I talk to Ma – and to Raghav
And then Raghav called.
Early the next afternoon, when Ma and I were cooking lunch together. I answered
and told him I would call back after lunch. It wasn’t exactly the best timing:
after our initial hesitation Ma and I had begun talking as we used to when I
was living at home. And doing something together, like cooking or cleaning the
windows (which we had done the previous morning), helped us talk more
comfortably.
I had been telling Ma
about my work. It was the first time we had talked about it in some length and
she seemed interested. We talked of my career plans.
“I don’t know, Ma. I enjoy
what I’m doing now, but I’m not sure if I really want to keep doing this for
say, ten years. It’s too soon to decide.”
“But if you wait too long,
won’t it be too difficult to move careers?”
“Well, I don’t know. I
don’t think it should be too difficult, only I’d have to start at the bottom
again.”
“Yeah, and work all your
way up. Would you not mind that?”
“Well, I don’t think so.
If I find something I really like doing, I shouldn’t mind doing it, even if it
means starting at the bottom.”
She laughed. “You kids have
it so easy. In my time, I was lucky that I got a job, I wouldn’t think twice
about whether I liked it.”
“That’s not fair, Mom. You
loved teaching. Besides, it’s not true either. You wouldn’t work as a say,
gardener if you’d got that job.”
She looked faintly
shocked. Ma was broad-minded enough, but she hadn’t quite moved past class
distinctions.
That’s when the phone
rang. After I came back from speaking to Raghav, she changed to her pet subject.
She wanted me to meet some ‘nice boy’.
I cursed Raghav for his
interruption and tried to explain calmly to my mother that I was not interested
in marrying a ‘nice Assamese boy’. But it was more difficult to side-track her
when we were face to face than when she was on the phone and I could put her
off with a joke.
She placed a hand on my
cheek. “Do meet him once, darling. You can always refuse if you don’t like
him.”
I sighed. “I don’t want an
arranged marriage, Mom. I want to know someone, fall in love, and then get
married.”
“So get to know him. I
won’t pressure you to marry him, I promise.”
“Why are you so keen on
this, Ma?”
“I don’t like seeing you
alone, ma. I would like to think you
had someone to take care of you.”
“I can take care of
myself, Ma. And I’m perfectly happy being alone.”
“Is that true?” piped up
Mandakini.
“Just meet him once,
sweetheart. I’m not asking for more than that.”
“Okay, tell me about him.”
She smiled, a smile that
made her wrinkles deeper and brought sparkles to her eyes.
“I’m not saying I’ll meet
him yet,” I warned her. “Tell me about him and we’ll see.”
“Okay, okay. His name’s Kaushik. He lives in
Delhi.”
“Delhi?” I interrupted. “I
thought he was in Bangalore.”
“Oh no, that was a
different boy. This one is really nice. I met him once, years ago, at Maina’s
wedding. He was in college then. A charming boy. Very fair, tall and slim.”
“Well, in seven years he
may have become fat and ugly,” I said viciously.
“No, ma. Maina said he is as good-looking as ever. He has a nice job in
an IT company and he’s even been abroad twice.”
“How old is he?” I asked
suspiciously.
“He must be twenty-eight
or nine.”
“How come he’s not married
yet if he’s such a great catch? How come he doesn’t have a girlfriend?”
“Not everyone wants to get
married that way, ma,” she clucked.
“He had responsibilities at home. His father died when he was in college. He’s
got both his younger sisters married.”
“Does his mom live with
him then?” I asked, seeing another opportunity.
“No, she visits him often,
but she lives here. She has grandchildren here, you know.”
“Aah, so once her son has
children she’ll move in with him?”
Ma wisely ignored the gibe
and went on stirring the food. “He did very well in school, you know. He is a
very smart boy. And he loves reading too. I’m sure you will like him.”
I held both her hands and
turned her around to face me. “Ma, if I meet this guy and don’t like him, will
you promise never to ask me to meet anyone else?”
“But ma, what if you do want to get married later…”
“Then I’ll ask you to find
me a guy. But till then you won’t mention it.”
“All right, Miki.”
