Flowers of Tears

Deva: Kani, stop spinning. You’ll get dizzy and fall right into the mud.

Kani: But the rain makes the puddles look like mirrors, Appa! Look, I’m dancing on the sky.

Deva: Careful of your uniform. Your mother spent an hour scrubbing the collar.

Kani: It’s okay. Sister Mary will scream at me anyway. She says my brain is made of stone because the numbers won’t stay inside it.

Deva: Don’t listen to her. You have a golden heart and small child, can pick up well with flow. That’s better than a stone brain.

Kani: The other girls say I’m a "ugly" because you work at the site. They have shining pens, Appa. Pens with little lights on top.

Deva: I know. I’m sorry, Kani.

Kani: Don't be sad! When I’m with you, I don’t need a light-up pen with tinkling tears.

Deva: Put your bag inside and go to home. I have to go to your grandfather’s house.

Kani: No! Don't go there. You always come back looking like you've been hit by a storm.

Deva: He has the money for your term fees, Kani. My hands are empty this week. The contractor... he didn't pay.

Kani: I’ll stay home. We don’t need his money.

Deva: You’re going to be a doctor, or a teacher. You won't carry bricks. Go inside.

Grandfather: Back again, Deva? I thought you were the man who didn't need his father’s "shadow" to live.

Deva: I need two thousand rupees. Just for the school.

Grandfather: Look at your shirt. Torn. Look at your hands. Cracked. All this pride, and for what? A daughter who can't even recite her tables?

Deva: She is a child. She is happy. That is enough.

Grandfather: Happiness doesn't fill a stomach. Give up this labor. Come work in my shop, crawl back like a son should, and I’ll pay for everything.

Deva: No.. I won’t

Grandfather: Then leave. And take the shit out of here.

Kalyani (Deva’ wife): He said no, didn't he?

Deva: He wants me to crawl under his legs and want me as his slave, Kalyani. I can't.

Kalyani: We have nothing left to sell. And Kani... she’s been talking about that birthday gift for months. The big doll in the glass case. The one that sings.

Deva: It costs more than a month of rice.

Kalyani: She thinks if she gets it, the girls at school will finally sit with her. She thinks it's a magic charm.

Deva: I’ll find work. A double shift at the harbor.

Kalyani: There is no work at the harbor. I’ve taken a job, Deva.

Deva: Where? Doing what?

Kalyani: At the estate. The one across the valley.

Deva: That’s three towns away. You’d have to stay there. You’d leave Kani?

Kalyani: It pays well. They need a live-in cook. I can send enough for the school and the doll.

Deva: I’m the father. I’m supposed to provide.

Kalyani: Then look at her, Deva. Look at her playing with a stick because she has nothing else.

Kani: Amma? Why is your big bag packed? Are we going on a trip?

Kalyani: Just me, Kani-ma. I’m going to find the lady who makes the singing dolls.

Kani: Will you be back for dinner?

Kalyani: Not tonight. But Appa is here. He’s going to tell you the story of the moon again.

Kani: Appa? Why are you crying? Did the numbers hurt your brain too?

Deva: No, my angel (with heavy tears in his eyes and hug his child tight)