Bheela’s Blog -098
02 October 2022
Episode 97 Recap
The 100-yen Ryuzo borrowed is used up for paying the bills. Tanokura family is yet again without any income.
Someone gives Ryuzo a business idea about selling children’s clothes. Oshin gets excited, and she decides they must first sell all the piled-up stock of fabric to arrange money and start the new business.
Oshin suggests selling the fabric on the street markets of Asakusa. Genzi and Ryuzo oppose this since this is going too low for them. However, Oshin has other plans.
Please click the link to read the full Episode:
https://bheela-wadehra.medium.com/bheelas-blog-097-5c2cfe5b6f7f
Episode 98
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
Once Oshin puts her mind to something, nothing can stop her. She has come up with the idea to sell their fabric on the street market. She sets out with her merchandise while Ryuzo and Genzi are out.
She puts the fabric covered in cloth bags onto a cart and pulls it herself. She looks at the piece of paper on which she had written the market address and cost of the fabrics. Oshin wants to succeed in convincing Genzi and Ryuzo about her idea.
***
Genzi returns home and fans himself with his hat. He holds a packet in his left hand and tries to slide open the main door with his right hand. He is puzzled to find the door locked. He fetches the duplicate key from his dress pocket and opens the door.
‘I am back,’ Genzi says as he enters. He spots a letter kept on the table next to the door.
‘I am going out for a bit; I might be late. Please don’t worry. Dinner is already made.’ Genzi reads the letter from Oshin and is in deep thought.
***
Oshin finds a vacant corner on the street next to a wall. She hangs a banner to advertise her goods. She looks around, opens the cloth bag, and displays the fabric on a sheet she spreads on the floor.
***
Genzi roasts the fish to warm for dinner on an earthen furnace kept in the backyard.
‘She didn’t say where she was going?’ asks Ryuzo as he enters.
‘I wasn’t told,’ Genzi replies and worries for Oshin. He says, turning to Ryuzo, ‘But she mentioned wanting to eat cake from the Ginza.’
‘Eat cake?’ Ryuzo is surprised.
‘Pregnant women get such cravings. So, I walked there to get her cake since it would be a waste to take the train,’ says Genzi. He has started cutting down on all the comforts they are accustomed to, even traveling by train seems a luxury now.
‘Where could she have gone in her condition?’ it is now Ryuzo’s turn to get worried.
‘Maybe she has gone to see her café friends,’ Genzi tries to pacify Ryuzo.
‘Then why didn’t she put that in her note?’
‘Don’t worry, she will be back soon,’ says Genzi as he starts keeping the food on the dining table.
‘Genzi, I am worried; I wonder if she has gone out to do hairdressing again. Maybe she has given up on my ability to work and bring income,’ Ryuzo shares his fears with Genzi.
Genzi is upset, and he looks at Ryuzo with silent accusation.
***
The street market gets busy, but no one seems to take notice of Oshin.
‘Come and get your fine fabric!’ shouts Oshin, but her voice is lost in the crowd. She looks at the piece of paper where she wrote the cost of the fabric and the calculation of the least price that will recover her cost.
With renewed enthusiasm, she beats a stick on the floor to create a sound, then coughs a bit, clearing her throat to get ready to shout again.
‘Come on! This is the best deal ever! It is the fabric from Ginza! You will never get it at this price anywhere. It is fine English fabric!’
Some customers start gathering to listen to her. She doesn’t stop there; She tells her customers, ‘Let us burn a strand for its authenticity! Will you lend a match? If it burns quickly, it is an authentic fabric.’ She demonstrates her claim by taking out a tiny piece of the cloth and burning it in front of the onlookers. ‘What do you think?’
‘Are you sure?’ one of the men asks.
‘Of course, I am! You won’t find anything more genuine.’ Oshin has a natural gift! Her never-give-up attitude brings the result soon.
‘I will take that,’ the man says, pointing to a ream.
‘Thank you, that’s 10 yens!’ says Oshin.
‘I will take this one,’ a woman says.
‘This one is 15 yen,’ Oshin understands the customer’s mood; she knows now that they are ready to pay more.
‘I want one like that one,’ a woman asks, looking at the fabric just now purchased by another woman.
‘I will take three suits worth of material’ more people start demanding the fabric at this time when her stock is running out.
‘I am sorry, I only have scraps now!’ says Oshin.
