests, but the father does not listen. Grandma looks at her son with suspicion; she doesn’t believe all the rosy pictures. Oshin is puzzled; she asks him if she will be going too? Father replies sarcastically that over there, no one will bother Oshin about being with a deserter. Father now is very firm and says that he has made up his mind. Mother asks him what about the elder daughters Haru and Mitsu? Father replies that they will all go and work together.
Fuji is concerned about Grandma, and she says that Grandma is not well enough to travel by sea. Father, Sakuzo has already thought about this. He has two brothers Kozo and Eizo. He says that grandma will stay either with Kozo or Eizo. Fuji is stunned to get this reply from her husband. She tells how the mother can live with her younger son. According to Japanese custom, the eldest son has to care for his parents. Father is firm, he says, it can’t be helped; they can’t take her with them to Brazil.
Fuji is anxious about the idea of leaving Grandma behind with her husband’s younger brothers Kozo or Eizo. Sakuzo argues that she is their mother too. Why should he have to do it all looking after his mother? What did he ever get by being the eldest? He ended up being a sharecropper; he taunts himself.
Then he talks to his mother softly. He asks her if she understood the situation they are in? It is for him and her grandchildren that he wants to move to Brazil. Fuji protests and then says that she is against this deal. Father continues to argue if they are willing to live in debt forever in these present poorly conditions? Fuji says that she won’t go if they have to leave grandma behind. Father is very upset now, and he demands to know if Fuji will go against her husband’s wishes? Fuji affirms and reminds him that she is his own mother.
Grandma listens to all these conversations and finally speaks up. She tells them not to bother about her and is aware of the challenging situations in the village. Fuji insists that they will go to Brazil only if Grandma can come too. Grandma tries to calm Fuji and says that she is too old to travel abroad. Fuji is not convinced; she continues to say that she won’t go; she can’t leave Grandma behind. Grandma is thankful towards Fuji for her feelings about herself. Grandma is grateful for having Fuji as her daughter-in-law. Grandma wants all of them to be happy. She consoles Fuji that it will make things easier for her too.
(The first Japanese immigrants, 790 people, primarily farmers, came to Brazil in 1908 on the ship Kasato Maru. About half of these immigrants came from southern Okinawa. They traveled from the Japanese port of Kobe via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Many of them later became owners of coffee plantations.
The next day, after her parents leave for the field, Oshin goes to the shed with the new baby playing in the basket. She starts writing a letter to her dead brother on the slate again. Dear brother Shunsaku, we will be going to Brazil. We will be taking a ship to cross through the ocean. I don’t want to go, but it can’t be helped. Grandma can’t go; I feel bad for her.
Suddenly Oshin hears some commotion outside the door of the shed. She rushes out and sees that both her other younger siblings are crying. Usually, Grandma looks after them. She shouts for Grandma and goes inside the house to look for her. Grandma is missing. Oshin notices a scarf which grandma usually wears, is lying folded on the floor. She gets alarmed. She hurriedly puts on her slippers and runs out of the house. She asks the kids about grandma. One of them points a finger towards the lane which goes from their hut towards the river. Oshin tells the kids to stay in the shed and take care of the new baby. She decides to look for grandma.
She starts running towards the river, calling, ‘Grandma! Grandma!’ She meets with a neighbor who tells Oshin that she saw Grandma heading towards the river. Oshin continues running as fast as she can through the lanes and reaches the Mogami river bank having several slippery rocks. Oshin balances herself and continues to look for grandma.
She then sees at a distance on a higher rock a figure moving towards the rock edge. Oshin recognizes her grandma and shouts for her. Grandma is climbing a tall rock with the help of a bamboo stick. She halts hearing Oshin’s voice for a moment. Oshin shouts, ‘what are you doing up that rock?’ Grandma forbids Oshin to come near her and starts walking towards the edge of the rock.
Oshin ignores her and hurriedly starts climbing behind her. The surface is slippery, Oshin’s sandal is loose, and it slips from one of her feet. She continues not bothering about the sandal towards her grandma. Grandma hurries to go to the edge, but the bamboo stick falls into the river. She is startled and stops; by this time, Oshin catches her. Grandma tries to jump into the river from the edge of that tall rock. Oshin grabs her by her waist and shouts not to do this. In the scuffle, both lose the balance and drop on the rock safely on their knees. Oshin makes grandma sit and tells her never to do such a stupid thing.
