School had closed for the Diwali holidays. Immediately after, Shyam returned home from Dapoli. In Maharashtra, the Diwali festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm. People living in Pune and Mumbai come home, bringing with them new clothes, toys, and sweets for their loved ones.

Shyam and his younger brother each received a new shirt from their father. Since the family had become poor, it was not possible to buy new clothes for everyone. The old dhotis had been patched at the edges. The same was true for the cloth of Shyam’s mother. Both brothers were aware that they wore each other’s hand-me-downs. But mother noticed that when the boys went out to play, the younger one really needed a new dhoti.

Shyam’s elder brother was studying at his uncle’s place in Pune. He could not come home for Diwali. From Pune, he sent three rupees and some sweets for the children through a man from the village who was visiting. Mother was overjoyed to receive those three rupees. She gave the children some sweets to eat. They were delighted and started playing in the courtyard.

Mother called Shyam aside. She asked him to go to Amrit Sheth’s cloth shop in the market and find out how much a pair of dhotis would cost.

We went and arrived at the shop. Amritsheti’s children were at the shop. In front of them, I inquired about the price of a dhoti cloth. I chose two or three samples of good quality and soft texture. Taking them home to show, I came back after bargaining over the price. While leaving, Amritsheti told me to return soon after showing them at home.

“Here, here, come back quickly. Once you decide, bring the money,” Shyam said simply, but with firmness.

“What money? Do you have so much? You haven’t even got a broken coin from your father!” Amritsheti said, half in jest, half in pity, thinking of the debt still unpaid. He was still waiting for that money. Hearing Amritsheti’s words, Shyam felt bad. But what could he do? Living with self-respect, Shyam had realized that having debts did not mean being under obligation.

He came home. He showed the dhoti cloths to Aai. She liked one of them. Taking that, Shyam went back to Amritsheti. He took the selected dhoti, paid the money, and brought it home. Aai cut the dhoti into two separate pieces. She pressed the folds with her fingers and set them aside.

Soon, it was the day of Diwali. Bapu had gone out, but he returned home. Aai kept the news of the new dhoti a secret. The children joined in the secret. As Diwali approached, everyone cleaned the house thoroughly. They took out the seeds from fenugreek, distributed the fragrant ubtan to apply on the body, and prepared everything. The children helped with the chores. Dirt, they said, is hell. If you don’t clean away all the dirt, you must kill the demon Narakasura. The women did this work very