Arhi FF: Kalarikkal House (Thread 2 link posted) - Page 66

Originally posted by: latekate

And what if some of the difficult tasks were emergencies 😃

Usha i was actually asked this question in an interview (long back).

Originally posted by: tanya_vi

Arnav seems to have a problem with the typical Kerala dishes ,so I was wondering what would happen if Khushi makes 'puttu' for break fast. He'd probably think that she is planning a 'ballistic missile' attack on him!

I think that is exactly what she'll give him ... hahahaha ... he wont know how to eat it let alone handle it ... 😆 😆 😆 (but these seem like designer "puttus " ... do you think she'll have the patience to make them so palatable ? that even for HIM )

Chapter 13 – A True Disappointment

When she got home, she rushed in through the back door rather than the front entrance. Not that there was anyone there, but she didn't want to take any chances. She toweled her hair once again, cursing the damned man all the while through for ruining her good morning shower. Her father would be up any minute and she had no breakfast ready. As it was, he was not happy that she had had to take over kitchen duties from her sister who had done the majority of it before she had lost her job. Even though her sister was still keen to help, she felt badly for asking her sister to for any such assistance when she was home twiddling her thumbs and trying not to go mad as she thought of what lay ahead of her now.

She was too impulsive, she had decided many times upon reflection. When she got angry, she really did act rashly at times. Well, many times, if she was completely honest. She was surprised that her father put up with it. In fact, when she had told him she had quit her job, he had not asked the reason why; he had just nodded and asked her if she was alright and had then gone on about his day. A few days later, after much pondering about how disappointed he must be in her and after much deliberation on the matter with her sister, she had finally confronted him and asked him why he didn't want to know why she quit. He had looked at her as if he didn't understand her question at first. After a few moments, though, he had finally said, "Ee joli kittiyappam kuttikku entu santhosamayirunnu ennenikormayundu. Ee kudumbathil vere aarekalum paisayeyorthu vishamikkuntham kutti tanne. Appo pinne nalla karanamillathe kutti aa joli kalayumo?." (I remember how happy you were when you got that job. And you worry about our finances more than anyone else in this family. So, how would you decide to let go of that job if you didn't have a good reason?"). He had been so matter-of-fact about it that she had felt unfamiliar tears crowd the back of her eyes and she had turned away from him not knowing what to say to him. Her father was much more kindly and affectionate with her sister, as was everyone else; it was just a straight-forward matter of you reap what you sow and something she never held against her sister. Her sister was sweet and people were in turn kind back to her. She herself tended to be somewhat brash and impatient and people responded by giving her a wide berth when she was in her element. She liked that people liked her sister more than her; they would be stupid not to. She herself only cared that her sister liked her the best of all people. Her sister was also the only person in the world who truly understood her. And while she was usually quite comfortable with that, there had always been moments when she was younger when she had wished that her father understood her a bit better. And it was to her surprise that she was discovering as she got older that her father understood her better than she gave him credit for.

When she finally got to her room, she entered and shut the door behind her and locked it before she went to the bureau to take out a new half-sari. She cursed Mr. Raizada once more as she peeled off the half-sari that she had put on only a few hours ago, its wet length now sticking to her skin. Once she toweled her body and put on the new half-sari she had taken out, she rushed out of the room, putting her still wet hair up into a haphazard bun. There was no time for anything else really.

By the time she got downstairs once again, she heard noise from the verandah and walked out to find that the man had finally found his way back home. Aside from his bare feet, he did not appear to have been put out much by their little adventure in the morning. It made her irritation increase.

But then he moved aside and she found the boy behind him. The corners of her mouth relaxed as she felt a slight smile tug at her lips.

"Aha, ee sadhanathine njana kulathil kunde kalanjathanallo. Appo dee pokki kondu vannekkunnu! Veruthe entina ente Nalan-kutta ravile tanne chechy-kku pani tharunne? (Aha, I just got rid of this thing in the pond this morning. And here you bring it back! Why do you have to give me grief so early in the morning, my dear?)

She saw the boy smile as he looked up at the man and the man raised an eyebrow in question to which Nalan translated, "She says "thank you" for bring you home."

"Da!" she called him out on his lie and he looked back at her with a wink and a smile. The boy loved spinning tall tales. It was one of his favorite hobbies, in fact. And here he had hooked up with the perfect target. An illiterate from Delhi fresh for the plucking.

But Nalan had erred a bit. This lie was so very obvious that she saw the man roll his eyes at the boy and say, "Liar."

Nalan didn't seem all that bothered by this accusation and just shrugged before he looked back at her.

She shook her head and walked back into the kitchen as she said, "Inganathe aanavayile nuna paranjal ninte navu pazhuthu pokum chekka! Njan paranjillannu venda!" (If you say such gargantuan lies, your tongue is going to swell up and fester, boy! Don't say I didn't warn you!"). She knew the boy would follow her into the kitchen; Nalan was the only one in the world who didn't seem to mind her cooking.

She was glad that her father wasn't in the drawing room when she checked, which meant that he was not awake as yet. She still had time to drum up some breakfast; if it turned out to be edible, then all the better.

Nalan ignored what she said as he followed her and asked, "Inenthu bakshanamano Kashi chechy undakki pidippikkan nokkunanthu? Enneyupakichonnu pareekshichittu baakkiyulla manushajathikalkku koduthal mathi ketto. Allengil chechy undakki undakki aarengilum oru divasam kanju poyal enthu cheyyum?" (Whatever are you trying to cook up in the name of breakfast today? You should try it out on me before we can decide whether it's fit for human consumption. Otherwise, what will we do if one day someone keels over from your cooking?!!)

Just because he ate what she made didn't mean that he didn't rag on it… and rag on it he did, religiously.

