Posted:
8 years ago
Dilli Darshan
Lunch was OK-ish according to II, Lasya cried twice,
R&B attempted to go hold her, she did instead, the Bhallas mostly talked about the AGM, Chachu arrived unannounced,
II always cooked for twice as many, there was lots
Chachu refused the chicken, II wondered why so would all the Bhalla kids.
II wondered why Chachi never visited... nor invited them, Chachu invited them in passing once, never followed up or sent a formal email
appa asked frequently how close the "Bhallas were", she usually lied saying, they "see each other frequently, cleverly shrouding details of who visited who
She had invited Akka for lunch she refused, she invited Bally as an afterthought, he said he wouldnt come by for "rookha sookha" and would only come over if the chef cooked
II didnt know when the chef was expected to come by next time
Manny didnt make much conversation with her at lunch, which was good in every way... II would have floundered
Ranjan tried to pull her into the AGM conversations though
"Whenever u are free you must sit in on our meetings"
"I will try" she said uncomfortably
He gave all sorts of ridiculous analogies to support his request
"Agar Madurai se rishtedaar aaye to aap ek din to chhutti karogey, ya nahi?" he asked cheerfully
She smiled... "they are usually doing Dilli Darshan Dad"
"U dont accompany them?" he probed
"Pehle karti thi... but sab garmi mein aate hain, its too hot Dad" she giggled
She had gone up quitely before lunch was served and wore a cotton sweater in green up to her elbow.. she felt better sitting across from Vik now
Middle class values... she cursed herself... she still wore all her choora like she was a new bride, Sam teased her...
"20th anniversay par utaarogi?" she asked
"Kyon?" II had asked innocently
Sending Sam into peals of laughter "iska matlab TAB BHI NAHI UTAAROGI?"
Ii was frankly too embarrassed to say anything
"He said it was OK" she said defensively
"Roz subah tumhe pehnanna padta hai... why wont he say that... ofcourse he doesnt care" Sam sniggered
Umm... OK... ummm...
DANGEROUS TERRITORY
I BETTER SHUT UP
TOO MUCH INFO
STAY AWAY FROM SAM
SHE KNOWS HER BRO TOO WELL
AND MAKES U CRINGE IN SHAME
RAKSHASAN!!
MAYBE HE TOLD HER HE PICKS UP BANGLES EVERY MORNING FROM UNDER THE BED AND STACKS THEM ON THE BED SIDE TABLE?
HOW DOES SAM KNOW?
BRO AND SIS ARE BOTH EVIL
SO JUST BE QUIET SERIYA? OK?
GOOD GIRL!!
"Umm... usually I take them off before I go to bed.. otherwise he spills them all over" she said
AYYYOOO
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT U SHUD HAVE TOLD HER GENIUS
WHEN WILL U LEARN?
UMM... NO WILL U EVER LEARN?
OTTA VAI
(transalated literally hole in the mouth)
Sam had rolled on the sun room couch, last Sunday... ermm after II missed lunch
"Aapke paas speech hai to describe Dilli or har baar naya tayar karte ho" Ranjan teased her
"Umm... I dont have one... I mean... I know enough about every monument... no market place actually...
I know where u can find the best food, best clothes, art jewelry, fake jewelry, jootis, incense... lotions...
Ghar ke liye bhi I can offer advice... history se zyaada shopping history... yep... thats what I tell them" she rattled smugly.
Her husband broke into a half smile
He was used to listening to one paragraph lines
Ranjan's jaw dropped, just when he was going to dust it off and wear it back, our Iyer aathu ponnu (our Iyer girl)
CONTINUED...
"Mostly Dad sab Sarojini Nagar, Karol Bagh ka sochkar hi aate hain... Quutub Minar to sabne internet mein dekh liya, and India Gate, and Jantar Mantar, Kejriwal anshan u know"
"Janpath mein kisi cheez ka full price de diya to its a sin... I once haggled over a skirt for one hour and seven minutes.
