In the midst of the day, under the shade of a tree… Why was his imagination so preoccupied with improbable scenarios? He gently stroked her hand against his cheek as he grasped her hand. Her mother, though, called from within. There wouldn’t have been as much work for Ponna if her sister-in-law had been at home. She, on the other hand, had gone to her mother’s house with her child. They were invited to continue their fast there. As she passed the threshold and entered the house, Kali kept her gaze fixed on Ponna. What she’d gone through in the hopes of having a kid! She was willing to do whatever was required of her. After the wedding, everyone had been patient for six months. However, there had been innuendoes before to that. They then proceeded to ask direct questions. The only chance to save one’s marriage was to conceive within the first month. Otherwise, the interrogation would commence in some way. His mother, who had been a patient for six months, began treatment soon after. That month, she kept a close eye on Ponna’s menstrual cycle. She ordered Ponna to swallow the juice of some shoots on the third day’s morning as soon as it happened. ‘Don’t eat anything else, even if it’s by accident,’ she added emphatically. Bitterness will be present in the juice. You’ll have to drink it while closing your eyes.’ Ponna became accustomed to eating various shoots and drinking various potions after that. Because of the bitterness, her tongue got numb. Her objective was to have a kid, and she was willing to go to any length to get it. The medication’s bitterness seemed insignificant in comparison. Her mother-in-prescription, law’s on the other hand, did not go over well. Ponna’s mother-in-law was busily crushing a large bunch of tender neem leaves before she awoke and stepped out. It made Ponna throw up. Even when her mother forced her to take normal medicine at her parents’ house, she would throw a fit. ‘Am I asking you to eat neem shoots?’ her mother would scream. But now she had to really eat neem shoots. She was furious at her mother-in-law because of it. ‘Should I leave a child on her lap for a month after the wedding?’ I have no choice except to toss a grinding stone into her lap. Isn’t it possible for her to wait a year or two? We are in our twenties. She is unable to see us enjoy a few years free of the burdens of children. She can’t stand it when I’m happy.’ ‘It’s only neem juice, right?’ Kali remarked with a smile. The worms in your gut will all perish.’ ‘Your mother wishes for a worm to creep into my womb.’ And you’re predicting that it’ll perish. ‘Are you two fooling around with me?’ She also gave him a chest punch. ‘It feels like you’re throwing flowers at me,’ says the narrator. ‘Please, darling, punch me harder,’ he begged. He didn’t say, though, that she didn’t have to drink the bitter extract. His mother filtered the crushed neem shoots through a pristine white cloth to get the juice. It only produced a small amount of juice. She received a quarter cup of extract after repeating the process three or four times. She’d found a measuring cup that was typically used in wedding rites, cleaned it, and prepared it overnight. She filled the vessel with neem extract and sealed the lid. After pouring water over herself while fully clothed in a sari, she invited Ponna to join her. Ponna was then forced to stand in front of the home, dripping wet, facing east. Dawn appeared, raising its hand and waving it to everyone. ‘Pray,’ she advised Ponna. She prayed as well. ‘O you who are travelling west,’ she exclaimed as she prayed aloud to the sun. ‘She’s drinking this to ensure the continuation of my lineage.’ ‘Please allow it to grow,’ her mother-in-law said. Ponna muttered something inside her head. Kali’s mother had summoned a distant cousin, a grandma, who wore a white sari. She may have been a hundred years old, but she appeared to be in good health aside from her cataract-covered eyes. She was the mother of seven or eight children, as well as a slew of grandchildren. Ponna’s mother-in-law was a widow as well. But she wasn’t supposed to give Ponna the earthen bowl of medication for whatever reason. Getting something from a woman dressed in white is like getting something from Amman herself. Ponna received the bowl after the old woman lifted it above her head and prayed to the dawn. ‘Don’t even think about it, sweetheart. Close your eyes and take a big gulp. She predicted that the gods will open their eyes. Ponna followed the instructions. Even though she drank it quickly, it was unbearably bitter. The ship was also quite large. She vomited and gagged but continued to drink. Her mother-in-law finished by shoving a handful of jaggery into her lips. However, the bitterness lingered on her tongue for a week. She didn’t have a worm in her stomach, either.