The Arranged Marriage

Part 17

After over 48 hours in the train, @ 5am, the train was starting to shriek, indicating that Olavakode station was approaching. Sivu had been up since 4am. The dawn colors were just appearing. It felt a little chill. Sivu peeked out of the window to get a glimpse of her dad waiting to receive her. She sat up with a smile when she saw him trying to peek inside the train. The train slowed down. She yelled out for him waving when he finally saw her and started walking towards her window. The train came to a complete halt. Lakshmi mami's brother helped Sivu out with her luggage. After exchanging pleasantries they headed their separate ways.

Sivu smiled and asked, "Appa eppidi irukkel? Amma eppidi irukka? Apparam ennoda chellakutti Chellamma eppidi irukka. Ayo enakku indha train la ukkandhu romba bore aduchudhu appa. Eppo da vandhu seruvom nu ayiduthu. Habbbbaaa." Her dad smiled hearing his daughter's non stop chatter. He called the auto rickshaw man to help with the luggage and gave him the location. Once they sat in, Appa looked at his daughter and said, "Kondhe ethara naan aachu Unna paathu. Mappillai Unna nanna paathukaraara? Ennakkum Ammakum Unna pathi romba kavalaiya irukkum. Degree mudicha kaiyoda kalyanam pani kuduthom. Calcutta la mapillai oda anna manni aparam maamanar maamiyar ellarum joint family ya irupel nu nenachom aana Neengal thaniya irukara maadiri ayiduthu. Idhellam letter la kettu ezhudha mudiyadhu illiya ma. Mapillai paduchu thappa nenachupaaro nu bayam vera." She smiled and replied, "Appa neenga valai veerichu thedinaalum avara maadiri oru thangam kedakkadhu pa. Enna thanga thattu la vachu paathukaraar pa. Naan aasai padardhu ellam panni tharaar. Onnu theriyuma avar enna M.Sc padikka vekaraar." Her father was surprised,"avar Unna nanna paathukaraar nu kekardhukku sandoshama thaan irukku aana indha mel padippu Edhukku kondhe? Nammathu pongal ellarum pre-degree mudichu, kalyanam kudumbam nu irukka. Nee otha kaal la ninnu B.Sc mudiche. Adhuve periappa ku pidikalai. Ippo idhu vera therinja romba kova paduva." He looked worried. She hugged his hand and said, "Ayyo appa neenga kavala padadhengo. Periappa ku therinja thaane. Ungalukke theriyume Appa enakku padikkardhukku romba aasai nu." He father sighed and said, "unakku ippo kalyanam aayachu kondhai. Mapillaiku atshepanai illai na seri."

She realized he looked worried she quickly changed the topic and said, "Seri adha vidungo. Ippo yaarellam vandhirukka aathukku?" He smiled and said, "Raja kudumbatboda London lerndhu nethakki thaan vandaan. Avan thaan function nadatharaan. Pinne chinna Periappa pon gal Meena, Sundareswaran kuttigal. Pinne Geetha, Srinivasan, kozhandai. Haan.... Aparam kondhey romba varshathukku aparam Chachu vandirukkatiya. Ava ponnayum kootindu vandirukka. Avaala paarkave paavama irukku. Idhukkum vara maatalo nenachom pakshe vandhadhu nannachu."

Sivu's heart melted. Saraswathi (Chachu) akka was her oldest cousin sister. Her father used to have a sister who passed away at childbirth so Chellal had brought the baby up. She literally raised Sivu when she was a baby and had very fond memories of her but this was very early in life. When Sivu was about 5-6 Chachu got married. Her husband was a sick man which she knew only after marriage. He abused her. She had a daughter immediately after marriage. The man insisted that he wanted a son and tortured her even more because she gave birth to a girl child. Ultimately, just two years after marriage, he jumped into a lake in a drunk state and died. Chachu's in-laws did not let her visit home. She struggled to take care of them and raise her daughter. Now, after all these years, her in-laws had passed away so she was able to come home.

