The Arranged Marriage

Part 8

Sivakaami had her own routine once she packed Achchu off to work. After waving him good bye, Sivu always sat with the daily newspaper, The Hindu.  Sivu was someone who liked to keep herself updated about everything that was going on around the world. She spent about an hour everyday reading the news and she also enjoyed playing the crossword puzzles. She also looked to look at the previous days puzzle because she noticed that if she missed one, Achchu was sure to complete it for her. This always made her smile.

Sivu was immensely gifted with the skill to grasp new information, be it music, culture or even languages. She also have abundance of love to give. Within weeks of moving to a completely new city, she had managed to make friends with the neighbors. Her presence brought a smile to the faces of everyone from the building watchman to the grumpy landlady. There were several children in the building who, soon, started called her Sivu didi and including her in their games. There was a large Bengali family that lived right behind Sivu's building. The father in law, mother in law and their three sons all lived together. The sons were all married and they all had children so that house was filled with kids of different age groups. They were a very artistic family. Sivu would sit on the window sill, near the hand pump and listen to the daughter, Sati, play her tanpura and practice her Robindro Sangeeth. The second daughter in law was a odissi dance teacher and performed with such grace and poise. Sivu started picking up the language by listening to her surroundings. Also, her best Bengali teacher was Geetha didi.

Although Geetha was her househelp, Sivu treated her just like a sister. After Geetha didi finished the housework, they would go by to the near by grocery store or vegetable vendor and get whatever they needed for the day and the next. There was no refrigerator those days so there was no possibility of storing anything. Geetha spoke only in Bengali. She could manage some broken Hindi but Sivu quickly picked up the language because of this. Sivu also found a friend in Saraswathi maami who lived in the flat right below theirs.

Saraswathi maami and Rangan maama were childless. Maama had just recently retired from the university. He was an English professor and would converse with Sivu only in English. He reminded her of her father. Maami was a very simple lady who had gone through a lot in her life. Being childless in those days was not easy. You were treated worse than a criminal and maami's mother-in- law and sister-in-law were brutal. She quietly had to bear with all the taunting. Even after all these years it continued. Her only solace was the Hanuman temple close by. Sivu started joining her as well so everyday the two women will walk down to the temple and spend some time there. Maami would ask Sivu to sing one of her keerthanais every day and Sivu would do that.

Rangan maama, on the other hand, wasn't much of a temple visitor. He buried himself in books and magazines. He subscribed for the Reader's digest and let Sivu borrow it. They also subscribed for Tamil magazines Ananda Vikatan and Kumudham. After lunch Sivu would take a Power Nap and then at 4pm Geetha didi will be back to clean the house once again.

One evening while Achchu was returning from work, he looked up at the big window, hoping to find her but she wasn't there. He panicked and quickened his pace only to be surprised at the entrance of the building. He found Sivu playing the blind man's buff with the building kids. Her eyes were tied with a cloth and the kids were squealing around her. He couldn't help but smile at this sight. Just then one kid screamed, "Sivu didi ekun chole jaabe" (Sivu will leave now). She responded, still with her eyes tied, "yen da....keno (why)" and the kid replied, "tumar hero eshey gachey" (your hero is here). She quickly removed the cloth from her eyes and handed it to the kids who were now giggling. She blushed and said, "Ayo enakku time ponadhe therila" and grabbed the lunch bag from him. Just then another kid yelled, "Didi, tumi kaalke aashbe tho?" (You will come tomorrow no?). Since she was already climbing up the stairs, she turned around to show a thumbs up. As soon as they reached home and shut the door, Achchu cleared his throat and said, "Bengali kathukka arambichchu pola irukku, parava illiye" and pat came the reply, "ektu ektu"(little, little) and she giggled running to the kitchen. He smiled.

Brinda Subramanian