The Card Story
She drove 100 kms from Lajpat Nagar to Janakpuri to Vikaspuri to Rajouri Garden, enjoying every bit of hanging out with Amma,
Amma had to hand out around 80 cards between the Andrews
Ganj friends, Sadiq Nagar KV branch friends and her friends from Malai Mandir and "Religious group".
they just bought sweets from South Ex to hand with the card as it was a Punjabi tradition.
Sam had delivered 200 cards with 200 silver hand crafted betel leaf like container filled with dry fruits and candy, atleast 2 pounds each
II loaded 50 of them in the car, Amma refused to allow her to buy sweets she did anyway.
Amma had sent over 200 Pink/yellow Iyer cards with silver sindoor containers, Appa had had a meltdown that the silver containers alone had costed him Rs. 25,000
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A week ago, one morning
"They have given us 200 silver containers that must cost atleast half of that EACH" Amma pointed out in horros
"So u want to compete with Chankya Puri residents now?" Appa threatened
"I DONT, I DONT, shhh Ishita is asleep please dont shout, we have to be decent"
"this decency is going to make us work until 80" Appa shouted
"If she hears she will write u a check for Rs, 10 lakhs" Amma warned
"Provided SHE HAS it, she has no control over her spending she has student loans, and
she spends on Shravu, she makes Rs. 2 lakhs a month and spends Rs. 3, if the boy is a typical husband,
avan modalla kanakku keppaan, (he will ask for the accounting/savings details)
"He makes 100 times more he wont she said" Amma hissed
"The rich are exponentially greedy" Appa pointed out sniggering "Just wait, he will ask her why her take home is only Rs. 1.62 lakhs or whatever"
"U WANT him to be nasty dont you?" Amma asked sadly
Appa was ashamed, he left the bedroom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All of Amma's friends were ONLY joyous if they had differing opinion they didnt share it on the face, some uncomfortable looks were
passed upon seeing Ranjan Bhalla's name, some recalled him most didnt, Amma had expressed her worries openly with her closest and they had all reassured her
"U are good people Madhuji why would anything bad even happen to aapki beti? (ur daughter)
there is a reason they say "We choose our friends" Amma had chosen well.
They all universally fell for the silver container with the dry fruits and the hand crafted invitation for the reception on Mar Thursday the 12th.
It was at Malcha Marg Bhalla residence...
Jaws dropped when they got the card out of the silk envelope and read it, the card was either a
classy gold or a rich burgundy with a Krishna's flute like tie on it
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Reception card story is as follows:
There was almost a war of the worlds on what needed to be said under their name, R&B had finally given up after Sam had pulled some serious emotional blackmail using Manny's help
He cringed when he saw the credentials listed but he couldnt do a thing about it
"Did u have to put the complete address?" he asked dumbfounded
Sam giggled hysterically "HAVE U SEEN MY CARD? Tan ka FAX NUMBER BHI HAI SO SHUT UP"
Manny was on speaker, she spit her gin and tonic out on that one...
Ranjan chuckled it was good to see his kids laugh and be happy, he was quiet though, as his son did not direct his frustration of the credentials toward him
It was all Sam's idea Ranjan smiled gleefully
Sam whispered " I WANTED CHACHI TO KNOW"
"U could have just called her" R&B said dryly
Tan handed him the baby so he would quit picking on his sister
"When YOU get married... "JUST RUN AWAY" R&B whispered in her ear, she coooed, dancing on his thighs... drooling all over her skinny frilly blouse, revealing her pudgy navel
She wore sparkly gold shorts, and a neon green halter blouse
"Did u steal Kim Kardashian's?" R&B asked
Sam smacked him hard
Tan:USKO CHHOD let her dress up that thing how ever shut up dude maaregi tujhe
R&B: I mean she is 3 months old? Two?
Sam: Tan bring some Scotch Tape, I will never say he doesnt talk. Shut up u jerk
Manny: Hey lets get on the job Vik is here I am going out soon, lets look at the next set of names...