Just then the auto reached home and everyone came running out to meet her. Meena and Geetha's children ran outside yelling, "Chithi vandaachu chithi vandaachu." She was thrilled to see the kids as well. She hugged everyone quickly and rushed in. Both the Periappa were sitting in the main hall drinking coffee. She slowed down her pace seeing them. Periappa asked, "Sivu, vandaacha? Train ellam sowgaryama irundhudha? Mapillaiyum vandirukalaam. Ippidi Unna thaniya ethi vittadhu naannave illai." She rolled her eyes. Who dares speak about her husband? She promptly replied, "Thaniya onnum ethi vidalai Periappa. Romba therinja oru family kooda thaan vandhen. Avar nanna paathu, kettu thaan ethi vitaar." Before he could say anything else, she proceeded into the kitchen where the women were doing different chores. Sivu entered jumping and yelling, "chellammaaaa". Chellal immediately smiled and said, "Nee vandaacha kondhey? Ippo vandhu enna thodadhe. Vizhuppu (madi) aakum. Poi kulichuttu vandhu adukolai (kitchen) ku vaa. Po po." So Sivu quickly grabbed her clothes and went and had a bath. She felt disgusted anyway sitting on the train for so long.

After the nice cold bath and the fresh cup of coffee, she came out and whispered to her Dad, "Appa correct a 9am ku post office ku poi avarukku oru telegram anupidalaam pa." Then she went back into the kitchen asking, "Chachu akka vandirukka sonnare appa, enge aale kaanum?" Chellal said, "Aval kaarthaaleye nertha ezhundhirundhu Shivan kovil ku poirukka. Ippo vandhuduva." Just thevRaja anna walked in. She had not seen him in ages either. He had settled in London when she was quiet young. He and his wife Revathi met at Cambridge University. Their horoscope fortunately matched and they got married. Although Periappa was not happy that they "knew" each other before marriage, he could not break his son's heart. Geetha Akka although was a different story. Geetha was only a couple of years older to Sivu and in her pre-degree program there was a boy she liked. He was actually her friend's older brother and was a very nice family. As soon as Periappa got the slightest hint, he stopped her education and got her married to Srinivasan, a bank manager. Although Srinivasan happened to be a nice man, it broke Geetha's heart and Sivu could clearly see that she was not herself since then. They now had a 3 year old daughter, Ramya and lived in Madras.

Meena akka lived with her husband Sundaresan in Bombay. He was a henpecked husband. He followed Meena everywhere and listened to everything she said. Meena was bossy, to say the least. They had two boys, 8 year old Bharath and 6 year old Kumar. Both the boys were mischievous as hell and were irritating Periappa to the max. Raja Anna and Revathi manni had a 12 year old daughter, Deepa and a 7 year old son Dhruvan. These two kids were introverts. They preferred to sit in a quiet corner and read but Meena's boys tortured Dhruvan to such an extend that he would end up crying.

Sivu was happy to be surrounded by so many people. Chachu akka finally arrived with her 15 year old daughter, Radhika. Radhika was a gorgeous young girl. She was very sweet and polite. Sivu instantly fell in love with this girl. Chachu had tears of joy seeing Sivu. "Kondhey Sivu. Unnoda kalyanathukku vara mudilai maa. Unakku thaan theriyuma endha nalla kaariyathukkum naan pordhu illai. Romba sandoshama irukku Unna pakardhukku. Mapillai varaliyo? " Sivu fondly hugged her and said, "Varuvar Chachu akka. Nee ippo aavudhu vandhiye. Unna kozhandaila paathadhu." All the women gathered around in the kitchen chitchatting and gossiping. That's when Sivu realized that the gossip was mainly about the athai who was not in town yet. They were to arrive late afternoon and no one, including Chellal were happy about that.

After breakfast, everyone decided to take do other chores but Sivu went upstairs to the room, which used to be hers, and pulled out a notepad to write to him. She thought about how to start and then smiled and started. "anbulla athaanukku aasaiay ezhudhuvadhu" after writing about 3 pages and satisfied with the information, she signed "ungal Anbu Maa". Just then she heard her dad call out for her. She yelled, "Idho vandhutten appa." Then she put the letter inside the envelope and licked to seal it. She went along with him, mailed the letter and sent a telegram.

Achchu was anxious hoping she had reached safely. Just then there was a knock on the door and a voice outside yelled "Telegram". He smiled and grabbed it. It said, "Reached safely" yours Maa.

Brinda Subramanian