An unusual love story

Transition

It had been a few months since their return from the Kerala trip and the trio had gotten back to their routine. One morning Samyu was busy in the kitchen cooking breakfast and lunch to pack for Mithra. Abhi had left for an early call sheet. Mithu was now 12. She didn't need to be woken up or asked to get ready. Although she still called Samyu by her name, their relationship had evolved. Mithu had come to accept that Samyu was the mother figure and, whether she liked it or not, had to respect her.

Samyu looked at the time. It was almost 7:30am. Selvam Anna was already here to drop Mithu at school but her door was still shut. Samyu quickly packed her lunch box, calling out for her. When she did not hear a response, she went up to her room to find Mithu still in bed. She was holding on to a pillow to her stomach. Samyu ran up to her asking, "Mithu enna achu? Yen innum ezhundhukale?" She touched her forehead to check if it was warm. Mithu held her stomach saying, "Samyu vayaru valikkidhu?" Samyu made a quick mental note of what Mithu had eaten the past couple of days. There was nothing out of the norm that she had fed. Then she asked, "Mithu restroom poniya. Did you check?" That's when Mithu said, "Konjam blood irundhudhu but I am not sure." Samyu gently helped her sit up, "Do you want me to help you check?" Mithu nodded. Samyu slowly took her into the bathroom and, indeed, it was as she thought. Mithu had started the periods.

Samyu helped her with the pad and got her some warm water to drink. She told her to rest and quickly called the school to let them know that Mithra will be taking a couple of days off. She then left a message for Abhi and then called her mom. Paati obviously was thrilled about it and started planning the "rituals". Samyu let her rattle of and then said her thoughts, "Amma nee paatukku sadangu adhu idhu nu plan pannadha maa. Naan Mithu kitta first pesaren. Avaloda thoughts um kettukaren. Nee ooru full aa ippo edhuvum solla vendaam seriya?"

After hanging up the phone, Samyu made changes to her plan for the day. She decided to stay home with Mithra. After doing the necessary calls, which took her about an hour, she took some warm rasam rice and potato fry, Mithu's all time favourite, and went up to her room. Mithu slowly sat up and ate the food which Samyu explained the traditional sadangu to her but also made her understand that she could voice out her opinion about it. Mithu quickly finished her food while thinking and said, "Samyu idhellam pannanuma? Isn't this just a natural thing that all girls go through? Idhu yen oru achievement madiri treat pannanum. If Paati wants to do a prayer sort of thing that's fine but oorellam kooti idhu solli ellam..... vendaame. Can we avoid that? I just want to go back to school tomorrow just like it is another day. I understand that there are some biological and hormonal changes but.... Can we just keep it private? I don't want to offend paati though?" Mithu looked at Samyu with worried eyes.

Samyu smiled and kissed Mithra's forehead saying, "You are absolutely right. Idhula offend aagardhukku onnum illai da. I will make Paati understand. Nee bowl kuduthutu poi gargle pannu. Do you want to rest here? Let me go down to the pharmacy and get more pads. Keep drinking water ok?"

Samyu had already told Abhi to keep things as normal as always so when he returned home, he just checked on Mithu to see if she was ok. They all made it as natural and normal as possible and were sensitive to Mithra's needs. They made sure she was confortable. Nothing more nothing less.

Brinda Subramanian