Bheela’s Blog -025
08 May 2021
Episode 24 Recap
Oshin has to go to Sakata to work as a live-in maid, for which her family will receive five bales of rice. Without informing her father or grandma, she starts on foot to Ginzan city to meet her mother. She learns about the job her mother is doing.
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https://bheela-wadehra.medium.com/bheelas-blog-024-91bca1095b47
Episode 25
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
Oshin went to visit her mother in Ginzan hot springs before going off to work in Sakata. She was to work as a live-in maid for two years. So, she wanted to see her mother before she had to go. She finally finds her mom working in an inn. That night, she shared a bed with her mom. She could never sleep with her mom before since she already had two younger siblings, followed by a new baby Sumi.
Oshin is half asleep, and she murmurs that her mom was so warm. Mom wakes up and says that Oshin is a strong girl. Oshin came all this way to see her mom. Mom knows, and she tells Oshin that she will be facing hardships, but mom won’t worry about her. Mom believes that Oshin is special. Nothing will ever happen to Oshin; mom tells herself as she talks to Oshin. She even made sure to reach this place, Ginzan, such a far-away place, on her own.
Mother urges Oshin to live her life as she considers fit at her terms, having no regrets. Her mother tells her again never to depend on others. Mom is sure that Oshin can do it! She asks Oshin that wherever she goes, make sure that she can live on her own.
PRESENT TIME
Kei has fallen asleep. Oshin wakes up in the middle of the night in the hotel. She sits on her bed. Her eyes are full of tears that she cannot control. The tears flow profusely. There is pain and agony of an eight-year-old child who has to part with her mom so that their family does not sleep hungry.
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
The following day after Oshin slept very well next to her mother for the first time in her life, she wakes up fresh. As her mom is packing her things, the owner woman enters the room and is surprised to see that Oshin is ready to leave. Mom tells her that she has to go to Sakata; hence she needs to start early. The owner asks if Oshin is not returning to her home. Mom replies that Oshin has found a job as a live-in maid at Sakata. The owner is shocked to know that Oshin has to work at her young age. Oshin proudly replies that she will get paid five bales of rice against two years of work. The owner tells Oshin that she has some sweets for her to pack and eat on her way with rice balls. The owner also informs Oshin that Fuji made these for her. Fuji conveys her thanks to the owner lady. The owner is a nice woman, and she asks Oshin lovingly to take care and goes out of the room, closing the door behind her so that Oshin can talk to her mom before she leaves. Oshin finds the owner to be charming and kind. She tells her mom that she is happy that mom is with such a nice person.
Mom gives Oshin some last-minute lessons; she says, ‘Always return the kindness you receive from others. Remain selfless and caring towards others.’
She gives some money to Oshin and keeps it inside Oshin’s dress pocket. She cautions Oshin not to lose the money which she gave for transportation to Sakata. Oshin tells her that she can walk and doesn’t need the money. Mom says that Sakata is a far-away place and Oshin should take a boat. She arranges a horse cart for her, which she can ride up to the boat dock at the banks of the Mogami River. Oshin is worried if mom will be left with any money after giving the transport expenses. Mom tells her not to worry; she says she can’t do much else for Oshin. She wishes that she could give some more money to Oshin for spending later at Sakata, so she apologizes.
Little Oshin is full of pride; she tells her mom that she didn’t come to get money; it has made her very happy that she could get to be with her for a whole night. Oshin says she won’t see her for the next two years, but she can wait until her term gets over after this visit. She promises her mom that she won’t run away like the last time. Mom holds back her tears and asks Oshin to start as the horse cart will be leaving soon. Oshin asks her mom to take good care of herself. Mom asks her to get up, and she will see her off.
Oshin, with her mom, comes to the inn’s reception area, where Oshin spots a Kokeshi doll placed as a piece of decoration. She exclaims that the Kokeshi doll looks like her mom.
Mom then holds the Kokeshi and finds it odd that Oshin is comparing the doll with herself. Mom says that it does not resemble her. Oshin says that the Kokeshi doll has a kind face just like mom. As mom holds the Kokeshi doll, the owner woman appears at the front door. Mom takes her permission to give the piece to Oshin. Mom tells Oshin to keep it carefully, which will remain with Oshin as her substitute. Oshin slowly holds the doll and looks at the doll’s face intently. Mom tells her to think of it as her mom. Oshin cannot control her tears anymore. She hugs her mom with the doll in her hand and starts crying.
