2 States: The Story of My Marriage Read online

  ‘Mom, I want to marry Ananya,’ I said, ‘in case it is not clear.’

  My mother placed the piece of roti back on her plate and pushed her chair back to get up.

  ‘Mom, please wait. I want to talk,’ I said.

  ‘Why should I talk? You will do whatever you want anyway. Go to the temple right now and get married.’

  ‘Aunty, we want you to be happy about it,’ Ananya said.

  ‘Well, I am not. You can’t force me to be happy. Everyone is praising Minti’s mother for her choice. I’ve suffered for years to bring my son up. Why can’t I have the same happiness? I want a lavish wedding, I want the girl’s parents to respect me, I want the girl to be approved of by my brothers and sisters.’

  ‘They will like Ananya! She is intelligent, educated. . . .’

  ‘She is South Indian,’ my mother said, cutting me.

  ‘So what? Let’s see what your brothers and sisters say about Ananya. This wedding is a perfect excuse.’

  ‘And who will I say she is?’ my mother asked grimly.

  ‘Say she is Krish’s classmate who’s never seen a Punjabi marriage ceremony and wanted to come,’ I said.

  My mother kept quiet. She picked up her roti and began to eat again.

  ‘Aunty, I am sorry I came unannounced. I thought Krish had told you.’

  ‘He never tells me anything. He is so careless,’ my mother said.

  ‘I agree, he doesn’t communicate well,’ Ananya said.

  ‘See,’ my mother said to me.

  Even though they were ganging up against me, I let it pass. I wanted them to bond in any way possible.

  ‘The daal is excellent, aunty, you must teach me how to make it,’ Ananya said.

  ‘Then why are you eating like a squirrel? Take a proper helping,’ my mother said.

  ‘I’ll speak to Minti,’ I put in. ‘I’m sure she will have no problem if I bring a friend.

  ‘Only as a friend,’ my mother said.

  ‘Thanks, mom,’ I said and hugged her.

  ‘Your dad never gave me anything. You don’t deprive me of what I deserve,’ my mother said.

  ‘Where’s uncle?’ Ananya said.

  ‘Who knows?’ my mother said. ‘He’ll be back late. You’ll see him in the morning. You are sleeping in the guest-room and Krish in his room, right?’

  ‘Of course, mom,’ I said, ‘how else?’

  My mother finished dinner. Ananya offered to do the dishes. My mother said the maid would arrive in the morning but Ananya insisted. My mother went to her room.

  ‘OK, Miss Brand Manager, you sure you don’t need help?’ I said as I leaned against the kitchen wall.

  Ananya applied Vim on the dishes with a wire mesh. ‘No, I don’t want to be accused of trapping the Prince of Punjab again,’ Ananya said and mercilessly scrubbed a kadhai.

  ‘Let me dry the dishes,’ I offered.

  ‘Go away, I beg you,’ she said as she pushed me out of the kitchen.

  44

  ‘Good morning, uncle,’ Ananya said as she came into the living room in her night-suit. It was seven-thirty in the morning. My father, bound to his army habit, had showered and changed. He looked up from his newspaper. He didn’t respond.

  ‘I’m Ananya, Krish’s friend.’

  ‘Good,’ my father said and went back to his newspaper. He kept calm. I knew he’d blow his lid when Ananya left. I came to the living room and ignored him.

  ‘Ananya, get ready. We should leave before the peak-hour traffic.’

  ‘Where are you going?’ my father said.

  I didn’t answer. My father stood up and went to the kitchen.

  ‘Is this the way to behave?’ I heard him scream at my mother.

  ‘What happened?’ my mother said as I kept one ear to the kitchen.

  ‘I asked him where is he going, he didn’t answer. And who is that girl?’

  ‘He is going to drop Ananya to her guest-house and go to office. Why?’ my mother said.

  ‘Why can’t he say it? And why didn’t you tell me we will have a visitor in the house.’

  ‘I didn’t know,’ my mother said.

  ‘You are lying again,’ my father screamed.

  Ananya looked terrified.

  ‘Welcome to my world,’ I said, ‘now let’s get the hell out of here.’ I came home from work and found a deadly silence in the house. Obviously, my father was home. He sat at the dining table with my mother.

  ‘Krish, your father wants to talk to you,’ my mother said.

  ‘Tell him I don’t want to,’ I said.

  ‘He said he won’t come for Minti’s wedding if you don’t speak to him,’ my mother said. Weddings on my mother’s side of the family were when we needed my father the most. My mother wanted to portray a sense of normalcy. If my father showed his face, it prevented tongues wagging for weeks. I had no choice. I went and sat opposite him.

  ‘So, now that you have resorted to blackmail, what do you want to talk about?’ I said.

  ‘It’s not blackmail. When my family doesn’t talk to me, why should I. . . .’ he said.

  ‘Whatever. What is it?’ I said.

  ‘Who is that girl?’

  ‘Ananya Swaminathan,’

  ‘How do you know her?’

  ‘She is a classmate from college and my girlfriend.’

  ‘See Kavita,’ my father said, ‘and you said she is only a friend.’

  ‘You talk to me, why do you have to take it out on her,’ I said.

  ‘What is the purpose of her visit here?’ my father said.

  ‘She came on a work assignment. Minti invited her to the wedding. Do you have a problem?’

  ‘You will not choose a girl for marriage. I will choose for you,’ my father said.

  ‘You want to sell me. And while you are out there negotiating me, what’s my going rate?’

  ‘Kavita, this boy. . . .’

  ‘This boy is right here. Talk to me.’

  ‘I am not coming for Minti’s wedding,’ my father announced.

  ‘Please, don’t do that. Krish, talk properly,’ my mother pleaded.

  ‘No mom, we won’t take him. We’ll tell them he is sick, mentally.’

  ‘Watch your mouth,’ my father said and raised his hand.

  ‘I dare you,’ I said and stood up. I went to my room but could hear them.

  ‘I won’t come for the wedding, Kavita,’ my father said. The sound of a clattering plate, presumably shoved away on the dining table.

  ‘Do whatever you want, all of you,’ my mother said.

  I lay in bed. I wondered why we even stayed together as a family. I never thought I would, but I missed Chennai. Sure, people there didn’t really connect with me, but at least nobody could jab my insides. I thought of calling Ananya but I didn’t want to dump my mood on her. Questions darted in my mind. Am I even doing the right thing by bringing Ananya into this family? What impression will she have of me? Will she change her mind about me? Watching my mind’s stupid daily pre-sleep thought dance, I tossed and turned in bed all night.

  45

  Minti’s sagan ceremony took place at the Taj Palace Hotel in Dhaula Kuan. Frankly, it was a big deal for our clan. We had seen some over the top weddings, but never before did an engagement ceremony happen at a top end five-star hotel. Rajji mama had taken his one-upmanship among the relatives right to the top by booking the Taj.

  The banquet hall entrance had a sign.

  The Talrejas welcome you

  to SAGAN ceremony of their:

  Most lovely daughter

  Manorama (Minti)

  With

  Dashing Gentleman

  Dharamveer (Duke), B. Tech

  ‘Don’t laugh,’ I said to Ananya, suppressing my own smile.

  ‘I can’t help it,’ she grinned. She adjusted the drape of her bottle green and gold sari for the fifth time.

  ‘Welcome-ji, welcome,’ Rajji mama gave my mother and me hugs in quick succession.

  We came