The Tea Trail

Oru Tea Kedaikkuma

The entire household was in a turmoil

The Marriage that the entire family was so eagerly looking forward to was a complete and utter fiasco

Just Yesterday :

There was supposed to be one wedding - Jeevanandam weds Mullai the name board had specified..but that wedding came to a rude end with Jeeva's lover Meena making an entry in the last minute and effectively claiming her rights on Jeeva...

There had been a complete uproar...what ensued was a lot of name calling, insult hurling, curses and tears..lots and lots of tears

You do expect tears in a wedding..but those are the happy emotional ones...but these tears were heart-wrenching, pleading, guilt ridden, sad, angry and helpless ones

Mullai cried..The Maama she thought she was in love with had dropped the Thaali the moment he saw Meena...He had let go of her hand when she tried to stand by his side declaring her confidence in him thereby confirming her worst fears..She should have known....In the days leading up to the wedding..she had felt ignored...she saw the disinterest in him...he had never smiled at her...made eye contact...made any attempt to meet her..In fact he had also ignored all her attempts at establishing a contact in person or over phone...All her calls were missed and messages unread or unanswered..she should have known...The watch she gifted him the previous night...had asked him to wear today did not adorn his wrist...oh she should have known..Ignorance HAD been bliss but unfortunately not permanent...and the awakening was such a rude jolt....her poor innocent heart was unable to take it....Her tear glands worked overtime...

Meena cried...Relieved that she had reached just in the nick of the moment...one more minute and she would have lost Jeeva..Stupified that Jeeva would have actually gone ahead and tied the knot with another girl...scared that she was alone amidst so many people and that she might not succeed...Pleading with Moorthy to get her married to Jeeva before her father arrived...she stopped crying when Jeeva stood up for her...she had faith in the power of her love

Jeeva cried...Guilty that his inability to take a firm stance was causing so much of trouble for everyone...A girl, his cousin, stood crying  and jilted at the altar...Another girl stood crying pleading him not to forget the promises they had made each other...he felt gutted...His athai and maama were crying and that left him feeling like a heartless cannibal

Parvathy cried ....well she cried unable to see her daughter in distress...she cried coz she was afraid that her husband didnt have enough spine to stand up and launch war....but she was mostly angry..angry at Dhanam for messing up...angry at herself for ignoring the warning signs..she should have been more aggressive from the start..

Murugan cried..he was devastated..he loved his daughter to the moon and back..he would do anything for her...but she stood crying in front of him and he could do zilch to make her feel better...his one pining to start a fresh relationship with his akka had led to his daughter's doom..he was scared that he might not be able to get his daughter married if this falls through

Lakshmi cried..indignant that Dhanam had messed it up so bad...sad that her family's name would be dragged through the mud..but mainly guilty for putting Murugan and his family through this misery

Dhanam cried as well...she had meant well but everything had gone so horribly wrong...she was distressed..but her despair helped her find a way out of the mess...or so she thought...like all the other not so thought through acts she did one more...proposed that Jeeva and Meena get married and sought Mullai's hand for Kathir instead

What had ensued was another uproar..but the fact was everyone knew in their practical mind that this was the only solution..PS family were afraid that Mullai might harm herself and they were concerned for her...Murugan and Parvathy knew that getting Mullai married after this would be very difficult financially and they also had the society to think about..Lakshmi amma just wanted to keep the promise she had given her little brother and bring Mullai to her home...If not as Jeeva's wife then as Kathir's...

Kathir and Mullai?? Well, what about them..They were but puppets in the hands of their family...or so they thought..

The fact was they were all puppets...mere puppets with strings stretching above and beyond...they had tried to start a happily ever after story...but the string holder above had been chuckling bemused and let them have their way for a month but now he had gotten back into action...put them all in their place...rechartered their course...they would now set sail on their respective journeys in 3...2....1...

Getti Melam...Getti Melam...

With the auspicious music reverberating in the hall Jeeva and Kathir tied the knot with Meena and Mullai respectively...

They had come home 

JM and KM had been allotted a room each...(not going into the drama too much)

Present day Morning

Dhanam had offered tea to Mullai the next morning...Her favorite Inji tea..

Dhanam : Vaa Mullai..Tea kudukkiriya...ennoda inji tea unakku pidikkume..podattuma

Mullai : Akka neenga enakku pannathellam pothum..vidunga naane pottukkaren

She snatched the cup from her hand and roughly pushed past her to the stove...

Dhanam just stood there forlorn...she knew she had to be patient...she could only hope that with time Mullai would forgive her and resume her friendly ways...what she wouldn't do to bring that smiling, happy girl back again...but she knew it would take time..

A week later

Dhanam, Moorthy and Kanna were in the hall

Moorthy : Dhanam kadaikku kelambanum oru tea kuden..kuduchittu kelambaren

Mullai : Inthaanga Maama...Tea..

Moorthy : Paaruda...Innikku Mullai oda tea ya..sooper..kuduppa...

M showed the plate to Kanna

Kanna : Naan paal thaan anni..tea kudikkarthu ille...Mullai pointed the milk glass with her index finger

And then slowly extended the plate to Dhanam

Dhanam : Enakka Mullai...enakkuma potta..

Mullai just maintained mum...

Dhanam was willing to grasp at any straw...so she happily took a sip...

While they were all happily sipping their drink, Kathir got ready to leave to the shop and came to the hall..Seeing them sipping their tea, he looked at his anni

Kathir : Anni oru tea kedaikkuma

And the TEA TRAIL starts here...........or is this really the beginning?