Poles Apart

Chapter Thirty-Two

"The girl is fair-skinned, smart and pretty, but with all of that comes her arrogance, too," Thathayya's brother tells RK Mamayya and Gayatri Athayya.

Gayatri Athayya clearly looks uncomfortable, but I assume RK Mamayya is used to this man's conniving nature, he comes up with an immediate response. "Even if she is arrogant, which she is not, the arrogance would not be unwarranted, Babai," he tells the baldie, respectfully addressing him as 'Babai'.

His response takes me by surprise. I hadn't expected him to defend me; he didn't have to.

I look at my mother, showcasing my surprise. She looks back at me proudly as though she had expected RK Mamayya's reaction.

"Even so," the baldie eyes me. "Such arrogance is unbecoming of a girl. You are influential people, who must entertain influential guests—"

Gayatri Athayya doesn't let him complete. "Arvi is already a favourite among friends and family. There's no need for her to entertain anyone, it's them that should be respectful to her, she's our daughter-in-law now, and Naveen Annayya's only daughter."

My mother nudges me. "See, my choice is never wrong."

"You chose my in-laws for me?" I ask her. I thought they usually chose a groom, not the groom's family.

She glares at me, unappreciative of my sass. "Anyone that's brought up with parents like Ram and Gayatri is bound to be perfect."

I nod thoughtfully and turn to her when her uncle points out something else of my arrogance. "That's what people say about your upbringing," I mock her. "Mumma, how shameful."

She rolls her eyes. "Anyone with two eyes and a clear mind can see nothing wrong about my children."

I nod slowly with a grin, mocking her. "And every other morning when you complain about the useless children you have? What then?"

My mother turns to look at me with a no-nonsense face. "You are useless, but I won't have someone else say it to me."

I press a hand to my chest, where my heart is. "You're being so sweet, I think it's killing me."

Chuckling, she slaps my arm. "Shut up, and go back to the guest house. The oldie seems like he has something to say."

I feign a shocked gasp, covering my mouth with my hand for extra effect. "Oldie? Is that how you refer to your uncle? No manners at all!"

"Respect is earned, Arvi, and it must be kept. He has done neither."

Can't argue against that. "What does he want to talk about? Thathayya's property?"

Amma nods, looking tired already. "It seems you have knocked some sense into your grandfather. He isn't talking to his brother." Mission accomplished, comrade, I tell myself. "He wasn't going to give anything to his brother's son's before, but he's definitely not giving them anything now."

One of the reasons why I hated my grandfather's brother was that he always said how it'd be a waste to earn so much and give it all away to his girls. Apparently, once you give it to your girls, the property isn't yours, it's theirs. Isn't that what happens with everything? Once you give it away, it can't be yours. However, he says, if given to boys (his sons), the property will still have their family name on it.

My grandfather is a proud father. He had fathered three daughters, and he has always been proud of all three of them. He doesn't agree with his brother at all, but seeing that his brother has little to spare for his sons after years of gambling, he had always had an idea of giving away some of it to his brother's sons.