Description
Fifty-two, and looks it, in the way of a woman who has worked. Small, upright, entirely composed. She lives in north Calcutta — the Indian city, above the European town — in two rooms of her brother’s household near the river.
She speaks Bengali, and enough kitchen English to have run a household in two languages for eighteen years, and she has had no reason to use the English since.
Background
She was Silas Ashby’s bibi for eighteen years — his companion and, in every sense that mattered to the household, his wife. In English law she could not be, so she never was, and their two daughters were therefore illegitimate from birth in the eyes of the Company that would later ruin them.
The arrangement was ordinary. Half the English merchants in Bengal lived the same way in 1790, and many of them were fond and decent about it. Silas was. It did not save any of them.
When the collapse came, her husband drank and then died, and the English relatives arrived to salvage what could be salvaged. They took the elder daughter, who could pass for English, and left the mother and the younger one where they were. Sarala was not consulted. She was not, in the relevant paperwork, anybody.
She went back to her brother’s house on the river, and she has been there ever since.
Connections
- Mother of Elizabeth Ashby and Malati.
- Sister of Nikhil Dasi, in whose household she lives.
- Silas Ashby — dead c. 1800.
In Play
Chapter 4, Session 11 (11 October 1814) — the reunion. Elizabeth arrived at the family home in Sutanuti, escorted by Adrien and Pratap. Sarala met her at the door with stony, conflicted anger; Elizabeth knelt in the mud and explained her long journey and the vengeance she had exacted, in Hindi, with Pratap translating for Adrien (the killing itself left out of that translation). Sarala relented and offered hospitality, serving lentils and spiced vegetables to the guests. Pratap discreetly left a pouch of coins for the family on Elizabeth’s behalf as they departed.
Appearances
Connections
People
Family
- Elizabeth Ashby NPC warmReunited with her in October 1814, after fifteen years2 sessions, The Sterile Bay to By Command of His Excellency
- Malati NPC warmThe daughter who stayed, and has looked after her since2 sessions, The Sterile Bay to By Command of His Excellency
- Nikhil Dasi NPC hostileHer elder brother, who never forgave the Ashbys1 session: By Command of His Excellency
Allied with
- Silas Ashby NPC warmEighteen years as his bibi; never his wife in English law, because she could not be1 session: The Sterile Bay
Places
Located at
- Calcutta 1814 Location neutralResident in Calcutta
Visited
- Sutanuti Location1 session: By Command of His Excellency
Events
Participated in
- Sutanuti Homecoming Eventreceived her daughter