‘That is all you have?’
‘I will get you a lot tomorrow,’ Oshin starts getting the market’s pulse.
‘I will be back tomorrow, so save some for me!’ pleads a woman. ‘I will be back tomorrow, too!’ says another woman.
‘I will be sure to bring you some tomorrow,’ replies Oshin cheerfully to the women.
‘Here is your change!’ Oshin completes the deal.
***
Suddenly there is a commotion. A rowdy man looks like a roadside goon, asks, pointing to the crowd around Oshin, ‘Who is that?’
‘Some young woman,’ replies another man.
‘She can’t do this!’ says the rowdy. The two men push the crowd aside to come close to Oshin.
The customers run away, looking at the goons. The rowdy men shuffle the leftover fabric with their feet and stand tall next to Oshin.
Oshin faces them head-on. ‘What are you doing?’ she asks.
‘You tell me! Who are you?’ shouts the man.
‘What is it to you? Don’t interfere with my business!’ Oshin is fearless; she replies to them.
‘You can’t sell here without getting our permission!’ The stocky guy threatens Oshin, saying, ‘don’t you know the rules?’
‘Why can’t I?’ asks Oshin bluntly.
‘Only those with our permission sell here! Get this stuff out of here!’ he raises his voice and throws his weight around.
‘There is no law that says I can’t sell here!’ Oshin replies; she, too, shouts and starts picking up the fabric pieces.
The men take it as an insult; they push Oshin to the side. Oshin loses her balance but soon gathers herself and attacks one of the men with all her force. She bites the man who pushed her.
‘She is biting me,’ the man cries out with pain, but the other goon pushes Oshin again and starts hitting her. Oshin won’t give up; she falls, gets up again, and charges toward the man. Soon the two men together overpower Oshin, and she falls to the hard ground injuring herself.
A large man appears from one side and orders the two men to move aside. He shouts at the men, ‘lay off! She is just a woman,’ he says. The man seems to be the local boss of the goons.
‘But she is a tough one!’ the goon replies.
The boss then looks at Oshin and says, ‘it is best if you leave.’
‘I can’t just pack up and leave,’ Oshin gathers all her strength to get up.
‘You are lucky to be still alive!’ says the goon.
‘Don’t take me for a fool! I have done nothing wrong! And I won’t just turn tail and run!’ Oshin somehow stands up and winces with pain.
‘We will show you!’ the goon is ready to hit her again. As soon as the man raises his hands and tries to catch Oshin, she manages to get free and shouts back at him, ‘you think you are such a big man? Picking up on a woman?’
This is enough for the man to get provoked again, and he charges toward Oshin, but the boss catches him mid-way and says, ‘Stop it! Back off!’ he pushes the two aside, comes close to Oshin, and tells her with as much politeness as he can, ‘I can’t keep them from harming you; these are hot-headed men. Please just leave for now.’
There is something in his voice that impacts Oshin to calm down. The boss says, ‘I will walk you home.’
‘You would better pay me for the fabric you ruined!’ Oshin ignores the large man, looks at the two goons, and orders.
‘What did you say?’ The man gets angry and comes close to Oshin to hit but is stopped by the boss. Oshin starts loading the pieces on the cart.
‘Can you make it home by yourself alone? You look beat up,’ the boss points to Oshin’s temple, which was hit against the hard floor and had started swelling.
‘You won’t get away with this,’ Oshin doesn’t reply to the boss but says to the two guys, ‘I will go to the police.’
‘She doesn’t understand; she is a big trouble!’ the goon complains to the boss.
‘Never mind, help her load up the clothes!’ The boss gives instructions to his men.
‘Boss!’ the man protests.
‘Is that your cart?’ the boss asks Oshin and tells his men, ‘Hurry, and load it up.’
As Oshin picks up the remaining fabric, the boss comes up to Oshin and asks her, ‘did the Tanokura Company send you here to sell?’
Oshin halts and looks at the boss; she is surprised.
‘It says on the wrapping paper on the fabric,’ says the boss clarifying and showing Oshin the wrapping sheet. Oshin doesn’t reply; she is worried that people might recognize her. She lowers her head and packs up. ‘Be careful,’ says the boss as he looks at Oshin’s bruised face in admiration.
***
Genzi is waiting outside the front door and looking at the lane, waiting for Oshin to return. It is already late, and the street is empty. He is startled and panics when he sees Oshin pulling the cart as she returns home. He rushes to her and holds the cart.
