Gowrigaatha - A love story [Completed](The story of Gowri)

1. The village

The dewy morning air felt cool against Gowri's skin nudging her awake. She got up slowly and sat on the cot and stared through the wooden window at the vast green fields and the rolling blue hills in the distance. The sparkling early morning sunlight has cast a sheen over everything in her view. She sighed, at least the village is pleasant to look at, the only solace for being brought there against her wishes.

She got up and took a bath and dressed. For a girl born and brought up in the city, she was struggling to wear a davani (half-saree, similar to lehanga-choli-dupatta), the only dress she was allowed to wear in public in her village, as decreed by her grandfather. She hated it as it did not have the freedom of jeans and t-shirt. The only solace was that it looked beautiful on her. That's it; she understood what was wrong with the village of Kaniyankara, everything looked beautiful, but it was a pain to look beautiful.

After struggling for some time, she managed to drape the davani over her figure. She wasn't slim, nor she was fat, she has a perfect figure for wearing davani, as told by Sridevi valiyamma (father's sister-in-law) wife of Prakashan valiyachan (father's elder brother), yesterday night when she came to the village. In the city when she was home with her parents, she would put nothing on her face if she was staying home. But in here, she had to wear kanmashi (eyeliner) and pottu (bindi) and should always be decked in gold earrings, chain, bangles and anklets.

"Then only you will look like a girl of our family", said Srideviamma adorning her with all. Gowri had started to suspect that her three aunts were using her as a model and proxy for a daughter they never had. She was the only daughter in the past three generations of Kalarikkal family, otherwise full of brawny sons.

Gowri carefully drew her eyebrows and eyeliner and placed a pottu between her arched eyebrows, she looked beautiful. A few years back she would have wished to be two shades lighter than her caramel skin, not anymore, she knew that her beauty was unique. After combing her long hair and tying a few strands of hair from either side to keep the rest in, she went to the kitchen that was located at the far end of her ancestral house. It was a large traditional house, with wooden pillars and wooden windows and an open courtyard in the middle. Though the entire house seemed to be asleep except for the cooing of a baby in one of the rooms, the kitchen was bursting at its seams with activity. Gowri's aunts and two maids were busy preparing food for the day.

"You wake up early!" said Meenaamma, her second aunt with curly black hair, wife of Sureshan valiyachan.

"You are looking beautiful dear, better than in those awful jeans," Binduamma, her third aunt and wife of Satishan valiyachan, added with pride in her eyes. She was pretty tall.

Gowri nodded resignedly and then offered, "What can I do here?"

"Absolutely nothing, we are not letting you do any work here", said Srideviamma as she entered into the kitchen.

"Come on dear,  you used to chirp around like a bird. What happened to you? Here, have some tea and cheer up, this is your home as well" said Binduamma and kept a cup of tea next to her and hugged her. She understood that Gowri was missing her parents and the city.

That's it, thought Gowri, no use moping around when you are surrounded by your other loving family. So she smiled as she hugged her back, happiness slowly making its way into her heart.

"If you are ready, Malathi is going to temple, you can join her", informed Srideviamma. Malathi is the wife of Pranav, Sridevi's eldest son.

"Sure, but before that I will phone home", replied Gowri as she happily sipped the tea.