Mom holds her tight and then lets her go.
Oshin is riding on a horse cart which takes her through narrow roads to the boat dock at the Mogami river. She is continuously looking at the doll’s face.
PRESENT TIME
A housekeeping girl is cleaning Oshin’s room. There are photographs and other artifacts on the shelf. The Kokeshi doll is kept there too. As the girl is removing dust, the Kokeshi doll accidentally falls on the carpet. The cleaning girl exclaims that this doll always falls off; she finds this very strange that senior madam (Oshin) keeps this old Kokeshi among all the other expensive showpieces. She looks at a photo frame with Oshin standing flanked by Kei and another teenage girl on both sides. Both kids are holding Oshin lovingly.
FLASHBACK RETURNS
Oshin is now on a boat that sails downstream the Mogami river. (Sakata is the place where the river meets the Sea of Japan on the northwest side of Japan) Here we can see the river quite wide, and the boat is of good quality, much better than the raft she took when she went to do her first job at the lumber mill.
Her journey to Sakata was finally coming to an end. She gets off the boat and enters the city. The roads are crowded with vendors’ carts and people moving about in a hurry. The boatman brings her to a building and tells her that this is the place. Oshin is amazed to see the large building, which appears to be a store. The boat helper tells her to work hard. Oshin conveys her thanks to the man. The man walks off, and Oshin now faces a big store with Kaga-Ya written on the signboard.
Oshin pulls herself and enters the main door. Some men are sitting over there at the entrance hall. She tells them that she is Oshin and she just arrived to start work. She bows down to the person who appears to be the oldest and tells him to guide her. The man, who looks like some kind of supervisor, is somewhat puzzled to see a child asking for work. He asks her who has brought her there? Oshin tells him that she came by herself. The man kindly tells her that there could be some mistake. Oshin is confused, and she asks him if this was Kaga-ya, the rice dealer. The man affirms, then Oshin says that she has come to the right place. The supervisor says that he does not recall asking for any new workers. Oshin tells him that she was advised to be at this place to do a babysitter’s job. The man asks her who has told her about this job? Oshin then tells him that the woman Oriki san, the agent, has asked her to report at Kaga-ya rice dealers.
Once the man hears the name Oriki, he gets an idea that this is something to do with domestic work. He then asks a helper to call young madam.
As the helper goes inside, an elderly woman wearing expensive clothes enters the door from outside. She seems to be returning from a journey. The supervisor greets her with respect, welcomes her back, and addresses her as ‘senior’ madam. The elderly lady tells the supervisor that she has settled things with Sawada-ya (another dealer). The supervisor says that’s good. The lady then instructs a young man and the supervisor to take care of the details. She is somewhat upset with the young man and tells him that he should not depend on her for everything. The young man, who looks like the woman’s son, replies that she knew Sawada-ya people very well; hence the deal went smoothly. The man indeed is her son. The lady again affectionately scolds him, saying he shouldn’t depend on her mother all the time. She says she feels old and she wants to retire! She then talks to the supervisors and tells him that it is tough to have children late in one’s life and laughs.
Suddenly she looks at Oshin and is curious to know who this child is and why is she here? The supervisor gets up and asks the senior madam if anyone asked for a babysitter? The elderly woman is surprised; she does not seem to know about this. She says she doesn’t think if a babysitter is needed. The supervisor then gets assured. He tells Oshin that now it is confirmed that this is not the right place she came to. They don’t need any babysitter. Oshin repeats again that Oriki told her to go to Kaga-ya, the rice dealer. There is no mistake. The supervisor tells her that they did not ask for her, so she should return to her home.
Just then, the young madam comes out, and she welcomes the senior madam. The young madam looks to be the daughter-in-law of the elderly lady. The supervisor then speaks up that madam has already cleared up the matter. The senior woman then asks her daughter-in-law in a stern voice, ‘Don’t tell me you asked for a babysitter? That too without asking me first!’
(we can see the dominant personality of the mother in law, it appears that the daughter-in-law made a mistake and is scared to answer).
The daughter-in-law then looks for support from her husband, the son of the senior madam, who was quiet all this time, probably out of fear! He comes up and says that they would never do any such thing without their mother’s permission. Oshin is now highly anxious; she tells them that she was asked to come and report. She also tells them she was promised five bales of rice against two years of work. She says she is not lying, Oriki had confirmed.
