Bheela’s Blog -044
18 September 2021
Episode 43 Recap
Kayo runs away from home, leaving a note behind. Oshin rushes to Sakata railway station and learns that Kayo left for Tokyo. Kota is also on the same train. Oshin wants to quit the job but stays on as she waits for Kota’s letter.
Kayo confesses to Kota that she left everything to be with him. Kota remains silent.
The Sakuragi family asks Oshin to participate in a party. The groom-to-be misbehaves with Oshin. Kuni asks Oshin to apologize, but Oshin refuses.
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Episode 44
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
After learning that Kayo had run away with Kota, Oshin still believed in him and was waiting for a word from Kota. However, an incident was about to bring a change in Oshin’s life again.
Oshin is seated in front of Kuni. Kuni is somewhat puzzled by Oshin’s stand. She tries to reason out with Oshin and says, ‘Mr. Sakuragi feels as if you two were already married, and he was drunk. If you refuse to apologize and this engagement falls through, you will never get a better one! So, go and apologize. Just tell him that you were startled. I will go with you and help you apologize.’
Oshin makes up her mind and decides to tell the truth to Kuni. Collecting all her courage, she speaks up, ‘I don’t ever intend to marry Mr. Sakuragi. I am glad that they have cancelled.’
‘Why didn’t you just refuse at the beginning?’ Kuni is now confused.
‘I am sorry to have caused you all to lose face.’ Oshin says, continuing with her head bowed down.
‘Never mind that! I have always thought of you as having potential. That is why I have trained you well, and that’s why I found you a good man to marry. I wanted you to be happy.’ Kuni is upset. She cannot understand the real reason and, in a cursing way, tells Oshin, ‘Now you go, and wreck everything over something so trivial. I was only thinking of your own good. First Kayo, and now you! I can’t figure you, young people, out!’ Kuni is disappointed, sighing with despair.
Oshin lifts her head. She has some plans and confesses to Kuni, ‘I am grateful for all you have done for me. But I would like to take leave from my job.’
‘Oshin!’ Kuni is totally stunned.
‘I have caused you too much trouble.’ Oshin continues, once again bowing down.
‘You really don’t intend on marrying Mr. Sakuragi? Do you have someone else?’ Kuni wants to go to the bottom of all these. ‘Is he from Sakata?’ she demands to know.
‘I can’t bear to stay here anymore. Please let me quit.’ Oshin speaks with her voice choked.
***
Oshin returns to her room. She takes out her clothes, the Kokeshi doll, the harmonica, and the books Kayo gave her many years ago. She starts putting all of these on a cloth for packing. Otama enters the room and tells Oshin, ‘Your mother is here to see you.’ Oshin is thoughtful.
Fuji is waiting in the kitchen. Oshin comes close to her.
‘Senior Madam has told me all about it.’ Fuji tells Oshin softly. ‘You didn’t tell me yesterday, but I knew that something had happened.’
‘I have caused the senior madam to lose face.’ Oshin confesses to her mother too.
‘Then, think it over! She wanted me to talk to you.’ Fuji also tries her best so that Oshin rethinks about her decision, ‘She says she will talk to the Sakuragis for you. I didn’t know that Miss Kayo left home, hadn’t she? You can’t quit on them at a time like this and be selfish now. Ms. Kuni knows that you love another man. Why worry about an unreliable man? Why sacrifice your own happiness for him? You know how terrible poverty is. Stop dreaming. This decision can affect your whole life.’ Fuji gives all possible reasons to make Oshin understand that she needs to rethink.
‘Oshin, wake up!’ Fuji exclaims and raises her voice with anxiety.
‘I don’t dream of ever being able to marry a man I really love. I have given up on that.’ Oshin tries to clarify her stand.
‘Then why? Mom is puzzled too.
‘But I can’t marry another man. I realize that now. I used to think that to be a man’s wife means to let him have his way with you. But when Mr. Sakuragi touched my hand, I couldn’t bear his touch! I can’t marry him. It is not something I can pretend to. I am sorry!’ Oshin reveals all to her mom.
(Mom understands these feelings and the sixth sense God has given to all women about an unwelcome touch.)
‘I understand. If you feel so strongly, then the marriage won’t work. You will be unhappy only.’ Mom says, ‘I will talk to the senior madam for you. But you don’t have to quit your job. Forget the engagement and keep working at Kaga-ya.’
‘Mom, Miss Kayo ran off with the man I love.’
Oshin shares with her mom the last bit of truth that she had held back from everyone. ‘I can’t tell anybody else about this. It is a secret I must bear, and I can’t keep facing the Kaga-ya family every day. I am lying to them each time I see them! I want to quit. I want to forget about Miss Kayo too. As long as I am working at Kaga-ya, Miss Kayo will always be on my mind, and I won’t be able to forget him.’ Oshin pours her heart out to her mom. She is sad but relieved.
