2 States The Story Of My Marriage (31 page)

Shipra masi called for Rajji mama and Lappa mama’s wives, Kamla and Rajni,

respectively.

‘Come, see Krish’s friend. The Madrasin Kavita told us about,’ Shipra masi

shrieked.

Rajni aunty and Kamla aunty came over. We exchanged polite greetings. My

mother explained how my father had viral fever so he couldn’t come. Everyone

knew the truth but nodded in total support. Shipra masi even suggested some

medicines.

‘Ananya Swaminathan, aunty,’ Ananya repeated her name to Kamla mami as

she hadn’t caught it the first time.

‘You are so fair. Are you hundred percent South Indian?’ Kamla mami asked.

She is also an IIMA pass out and a brand manager at HLL, I wanted to say. But

those are things you discuss in Chennai, not at the Taj Palace, Delhi, during the

Talreja’s sagan ceremony.

‘By South Indian standards, she is quite pretty,’ Shipra masi added insight.

‘I know, otherwise how black and ugly they are,’ Kamla mami said.

Everyone laughed, apart from Ananya. She had braved a smile all along, but it

disappeared. I moved next to her and gently patted her back.

I didn’t want her to react. Smile like a ditz and your chances of being accepted
will improve. Sometimes, love is tested in strange ways.

‘The boy’s side has come!’ Kittu, my youngest cousin, came running inside

like Amitabh Bachchan had lost his way and rung the doorbell.

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‘Let’s go, let’s go,’ Kamla mami hauled up all the ladies. The ladies deposited
their gold sequined bags with Swaran aunty. Her immobility made her an ideal

cloakroom.

‘So, what is the surprise gift?’ my mother egged on Kamla aunty.

‘You will see it soon-ji. But the expense has broken our back. Minti’s daddy

had to take a loan.’

‘It’s OK, you have only one daughter,’ Shipra masi said as all of them walked

out.

Ananya let out a huge sigh after the Punjabi aunty gang left.

‘You OK?’ I said. ‘No, let me guess. You are not OK.’

‘I need a drink, let’s go to the bar,’ Ananya said.

‘But stay a few steps away. I’ll order the drink,’ I said.

We reached the bar. Tinki and Nikki came running to me, their lehngas lifted up
to their ankles with their hands.

‘Krish bhaiya, get a full glass of neat vodka. My friends from college have

come.’

‘Why can’t the girls take drinks themselves?’ Ananya asked.

Tinki and Nikki turned to Ananya, puzzled. At nineteen and seventeen, they

looked overdressed in their designer clothes.

‘Tinki, Nikki, this is Ananya,’ I said.

‘Oh, you are the one,’ Tinki exclaimed.

‘The one who?’ I said.

‘She is your girlfriend, no, Krish bhaiya?’ Nikki said.

I didn’t respond.

‘You are blushing,’ Tinki said, and turned to Ananya. ‘I love your earrings.

Where did you get them from?’

‘Coimbatore,’ Ananya said.

‘Where is that?’ Tinki said.

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‘Tamil Nadu, that is where I come from,’ Ananya said.

‘Stupid, didn’t you read it in geography?’ Nikki scolded her sister and turned

to me, ‘Your girlfriend is so pretty. And her sari is also so beautiful.’

‘Thanks,’ Ananya said. ‘Both of you look great. I want a lehnga like that.’

I took a full glass of vodka from the bar and poured it into three glasses. I

topped the drinks with Sprite and brought it for the girls.

‘I don’t drink. It’s only for the DJ later,’ Tinki clarified. ‘Anyway I am eighteen
now.’

‘You went to IIMA, no? You must be so intelligent. Can girls get into IIM? Nikki
said.

‘Of course, why not? What’s it got to do with being a girl,’ Ananya said.

I stepped away from them. The girls talked for the next ten minutes. If nothing
else, Ananya had bonded with the younger set of my family. Why was it so much

harder to win over the older generation?

‘Where are you?’ my mother’s angry voice cut into my musings. ‘The

ceremony is about to start.’

I collected the girls and we went to the stage. Minti sat on the floor of the stage
with Duke in front of her. A priest sat alongside.

As my aunts would say, Duke was on the healthier side.

‘He is fat,’ Ananya said flatly.

‘Shut up, someone will hear you,’ I said.

‘Oh, people really are careful about what they say around here,’ Ananya said,

sarcasm shimmering in her words like the sequins in her blouse.

‘C’mon Ananya, they are not even aware they are being offensive. You will like

them once you know them.’

‘Please, I like your cousins, let me be with them,’ Ananya said, her voice

defiant from the vodka.

‘We like her,’ Nikki and Tinki certified as they gave Ananya a hug. Just like

men, women too become friendlier after alcohol.

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Duke was indeed fair as milk. The chubby cheeks and fair complexion made

him look like a solely Cerelac-fed adult. He wore a shiny maroon kurta, of

probably the same fabric as one of Ananya’s mom’s saris. Damn, I was

remembering Ananya’s mother here. Focus, I said to myself.

Minti wore an orange lehnga studded with Swarovski crystals and other

precious stones. According to my mother, it cost twenty thousand rupees, while

the wedding sari had cost thirty thousand. Ten percent of the wedding budget is

bridal costumes, my brain made a useless calculation.

The priest chanted mantras. Minti gestured at her cousins to ask if she looked

fine.

Nikki put her right thumb tip and index finger tip together to signify she looked
fab. Nikki also put her right middle finger on her forehead to show Minti she

needed to adjust her bindi. Minti followed the instructions and fixed her bindi with
the left hand even as the priest tied a thread on her right. I learnt three facts about
women: a) they never lose track of how they look; b) they help each other out by

giving instructions in any way possible; and c) they can multi-task. Of course, my

mind couldn’t focus on the ceremony. I thought of ways to make my family like

Ananya.