“Okay. Give him my
number.”
Her face lit up. “Thank
you, my dear.”
I hugged her. I knew she
had been making an unreasonable demand: why did I feel guilty about not giving
in more gracefully?
After lunch, I helped Ma
wash the dishes. Then we both went to our respective rooms: she to lie down and
listen to the radio, and I to flop down on my tummy and call Raghav.
“Guess what?” he said.
“What, you getting
married?”
“Yep.”
“What?” I sat up. “How?
When?”
“It’s kind of a long
story.”
“How can it be a long
story when you only started dating a month ago?” I demanded.
“Okay, listen. I’ve been
meeting Sonali nearly every day…”
“Oh? Don’t her parents
object?”
He didn’t notice the
sarcasm. “Oh, they didn’t know. She meets me after work for half an hour each
day. And we also talk on the phone late at night.”
“Of course. You did that
even when you were in Belgaum.”
“So one night we were on
the phone…”
“Her dad picked up the
extension?”
“No, my mom did. Sonali was
on her mobile. I had called from my home line because my cell phone was
charging...”
“Well, that was stupid of
you. What did Mom say?”
“She didn’t say anything
then. In fact I didn’t even know she had picked up the phone. She only told me
the next afternoon.”
“Did she say what she had overheard?”
“Uhh, no.”
“Aah, I wonder.”
“Well, we don’t talk that
way yet. She’s shy, you know.”
“Oh, I wasn’t thinking
about that. I have no doubt your Sonali is a thoroughly nice girl. I just
wondered what sweet nicknames you were calling out…”
“Anyway, Mom asked me who
it was and I told her. She then asked me if I was serious about her.”
“Hey, your Mom knows her,
doesn’t she?”
“Of course. She is
friendly with Sonali’s mom, you know, because of me and Amit being friends and
them living nearby.”
“Okay, so what did you
say?”
“I told Mom I intend to
marry her.”
“I hope you mean Sonali.”
Raghav didn’t laugh – he seemed to be losing his sense of humour already.
“So she talked to Dad
first, and then they talked to Sonali’s parents and fixed it up.”
“Seriously? That’s it?”
“Yeah. We’re working out
the date now.”
“I’m surprised your
parents took it so well.”
“Well, she’s Punjabi, like
my mom, so I guess they didn’t have any objection. And they know the family and
all.” Raghav’s dad was South Indian, but his mom was Punjabi. So while he was
actually Raghav Pillai, he’d grown up with a lot of Punjabi customs and around
a lot of Punjabi relatives, so he was more north Indian than south, though he
could make a mean sambar.
“And I guess they’re glad
it’s a girl from Delhi – maybe they’re hoping you’ll move back?”
“That’s possible.”
“But are you okay with
this, Rags? You have only been going out with her for a month, and you’ve been
with her barely a few hours in that time. Are you sure you are ready to get
married?”
“Of course. I’m in love
with her.”
“You were in love with
Nivedita too. And with Aarti.”
“And with me,” added Miki.
“No, that was different,”
said Raghav. “I’ve never cared for anyone this way.”
“Okay, as long as you’re
sure. Then I guess I should congratulate you.”
“I wish you were here. I
really want to meet you.”
“Well, I’ll be back in a
week.”
“But I’m leaving before
you get here.”
“I’m sure you’ll visit
again soon.” Suddenly, I didn’t feel too eager to meet him.
7 comments:
first one here today. got the link to the voices thru a friend's blog, n i must say i've been enjoyin them. keep it up :)
Obelix D: Hey, thanks for delurking!
One getting married, other meeting a nice guy... if this was a movie, I would expect to see dramatic action at a wedding mandap or the airport... but if you plan to make it like a tv series.. perhaps we do have some intermediate weddings in store?? Enjoying reading :)
Emp: You don't really want spoilers, do you?
- Oh No..:(
- Raghaaavvvvvvv...Nahiiiin!
- Waiting for the 'I meet Kaushik ' post ;b
I don't like Raghav marrying Sonali, Can't you stop him?!
Subhashree: I don't like it either, but we'll have to let Raghav figure out who he wants to marry.
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