Sister of My Heart

Anju opens her part of the narrative declaring her hatred for everyone except Sudha. She reflects on the exceptional closeness of their relationship and on the jealousy and suspicion it often arouses in those around them.

Sarita Aunty, one of the women who always visits Nalini for tea, remarks one day that the girls are like conjoined twins despite in reality being no more than distant cousins. Anju observes that although Nalini, Sudha’s biological mother, often boasts of the superior wealth of her own family, she hates any reminder of her tenuous connections to the respected Chatterjee family. Nonetheless, spurred on and frequently interrupted by the usually shy Sudha, Nalini responds to Sarita Aunty today by recounting how Sudha was born at midnight, just 12 hours after Anju. Nalini was suffering a long labor, and there was talk of calling in an English doctor to perform a C-section when Gouri placed the newborn Anju on her stomach. Anju cried out, and with a sudden and violent contraction, Sudha was born. Sudha concludes that Anju is her twin because Anju called her into the world.

Anju ends the chapter with a list of reasons why she could never hate Sudha.

The girls are now 12 years old, and Sudha feels irresistibly drawn to the mystery of their fathers’ deaths. She pressures Pishi into telling her the story.

Sudha’s father, Gopal, arrived at the Chatterjee house with his young wife during a worryingly long period of drought. The rains came on the night of his arrival, perhaps causing Bijoy, Anju’s father and Bishi’s younger brother, to believe the man brought the family good luck. Gopal claimed to be the only son of the youngest Chatterjee uncle, who had fallen out with their grandfather and lost contact with the rest of the family. This uncle had lost everything in the partition riots and died brokenhearted, sending his son back to the family to tell his story.

Tending the delirious Nalini through her long labor, Pishi learned that Nalini first met Gopal while washing clothes by the river. Gopal seduced Nalini with promises of marriage into the old and respected Chatterjee family. Sudha is surprised, as her mother has always boasted of her superior lineage.

When both Gouri and Nalini fell pregnant, Nalini grew increasingly frustrated with their financial dependency on the Chatterjees and began to nag Gopal constantly. One morning, Gopal suddenly disappeared and did not return for three days. When he came back, he brought with him a priceless ruby and a tale of a guide who knew the way to a cave in the jungle that was full of such stones. The guide said that, for 100,000 rupees, he would set up an expedition into the jungle to collect more rubies from the cave. Bijoy agreed to fund the expedition if he could come as well and choose his own ruby. Bijoy pawned all the remaining Chatterjee wealth and embarked with Gopal. Some weeks later, the dead bodies of both Bijoy and Gopal were found and identified by the authorities.

When Sudha insists on hearing the dark secret promised by Pishi, her aunt reluctantly reveals that shortly before his departure, Bijoy learned that the estranged uncle whom Gopal had claimed was his father had no male heirs. Sudha is devastated and ashamed.

For the girls’ 13th birthdays, Gouri gives them each a small sum of money to spend as they will. Gouri calls Anju into her bedroom and gives her a pair of earrings for her trousseau. Anju is keen to show the earrings to Sudha and let her try them on, in part because she has noticed a change in her cousin of late and is worried that she is hiding some secret sadness. Gouri warns her that perhaps the costly gift will make her cousin jealous as her own mother does not have such fine things to give her. Anju is furious, but she grows concerned as she notices that her mother looks worn and ill.

Anju finds Sudha on the terrace. Anju invites her to try the earrings on and then attempts to give her them. Sudha refuses the gift and asks Anju how she would feel about her if she knew there was no blood relation between them. When Anju responds that it would make no difference, Sudha is relieved and accepts the gift but asks her to keep the earrings for her.

Anju and Sudha discuss what they will do with their birthday money. Sudha longs to buy clothes and fabrics. Anju wishes to buy books that will give her a taste of life in other countries and cultures. Sudha promises that she will make a wish for her cousin to travel across the world.

Nalini has given Sudha a bedspread to embroider. It bears the text “Pati Param Guru, the husband is the supreme lord” (63). The girls giggle nervously and resolve to cover the text up with embroidery.

Calcutta is buzzing with a new Bollywood movie in which a dancing girl is saved by the hero, only to renounce her claims on him to save the name of his family. Sudha reflects on how sheltered from male contact she and Anju have been thus far. Anju convinces Sudha to skip school to come to the cinema.

Anju has spent her birthday money on buying each of them one of the outfits that Sudha has dreamed of owning. The girls get dressed in the cinema bathroom, and Anju applies makeup.

At the cinema, Sudha is initially disappointed when the empty seat next to her is occupied by a young man. The young man, who introduces himself as Ashok Ghosh, encourages a charmed Sudha to join him for a soft drink. To Anju’s horror, the girls are intercepted by Sarita Aunty, who drags them home with glee to report to the mothers.

The girls are called into Gouri’s office, where the mothers are waiting for them. When Nalini shakes and scolds Sudha, Sudha coldly responds that her mother’s nagging drove her father away and that Nalini is more guilty than her of telling “lying tales.” Gouri intervenes and tells the girls that, as a punishment, they will have no more money of their own until college and will have to stay in the classroom during recess. Nalini adds that Sudha, given her different circumstances, is not to leave the house unaccompanied again and that she will be seeking an early marriage for her daughter. Anju is furious and ashamed for luring Sudha into this situation. Anju vows to fight her aunt’s plans and to make sure that they both share the same destiny, but she is met with silence and, from Sudha, “a slight, ironic smile” (83).

Sudha lies in bed, furious about her mother’s decision. She decides to visit Anju and tiptoes out of her room, but finds herself strangely drawn toward her mother’s bedroom. She hears Nalini weeping and recalls a lullaby that she used to sing to her. She reflects on her mother’s broken dreams and precarious situation and considers how heartbroken her mother must be at the prospect of losing her daughter, the only person she has left. Sudha resolves that she will not go against her mother’s will.

Anju is furious that Sudha is complying with her mother’s wishes, but Sudha points out that college has never been such an important part of her plans. Looking back at their drawings of their future ambitions as young children, Anju recalls that Sudha always drew herself as a mother surrounded by children. When Anju presses her on further ambitions, Sudha reveals that she longs to design and make clothes, running her own company.

Sudha is frustrated with her restricted freedom, as Nalini enthusiastically coaches her for marriage. She has seen Ashok on several occasions as she returns from school in Singhji’s car. Though Anju has also spotted him, she refuses to acknowledge or discuss the encounter.

The girls graduate from high school. Anju is ecstatic and keen to begin her college studies in English literature. As they drive to school, they see Ashok, and Sudha begs Singhji to stop. Sudha tells Ashok of her mother’s plans, and he gives her a diamond ring, telling her that his parents will make a proposal on his behalf. Anju learns that Ashok’s father is wealthy, owning one of the largest shipping companies in Calcutta. However, she doubts that her aunt will accept a proposal from a family that is self-made and whose wealth derives from trade.

The mothers hold a large dinner party to celebrate the girls’ graduation. Anju observes her mother, who looks tired and sick but proud. That night, Sudha tries to illustrate her feelings for Ashok by telling Anju a story. A princess lives in an underwater palace filled with beautiful, gentle snakes who feed her, play with her, and sing her to sleep. She is content, knowing no other life, until she is awakened by a prince. She falls in love with him when she sees her reflection in his eyes—when she learns who she herself is.

The story is interrupted by Pishi knocking furiously on the door. Gouri is ill.