Being good and being too good
Malcha Marg was turned into a spiritual, religious haven, a group of Iyer priests chanted and poured ghee in the holy fire
Appa frankly had a dazed look, he wanted the baby's naming ceremony to happen at D II
Amma arm twisted him and allowed II and the baby to return to MM the night before itself, but Sam had relented and said,
if they had a "later muhurat" then II could do a quick ceremony at D II on the morning of 26th April, and get to MM for the grand ceremony
All the arrangements were made for MM
Sam as usual took charge of the Punjabi side of things
"Religiously a girl is not supposed to leave her parents house before the end of three months,
not at all on 11th day" Appa expressed despair to Sam, on April, 24th Sunday
"Uncle traditions were made so we can gather and celebrate, I dont think any tradition intends to
curse people that celebrate differently" she mustered up all her courage to counter argue
Amma gently placed a hand on Appa's knee and pressed down, "Its OK... they want to host a event at that house, its her house too"
"Dad aur R&B to bahut desperate hain aunty," Sam begged
Amma nodded not completely in agreement with her, and neither upset with Sam
Selvi mopped furiously, she was angry too, the baby was leaving so soon
Amma didnt know how to approach her singing group and tell them it was all being turned around
"Cant be more shocking than Madhavi's daughter marrying a French Punjabi man" Amma chuckled as that thought crossed her mind
R&B was inside II's room, II was in the shower...
Akka was expected to arrive later for lunch
Sam was not staying
Whatever warm and fuzzy thoughts Appa had for R&B vanished at the idea his daughter was leaving on the 11th day
Ranjan finished up his call and returned from the balcony
The atmosphere was thick with tension
Appa sat, dejected
"Iyer sahab... why dont u and Mrs Iyer come stay with us?" he asked
Amma smiled and squirmed
"How is that possible? I have my brother" Appa said weary
"Arey kya baat kar rahe hain, behenji aur bhaisaab sab log chaliye, ghar par 20 kamre band hain" Ranjan gushed
Amma smiled politely and shook his head
"i have a routine every morning" Appa said
"Chaliye jee, aapko yeh vaada bhi kar dete hain, ghar par jab tak aap hain koi meat nahi banega" Ranjan said firmly
Amma looked at him with admiration
"U shudnt do all that..." she smiled warmly
"Aunty please" Sam begged
"We will all come in for the ceremony tomorrow and stay a night, maybe" Appa mumbled
Sam didnt stay for lunch
Ranjan wanted to leave also, but Amma insisted
Everyone about their way doing the day's activities, Appa went off to Mr Ghsosh's house to do his weekly exchange of business periodicals
Selvi finished up her morning chores
Athai completed cooking, as she made a list with Amma for what needs to be packed to taken to MM on Tuesday for the ceremony
Appa found Amma in their bedroom looking through the Godrej and nabbed her
"What will we tell Bala?" Appa asked shutting the door
"What is there to say? They have lost the lady of the house tragically, and now want the baby to bring some cheer and so they want the DIL back soon" Amma didnt sound convincing to herself even
I mean... sending off II on the 11th day? because Savita Bhalla passed away 5 years ago?
Pffftt!!!
LAME!!!!
"Yennadi nee" Appa was irritated
"Its OK... onnula ava namba vazhi varanum alla namba ava vazhi pohanum, nadu road la sinda pidichindu katha solrela?
(we either go THEIR way or they come our way, do u want us to have a hair pulling fight on the street?)
"Bala moonu maasathla anupinadukku enna kova pattan" (Bala was so upset we kept Vandu for three months) For him, even if Vandu had delivered and gone off to Munirka to serve his parents that night itself he wud have been happy"
in one of those rare moments of honesty Appa acknowledged how Bala can tend to be selfish👏👏
"Ellam namba kudutha edam, nalla manushala irukale nu" (we let Bala walk all over us because his parents are good people) Amma shook her head with frustration and sighed, slamming the Godrej door
Appa sighed and sat on the bed, leaning back
"Epdi di irupom kozhandaya vittutu,(how will we live without Nivi?)" Appa began to cry softly
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