***
Otama is crying profusely. The older maid comes out. Both of them watch towards the living room. Kaga-ya family members are sitting around Oshin. Oshin faces Ms. Kuni and says, ‘Thank you for all you have done for me.’ She then bows down to the ground.
‘You were just eight when you came to us. You have served us well. It is a shame that this had to happen.’ Seitaro says with his tone full of regret.
‘If only we hadn’t made the match with Mr. Sakuragi, you would have stayed with us longer,’ Mino regrets and starts sobbing.
‘You all did what you thought was best for me. It is just my own willfulness; I don’t know how to apologize,’ Oshin says, bowing again.
‘It will be lonely with Kayo gone, and now Oshin is leaving too,’ baby Sayo says, and she cries too. Mino collects herself and tells Sayo, ‘Oshin raised you, so don’t ever forget her.’ Sayo says, ‘yes’ softly.
‘What will you do once you go home?’ Seitaro wants to know.
‘I will probably find another job,’ Oshin replies, but she is uncertain!
‘Will your troubles never end?’ Mino’s anxiety is showing on her face.
‘I won’t try to stop Oshin. I know she has good reason to want to quit.’ Kuni finally speaks up. She loves Oshin from the core of her heart, so she is sad and unable to speak. She sums up by saying, ‘come back to me for help anytime. As long as I am alive, I will always help you. This is from me to you.’ Kuni comes forward and gives a packet with money to Oshin.
‘I can’t take it! I have caused you embarrassment.’ Oshin protests.
‘You used to send all your wages back home. You need to have some money of your own. You will be staying with your older brother until you get another job. With money, you don’t have to feel small! You won’t have to rush into finding a new job.’ As usual, Kuni is practical, although, at this time, her emotions are running high.
‘I can’t accept this money. I have caused you too much trouble! Oshin says.
‘It is from the senior madam’s heart. Consider this as her blessings,’ Mino comes forward and pushes the packet into Oshin’s hands.
‘Thank you very much,’ Oshin says, bowing again.
Kuni tries to hold her tears back and turns her face away. She says, ‘Take care of yourself!’
Oshin looks up, as Kuni starts walking away, and says, ‘you too, and everyone, please stay well.
Kuni faces the wall and cries silently as Oshin bows for one last time.
***
Oshin is ready with the cloth bag tied to her back. Fuji comes rushing to see her off.
‘So, you are going home? Fuji asks.
‘I will miss you, mom. I won’t be coming back to Sakata. This place holds so many memories for me.’ Oshin is sad too, leaving the place.
‘Forget about Miss Kayo and that man. Your father and brother Shoji won’t welcome you home. I wish I could be there with you.’ Fuji worries about Oshin’s future.
‘I am prepared, mom; I will be starting over again from scratch. I want to work hard and let you have a better life.’ Oshin says, looking at the sky with hope and determination.
RETURN TO PRESENT TIME
Oshin and her grandson Kei are staying in a hotel at Sakata. Oshin recalls each and every event at Kaga-ya, which decided her future course of life. Kei and Oshin take a stroll near the Mogami River, close to where the river meets the Ocean. It is still icy; the riverbank is covered with snow. Oshin and Kei in woolen clothes, enjoy winter. Oshin, as usual, has wrapped her purple shawl around her head. Many swans and ducks swim in the cold waters of the river.
Oshin remembers and tells Kei that this was where the boat up the Mogami River used to depart. It made her feel sad to think that she would never be seeing the town of Sakata again. She continues to share her memories with Kei and says, ‘They were so good to me at Kaga-ya. Those were the happiest days of my life. There are so many fond memories.’
‘You never returned to Sakata after that?’ Kei asks; he listens to his grandma’s story and is always curious about her life.
‘To think about it now, why was I so insistent on leaving this place? I guess it’s because I was just 16 and still so young.’ Oshin almost talks to herself, although Kei is around.
‘Sure, you were still pure of heart and full of young innocence,’ Kei, in all his wisdom, wants to take her grandma’s side!
‘I was such a fool. I knew I could never marry Kota, and yet, I thought about him, day and night!’ Oshin laughs at herself as Kei joins her.
‘If you had never met him, you probably would have married that Mr. Sakuragi,’ Kei says, laughing! He is happy to be with her, while she shares her memories.
‘Maybe so; I used to think that is how women got married.’ Oshin says and again recalls the events following her departure from Kaga-ya.
FLASHBACK RETURNS
Winter hasn’t set in yet in the mountains. Oshin walks through the lanes of her village amidst the green surrounding. She carries a bag in her right hand, and the cloth bag is tied to her shoulder. Villagers are ploughing the fields nearby and planting seeds.
Oshin returns home with a heavy heart. She didn’t know what was in store for her now.
How will her father and brother treat her? What will happen to the money senior madam gave her?
We will know the next more in the next Episode 45 coming soon.