Hello! We continue with Ruchi’s postgraduation in the twenty eighth video on ‘Spinning into a Career’
Tina Coelho, her classmate coaches school children and earns substantially. She has a premonition of Ruchi’s future. She says, ” Ruchi, your times are very difficult now, but life will be better after you get married. However, don’t think that it will be like that of the king and the queen who lived happily ever after.” Mohan fears smoking cigarettes in front of Ruchi. Mohan reads Ruchi’s palm and says that she has a complicated mind and is stern.
Ruchi has a Jewish classmate, Mrs. Moses who lives in Trikali. After browsing through Ruchi’s poems, Moses advises Ruchi to write after sixty when she will have gained the required maturity. She is conservative and religious. She advises Ruchi on matters of hygiene and morality. Being old, she is full of wisdom. Jacob and Sarah her children, are fair, tall and hefty. Moses invites Ruchi to her home in Trikali. The area is dominated by Muslims. There is the Jewish symbol of the star hung on the door of her house. Her fridge is stacked with meat and fish. Moses prepares rice and dal for Ruchi. She talks about the Jewish tradition and their descent from Israel. Jacob works for a company and Sarah is studying. Ruchi invites the family to her house. Jacob, Sarah and Mrs. Moses come to Ruchi’s house. She wants to serve them South Indian delicacy. She prepares and offers them mysore bonda, sambhar, and chutney. Jacob wants to help Ruchi publish her poems and contacts leading newspapers in Sharanai. He advises Ruchi to write about women. Jacob helps her obtain a passport.
One day Ruchi studies silently in the university library. She comes out of the library and sees a Sindhi girl crying. The Shetty boy she loves chooses to marry a girl from his community whom his parents have selected. Ruchi cannot understand why girls get into such affairs. The Shetty boy changes his mind under parental pressure. Ruchi advises her to focus on her P.hD to prove her worth and forget the unreliable Shetty. Asha Sharma from Bihar woos her professors to grant her good marks. She has taken internal assessment for post graduation. Ruchi watches the girl slide her hand under the table and catch the professor’s hand in a clandestine manner. Perhaps it is her way to get things done. Ruchi buys a guide for the study of the play, ‘Antony and Cleopatra’. The guide is incomprehensible. She reads the play and makes her own notes to study for her exam. Finally, she completes her M.A. with a second class. Her academic record enters an upward curve.
Mohan, Ruchi, Preeti and Radha assemble at Happy Heart Restaurant. Mohan has his fiancee, Anamika with him. She is a daughter of a business magnate. She is tall and beautiful with lively eyes. A dance is arranged. Ruchi sings a song and Preeti dances. Ruchi and Radha congratulate Mohan and his fiancee. Snapshots are taken. It is a cool summer night. The breeze blows to soothe young minds.
Ruchi treats her amebiasis which she contracts after drinking water from a water cooler. Erratic eating habits and the strain of travel lead to weakness, and menstrual bleeding takes a toll on her. She notices that when her bleeding stops, wheezing takes its place. Dr. Doshi, her family doctor, who has a high regard for her father takes her to a gynecologist, Dr. Ajit for a check up. Dr. Ajit diagnoses it as a case of crying uterus. She will be all right after she becomes a mother. Dr. Doshi smiles and says, ” Daughters like you will take with you a lot of dowry when you get married. The gynecologist prescribes medicines for her to be consumed with milk. Ruchi’s family doctor advises her to go back to work after a month’s rest.
Thank you for listening. We shall continue with Ruchi’s attempt to change her career in the next video. Till then, goodbye!
Video can be viewed on You Tube by typing, ‘ Spinning into a Career’ by Usha Raman.
