"Oh! This is such a small baby.
How did she come here?"
After seeing the baby there, Rati starts thinking to herself…
"Oh yes! Mom once told me that babies come out of jackfruit."
Then she looks up and says,
"But there's no jackfruit tree here… so how did the jackfruit come here?"
Then looking at the baby again, she thinks,
"Maybe some animal brought the jackfruit here and forgot it. Then the jackfruit must have burst open, and the baby came out."
"Well, no problem. I'll gift this baby to Mom. Then Rama, this baby, and I will all go to school together."
"I'll even give her my share of biscuits, so she will love me the most."
Rati slowly walks down the narrow, thin stairs built along the edge of the well.
There is some slimy substance on the baby's face, so first, Rati gently cleans it off.
Then she picks the baby up in her arms and starts cuddling her, just like she has seen her mother and aunt do many times.
After that, taking another path, Rati brings the baby home.
At that time, her mother is cleaning rice for the evening meal.
"Mom, where are you?"
"Yes, what happened?"
"Look what I brought for you!"
"Oh, whatever you've brought, keep it on the wooden platform. I'll see it later. I'm busy right now, so don't disturb me."
It is already 6 o'clock.
So Rati quickly places the baby on the wooden platform in the veranda and goes to bring milk for her.
Just then, her uncle arrives on his bicycle.
As he parks his cycle in the veranda, he notices the baby and says,
"Hey… who is this?!"
Rati's uncle calls out to her mother,
"Bhabhi! Bhabhi!"
"Yes, what happened?"
"Whose baby is lying in the veranda?"
"A baby!?"
"Yes."
"I don't know… come, let's see."
When Rati's mother comes into the veranda and sees the baby, she realizes that this must be what Rati was talking about.
She calls out loudly,
"Rati! Hey Rati, where are you? Come here quickly!"
Rati comes running into the veranda, holding a small oil bottle filled with milk.
"What happened?"
"Who is this?"
"This? I brought her for you. I found her in the jungle," Rati says innocently.
"You know, I think some animal left a jackfruit in the jungle and forgot about it. Then when it ripened, this baby came out of it."
"She was crying there, so I brought her here. Now she will live with us."
Her mother, a bit irritated, says,
"What am I supposed to do with her?"
Hearing all the noise, the baby wakes up and starts crying again.
As soon as her mother hears the baby crying, her heart melts.
She takes the milk from Rati's hands and feeds the baby first. After calming and putting her to sleep, she brings Rati outside near the entrance and asks,
"From which part of the jungle did you find her?"
"On the path where people go to the forest… a little ahead, near a well, she was crying there."
Rati's mother looks at her uncle and says,
"What should we do now?"
"Bhabhi, why are you asking me? I don't know either."
Rati doesn't understand their worry at all.
She is happily lost in her own thoughts—thinking how she will now play with her new little sister and share all her things with her.
She has no idea what she has done or what is about to happen next.
It is almost 7 in the evening.
Grandmother also returns from the fields with Rama.
After washing her hands and feet, she calls out to Rati's mother,
"Hey, Rama's mother, bring me some tea."
Rati's mother is sitting there, lost in worry, thinking about what might happen.
Hearing grandmother's voice, her heart starts beating fast.
Still, controlling herself, she takes tea to her.
"Here you go, Amma ji."
"Yes, give it here."
Taking a sip of tea, grandmother asks,
"Where is Rati?"
Hesitating a little, her mother replies,
"She is upstairs, in my room."
"Alright."
Meanwhile, Rama takes her share of tea and goes upstairs to find Rati.
When she enters her mother's room on the terrace, she sees Rati lying beside the baby, looking at the fan and dreaming happily.
Seeing the baby, Rama is surprised and asks,
"Who is this?"
"She is our new sister," Rati replies.
"New sister!?"
"Yes! Do you know where I found her?"
After saying this, Rati tells Rama the whole story.