Arranged To Adore

4.

"Amma, make sure you prepare two large bottles of pickles this time." I thought, mentally imagining the spicy-sour taste of mango pickles that my Amma prepares with her hand-picked mangoes from the tree near our home in the village.

My mother prepares the best pickles in the world, and I have no shame in admitting that Im addicted to the pickles she makes. By mentioning pickles, I recall my childhood days when my Amma would handpick the best mangoes for pickles. Amma would be chopping those mangoes while I and Keerthana would sit beside her, watching her every move with a wandering smile. After completing the ingredient-addition part, Amma would let us taste the pickle as a reward for being her audience and we both would jump around in excitement at getting to taste the world's best pickle.

"And also pack one small bottle of pickle separately... Amudha Aunty wants one too" I added while balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear as I poured the coffee into both mugs.

Amudha Aunty is our Neighbour and a specialist in handmade embroidery work. The last time she came here to deliver the Kurti, I asked her to add an embroidery design since it was too plain and dull. While I was arranging the fridge, she arrived, and somehow, she noticed the pickle bottle. She asked me if it was homemade, and I offered her a taste. She loved it. However, at that time, I could only give her half a bottle of pickles as I had only that much available at home. Therefore, when she called Amma to inform me about the housewarming pooja for the new house my parents bought in our village, I asked her to prepare some extra pickles for Amudha Aunty as well.

The new house was a dream for my parents, who were born and brought up in the village. They had moved to the city for the sake of our education and a better lifestyle, but I knew that my parents didnt like the city lifestyle much. They wanted to build a house in our village after I and Keerthana got settled in our own lives. As I've got married and settled with Abishan in Chennai and Keerthana is going to shift to Bengaluru to pursue her passion for fashion design at Bengaluru University, my parents thought this would be the best time to go back and settle in our new house in the village after performing a pooja there.

" Hmm, okay, Maa, Ill call you later... bye" With that, I hung up the call and took the coffee mugs out of the kitchen. Its Tuesday evening, and we both just came home from the office after a hectic day. As Abi has an important presentation tomorrow, he started to work on it right after getting fresh. I was free, so I thought of making hot coffee for both of us, and thats when my Amma called. Usually, it takes less than five minutes for me to make coffee, but today it took half an hour because I kept talking to my Amma, forgetting the milk on the stove.

" Abi, why haven't you dried your hair yet?" I asked, walking into the study room where he was seated in front of the study table with his eyes fixed on the laptop screen ahead of him. Hearing me, he peeked at me for a second before continuing to work on his laptop. I had told him to dry his hair before I left for the kitchen to make coffee, but look at him, still sitting with wet hair dripping. The droplets of water wetted his T-shirt, and later he caught a cold because of it and turned into a kid who hates medicine.

" Here, drink this and work" I said while pushing the coffee mug near him, which he took immediately. Placing my coffee mug on the table, I picked up the AC remote and switched it off.

The new house was a dream for my parents, who were born and brought up in the village. They had moved to the city for the sake of our education and a better lifestyle, but I knew that my parents didnt like the city lifestyle much. They wanted to build a house in our village after I and Keerthana got settled in our own lives. As I've got married and settled with Abishan in Chennai and Keerthana is going to shift to Bengaluru to pursue her passion for fashion design at Bengaluru University, my parents thought this would be the best time to go back and settle in our new house in the village after performing a pooja there.