Married in Love

2. The First Conversation

*Purely Fictional Story*

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Ananth knew from his friends' experiences that he would most probably not be allowed to speak privately with Sadhana on their first meeting.

Yet his thirty-year old yearning heart had some hopes.

Hopes that his mother squashed with a simple one liner "Naanga veetuku poitu pesitu sollaromnga, neengalum ponnu kitta pesunga".

On the other hand, Sadhana let out a silent heave of relief on hearing Radha. For she really did not know what to converse with the handsome man in front of her. As such, this whole ponnu paakura scenario which she was experiencing for the first time had already made her jittery - she had had no idea what to expect when she was presented in front of the potential groom's family. And when she had caught a glance at the striking man, her jitters had turned into flutters in her stomach - more so a reason she would have definitely been tongue tied if let alone with him.

As the party headed out and the elders were busy with their formalities, she could not hold herself back from looking at Ananth, and was surprised to see his eyes already on her. An overwhelming shyness settled on her cheeks and she caught the gold bracelet on her wrist for support. But try as she might, she simply could not look away from him as he stood near the frame of the door. It looked to her that Ananth was buying time to look at her as he waited in the same place for the rest of his family to move out of the house, and that made her let out a suppressed giggle instantly.

When Ananth realised that Sadhana had not yet averted her sight from him, he took the opportunity to wave a silent bye to her by flicking his palm sideways. Biting her inner lips and letting her thumb still be hooked in her bracelet, Sadhana raised her remaining fingers from her bracelet to wave a bye to him.

And that was their first conversation.

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Having changed out of the saree and been freed from the jewellery, Sadhana lay on her bed recollecting the events from earlier. When her parents walked into her room, they found her having a dreamy look on her face, making the elders exchange a look between them.

"Enna paatuku dreamland la dance aadreenga?" Sandhya asked her, patting Sadhana's shoulder and gesturing her to make space on her bed for them to sit. Only then did it strike Sadhana that she had company in her room. Embarrassed at being caught this way by her parents, Sadhana immediately changed the emotion on her face and dismissed her mother's question.

"Chumma iru Sandhya" Murali came to Sadhana's defence, or so Sadhana thought "Ava paavam paaru, ippo modhala irundhu dance sequence start pannanum" Murali continued and chuckled.

"Neenga ellam enna amma appa chee" Sadhana slapped her forehead but mainly she was using that gesture to hide the shyness that had settled on her lips.

"Appa, photo la paatha maariye irukaaru la nerla avaru" she directed the question to her father.

"Evaru?" Sandhya faked curiosity. And burst out laughing seeing the irritation on Sadhana's face. "Kochukaadhey di" she pacified her daughter.

"Looks wise mattum illa ma, padippu and velai vishayathulaiyum pyyan super. You will have a good future with him nu we believe. Do you trust us?" Murali spoke with mixed emotions in his voice. It was just yesterday was it not, that he had taught her 7 tables and 9 tables? Where had the time flown? Was she already so grown up to move away from him?

Moving closer to sit next to him, Sadhana assured Murali "Appa, nee enna decide pannalum, enakku ok. Ivalo naal nee enna sonniyo adhu dhane naa pannen, so of course idhulaiyum naa unna trust pandren." Seeing that the seriousness was still etched on Murali's face, Sadhana lightened the mood "Inga paaru un pondatti a. Iva economics teacher, vara pora maplai-yum economics lecturer nu nethi lendhu orey kushi a iruka. Ivala maari iru" she poked her finger into her mother's arm.

"Podi. Unakku enga puriyum enga concern. Padippu, panbu, paasam, idhellam irukara nalla oru pyyan kedaikarudhu ku nee kuduthu vechurkanum." Sandhya immediately waved her hand in the air to ward off any evil.

"Wait wait, innum avaru side lendhu phone varala. Vandhadhum neenga unga dreamland ku ponga" Sadhana mocked her parents, but at the same time brought them all to reality.

The family continued their banters on various topics, consciously avoiding bringing up the much awaited phone call. Sadhana's gut feeling told her this was going to work out and she went about having a heavy dinner, but her poor parents could hardly eat a mouthful.

Abruptly, when it just struck him, Murali spoke "Avanga veetla inimel dhan telephone connection varanum nu Sundar sonnaru - idha eppadi naa marandhen. So naalai morning mela avanga booth la poi call panna dhan namakku theriyum." Sandhya nodded her head in impatience and went on to clear the dining table, while Sadhana sat still, looking at her plate.

"Enkitta daily nerla pesama eppadi irupeenga rendu perum? Naa vera ungaluku orey kozhandha" she suddenly voiced out, her voice slightly choked.

"Nimmadhiya irupen, eppopaaru lodaloda nu pesite irupe nee - adhu illama silence a enjoy pannuven." Sandhya responded from the kitchen, unable to see the tears that were restlessly resting at the edge of Sadhana's eyes.

"Sandhya" Murali gave his wife a disapproving look as she walked out of the kitchen. Sandhya saw that Murali was holding Sadhana's clean hand and was brushing away the tears from her cheeks.

"Ennadi aachu unakku?" Sandhya sat on the other side of Sadhana and enquired.

"Unakku en mela paasame illa po" the twenty-one year old child complained to her mother.

"Paasam illama dhan pethu valathaangala unna?" Sandhya questioned her. "Seri, azhadha. Call vandha apparam idhellam pannalam. Anti-climax aaga pogudhu."

"Iva oruthi, eppo paaru edhana olaritu. Nee avala vidu da. Nee poi thoongu." Murali chided Sandhya and cajoled Sadhana to go to bed. It was hardly fifteen minutes after Sadhana had settled in to sleep that Sandhya walked in and gave her daughter a nethi kiss. "Chumma sonnen di loosu. Enakkum adhe tension adhe bayam dhane. Ippo thoongu, morning pesalam" she whispered to her daughter and patted her head before walking out of the room.

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Sunday mornings were usually a lazy affair in the Murali household. However, this Sunday morning saw a tense home. It was already nine in the morning and the impatience had grown multifold in the dining area as the family had their breakfast. Sandhya was the most irritated of the lot and was found grumbling often - the father-daughter duo had gotten used to the onset of her menopausal irritation and carefully handled her. But the restlessness was common to all three that morning.

Sadhana then settled herself in the hall with a magazine but truth be told, she had not flipped beyond the first page of that magazine. Her mind was clouded with thoughts about the impending call and possibly a wedding. It was not that she was desperate to get married - no - but this was all very novel to her. She had always had a cocooned yet liberal life, and she had always shared healthy and friendly conversations with the opposite gender. But the man she laid eyes on yesterday had created havoc in her heart and mind. She was pondering if she felt the way she felt because he had come as an alliance, or if she would have felt the same towards him if she had met him under different circumstances. Eppadi paatha enna, paaka super a irukaru her young adult mind twinkled with excitement.

The silence in the room was timed by the clock's hands that were loudly moving. Suddenly the clock's ticking was overpowered by the shrill of the telephone ringing. Murali quickly dropped the newspaper he was reading and picked up the wired telephone.

"Hello Sundar, sollunga" he said, his eyes on Sandhya gesturing to her that it was Sundar, meaning - they were going to get their answer.

"Engalukku romba pidichu dhan idhuku okay sonnom. Enga side layum ellam ok" he showed a thumbs-up to Sandhya indicating it was a yes from Ananth's family. Sandhya clapped her hands and kissed Sadhana's cheeks and told her "Odu, dreamland ku poiko!"

AN: Idhunga eppo pesi, eppo pazhagi, hmm. Wait pannuvom!