I left the store and returned thrice
Finally, he gave it to me, and locked up for the day" she declared smugly
Ranjan spit his food out and cleared his throat
BUT SHE CONTINUED...
"The young neices wants Western clothes, their Moms want suit material and Dads want cheap gadgets from Karol Bagh, mere paas har ek ke liye kuch na kuch hai... bada chhota, lady banda"
Ranjan couldnt control hismelf, he broke into serious laughter
Manny stared as if II had grown horns
II STOPPED at that look...
"SORRY" she said at the end of her speech
Turning completely red
"Roti aur le lo puttarji" he coaxed
Her husband offered the plate
"Vendaam da" she whispered
"I am sorry Dad.. I will try to to attend ur meetings" she said sheepishly
"Instead of apology can I ask u something?'
"Hmm" she nodded eagerly
"U keep talking like that?" Ranjan said warmly
"U are UNBELIEVABLE" Manny said finally
"Umm... I" II stopped
AMMMA TAAYE
PORUM NERUTHU
(stop it girl)
Manny turned to Vik
"SEE u scold me for talking on the phone" "Isko dekha?"
Vik nodded dazed "I agree"
"I am sorry" II said
"Arey why betaji... he hasnt said a word in 30 minutes... if I wanted a bahu like him I wouldnt have picked YOU" he said proudly
"Now I know who I hear in the background when I call u Dad" Manny laughed
"Zippp" said II
"My bahus dont talk much, Ranjan got a talkative one" Chachu interjected
"Ur sons wont stop talking" Ranjan defended II "Mine wont talk"
"does he talk to her or not?" Chachu looked at R&B
R&B looked back impassively...
"He must listen" Manny said smiling
"He does, when he is not reading" II chuckled
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
II went to her paatu class, dude sent her a reminder text at 5 PM as she took her nap
He did his "job" and took an hour long nap and went off to work in the office
When he didnt hear her in the closet minutes after that... he walked over, she slept face down... her back exposed in full view, her sheet covering her waist
"Hey, skipping class?" he lay down by her
"U were supposed to wake me at 4..." she accused muffled..
"Umm.. I was in the middle of stuff" he chuckled, placing his cheek on her cold, bare back
She kicked him through tangled sheets
"I moved my class... from 4 to... 6... so u... ummm" she mumbled
He began rubbing his cheek on her back, as she arched
"Vendaam da" she begged
He turned her over sliding on top, as she dragged the sheets over her bare front
"Thank you?" (is that good enough for u for postponing class?) his hand sliding under her sheet
"Go make me chai... and I usually have 2 kinds of Frontier cookies... and south indian mixture" she ordered
"Chai mein elaichi honi chahiye, aur adrak" she gasped as he nibbled
"And it shud be super hot" she buckled as she felt his fingers below her belly button
"Play date's over" she whispered moaning... shut eyes... head thrashing side to side
He kissed her fully..."Just found a new toy" he argued in her ear
He went down 5:30 ish... and came up with what he could
Every possible cookie, chai and some random namkeen, she was showered changed into a cotton saree in pink... with navy border, a Madurai sungudi (the circular pattern)
Hair braided like an Iyer girl, kohl lined eyes, and a arrow like navy bindi
He paused to ogle...
"Do u like it?" she asked
He nodded staring... as she approached the hand held tray to inspect the things
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Chachu left that afternoon, Ranjan went to Sam's
The baby went home with him...
Sam was happy to see him
Manny was busy doing what II was... or she was taking a nap, author does not know...
"Mujhe keh dete I wud have come over Dad" Tan said warmly
"I came so she can make me crab cakes" Ranjan smiled
Tanmay paged a help and sent him off to Modern Bazaar
Sam went to nurse Lasya
He always spoke directly...
"Ma ke shares tumhe chahiye?" Ranjan asked leaning on the sun room couch
