Seth-ji took his time sipping his hot tea. The only other thing he hated apart from running out of his tobacco was someone who seemed smarter than him. He really hated that.

Rajjo continued as she sipped her own tea.

‘Shopkeepers in the mandi – offer them something they would want and in return each one of them sends two of their family members…count them in.’

‘What do you think I could offer them in the mandi that they send their families?’

‘Those food packets your party is sponsoring, you pick something from them for whoever participates. Get the food and the people…you give them business, they get you the crowds…’

Seth-ji looked at his wife with pride and anger… He smiled lovingly at her.

He had no appetite all of a sudden. It was a good idea and the bitch had beaten him to it.

Rajjo smiled at her husband. He was encouraging. She really wanted to see the rally come together. She was doing something worthwhile. For the last few days she didn’t have time to dwell on her thoughts. She looked at the little deity she had placed on top of the fridge after Rano had left. She quietly picked it up and kept it on her bedside. Not that she was going to start worshipping it, but because it was a gift from Rano after all.

She was an oak all right. And that gave her the will and strength to get by.

The day of the rally was here. It was dark and grey. Clouds and smog painted a dark hue across the horizon.

Green carpets were strewn all around, and a crowd of almost five hundred people was preparing to settle down. People were huddled under thick winter clothes.

A few media people and cameras hovered around. The stage was set.

The podium and the speakers were tuned in, but the crowd was getting restless.

Seth-ji had made it out of the house and was sitting on a chair in the corner, issuing orders. His stomach pain had flared up again.

He was furious since the comedian who was supposed to keep the crowds entertained had not turned up. The average out-of-tune singer was belting out popular Bollywood numbers on stage but he was being booed by the restless crowd. They were enjoying the uncomfortable position the organizers had found themselves in, and the crowd found its own way of entertainment. Booing everyone off the stage.

It was going to be easily another ten minutes before those politicians arrived. Seth-ji was well aware if they were not going to engage the crowd they would not be able to hold it and welcoming the guest with an unruly crowd was a nightmare.

‘How will it look if those idiots walk in wearing fancy clothes and are booed?! Seth-ji hollered to no one in particular, wondering how they could salvage the escalating situation.

Thankfully, the comedian made it in time and was hurriedly deposited on stage but unfortunately his jokes did not cut it. At one point someone from the crowd threw a potato.