It read like the following
The Bhallas, Batras & Iyers cordially invite you to the wedding reception of
Raman Bhalla
(S/o Ranjan & (Late) Savita Bhalla)
Managing Partner- Argent Graines SARL, Tour First, Courbevoie FR
Ops Director Excelsior Automobiles Spectrum 20th, Gurgaon
MS. Comp Sc; MBA, Carnegie Mellon University; USA
&
Ishita Iyer
Deployment Manager KMPG, Gurgaon
MBA IIM Blore; M.S. Georgia Tech
(D/O K. Vishvanathan & Madhu Iyer)
on Thursday March 12th 2015 @ 6 PM
Bhalla Residence
"Amrit" 148 Malcha Marg Chanakyapuri New Delhi 110001
R.S.V.P
Ranjan Bhalla:CEO, Corp HQ, Excelsior Automobiles, Spectrum 20th Gurgaon Haryana
(V. Iyer: Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance North Block
M. Iyer Economics HOD KV Andrews Ganj
Sam's numbers
Tan's
Ranjan's Admin
Mrs Sagar's work number
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mother daughter duo were able to hand out 23 by 6 PM
Amma attended all sorts of hymns classes in free time "Tiruppugazh, Soundarya Lahiri and Narayaneeyam" (Paryers/Hymns/Ode/Chants for Kartikeya, Durga and Krishna)
The religious group was a riot, ... MOSTLY...Amma hosted a bi-annual "chant" at D II, II usually took the day off to "hang with Mamis"😆
She would sing atleast 6 or 8 songs, they would all gush, some of course were competing with Amma for everything😭
They would brag about how their daughters were happily married and how their son despite being younger than II had already made his wife pregnant😡
All the teacher friends (Garhwalis, UPites, Punjabis Rajasthanis Telugu) were warm affectionate and friendly, II had attended the weddings of most of their kids, almost all were married by 28, boys and girls, II was an exception
It didnt bother her at all, though it did Amma... some... when they asked her "Ladke ki umar kya hai" (How old is the groom)
Amma said "30"
"Punjabis marry between 25-28 especially boys, we are surprised"
THEY ALL UNIFORMLY corrected themselves quickly so as to not hurt Amma👏👏
"He was single for a reason, he had to meet this charming susheel Iyer girl, beti to hamari hai, she is our daughter" they told Amma👏😳
They say "There is no dearth of good people if you go looking" it was indeed true, they fed Amma & II everything from food to snack to milkshake to chai to sweets to ice cream
By 6 PM II was ready to throw up
Amma giggled "Brides usually are full of nakhras, nee kudukardellam yen saapte?" (Why did u eat whatever was offered?)
"U wanted me to to rude and diva like Ma?" II asked baffled
Amma smiled at her, her genuineness was unmistakable, Malcha Marg or Paris she would be how she wanted to be
"No kanna I was only teasing"
She asked 5 people about the Punjabi Bagh address,
5 negative comments out of 100 positive ones the Religious Friday event would send Amma over the edge
"What happened with Subbu was unavoidable, but everything else was because I wnated a career, so STOP feeling guilty STOP crying" II would beg
They were headed from one such mean spirited Iyer friend's house after handing the card
The lady was present at the event Amma hosted at Oct 2014 Navaratri... Mrs Vasan...
Her daughters were married and in the "States" earning the ultimate stamp of Iyer Groom Credibility.
Amma handed both cards, the Reception and the yellow/pink Iyer Tamil Muhurtam Cards
Mrs Vasan tried to conceal her shock at the size of the betel/silver dry fruit container.
II texted with her friends about mehandi so she didnt watch
Amma watched every second of the reaction
Mrs Vasan untied the flute to reveal the gold lettering (Mrs Vasan got a burgundy silk card box) and wore her glasses pretentiously
"This frame Uma bought for me at New Jersey, Chanel" she smiled at II
"Nice Mami" II said nodding happily...
She regretted wearing those glasses because she clearly didnt care for what she read, she looked angry, confused and beaten
"Punjabi boy?" she asked having found the only thing she was still "superior and winning" in the game
Amma nodded a lil somberly
II looked up and smiled joyously...
"We got our car from them" Mrs Vasan tried her best to downplay the wealth. "Are they Sikhs?" she asked
"No they are not" II said softly
"I remember that name from somewhere" Mrs Vasan said cockily
II didnt care, Amma squirmed... Mrs Vasan let it go for now...
Amma used the opportunity to brag, :"Paiyyan 6'3" Hindi cinema hero madiri irukkan" (He is 6'3" looks like a Bollywood hero)
Amma was PROUD and wasnt ashamed of it (Author's note: YOU GO GIRL!)
Amma immediately looked at her phone, scrolling to find that "Ladki dekho ceremony" pictures and showed Mrs Vasan
The Dude looked good enough to be devoured, in the navy suit & burgundy tie... CLEAN SHAVEN...
Amma showed her first, saw her daughter blush and then showed Mrs Vasan
Mrs Vasan looked at II and said " Lucky girl" softly... it was over and Amma was finally freed from one opponent
Mrs Vasan read R&B's credentials and looked up "What company is this?" she tapped Argent on the card
"A venture Capital firm Mami" II said carelessly... smiling at her friends' group text
"Congrats Madhu onga ponnu is very lucky (ur daughter is very lucky) Mrs Vasan took of her glasses and leaned back on the couch unable to say anything
Amma began talking about how they were scrambling to get ready for Saturday... Mrs Vasan stared speechless
Many many times in the last year Amma would bless her, cursing Subbu indirectly
"I want you to marry a handsome, smart man who is wealthier than Subbu is blessed with a better character"
They say in Tamil Brahmins that you should always say GOOD THINGS, think good thoughts as angels
roam the earth, chanting "Tathaastu" "So be it!" Good and Bad wishes will come true if u are in their path.
Angels had heard this mother's plea and had granted it...👏😳⭐️
Edited by Nisha0604 - 10 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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