Duke pulled out an engagement ring from his kurta pocket. He displayed it for

the cameras. A collective sigh ran across the women as they realised it was a

solitaire.

‘One-and-a-half-carats at least,’ Shipra masi curated it immediately.

Duke put the ring on Minti’s finger and everyone clapped. Minti gave a shy

smile as she brought out a ring, a simple gold band for Duke. She put the ring on

him.

‘She looks so sweet,’ Tinki said and the two sisters gave each other hugs, their
eyes wet. Women have surplus emotions and they don’t need a big trigger to spill

them out.

Duke’s family waited after the ring ceremony in anticipation. Rajji mama took

out a little box from his shirt pocket. He passed it on to Duke. Duke refused three

times. Rajji mama insisted until Duke accepted it. Duke opened the black box. It

had a key with the Hyundai Motors sign on it.

This time the women and men gave out a collective sigh. Yes, Rajji mama had

outdone the solitaire.

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‘They’ve given a car,’ Shipra masi said, to make it clear in case somebody

hadn’t got it.

Grown-ups from both sides opened their respective sweet boxes and force-fed

the other family. All of us went on stage one by one and congratulated the couple.

Minti’s parents gave gifts to all of Duke’s uncles and aunts. Duke’s parents

returned the favour. My mother and Shipra masi received a sari each.

‘Show me yours,’ Shipra masi said to my mother. Fortunately, they found them

similar. Duke’s parents could not be accused of aunt favouitism.

Rajji mama gloated after everyone complimented him on the masterstroke gift.

‘Uncle, start the DJ,’ Nikki said to Rajji mama.

Rajji mama nodded towards the dance floor. DJ pussycats from Rajouri

Garden comprised of two fat surds who had waited hours for that signal. They

started with dhol beats. All the younger cousins hit the dance floor. The uncles

needed a few more pegs and the aunties needed a few more elbow pulls from the

younger kids to come and groove.

‘They gave a car?’ Ananya said in shocked voice even as Nikki dragged her

towards the dance floor.

‘Yeah, a silver Santro,’ Nikki said, ‘come no, didi.’

Ananya went with the girls. Her years of Bharatnatyam training made her the

best performer on the floor. She picked up the Punjabi steps fast and even taught

my cousins a few improvised moves. She looked beautiful in her dark green

Kanjeevaram . Like an idiot, I fell in love with her all over again.

‘Have you eaten dinner?’ my mother came up next to me.

‘Er …no,’ I said, peeling my eyes away from the floor.

‘Then eat fast, we won’t get an auto home,’ my mother said.

‘We will buy a car soon,’ I said.

‘Like your father will let us have one. Anyway, why should we take? Kamla

said we shouldn’t buy anything major until you get married. We don’t want

duplicate items.’

‘Mom,’ I protested.

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‘Go fast, the paneer will get over. And tell your friend to eat.’

I waved at Ananya to come eat with me. She panted as she walked with me to

the buffet. I put black daal, shahi paneer and rotis on my plate. Ananya took

yellow daal and rice.

‘That’s it?’

‘That’s all I like,’ she said.

There was a commotion at the bar. Duke and his friends were fighting with the

bartender.

‘What happened?’ I asked.

‘They are not making the pegs large enough. Duke’s friends are upset,’ an

onlooker said.

Rajji mama intervened. The hotel staff had foreseen that the whisky may run

out and so had started doling out smaller quantities. There were no extra bottles

of that brand even in the hotel. Rajji mama took out a wad of notes and gave it to

the hotel staff. A waiter was sent to the Delhi border to fetch the whisky. Like

always, money soothed nerves and everyone became cheerful again.

‘This is a wedding?’ Ananya said.

‘Of course, that’s how all weddings are. Why, your side has it different?’ I said.

‘You bet,’ Ananya said.

We bade goodbyes to Rajji mama and Kamla aunty. As I walked out with my

mother and Ananya, Shipra masi called me.

‘Yes, aunty,’ I said.

‘Listen, you are our family’s pride. Don’t do anything stupid. These Madrasis

have laid a trap for you.’

‘Good night, aunty,’ I said.

‘See, I am saying it for your benefit. Your mother has suffered, make her

happy. You can get girls who will fill your house with gifts.’

I bent down. If all else fails with kin, touch feet.

‘What did Shipra masi say?’ Ananya asked me.

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‘She said to make sure Ananya is dropped home safe,’ I said as I stopped an

auto.

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46

I met Ananya at Punjabi by Nature in Vasant Vihar. I should have thought of a

better-named venue, given her current mental state. However, the location was

convenient and the food excellent.

‘What is the point of me attending these family events, I feel so awkward,’

Ananya began.

‘It’s one more ceremony – the actual wedding. Don’t worry, tomorrow my aunts

will be more used to you. Once my mother sees them accepting you, she is more

likely to say yes.’

‘I think she wants a set of car keys more than anyone’s approval,’ Ananya said.

‘No, my mother is not like that. She doesn’t want the car, but she wants her

siblings to appreciate she managed a car. Get it?’

‘Not really,’ Ananya shook her head.

The waiter came to take the order. We ordered one paranthas, which came with

enough butter to stop your heart instantly. We ate dinner as we contemplated our

next move.

‘Sir, would you like to try our golgappas with vodka?’ the waiter said.

‘What?’ Ananya said.

‘No thanks,’ I told the waiter and turned to Ananya. ‘It is a gimmick. Trust me,
Punjabis don’t do that on a regular basis.’

‘I am going back to Chennai in two days,’ Ananya said.

‘I know. But I will speak to mom, maybe even my uncles, after the wedding. I

want to lock this in,’ I said.

‘What about your dad?’ Ananya said.