Fiction pick: An elderly Bengali couple cannot decide what to feed their son-in-law on Jamai Shashti

Shasti Babu chewed on a guava twig and contemplated his banana tree. The tip of the guava twig had already become a brush after two minutes between his teeth. He spat out loose fibre and massaged his teeth and gums. The banana tree grew at a slant on the tiny patch of land adjoining his backdoor, and almost tipped over into Nani Gopal’s house. Shasti Babu knew his next-door neighbours stole a leaf or two every now and then, so he kept a watchful eye on his precious tree. Especially now that a glossy garnet-coloured banana blossom was curving out of the foliage and Jamai Shasti was just a month away.

Shasti Babu’s daughter had been married off the previous year with as much pomp as he could muster. He prayed that his daughter’s in-laws were pleased with all that he had given them – his daughter, the ten grams of gold jewellery she wore on her wedding day, the twenty Tangail saris as namaskaris, the top-class plywood bedroom set, the Salem steel utensil set, the six-kilo rohu fish, the boxes of extra-large sweets for the totto, the Bajaj Scooter, Titan watch and gold buttons for his son-in-law, as well as the guest house...

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