Bheela’s Blog -096
17 September 2022
Episode 95 Recap
Oshin confirms her pregnancy after visiting a midwife. Ms. Taka advises her not to leave Ryuzo at this juncture, and she shares her own past with Oshin.
Oshin decides to quit her job so that it will drive Ryuzo to rebuild his business. She gives up the idea of divorcing Ryuzo.
Ryuzo thinks of going to Saga, and if Oshin disagrees, he says he will divorce Oshin. But as soon as Oshin shares the news of her quitting the job and being pregnant, he decides to stay in Tokyo. He tries, but his business doesn’t pick up. Slowly the money they have starts running out.
Please click the link to read the full Episode:
https://bheela-wadehra.medium.com/bheelas-blog-095-63d48d9d45cd
Episode 96
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
It has been about two months since Oshin quit working. It is now the rainy season. Oshin returns from the market holding an umbrella. She enters the house, closes the umbrella, and keeps it in the corner.
‘The rice shop, too, won’t sell us anymore. We haven’t paid them in two months. We owe up to the limit for fish and vegetables, too,’ she comes close to Genzi and informs him. No money is in the house, and all the shops have stopped selling them on credit. Genzi continues to make envelopes and listens to Oshin without looking up.
Oshin isn’t unhappy; she has resolved that she won’t return to work and wait for a situation to come when all resources dry up. She believes that this will drive Ryuzo to exert.
‘I guess we will just have to starve,’ says Oshin, looking at the kitchen pots and pans. She gets tired and leans against a chair.
‘If your husband hadn’t played around so much, we would still have the money you gave me to use,’ says Genzi, and he fumes.
‘It is no use talking about what is past, isn’t it?’
‘We haven’t anything left to auction either. All the money made with side jobs goes down the drain,’ says Genzi and continues his work. Oshin helps him stack the envelopes.
‘Welcome home,’ says Oshin and rushes to the door to open it for Ryuzo. He, too, comes back partially drenched and closes his umbrella. Genzi takes his bag and goes inside without speaking to him.
Ryuzo drops onto a chair with a sigh. He says, ‘I went around seeing customers, but no luck. It is almost summer, and we are selling winter fabric! All this is worthless!’ Ryuzo looks at the piles of fabric reams stacked in the front area.
‘A day will come when they begin to sell. These fabrics are our only asset!’ Oshin remains hopeful.
‘People have lost faith in our business. I guess we are finished. We can’t keep this place open forever. Let us sell it and start up something else.’
‘Oh, come on! Don’t give up so soon!’
‘We don’t even have food to eat. We owe bills everywhere. Genzi is about to give up, too,’ Ryuzo sounds desperate.
‘Poverty is a lot worse than this! But we have nothing to eat tonight. One or two days without food won’t kill us. I guess we will go to bed early tonight. Staying up will only make us hungry,’ says Oshin cheerfully to Ryuzo. She smiles as she speaks and almost enjoys the difficult time.
Ryuzo, though is alarmed. He rushes to the kitchens and opens all the storage cans and jars. All of them are empty. He goes to the backyard, opens up cupboards and drawers, and starts throwing the clothes.
‘There is nothing in there that is worth any money. Everything has been sold or kept at the pawnshop for auction,’ says Oshin.
‘We really have nothing?’ Ryuzo panics
‘Maybe we can sell this bureau,’ says Oshin, looking at the cupboard.
‘We will only get one or two yens at the most!’ Ryuzo throws a key in anger.
‘That’s enough for us to buy one sho (approximately 1.5 kg) of rice!’ Oshin chirps.
‘That is pathetic!’ shouts Ryuzo.
‘It is better than nothing; let us sell the almirah,’ Oshin remains happy with this idea.
‘You idiot! That will keep us going for a few days only!’ says Ryuzo.
‘We will worry about the future when the time comes. We have to learn to survive day by day.’
‘We are penniless!’ Ryuzo suddenly realizes his situation and sits on the floor. He has no energy left.
Oshin sits next to him and says, ‘You don’t know what absolute poverty is. This is what it is like where there is no money.’
Ryuzo suddenly gets up and rushes out of the house. He seems to get some idea to come out of the situation. Genzi and Oshin try to stop him but to no avail.
***
Ms. Taka enters the lane and watches Ryuzo rushing out of the door. She is carrying an umbrella; she tries tilting it to ensure it is Ryuzo indeed.
