Chapter 2 Ishwar
“Yes, mom, I know.” Ish sighed. What can he do to make her understand that he really got what she was saying?
“Please listen to me, Kanna (kiddo),” Parvathi droned again, “I do not want you to think I am forcing you.”
Ishwar sighed. He could picture his mom right now in their ancestral home even though he was on his bike, parked under a tree while traffic whizzed past him. He glanced at his watch again and rolled his eyes. Plugging in his ear phones, he kicked his bike to life and joined the rush, ignoring his mother’s voice.
*
Parvathi amma was a bulky woman. Her hair was almost always tied in a bun base of the back of her head. Her eyes were big, round and red from her almost constant temper. Her arms resembled foam extinguishers in their width. She was not tall enough to get stuck even in a kid’s only maze but she was fat enough to get stuck in an average doorway. Her forehead bore a big crimson kumkum and her ears drooped a bit with the heavy gold earrings. The air around her reflected authority. Her wide pan reddened lips gave one an impression of a bully. Right now she was in a bone cracking rage.
"What are you saying? That is totally not acceptable. I said red and it shall be red. I do not want any other colour. Who do you think you are, to get something against my orders?"
The cloth seller before her nearly closed his ears at her loud volume. Surely, people in the third street could hear her? But he refrained his hands. He cared for them too much for them to be cut off.
"Amma, what can I do? The shop keeper did not tell me that you wanted red. In fact, he specifically said yellow. I brought such varied shades of yellow. Please see if you would like these. I would go in to terrible debt if you do not buy today amma. Please have mercy. I have five mouths to feed back home".
She carelessly spat the pan from her lips and wiped her lips in the edge of her saree.
“If you had remembered that before coming here, you would not be in debt. I cannot pay for your stupidity. Now stop your grovelling and leave my home."
The man blubbered pitifully, merely begging wordlessly as tears flooded his eyes. “Amma, do you really need to do that?”
Parvathi’s eyes brightened as she took in her surrogate son’s visage. Tall and handsome with rare grey eyes, he was a sight for sore eyes. His casual manner to his looks made him a favorite among the villagers.
“Ganesha,” she smiled, her voice dramatically soft that the merchant perked up, "Look at this complete buffoon. He is asking me to get a yellow saree for the goddess!”
The merchant started his begging again when she glared at him.
Ganesh stepped in the koodam, “Amma, let him be. It is not his fault. The goddess would look splendid in yellow also".
Parvathi amma frowned, "Ganesha, do you not know, that I prayed goddess Shakthi that I would drape her red saree so that my son would agree for the marriage? What can I do if the goddess got angry, that I did not do as I promised?"
Ganesh looked thoughtful. “You are right."
The merchant’s shoulder drooped in a defeated sigh.
“However, you did not promise you would give red saree as charity for the participants of the puja also. Therefore, why don't you give them yellow saree?"
