Malathi charitham (The history of Malathi) (Kalarikkal series - 2)

9. Relationship

"So what do you want to do?" she asked him.

"Lets go for a walk" he replied.

She changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt and raincoat and gum boots and they went for a walk. Though it was almost noon, it was overcast and was pleasant. They talked a lot about the part of their lives that the other did not know. Vishnu told about the really wild life he had when he shifted to the hostel for the first time, the pranks that he played and the fights that he got into. Malathi too talked about the crazy things that she did in college which surprised him since he had thought about her to be a level headed girl. But then he remembered, she slept with him; she isn't as level-headed as he thought she was! Slowly they made their way into the forest and he held her hand as they walked through the mushy forest floor. Many thoughts were swirling in their minds which made the quiet. Briefly Vishnu thought of a future with her; holding her hand, having children with her...

Finally, Vishnu turned to Malathi and asked, his voice almost refusing to come out of his mouth, "Hypothetically, how do you think our future might be if we are together?"

Malathi stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes filled with tears in a flash and her lips were trembling, overcome with emotion her knees gave way and was caught by Vishnu before she hit the ground.

"I am sorry, I am sorry" said Vishnu, his own voice trembling as he held her.

She breathed heavily clutching onto him, "Never give words to it, it hurts like.... it hurts like my life will leave me".

Both of them collapsed onto their knees on the grass as he hugged her firmly to his chest. He kissed her hair as his tears disappeared in her hair while hers fell onto his chest. They got up and walked until they reached a green pasture and stood there holding each other, staring at the gray cloudy sky overhead and the dark green rolling hills around them. Towards evening they returned back home. They had a fun time cooking a very late lunch and eating it. By twilight, it was thundering severely and they ended up in bed making love.

The following morning it was still drizzling. So they prepared breakfast and lunch in the morning to free up the time and after finishing breakfast Vishnu called her into his room.

"I want to show you something", he said as she laid down on the bed. He also joined her with a small album and like little children, they went through the photos.

"This is my father, mother and sister", said Vishnu pointing to them on a photo. "This is my grandfather", he said showing a man with steel grey eyes.

She looked at the group of good looking people, all looking a bit haughty. Seeing her expression he said, "Yeah, my grandfather still thinks that he is the lord of the land."

He turned a page and showed his cousins, "This is Vasudev, Anand, Lekshmi, Mahadevan and Vasant". Then he turned to the family photo and Malathi lost count of the people in the frame.

"All of you stay in the same house?" she asked in shock.

"Of course! That's how most families are in our village", he said.

"But isn't Mahadevan your grandfather's sisters' grandson? Why is he living with you?" she asked him.

"His father is... what should I say, is a hundred times worse than my grandfather. His mother did not want him to get influenced by him, so he was sent to stay with us", he replied.

Malathi, who felt suffocated whenever there was more than five people in the same house at any given time asked, "Do you like it?"

"Sometimes yes, most of the times no. I love having my family members around, but the drama and fights can get out of hand. It looks pleasant in the photos, but living inside it is very difficult. Its not like in movies, each person has a different personality and you have to adjust a lot. Also you have to sacrifice your privacy and freedom. Unless you have a very powerful person heading the family, it will be a nightmare to get along with the others. But then you also will have to bow down to the leader's will and compromise a lot and most compromises are not worth it. That's one of the reasons why I loved living at Aanjili house, though it was very bad when the tree fell", he replied.