‘Where were you? We were so worried!’ he cries out. He helps Oshin keep the cart down and notices Oshin wobbling as she releases the cart. He panics again, ‘Look at you, you are hurt!’
Oshin carries a bundle of fabrics and enters the house. She smiles at Ryuzo, who is waiting for her.
‘Oshin!’ Ryuzo rushes to her.
Before they can say anything, Oshin shakes, and she faints. Ryuzo holds her in the nick of time and prevents her from falling.
***
Genzi squeezes a towel wetting it with warm water. He cleans Oshin’s wounds as Oshin lies unconscious. Ryuzo rubs her hands gently and waits for Oshin to open her eyes.
‘What happened? Were you attacked? What were you doing with our fabrics? Most of the fabric is soiled and ruined!’ he charges Oshin with the questions as soon as she stirs, but she cannot respond.
Genzi interrupts Ryuzo, but Ryuzo won’t stop, ‘we were so worried for you, Oshin!’
Oshin opens her eyes fully and says, ‘That bag! Where is my bag?’
‘What bag?’ asks Ryuzo, puzzled.
‘My money, I put it all in that bag!’ Oshin gets up with a start. She looks scared. She looks around and pants. She says, ‘it was so busy.’ She gets panicky and realizes that she left the bag on the street.
‘I forgot to bring it with me,’ Oshin cries out, her hands on her mouth; she says, ‘what am I going to do? It must have fallen out when they were throwing everything around. And I was so happy that I made so much money.’ Oshin starts crying like a baby.
‘You went to sell fabric?’ Ryuzo is shocked, and he looks at Oshin. She searches in the folds of her dress and says, ‘it is not here! It is really gone!’ she starts crying again.
‘Don’t tell me you were selling on the streets!’ asks Ryuzo.
‘I was doing well; they sold well!’ says Oshin with excitement, ‘I was selling everything at half price!’
‘You can’t do something reckless like that!’ Ryuzo bangs his fists in frustration.
‘I could have sold everything. Then those thugs came, and,’
‘You fool! Of course, it is their turf! The tekiya gangs control the selling turf. You need their permission to sell there.’ Ryuzo shouts at the top of his voice.
(Like many countries, also in India, the street vendors have to deal with local goons for their day-to-day business. Japan was no exception. The Tekia gang was infamous; read more about them by clicking the link: https://historica.fandom.com/wiki/Tekiya )
‘Why? What gives them the right? The police won’t do anything about it?’ Oshin gets agitated, too, and she starts shouting.
‘That is the way things are! The police look the other way! Why didn’t you talk to me about this first? You are lucky to get away with just scrapes! Besides, you are expecting! What if you lost the baby?’ Ryuzo is hurt; he pants with anger.
‘I hope you are all right?’ Genzi suddenly remembers Oshin’s condition and gets alarmed.
‘I am fine, but I lost all my money!’ Oshin starts howling again.
Ryuzo, by this time, gathers himself. He calms down and tells Oshin lovingly, ‘Never mind that! They could have taken everything you had. You are lucky to be alive. At least they let you keep the fabric. You should be thankful for that,’ Ryuzo smiles, looking at Oshin’s innocent face.
‘Don’t lose heart,’ he says with a smile, ‘just give it up. Never do anything as reckless as this again. Women shouldn’t be doing such things!’ Oshin listens, but her mind doesn’t seem to agree with everything Ryuzo says.
(‘A woman should do this and shouldn’t do this!’ Oshin heard this line many times in her life, but eventually, she did what her heart told her to do; being a woman was never an obstacle)
With tears in her eyes, she says, ‘I am sorry.’ She starts crying again. Genzi finds this comical and says, ‘At least she wasn’t hurt too badly!’ he laughs secretly, turning his back to Ryuzo, and gets up.
***
Oshin is angry and hurt. She hated those thugs.
Then the following day, the man, who appeared to be the boss, comes to the Tanokura house. He looks at the signboard and tries to find the front door.
Oshin is still in bed; her muscles ache with the fall she suffered last night. She tries to get up, but her back starts paining, so she lies down again, this time on her side. She blinks her eyes to understand her surroundings and then spots the man.
Who is this man, the boss of the local gang? In what way he influences Oshin’s life?
We will know more in the coming episode, number 99, soon.