The Saga of the bengali Bride-contd.

The Arrival of the Newborn

We left Chennai and reached Patna. We started living with our family members. It was a large family. My  mother-in-law, my father-in-law ,two brothers-in law, three  sisters-in-law and their children---all loved me and I never felt lonely and enjoyed their company .I got all their support when my daughter was born. My mother –in-law and my sisters –in-law did everything for me .The void created by my mother’s death was replaced by their care and share .My daughter grew up in the different shades of affection but the strings of joy got distorted all of a sudden.  My daughter fell ill. She suffered  from severe stomach-aches and the doctors could not diagnose the cause of her ailment. One of them advised to stop giving her the mother’s milk. The other advised her to feed varieties of formula -milk. My mother-in-law always opposed stopping the mother’s milk .But my husband would not listen to any one and asked me to stop feeding her. She was always sick. Her diet was restricted and my husband would never allow her to take allopathic medicines and would bank on the homoeopathic medicines, mostly prescribed by my father. However , she used to get well but frequently she used to suffer from dyspepsia.  She was restricted from eating delicacies and at the very small age she was deprived from enjoying the chocolates or cakes or puddings or all the special dishes, prepared on the  occasion of a birthday or wedding.