Arhi FF: Kalarikkal House (Thread 2 link posted) - Page 8

Originally posted by: AbithaKarthik

hey! Very nice and interesting to see Khushi as a Malayalee... I heard that u wrote a story in Tamil too but I couldn't find it... So can u plz give me the link or the name of ur Tamil story... Plz...

Chapter 3 - The Condition

He scratched himself on the back yet again and looked down in irritation at the coarse Khadi or whatever they had given him as a replacement for his ruined suit. He wasn't ungrateful, merely annoyed. His shoes were beyond repair even though Pallavi, the older sister, had told him that she would try and get them cleaned. It was highly doubtful. Either way, at the moment, he was without any manner of footwear. He tried walking on the edges of his foot for a bit and then gave up in agitation and starting walking on foot. He paced back and forth in the room that they had given to him, which was rather large with several large pieces of furniture that seemed to be real teak and made several hundred years ago. There were no other adornments in the room. The mattress and sheets, although clean, appeared to have seen better days and the curtains were starting to show wear. The floors were cool to the touch and it offered some relief from the heat as he paced back and forth.

When the knock finally came on his door a half hour later, he opened it in impatience to find Pallavi standing there with a kerosene lamp. The smell of the kerosene hit him like a wave, although he managed to keep from wrinkling his nose.

"Father is awake." She said before turning around, expecting him to follow.

He followed her and felt like they walked forever through this corner and that corridor and this room and that hallway until they finally reached the drawing room that opened out into the verandah outside the house. The power was still out and there was another kerosene lamp and several candles lit in the room.

An old man was sitting back on an old rocking chair of sorts, peering through his circular eyeglasses at the page of an old book.

Arnav was starting to think that there was nothing in this house that was from this century; everything appeared ancient.

The man looked up when he entered.

Just as he was about to offer a greeting, he heard a sudden noise from outside.

"Deepam-Deepam-Deepam-Deepam" someone said in rapid-fire speed and he saw the girl with the attitude walk out onto the verandah with enough haste to make one think that the very devil was at her heels.

"Ingane Bagavane vilichu pedipikkaruthennu parayu aa kuttiyodu!" ("Tell that girl to not scare God like this.") the man said to Pallavi. Arnav saw Pallavi walk to the door to the girl's side. "Entha ithra thidukkam?" ("What's the rush?")"

"Aa koottan adupathirunnathu ippa karinju pokum!" ("The dish on the stove is going to burn any minute.")

"Sho! Njan chellam." ("I'll go!") Pallavi rushed off and he shook his head at whatever chaos had caused such drama before looking back at the man on the rocking chair.

"Ichechi!" ("Didi!") the girl appeared to call after Pallavi, but then looked back with resignation when she saw that the woman was already gone.

She came into the room now and avoided him as she looked at her father.

"Achan karandu varumbam tanne iyale paranju vittekku ketto? Njan aalariyathe vazhi kanichu kondu vannatha." ("Send him on his way as soon as the power comes back, Father. I brought him here without knowing who he is.")

"Ninte upadesham ippam chodichilla. Aavashyamundengil chodikkam." ("I didn't ask you for your advice. If I need it, I'll ask it.")

"Allacha, njan..." ("No, father. I..."). The girl started again but the man cut her off.

"Kutti onnum parayandannu paranjille!" ("I asked you to keep quiet, didn't I?")

He looked back and forth between father and daughter. Another family drama scene that he had no wish to be no part of. He saw the girl look at him in annoyance as if he was somehow to be blamed for her father's irritation with her.

He shot the same look back at her before looking at her father. The man was quite pointedly ignoring him, he could see now. He was not used to being ignored and frankly, the entire family was starting to annoy the hell out of him. He had never met a ruder bunch of people in his life, the older sister notwithstanding.

He cleared his throat and saw the man look up after a beat.

"Please have a seat, Mr. Raizada." The man said in a steady firm voice and he felt for a moment like he was standing in front of his late father.

It must have been why he felt the need to obey without question as he looked around for somewhere to sit. He found a heavy wooden chair to the side. The seat was hard and had no cushion of sorts, and when he sat down he fidgeted for a moment trying to find a comfortable seat, he saw the girl shoot him another look.

"Ayale nokki pedipichathu mathi. Kutti appurathekku pokkolu." ("That's enough of trying to scare him with those looks. Now go inside.") He heard the man say to the girl; she looked ready to refute whatever her father had just said, but stopped herself when her father put up a hand. "Mathi. Veronnum parayanda." (Enough. Not another word.")

He raised an eyebrow at her, mimicking her father's tone, and she raised an eyebrow right back at him before stalking off inside and closing the door behind her muttering something under her breath that sounded like, "Oro nashoolangalu veettil keri vannal pinnengana deeparathana nannavuka!" ("When such torments visit the house, then how will the night-prayer go well!)

"Mr. Namboothiri." He turned back and started, but stopped when the man took off his glasses and looked at him.

Just as he thought of how to start the introduction of his argument – an offer that the man wouldn't be able to refuse, so to speak – Govindan Namboothiri spoke up.

"I have given a lot of thought to your offer, Mr. Raizada. A few years' worth of thought, in fact. And I have come to this decision. I want you to stay here in this house with us for one week. One whole week. You may go into town with the girls or the driver, but otherwise, your entire time for one whole week, starting now, should be spent here in this house and on the grounds of this village. You may ask your assistant to bring your things for you from the hotel tomorrow. If after one week you still want to buy this house, I will sell it to you. Otherwise, you should never bother us again."

"What??" he asked in bewilderment just as the girl burst through the door, sputtering something in her language, although the disbelief in his tone at her father's condition was clearly mirrored in hers as well.

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Ah! one week and by the end of this one week ASR would (hopefully) have a paradigm shift in his opinion of the place and the the life style so close to the nature