Chapter 3

twerping

@twerping

"Ishita aunty says that blackcurrant is the bestest flavour", Ruhi told her bemused father.

Raman had taken his daughter out for some ice-cream and to spend some quality time with her and was increasingly amused at the number of times Ruhi was quoting this "Ishita aunty" of hers.

It had been nothing but "Ishita aunty this" and "Ishita aunty that" ever since they had left the house. If they saw a policeman, then he had to hear of how Ishita aunty had once scolded a policeman for not punishing a man on a bike who was clearly up to no good. While passing the park, he was informed of how Ishita aunty had once brought them there for ice cream on the way home and had stopped Deepak from being bitten by a dog by throwing the ice cream cone at it (at the dog obviously). As they stopped to buy a chocolate bar to give to a little child who was begging on the streets, he was told of how Ishita aunty always kept sweets in her bag that she gave to children who came to ask her for money. She would also give them money, Ruhi had added so as to cast no doubt on the character of this worthiest of all human beings.

"But I thought you loved strawberry, Ruhi", Raman asked his daughter.

After taking a few spoonfuls, Ruhi had to admit that perhaps she had to grow a little older to enjoy the blackcurrant flavor and Raman was happy to exchange his own bowl of strawberry flavoured ice-cream with hers.

Raman's new position in the company had made him a busier man but all the work in the world could not prevent him from hearing about this Ishita Iyer. If it wasn't Ruhi, praising her to the skies, it was his mother, shaking her head over the misfortune of her beloved Mrs. Iyer on being burdened with such a daughter-in-law.

"Will never give her the joy of a grandson", she would mutter darkly to Raman who wondered what the women's lib would make of these ladies of Mayur Vihar.

**************************************

The Bhallas were coming over for dinner. Mrs. Iyer had been planning this since the illustrious Raman Kumar Bhalla and his daughter had returned to Delhi and finally Mrs. Bhalla had called to say that if the Iyers were free they could come over for tea. Mrs. Iyer had changed it into an invitation for dinner and now Ishita was in the kitchen with her mother-in-law making idlis and vadas* enough to feed a small army.

Along with the rest of the family Ishita too was interested in finally meeting the man. He was well-liked by all the old residents who had seen him grow up and she had heard him praised to the skies. Moreover he was also Ruhi's father and she wanted to see the man whose name was always on the lips of the child. 

There was still a lot of talk about his divorce among the neighbours along with much head-shaking over the matter of his wife leaving him for another man. She wondered how anyone could abandon not only a husband but also her child. Just goes to show, Ishita thought, that even a kid could not save a marriage if things are not going well. 

This made her wonder if things between Subbu and her was indeed 'going well'. A few days ago, Subbu had returned late in the night very drunk and had tried to make love to her. Things had not been easy for the two of them for a while now and so Ishita welcomed it as a sign of his attempt at trying to make things better for them. However, such moments of intimacy never seemed to improve Subbu's mood in anyway or change the way he behaved with her.

Ishita wondered what her father would make of this blessed union of theirs, if he could see them now. An indifferent husband who cared little if she was a part of his life or not, a family of in-laws who were still smarting from the 'disappointment' she had dished out to them... after four years of marriage she was still alone in this city.

"Enough of this wallowing in self-pity, Ishu", she told herself and turned her attention to the dosa batter. Her mother-in-law hovered around her criticising and correcting her every step of the way. Once everything had been done, and Seemanthani could find no more flaws to be corrected, Ishita decided to go for a shower before the guests arrived. Working in the kitchen for so long had left her sweating profusely, and a cool bath would be enough to see her through another evening of smiling politely at snide comments passed at her from her mother-in-laws friends.

**********************

Raman glanced at Romi over his laptop. His brother was lounging on the couch, his eyes glued to his phone screen. He was playing some game. He looked at this boy who seemed to have grown up so much in these few years that he had been away. He had left behind a boy who had worshipped his brother to the point of dogging his every footstep. He had returned to find a young man on the verge of adulthood, no longer in need of the support of his elder brother. Romi seemed practically a stranger to his eyes, but at times like these, Raman could see vestiges of the boy he knew. 

"So, Romi, anything I should know about these Iyers we are visiting tonight?" he found himself asking. The question came not out of any curiosity about his neighbours but because he wanted to speak to his brother. 

Romi glanced up at the question and looked dazed for a second. Then his eyes cleared up and he smirked. 

"Bhai, the Iyers have a daughter. Kya maal hai!"

Romi stopped himself on catching the look on his brother's face and clamped down on his enthusiasm about the Iyer's daughter. 

"I mean," he went on, "she is very pretty...or so everyone says."

Raman snorted at this before replying, "Romi, thanks for being such a fountain of information as always."

Later that evening, as he helped Ruhi into her frock, Raman hoped his mother wasn't trying to fix him up with this daughter that Romi had spoken of. But then again, he reasoned, his mother wouldn't want him to marry a non-Punjabi, even if his brother did think of the girl as a "maal". He reminded himself for the thousandth time since his return, that it was time he took Romi in hand. That boy needed some discipline in his life. 

*I know that is not the only food Tamil Brahmins eat but this is a straight on reference to the range of Tamil food mentioned in the show.