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

3. The Kitchen Conflict

A car stopping at the porch of Paarakkal house brought Vasudev to the door and he sighed as he saw Ganeshan Paarakkal, his grandfather's younger brother, alight with his grandson Sreekumar, Vasudev's cousin. Ganeshan looked like a younger, shorter version of Subramaniyam while Sreekumar was tall but rather thin for his height. They were the residents of the neighboring village and their arrival never did any good to anyone.

"Why are you here all of a sudden?" Subramaniyam asked.

"That bloody Pranav Kalarikkal got the contract for the check-dam in my village" said Ganeshan in anger as he sat down next to his brother on the sofa in the living room.

"So? He won the contract last year and has been working on it since. Since when do you take up such mundane contracts?" asked Subramaniyam.

"I don't care about the contract or the money, but I wanted it in my name so that I could increase my public image. You know I am planning to set foot into politics" said Ganeshan.

"Then its a good thing, right? With your work ethic, the check dam will break within three days and flood everyone's crops and homes. They will curse you and not vote for you. This is a blessing in disguise", said Subramaniyam in irritation.

Vasudev who was standing with his back to the wall bit his lower lip and looked outside the door to avoid eye contact.

"This is just the hubris of the Kalarikkal family. They think they are equal to us, everyone knew that this contract was ours" said Sreekumar.

"Knew? Didn't you specifically tell them not to bid?" asked Subramaniyam.

"No", Sreekumar replied.

"Then how is that boy going to read your mind and not bid?" Subramaniyam was losing his patience.

"They should know they can't take contracts wherever Paarakkal family lives" said Ganeshan.

Subramaniyam looked up to the heavens for a second and asked, "So what are you planning to do?"

"I am going to his house and beat him up", replied Sreekumar.

Subramaniyam looked to Ganeshan, "Is he being serious?"

"They should not forget their status, you go and beat the crap out of him", Ganeshan said to Sreekumar and then he turned to Subramaniyam, "We came here to inform you because this is your village".

Subramaniyam knew that he could not bring sense to these two knuckleheads, so he said to Sreekumar, "Just go there and tell that boy to come and talk to you. You ask him to leave the contract. Don't resort to stupidity".

"I can't guarantee anything", said Sreekumar and got up. His grandfather followed him until the porch while he got into his car. Outside the gate there were two jeeps full of their men armed with machetes.

"Vasudev, go with him", said Subramaniyam.

"Achacha, I don't want to get involved in this nonsense", said Vasudev.

"You go and handle the situation before he needlessly escalates it", said Subramaniyam.

Vasudev sighed in frustration and went to his car with two of their men and followed the fleet.

As Subramaniyam stood there along with Ganeshan, he was thinking how fragile power is. Paarakkal family were known as the kings of Kaniyankara. But a king knows that there is a limit to how much you can bend subjects before they say enough is enough. He and his boys understood it and played the power game instilling fear into the hearts of the people while showing an armor of invincibility. He wasn't yet to comprehend how close he will get to lose it.