Oshin welcomes Ms. Taka and places a cushion on the floor for her to get seated.
‘Did you two just have a fight?’ She asks Oshin.
‘No,’ Oshin replies.
‘I just saw your husband rushing out of here! Everything is scattered all over the place,’ she comments, watching Oshin pick up the clothes Ryuzo just threw on the floor before leaving.
‘Nothing happened,’ Oshin quickly cleans up and sits in front of Ms. Taka.
‘How is your health?’ Ms. Taka enquires.
‘The morning sickness isn’t too bad anymore. The baby is minding its mother!’ Oshin laughs and says, ‘It has been a long time; sorry I couldn’t visit you,’ says Oshin and bows to her teacher with respect.
‘I told you to come to see me once in a while! I was worried. I heard you owe all the grocery stores and have frequented the auction shops. The business is bad as usual?’ says Ms. Taka. The bad news about the Tanokura family has spread in their area. Oshin lowers her head but keeps a smile on her face.
‘If only Mr. Tanokura was really trying, it would have been worth quitting the job,’ Ms. Taka quickly grasps the situation.
‘He understands, and he is trying hard. We still have our house. He doesn’t really know what being poor is like. He will learn very soon when he realizes that we can’t even afford to buy a single grain of rice,’ Oshin tells Ms. Taka, and she gives enough hints of their financial state.
‘We are out of all food, and no store will give us any more credit,’ Oshin laughs as she describes the condition. Most of her laughter has hidden sadness, and Ms. Taka fully understands.
‘That is not funny! You have the baby to think of. You have to take care of your health! If you go back to work, you can eat again,’ says Ms. Taka and sighs. She takes out some cash from the folds of her kimono.
‘I am glad that I came; Take this for now,’ Ms. Taka places the cash on the floor in front of Oshin and says, ‘I will get you the money to pay off your bills. Come to the salon and take what you need.’
‘Thank you,’ Oshin won’t receive the money, and she slides the cash back towards Ms. Taka.
‘This is no time to let pride get in the way,’ says Ms. Taka; she slides the money back to Oshin.
‘We have held out for two months already. I can’t take handouts from you now,’ Oshin too slides the cash back again to Ms. Taka.
‘I have no relatives, so you are like family to me. I can’t sit back and watch this happen. A worthless man is of no value at all! Mr. Tanokura is just a spoilt boy.’
‘I want him to crawl out of the hole he is in. That will give him confidence!’ Oshin defends her stand firmly.
‘If he could, he would have done it already,’ says Ms. Taka and looks at Oshin. Oshin lowers her head, and for some moments, no one speaks.
Ms. Taka breaks the silence. She says, ‘I guess you really love him, don’t you? You win!’ she picks up the cash and puts it back in her dress pocket.
Oshin and Ms. Taka have a hearty laugh. Oshin’s eyes sparkle with pride.
***
Genzi works on the envelopes in the dim light of a lamp. Oshin comes out and looks at the clock.
‘He is late! He didn’t tell you where he was going? He was acting very strange when he left,’ Oshin is tired with hunger, and her legs wobble as she walks towards the door and looks out. Genzi doesn’t respond and continues to work.
Oshin turns to Genzi and tells him, ‘Genzi, why don’t you go to bed?’
‘I can’t sleep; I have to keep busy.’ He replies finally, after a pause.
‘I guess you are right. When one is busy, one wants to rest. But doing nothing is just as tiring,’ Oshin sighs and sits on a chair. She starts talking to herself again, ‘why are we doing this? We didn’t eat all day today; we will need food tomorrow,’ her voice gets feeble due to weakness.
‘Here is your order of two unagi dinners,’ Genzi and Oshin are startled by a knock on the door. A delivery boy brings food packets.
(Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eel, especially the Japanese eel. Unagi is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking; it is not to be confused with saltwater eel, which is known as anago in Japanese. Source: Wiki)
‘We didn’t order this,’ says Genzi looking at the packets.
‘Isn’t this the Tanokura Company? Then no mistake. It has already been paid,’ says the delivery boy; he seems to be in a hurry to leave.
‘Who ordered it?’ implores Oshin.
‘I don’t know; I just do deliveries,’ says the boy and rushes out.
