Falling in love forever

Chapter 9

Isai's POV

I was startled by the voice which interrupted us by asking, "What is this?". When I looked up it was my distant Chitappa, my Appa's cousin brother. I knew he was pissed off after learning about my relationship with Cheran. But, I didn't care.

"This is Chettinad Chicken Masala, Rice, Rasam, Fish Fry."

He stopped me, "Enna nakkala (Are you showing your sarcasm to me)???"

"What do you want Chitappa?"

"Did you even think for a second about the honor of our family?"

"I don't subscribe to the idea that the honor of our family lies in my shoulders. Even otherwise, I don't find anything wrong in marrying a honest and honorable man."

"Honorable man???? To which caste does he belong to????"

"That's none of your business. Because I don't care about it. And honor has nothing to do with caste. Honor is about honesty and integrity. I think you lost all the rights to speak about honor when your own son was thrown in jail for economic crimes. I read in Newspaper that your second son was also arrested for Drunk and Drive. You worry about your family's honor first Chitappa."

He gritted his teeth and walked off to his table in the other end of the hotel. I turned towards Cheran and he was literally staring at me, "What happened ma??"

"Umm......First I am shocked that people can be so rude right on our faces. Second, is this how you deal with people who are cross with you?"

"Yes.... I have very little mercy for people who think it's their birthright to interfere in other people's lives. As with people being rude, don't worry. Everybody aren't like that. These people try to establish their authority in the families, society etc by being rude. Once you show them that you are not going to listen to them they turn away from you. They may speak behind your back but they may say nothing on your face again."

"You have to be a little more patient Kannu. You should have tried to talk to him, convince him."

"I was not born to please anybody. It's our lives, our choice. How can we let somebody stomp on us in the name of caste?"

"Don't we need to initiate a dialogue among people? What's the point in pushing everybody out of our lives? Are we going to live in a secluded island? We have to live in a society with everybody. Agreed, not many people would accept but that shouldn't stop us from speaking."

"You were the one who told me that you wouldn't care, if nobody from my Appa's side attended our wedding ma."

"I still say that. But, I also want you to try to talk to them."

I sighed, "What do you suggest? How do I speak to such mean people?"

By now we had finished eating, he said, "Come with me."

After washing our hands, we went to that Chitappa's table. He was eating alone. Cheran said, "Vannakkam (A respectable way of greeting). I am Cheran. I am a Fashion Photographer. I work in Mumbai now but I will be settling in Chennai soon. My Appa is a retired Tamil Professor and my Amma is a retired Tamil School Teacher. You asked Ennisai about my caste. My parents had an intercaste marriage. My Father is an atheist and he doesn't follow any religion or caste. My Amma prays to Lord Murugan. Both me and Ennisai decided that our castes should play no role in our lives. That is why we didn't ask each other about our castes. We love each other. I earn enough to make a decent home. We want to marry. That's it. THAT'S IT. How do you think that I am not fit to marry her?"