In India, February to April are the preferred months for weddings due to the weather conditions. It is also a boon for those who are migrant house helpers or vendors on the streets of big cities, as it provides them with ample opportunities to earn big for the rest of the year.
Munni is one of them, married at 18 and now a mother of two children at the age of 23, living with her husband in a slum located in the middle of the city. Her husband works as a rickshaw puller during the day and at night as a helping hand to caterers or with bands as decorative light carriers in these wedding seasons. Munni too works as a maid during the day to support her family. Today, her husband, who is under a contract and paid in advance, is over drunk and is not able to work at the wedding.
The wedding caterer's staff is at her door, furious at the irresponsible behaviour of her husband and asking for a refund of the advance. Munni is worried because she has already spent the money on something else, and refusing to refund means, be scolded or will not be able to work in the future. She asked the caterer's staff if she could replace her husband and do the job, informing them she had experience as a helping hand in the kitchen. Unwillingly, the staff accepts her offer, knowing that had it been him, he could have worked late into the night, since being a woman, she had to be freed a couple of hours early.
Hurriedly, she walks out of the home, informing her neighbour aunt about the situation, leaving her babies under her watch. She is going as a helper, so there is no point in dressing up well or putting on some makeup to look good. With her untied hair and slippers on her feet, she is walking fast to the wedding venue; thankfully, it is a couple of miles away.
When she arrives, the caterer scolds her again, knowing she will not work late (an Indian wedding usually ends at 4 a.m.). With no alternate in mind, the caterer directs her to the kitchen and instructs her to help in preparing the meal. Munni is relieved, as it was an easy task for her. Within a couple of hours, with the instructions of the Chief Chef and other helpers, dinner is ready to serve. Helping here and there, she keeps herself engaged to avoid any confrontation with the caterer. Fearing that the caterer will ask her to leave before the wedding ceremony and food served, after serving the guests, it is common practice, remaining food get distributed among helpers and other slum dwellers waiting nearby.
At 10 PM, the ceremony starts with the arrival of the groom. The whole place becomes chaotic with the never-ending chirping of females and males looking for the concealed bar counter. The typical scene at an Indian wedding is dance and loud music all around, with waiters running after guests to offer them welcome drinks. Munni has experienced all this before. Sitting in a lone corner enjoying the celebrations, she notices an unattended women's handbag lying on a chair. She looks around to find the owner, but fails. Panicked, she keeps a vigil on the handbag.
It has been over 10 minutes and there is no sign of the owner of the bag. There are other women who are flaunting their dresses and jewellery as if they are there to find a date for themselves. There are also aged women sitting on chairs with their snakes, usually as guards for the kids or belongings of their wards. With a sense of greed, Munni is ambling towards the chair where the handbag is lying. When she gets there, she casually looks around to see if there is anyone else who wants the bag, and when she realises there isn't, she casually drops her draping over the bag. Again, inspecting the surroundings, she picks up her draping sneakily, along with the unattended handbag.
Hurriedly, she walks back to the lone corner where she was sitting and observing the celebrations. There is no reaction or noise about the missing handbag. Munni is convinced it is a lost handbag. She does not want to disappear all of a sudden to raise any suspicion and is waiting for the right opportunity to leave the place, curious to know what is in the handbag. Within minutes, she noticed an aged woman pointing to a man in his mid 60s towards her. Both of them were walking close to her, and her face turned pale in fear.
The old woman is a gentle woman, as without making any fuss or noise about the incident, she asks her, "Daughter, the bag you are hiding belongs to my daughter-in-law. Please give it back to us." Without any second thought, she handed it over to the woman and asked for her pardon. The man accompanying the woman is her son. He gets furious and wants to teach Munni a lesson, abusing her in a loud voice and grabbing her wrist. The old woman suggests that not create a scene and ruin the celebrations by letting the poor girl go. However, her drunken son is adamant and not listening to her. The old woman looks at Munni helplessly and walks back to disappear.
Munni, with her pale face begging for mercy, is well aware of the consequences; if the man is not pacified soon, things would be out of her grip. She is nervous that if the caterers discover about the incident, it will adversely affect their future contracts. In addition, what if her husband found out about the whole thing, he would make her life a living hell.
This drunkard is pushing her in the crowd, threatening her that he is going to call the police. Munni is trying her best to convince the drunkard man to let her go as she has already returned the bag to his mother. Threatening Munni, he says, "You know, that handbag belongs to my wife. Had it been lost, she would have made life hell for my mother with taunts of being a useless, irresponsible woman all her remaining life. "