Bheela’s Blog -122
02 April 2023
Episode 121 Recap
Oshin looks for financial freedom; she wants to have her own money. Ryuzo asks her mother if she could let Oshin do hairdressing. Mother gets upset.
Sawa gives Oshin a good lesson; she asks Oshin to think from her mother-in-law’s point of view. This gives Oshin some relief, and she gets ready to slog.
Meanwhile, Ryuzo gets too tired of hard labor. Oshin is worried for him.
Please click the link to read the full episode:
https://medium.com/@bheela-wadehra/bheelas-blog-120-811adda1fb9c
Episode 122
FLASHBACK CONTINUES
While staying with Ryuzo’s family in Saga, Oshin learns how one feels being the despised daughter-in-law.
She makes the decision that she won’t remain hungry. On the breakfast table, Tsuneko, Ryuzo’s sister-in-law, and the maid watch in horror as Oshin gulps down the rice from the bowl and goes for the second helping. They almost freeze. Ignoring their glances, Oshin takes another bowl full. Yu is tied to her back, but she takes swift moves to open the lid of the large rice pot, takes her fill, closing the lid.
The other two women look at each other and are scared to speak.
***
Ryuzo enters the room and says, ‘Oshin, what have you done? Mother is complaining about your selfish attitude. Ryuzo sits next to Oshin and watches her folding clothes. ‘Be more careful; I got yelled at,’ he tells Oshin.
‘Your sister-in-law turned me in. She must have reported to your mother. If I hold back, I will never get enough to eat,’ says Oshin; she remains calm. She says, ‘I don’t care what they say; I need my food.’
Ryuzo tries to interrupt, but Oshin stops him and says, ‘let us think about leaving this house. I hate seeing myself turning into a hateful woman. We are growing apart, too,’ Oshin is worried that constant nagging from Ms. Kiyo would turn Ryuzo against her.
‘But, where could we go?’ Ryuzo seems to have lost hope.
‘We will manage if we go out into the town. I can do hair and sew! We can earn enough. With you helping me, we can do anything!’ Oshin gets excited with her wishful plans.
‘You want to work while I babysit? You will be feeding me?’ age-old ego spikes in Ryuzo’s mind.
Oshin laughs and says, ‘You can get a job, too. We still have the money Miss Kayo gave us. We can do it! You said you wanted to quit the hard farm work. You can’t quit if you stay here. You would be better off working in town,’ Oshin remains hopeful. She quickly thinks of several ideas to come out of her current life.
‘I am sick of running a business. You can work so hard building up a business, and you can lose it all overnight!’ says Ryuzo; it will take a lot of time before he can come off his nightmare of the earthquake-led losses. He says, ‘It is empty; I know this now.’
‘That earthquake was just bad luck, that is all. You have what it takes!’ Oshin encourages Ryuzo; she makes a fist and shows her muscles to lighten the mood. She continues, ‘we can start all over again once we put our minds to it. I will help you, too. Anything is better than staying here and working in the fields.’ Says Oshin, full of hope; she wants to take charge of her life and change it for the better.
Ryuzo helps her untie Yu from Oshin’s back and takes Yu in his lap.
‘Back in Tokyo, even when we had a hard time, we still had some money. We don’t have anybody to borrow from anymore. My brother and my father can’t be counted on,’ Ryuzo is stuck in his negative thoughts.
‘Do we have to stay here just to eat?’ Oshin challenges Ryuzo.
‘I will get my own land!’ says Ryuzo; something is brewing in his mind, and he shares with Oshin.
‘Your own land? How will you get land without money?’ Oshin takes Yu in her own lap as he starts crying. She cannot understand how Ryuzo can think of acquiring land at this stage.
‘A plot of land is permanent. It is always there and will never betray you,’ says Ryuzo with conviction.
‘Stop dreaming!’ Oshin pleads.
‘It is not a dream; I will talk to my father. He will agree with me,’ says Ryuzo and walks off. Oshin wants to stop him, but he goes out fast.
***
‘You want to work on a landfill?’ Daigoro asks as the family members sit in the living room.
‘You had a hand in it; I want to do it, too,’ replies Ryuzo.
‘Don’t be silly,’ remarks Ms. Kiyo, ‘such lands take 10 years to become profitable.’
‘There is no guarantee if it will ever be productive! It is a dreamer’s folly!’ says Fukutaro.
‘I did it not only for myself but for my country, too. To create a new land from the sea is a service!’ Daigoro is proud to have done something for his country, even if it was futile.
(Everyone knows that Japanese people, by nature, are intensely patriotic)
‘You didn’t have to do it!’ comments Fukutaro; Daigoro’s efforts are not appreciated by his wife or eldest son.
‘You put down the money for the land and formed a cooperative to work it for you. Then you got to keep two shares of the split, and everyone else divided up the rest. Does it still work the same way?’ says Ryuzo. He learned about a scheme in which his father was involved earlier, and he wants to pursue that himself.
‘One plot is five years old now. It is ready to plant. They just started working on my other plot,’ informs Daigoro.
‘Can’t I join the cooperative, too?’ says Ryuzo with eagerness.
‘What are you thinking of doing?’ mother is alarmed to see Ryuzo’s interest in what she believes is a failed business.
‘I want my own land! But I have no money. Reclaimed land costs nothing; one day, a part becomes yours. All it takes is labor, not money. Please, let me join!’ Ryuzo pleads.