Grandma is panting, and Oshin tells her why she was trying to jump into the river. Grandma replies, sadly, why Oshin stopped her? ‘It would be best for everyone if I’m gone,’ she says. Grandma feels terrible that her life is not helpful for anyone anymore. She would be a burden on Eizo or Kozo too. Fuji doesn’t want to leave her behind. She is holding Fuji back from going to Brazil with the family. She continues to cry and tells Oshin that she is better off dead.
Oshin starts crying too, and she hugs her grandma and calls her a fool to have taken this step. Oshin tells her that she will stay behind with Grandma. She will work hard, and when she is older, she will take good care of Grandma. She requests her grandma to live a long life! They hug each other and cry, and find solace.
(We observe that in the situation of extreme poverty, it is the women who take the blame upon themselves and try to end their own lives. We saw it was Oshin’s mom initially, and now grandma is trying the same. Oshin saves them in both cases, but these events give her understanding of the enormity of pain these women bear)
Oshin brings Grandma home. She is lying on a mat, and Oshin gives her message to reduce the pain she suffered in her bones due to climbing the tall rock.
Oshin’s mom tells her husband that she won’t go to Brazil; she asks him to proceed by himself if he wants to. Father tells her that the contract is to go as a family together. They are required to work together in the Brazilian fields. Fuji is upset; she tells her husband if he realizes what he is putting grandma through? She is angry with her husband and tells him did he care if his mother died? Sakuzo gets upset too and hits Fuji. Fuji is adamant, and she challenges Sakuzo to beat her more if he wants. Come what may, she will never abandon grandma to go to Brazil. Grandma feels very awkward with all these turns of events leading to a fight between her son and his wife. She meekly tells Fuji not to worry about her.
Fuji tells her husband that he should know why grandma can’t move around anymore! She has all her life worked her body to a breaking point raising her family! Just because now she can’t get around, it is inhumane to just abandon her. She tries to reason out with her husband that even if the rice crop fails, they will somehow manage. Father has no options left out, and he replies that they are sharecroppers; they are dead without the crop.
Fuji thinks for a while, and then she speaks up. She decides to go out and work herself. Sakuzo brushes aside this idea saying that a woman couldn’t possibly earn ever enough. Fuji is determined and optimistic; she says a woman can make it when she applies her mind. Sakuzo is a bit uncertain and does not know how to react. Fuji, in the meantime, is thinking fast about the arrangements. She says that Oshin can take care of the younger siblings. Grandma will help too. Sakuzo is again very angry, and he shouts, reminding Fuji that she still has a baby that needs her milk. He tells her that she is talking nonsense and asks Shouji to resume their work.
Fuji comes close to grandma and asks her if her legs are hurting. Oshin is puzzled and amazed; she tells her mom that it is simply a wonder that grandma could climb that cliff. Oshin thinks that grandma must have hurt her leg when they almost fell. Mom is thankful towards Oshin, and she is glad that Oshin was there to stop her. She says that she couldn’t have lived at peace if grandma would have killed herself. Grandma apologizes to Fuji for her silly action. Fuji tells grandma that it is her who should apologize. Grandma has had nothing but seen hardship all her life. Fuji tells grandma that she was so nice to her when she came to this family as a bride.
Grandma’s affection made it possible for Fuji to bear all the difficulties she faced living the life of a poor family. She tells grandma that she does not care if grandma cannot move, grandma’s life is precious to them, and she should not try taking that life away ever.
Oshin finally understands what it means to be poor. She understands they need money to help her mother and grandma to relieve them from such miseries. This incident was to leave a permanent impression on Oshin as she grew up.
Her dad understood, too; he never again brought up the topic of going to Brazil. Food was still scarce, so as Fuji had decided, she began going away to work. She has now decided to move to the city with a job offer. As she feeds the new baby, Oshin asks her where will she go for work and what work will she be doing? What about the baby? Oshin inquires if mom will take the baby with her? Mom does not answer at all and looks at the baby with sadness.
What kind of work will Fuji take up outside her village? What will happen to the new baby?
Episode 23 will have some answers.