She was about to offer a retort when she heard Nalan say, "Kashi chechy's cooking? Did you eat?"

She bit back a laugh; she was still surprised at how quickly the boy picked up things, for all that he constantly skipped out on the village government school that he went to. His mother was always complaining to her about what to do with him. She was of the opinion that the kid was too smart for the standard curriculum in the 4^th grade of the school that he went to, but his parents really couldn't afford any private schools and thus Nalan continued to be enrolled year after year in the same school. The thing was though, no matter how often he skipped classes, he still managed to ace the exams when they came around. But that alone couldn't save him. His lying was almost as bad as his truancy, and those just happened to be the two vices that no teacher had patience for. And thus, whenever he was actually in school, he was frequently the target of their bamboo stick beatings to his knuckles, which only made him skip another few days in rebellion before going back. She often taught him when she had time, which is how he had gotten the foundation in English. He had picked up the rest himself, his mind always active and absorbing everything like a sponge. And sometimes when he came here like this, she would find an old book that she could spare for him and she knew that he would read it cover to cover even if he couldn't make sense of all the words.

"It's the worst I have ever had." She heard the man say and rolled her eyes.

The worst! As if he had any other option right now! What was that story about the prince who discovered the value of the common man's bread after he started working for a living? Prince Raizada needed to get his corporate cunning behind moving with some menial labor to understand the value of …. Even stale bread suddenly seemed quite the desired reward as compared with her cooking?

"Worst? What does that mean?" she heard the boy ask and just as she turned and said, "Adi poli" ("The best!"), she heard the man answer, "Very very bad", simultaneously.

Nalan looked back and forth between the two of them before he burst out laughing. Then he turned to her and said, "Ippam aara aanavayil nunayadikkunne? Ee naavu pazhuthupokunna shiksha valiyavarkkum kuttikalkkumokke ore kanakkinu paranjittulatha ketto chechy." ("Now who is lying? You know Kashy chechy, this punishment for lying out of your teeth is applicable equally to adults and children.").

She rolled her eyes at him before looking up at Mr. Raizada. "You think last night was the worst I could do? Well, with the type of praise you are aiming my way, I shall strive harder, Mr. Raizada. This breakfast will be my best work yet!"

And with that threat, she turned around to walk into the kitchen.

Nalan came in after her, as she had expected, but when the man came in as well, she turned to him in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I am going to stand in here and watch you cook the food, you witch. I wouldn't put it past you to not poison it!"

Nalan was the one now confused as he looked back and forth between them. His grasp of Hindi was far less than his grasp of English.

"Aha, appam nallugran tallaanalle ningalu tammil. Ennittu nattile pattu ningalu thammil lappanennum kettan pokunnumokkeyanallo!" (Aha, you are both at each others' throats. Then what is this I hear about you both being in love and wanting to get married?")

She had just turned the stove on and placed the pan on it as Nalan made that asinine statement and pulled her hand back when burned herself.

"Pandaram! Ee manushan veetil keriyappam tudangitha duritham!" (Damn it! Ever since this man entered this house, it's been one misfortune after the other!) she muttered to herself as she got some of the water that she had saved to stick her burned finger in it.

"Ethalavalathiya ithokke paranju parathiye?" (Which jackass has been spreading such nonsense?) she asked, irritated. It wasn't the first time that her family has been subjected to rumor and gossip, but despite that, she could never develop a thick enough hide to completely let it slide off her back, unfortunately for her.

"Aaa… etho oru vivaramillatha kannali. Pakshe appayathu shariyalle? Ningalu kettanonnum ponille?" (Who knows? Some moron. But it's not true? You two are not getting married?")

"Veedu kudiyozhippikan vanna manushaneyanoda njan kettendathu?" (Should I marry the man who came to evict us?)

Nalan had been in the process of popping a peanut into his mouth, but he paused mid-pop suddenly, and the nut ricocheted off his jawline and fell to the floor.

She smelled the burning suddenly and noticed that the empty pan was starting to smoke from the heat.

"Oh shoot! Would you make yourself useful and turn that fire off?" she asked as she tried to lift her finger out of the water to see if it still burned. It did.

The man looked like he was about to argue, but then came forward and turned off the heat.

"You come to… take their house?" she heard Nalan ask, his voice now quiet, and she saw the man look at the boy in the same surprise that she did.

"Not take… I have come to buy their house. Buy." Mr. Raizada said after a moment and she watched as Nalan slid off the counter where he had been sitting.

He looked at the man for a moment, disappointment and something else clouding his eyes, before he turned to look at her.

"Njan kazhichata chechy. Pinne varatto." (I already ate, didi. I will come another time.").

She called out his name, unable to believe that he was turning down breakfast, but Nalan had already walked out of the kitchen.

----

Res


edited:

oh nothing feels better than finding a fantastic update from you after having stalked you for days ;)

coming to the update! the marriage rumour was Fab! oh and i love how nalan twisted or rather hid the fact of himself having spread the rumour - it was him, right?
kashi and her bad cooking is a breath of fresh air from the perfect cook khushi! its a stunning chapter, arnav following her into the kitchen! there was something about nalan's mind / brain being like a sponge, i really liked that

cheers
Sonia

Nice, really nice. Good to see. Nalan is a character, spreading gossip himself, lying thru his teeth but unable to handle Arnav's true reason for being there.

res.

Poor boy...fantastic update ...keep it up...

Haha, wow. Nalan is some character. Spreading the rumour himself but lying through his teeth about it. And he tolerates Kashi's cooking. Bonus point right there! Lovely update!

Nalan is quite attached to Kashi. Now will he come up with silly ideas of chasing out Arnav ...
Can't wait to read more..