Rest & Retire
She marked the boxes by the rooms in the new apartment
Appa looked weary and sad
He frequently went off to go sit in Periappa's now almost empty room
Shubhang slept on II's bed
Amma took a mid afternoon nap
The house was quiet, Shravu went in and out, she finally had to tell him to quieten down
"Neengalum poi konjam padungo pa" (go rest) she urged sitting down on Periappa's bed, beside Appa
"I wanted to continue living here and keep working for the government" Appa laughed between tears
II held his hands and began to cry
"Ashadu" (silly girl) he hugged her warmly
"I cant imagine my day without going to work, Sharmajee is saying Iyer saab why dont you go to South" Appa explained
"Nooo there is nothing there, even Janaki Athai is in Janakpuri" II said
Appa nodded
His brothers were uncaring and self absorbed
"If Periappa was still here we would go" "Now there is no reason" Appa said
"He would have loved the new house ille?" II asked smiling
"He was very sharp I say, he knew when I didnt get the promotions I had a bad day, when I went to Singapore that one time he knew" Appa listed gushing
"Athai cant come so frequently to Rohini also, edo adwana kaatla irukku veedu" (the house is in some no man's land)
Appa hated the new abode she could tell
It pained her to see him go through this transition
"U had so many people call you for consulting" she offered
"Epdi mudiyum ma?" (how can I do it? ) "knee is almost shot... Amma wont let me drive to CP everyday" "most of them are in Gurgaon or Nehru Place" Appa said
"We can work something out" II promised
"Givernment shud take away age limit and let people work how ever long they want" Appa said wavinga finger
II hugged and squeezed him
"Amma will go off in the morning, what will I do?" Appa said upset with the whole thing
"Nee engeyo, aval engeyo... Shravu will start driving in a few years, but he cant come so far" (u and Vandu are so far away from Rohini) Appa said
"We will come see you every day for the first five years" II chuckled
"Delhi is prohibitively expensive for the honest man" Appa ranted
II nodded
Retirement, relocation, separation anxiety from DII were all hitting Appa below the belt
"Innum rendu varusham kudpaan nenaichen" (I thought I will get two more years) he mumbled
"Its OK Appaaa" II cooed
"See the way I work is very different from these young IAS boys" Appa said smugly
"U are the best" II smiled with tears glistening
"Odambu themba irunda NCAER la oru kai pakalam" (If I were able bodied I cud tried at Natl Council of applied Eco Res)
"its near ITO or somewhere... its so faraawy" he mumbled
"Do u want to take a trip with Amma some where, to celebrate retirement? Europe or Tropical Island?" Ii offered
Appa looked stunned
"Where will we go, Amma has school until May, her book continues to be gridlocked she cant seem to publish... she has sacrificed so much for this family di" Appa said passionately
II cried again
"Which woman will care for her ailing BROTHER IN LAW?" Appa joined II
II nodded choked up
They leaned back on teh wall and stared out teh window
Amma woke at 5 ish made chai and keasri and pakoras for II she ate packed some for Ranjan went to her paattu class at 7 and returned home at 8 with fresh flowers in her hair
He sat on the ground floor swing as his daughter wandered trying to "garden"
All soiled and dirty
His face lit up on seeing her
She looked sad and drained
"Will you hold me?" she asked honestly
"I can try" he said getting up and hugged her tight, as she sobbed long and hard on his chest
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