Genzi and Oshin smell the food freshly cooked. Steam is still coming out of the packet. As they look at the food, puzzled, Ryuzo enters the house.
‘We couldn’t eat it without knowing who sent it over!’ says Oshin looking at Ryuzo.
‘What a waste; it is no good cold!’ Ryuzo smiles as he sits down next to the dining table.
‘We didn’t know!’ says Oshin, and Genzi joins them. Genzi says, ‘we didn’t think you would order the dinner packets.’
Ryuzo fetches a currency note from his coat’s inner pocket and places it on the table.
‘I have 100 yens here; pay off all our bills!’ Ryuzo burst out laughing, looking at the scared faces of Oshin and Genzi.
With a smile, he says, ‘It is all good money; I borrowed it!’
‘From a loan shark?’ Oshin is alarmed. She knows well about the street-smart lenders who give money to the needy at an enormously high-interest rate. Often such lenders are called sharks.
‘No, I am too timid to do that,’ Ryuzo still keeps smiling, leaving Genzi and Oshin without any clues.
‘Then who?’ Genzi gets impatient.
‘A man from Saga to whom I did favors, runs a successful business here in Tokyo. He loaned me the money and paid for the unagi!’ says Tanokura. It is the first time in his life that Ryuzo has taken a loan. Almost always, he is the one helping others with cash and kindness. It is slowly sinking in him that he did this today out of desperation.
‘It must be Chokichi, the son of a sharecropper!’ Genzi recognizes the man.
‘Yes, he used to follow me around when we were kids, but now, he is a stockbroker.’ Says Ryuzo; he is calm and content with his action today.
(Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the primary stock market of Japan, is one of the world’s largest marketplaces for securities. The exchange was first opened in 1878 to provide a platform for trading government bonds newly issued to former samurai. The Tokyo Stock Exchange, however, was formed in 1943, formally as a company. Please click the link to know more about the history of Japanese stock trading: https://www.jpx.co.jp/english/corporate/about-jpx/history/01-02.html. Many people got rich by joining the stock trading business.)
‘You bowed down to a man like that?’ Genzi cannot come to terms with Ryuzo’s action. He cannot accept that his master would ever do such a thing.
‘I had to; I can’t let you two starve. I am responsible for you both. I have never bowed down to anyone before. I never wanted to sell my goods that badly. When the business was good, that was all right. But I realize that I am totally broke. I bowed down for the first time in my life.’ Ryuzo is convinced about his action today. He says this all to ensure confidence in the step he took.
Oshin looks at him with admiration.
‘I know a man isn’t supposed to admit weakness. But I had to tell him that I was in trouble. I am not afraid anymore. I will do anything to keep you two from starving. I am ready to bow down to anyone and will do whatever work.’ Ryuzo has no regrets; he has been able to conquer his own demons.
‘I borrowed this money, but I will earn my own, no matter what it takes! I will pay this money back, too!’ says Ryuzo with resolves.
‘I don’t mind you borrowing money. I am so happy that you did what you had to do. You can do it if you put your mind to it! I am sure we can start over again now. And I will follow your lead. We will build this business up to what it was,’ Oshin’s says and her eyes get moist. She looks at Genzi and says, ‘Genzi, please help us, too.’ Ryuzo and Genzi nod.
Oshin takes Genzi’s hand and places it on Ryuzo’s. She joins them with her own hands, and she laughs.
***
‘I can’t win against you,’ says Ryuzo; he lies on his bed looking at the roof, his arm below his neck.
‘The truth is, I was at the end of my rope today. I almost gave up on you,’ admits Oshin truthfully.
‘Borrowing money isn’t the answer. I have to figure out something. We can’t just run a fabric business. Imported fabrics are too expensive in a poor economy like this. I don’t really know what I should do.’ Ryuzo talks to himself, but he realizes that Oshin has a sharp sense, and ultimately, she will have solutions to all his problems.
‘There is a lot you can do. Just put your mind to it.’ Says Oshin, encouraging him. He turns to look at Oshin.
‘Oshin, I need you. With you, I can do anything. Please always be with me no matter what happens.’
Oshin smiles and nods. They hold hands and are happy after a long time.
***
Oshin and Ryuzo have gotten over the first crisis in their marriage, but there are more troubles ahead.
Will Ryuzo have any business ideas? How will Oshin help?
We will know more in the coming episode, number 97, soon!