‘You can’t wait 10 years. Just work hard in our own fields. And we will never let you starve. I have had enough of your father’s reclaimed lands!’ says Kiyo. She is frustrated, and she has other plans for Ryuzo.
‘It is not a dream; it works! I am willing to wait 10 years! I want my own land!’ Ryuzo doesn’t give up; he seems stuck with having land for himself.
‘Oshin has got you thinking like this again?’ Kiyo doesn’t leave a chance to instigate Ryuzo to turn against Oshin. Ryuzo is shocked, but Kiyo continues, ‘she told you she was sick of working for nothing? You two are lousy farmers, too.’
‘It wasn’t her idea! She wants us to go to town to get jobs,’ Ryuzo spills the beans before his parents.
‘What is she complaining about? I have never put her through any hardship! I have never put her to work in the kitchen or even had her sew at night.’ Kiyo talks in a manner to make Oshin look like a villain.
‘That is not what I am talking about,’ Ryuzo gets upset.
‘Then why does she want to go to town?’ Kiyo charges.
‘In the city, there are many opportunities,’ Ryuzo explains.
‘Then leave! If you don’t like it, you can leave!’ shouts Ms. Kiyo losing her temper.
‘They are used to living in Tokyo city life, so farm work is too hard on them. There is no need to get upset,’ says Daigoro calmly; he tries to put reason into Kiyo’s mind.
‘You are always on Oshin’s side!’ comments Kiyo.
‘Oshin is the only outsider here. And all of you are picking on her.’ Says Daigoro.
‘When did I pick on her? She is the one complaining. If she would only bear it, no one would say anything!’ continues Kiyo with her scheming.
‘Ryuzo, I understand how you feel,’ Daigoro ignores Kiyo and talks to Ryuzo. He says, ‘You can join our cooperative. In five years, you can plant, and in 10 years, the land becomes yours.’
Ryuzo is delighted; he grins ear to ear!
(In India, too, we have seen the concept of land reclamation, especially in Mumbai. Land reclamation started in Japan in the early 20th century. Japan had limited land. So, many people found this appealing and joined in this opportunity. The following websites provide more information about land reclamation and the history of the same in Japan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reclamation
https://housingjapan.com/blog/reclaimed-land-umetatechi-in-japan-and-developments-in-the-bay-areas/)
***
‘So, you have joined the cooperative to reclaim land?’ Kozo asks Ryuzo when they sit down for lunch at the field.
‘Hmm,’ nods Ryuzo.
‘I wanted to join, but I need to keep working. I can’t wait for the years it takes.
‘I am in the same situation, too. I must keep working here to get food to eat. Oshin will just have to work harder.’ Says Ryuzo.
‘Too bad,’ says Sawa, looking at Oshin.
‘I have given up! He won’t change his mind!’ says Oshin, ‘I guess I will have to work at being better liked by my in-laws.’
‘It is worse when you resent people,’ says Sawa, and she gets up to play with Yu.
‘Sawa has it worse than me, but she never complains. You have taught me not to keep complaining. I will put up with it,’ says Oshin, looking at Sawa, ‘if you can do it, I can, too!’
Both Sawa and Oshin giggle like school girls. They want to find happiness in the adversities.
Oshin tells Ryuzo, ‘I guess I will start helping your sister-in-law around the house, too.’
‘That is one way to be fully accepted. It will work if you put your heart into it!’ Ryuzo uses the words Oshin often tells him. It brings a smile to Oshin’s face.
***
‘I am back; let me help, too,’ says Oshin. She goes to the kitchen and starts a conversation with Tsuneko, saying, ‘I will get the water,’ Oshin tries to take the pot to fill the water.
‘The kitchen is my domain. Stay out of it,’ Tsuneko remains rude and pushes Oshin away.
‘I want to help,’ Oshin says politely.
‘Outsiders make the work more difficult.’
‘Then give me some sewing to do,’
Tsuneko remains quiet as she sees Ms. Kiyo entering the kitchen.
‘I am back,’ says Oshin and bows in greeting.
‘Good,’ replies Kiyo, and asks Oshin in a harsh tone, ‘what are you doing here in the kitchen?’
‘I was asking if I could help,’ Oshin replies.
‘What is this? A new attitude?’ Kiyo taunts again.
‘If there is anything I can do,’ says Oshin, lowering her head.
‘These two women can handle the kitchen. Besides, it would help if you didn’t complain later. Just keep working in the field to raise your own food. Don’t give Ryuzo any hard time. I feel sorry for him.’ Throwing garbage of harsh words at Oshin, Kiyo walks off.
***
Oshin feels the pain of being unwanted. She quietly goes to the backyard and starts filling water from the well.
‘Oshin, the freeloader! Oshin, the freeloader!’ the kids sing in unison as they walk in a line and circle around Oshin.
‘What is a freeloader? My parents won’t tell me what it means. Mother calls you freeloader,’ the elder kid asks Oshin.
Oshin bends down to the child and holds her by the shoulder. She says lovingly, ‘it means that Oshin is a nice lady.’
‘You are pretty, too!’ the child replies. The kids run away happily.
***
The children’s words hurt Oshin deeply. How long will this life here continue? Oshin feels that she has been thrown down a hole inside the earth. She again thinks of taking a drastic step.
What will happen next? Will Oshin be able to come out?
We will know more in the coming episode no. 123, soon!