The senior madam sighs and goes inside the house. Both son and daughter-in-law follow her. Oshin kept saying that she is speaking the truth; she is not lying!
The scene turns to Oshin’s house. Oriki, the agent, is talking to grandma. She says that she hopes that Oshin is still with Fuji and not gone off to Sakata. Father, who is preparing the dinner, says that Oshin could have reached Sakata by this time! Oriki is alarmed, and she says that the deal is not set yet!! Father says that Oriki only told that the job was well suited for Oshin, so the child left for Sakata. Oriki clarifies that she was just inquiring if everyone agrees to send Oshin or not. Oriki hadn’t yet confirmed with the owners of Kaga-ya!
Father is now worried if they will turn Oshin away at the door. Oriki says that the people were unsure if they needed the babysitter or not; they were just inquiring. They might have found someone there itself on their own, she says worriedly. Grandma is worried too; she says that it will be too cruel if they don’t give Oshin that job. Grandma starts crying and says Oshin was too happy to go to work! Oriki tells them that she will go to Sakata the next day and find out. Grandma thanks her. (Although grandma is illiterate, she is very courteous. These people are too simple and believed the agent quickly. Extreme poverty forces them to get fooled by many such people).
Meanwhile, at the Kaga-ya rice dealer store, the work shift has ended, and we see workers returning home. Oshin is sitting alone at the doorstep of Kaga-ya store. A woman comes with food, offers the same to Oshin and asks her to eat her fill as she won’t be able to go back hungry. Oshin turns her face away from food. She is sad and doesn’t know what to do.
Inside the house, the son and his wife are sitting in front of the senior madam. She asks the daughter-in-law to confirm if she inquired from Oriki about a babysitter or not? The son replies, asking his mother if she believed that Sayo doesn’t need a babysitter? The mother says that Mino (the daughter-in-law) should be able to look after her own baby! The son says that his wife isn’t keeping too well since giving birth to Sayo, their second child.
The son continues saying that his wife isn’t that strong, health-wise, from the beginning. The daughter-in-law is feeling uneasy with this conversation. She is a kind and soft hearted woman; she apologizes to her mother-in-law and her husband, saying this is all her fault. Her husband says that she couldn’t take good care of Sayo, the new baby. They already have two maids to help with the household work. One of them takes the elder daughter Kayo to school the whole day. So, his wife ends up doing most of the household work. He tells her that if she does all the household work and looks after the baby Sayo, she will get sick very soon. The senior madam says that she raised all her five children herself! Why can’t they take care of just two?
Oshin is sitting alone at the front door. The elder of the two granddaughters the senior madam, Kayo, who is of Oshin’s age, comes out with a ball. She looks suspiciously at Oshin. Oshin, thinking of this girl to be one from the owner’s family, respectfully bows down. Still, Kayo looks away without returning the greeting and goes inside. Oshin looks on with grave uncertainty.
The young madam, the daughter-in-law, comes out of the house and tells Oshin that she is very sorry to have kept Oshin waiting. She has a kind, beautiful face, she tells Oshin softly that she is sad, but Oshin will have to return to her home. She asks Oshin to stay at an inn close by for the night and take a boat home the following day. She will pay the fare to Oshin. She takes out cash from her dress pocket and hands to Oshin that this amount will be enough for Inn charges and boat fare. Oshin can keep the rest.
She is genuinely apologetic to Oshin for taking the trouble to come all the way. She also asks Oshin to eat her fill before she goes.
Oshin thinks for a moment, and with firm resolution, says, ‘I am not going home. I have come to work for the rice! Please keep me here! I will work very hard; I can’t go home! I will not go home!’
As Oshin is requesting to the young madam, her voice is raised out of anxiety. The senior madam comes out and stands next to the door. She sees Oshin asking firmly for a job. She gets curious and hides behind the door to watch.
Oshin is desperate and firm in her resolution. What she does next surprises both the senior and the young madams!
Oshin bends down to her knees and bows to the ground, and pleads, ‘Please! I beg you! I beg you! I beg you!
Her head hits the ground making a noise. She continues to beg for the job.
What will be the decision of senior madam after watching this? Will they keep Oshin, or will she have to return home?
We will know more in Episode 26, coming soon.