Chapter 6: chapter 6

Arnab,liked the traditional setting of the house. He was surprised to see another family here to view another daughter of the household. But he hadn't let that detrimenthim. He was told Sameer, it was the guy's name, was here to see Kulraj while he was here to meet Mowri,. He had liked the name.He didn't know why but it sounded beautiful to him. He was introduced to the family members then to Sameer and his family.The seating was prearranged. They were all to sit in a semi-circle almost facing each other while girl's family was to sit in anothersemi-circle opposite to them. The whole house was beautifully decorated."It looks like someone is getting married," Jayhad commented in his ear and he had just given a quick pat on his shoulder to warn him to keep quiet.Soon the elders were laughing andchitchatting. He was amazed at the amount of food in terms of snacks and sweets were kept in front of them. They were hospitable but he couldn't disagree with Jay it lookedas if someone was indeed getting married. The food was enough to serve an entire community."Roop, get the tea," Biji said.She was something else. Arnab,had instantly liked the woman. She was a commanding personality though she was probably as tall as his mother but the way she spoke, the wayshe presented herself was indicative of her years of experience. Her eyes shone with wisdom. And he noticed the respect with which everyone else in her family addressed her. She knew what she was talking about and nothing missed her notice. He did feel alittle awkward as first when he had come in but he had relaxed soon enough. Roop was Mowri,'s mother.She was nothing like her mother in law. She was overly nervous. It seemed as if she was worried. Why? He was trained that way. It was ingrained in him to be observant of his surroundings. He watched her go towards the side of the house where other items werecoming firom. The kitchen must be there he concluded.Soon she appeared with two girls following her with trays in their hands. They were both such a contrast to each other both in height and build. While one was short and petite with a delicate build the other was talland broad. She wasn't plump but her bone structure was such it made her look bigger.He noticed the difference between their ages instantly. While the shorter girl was easily younger with a silly grin on her face he knew her to be Kulraj as he looked at her mother, what was her name again, Nimmi yes, theywere identical so similar they could pass off for sisters. The taller girl was definitely the one he was here to see. She was mature as far as her expression went and he judgedher to be in her late twenties. Mowri,. He looked at her mother who walked in the front but couldn't find any resemblance. He did squirm at the color combination she wore.Orange and magenta it looked as if...nevermind it was better than what Kulraj was wearing. Her lemon green and neon yellowcombination was hurting his eyes. Who wore  such colors?"I hope you are not here to see the onewho looks like she is a neon signboard," Jay whispered in his ear, "what was ma thinking?" he said."Never judge a book by its cover," Arnab,whispered back."But..." Jay tried to argue."Shhh," Arnab,said.They both held tea cups in the trays they carried. He couldn't hear what Roop said to the girls but where Kulraj nodded Mowri, didn't even acknowledge instead she looked irritated. Strange.As she walked up to them he saw her face more clearly. She had an oval face with well-defined eyes, a sharp nose and beautiful full lips. Her skin was a beautiful dusky color. And she was graceful for her height.He guessed her to be easily five nine. As she offered him a cup of tea he was amused she didn't even look at him keeping her eyesglued to the tray. Was this how she was or had she been asked to do that? Maybe that was what had irritated her. This close the colors did look more awful but it was a blessing compared to what her sister was wearing. He was surprised to see her jewelrythough, so where Kulraj was decked as a bride she had chosen to wear little gold ear rings, a delicate chain and twO gold barngles in each wrist. She raised her eyes for a fraction of a second and he found himselfstaring at the most intelligent eyes he had ever seen. And then she had moved away to offer tea to his brother and parents. After that she had gone ahead to sit on a chair placed next to biji,. Kulraj went on to siton the other side with a permanent smile plastered to her face."Well if the youngsters want to talk to each other they can do so," Biji said witha smile."We have no problems," Sameer's father said."Yes sure," Sarla said, "after all they need to spend the rest of their lives together it wouldbe good if they could talk a bit," she said."Good," biji, said with a smile, "Kulraj why don't you take Sameer and show him our gardens," she said, "and Mowri, you could take Arnab,and show him our terrace garden. I am sure he would like that," she said lookingat Mowri,.Mowri, gave her such a look had it beenanybody else she would have melted then and there but this was her grandmother, she had survived the world wars. She got up andwaited. Arnab,rose slowly uncoiling his long frame.He had seen the look she had given hergrandmother and that had made him think. Did she not want to get married? He hoped she wasn't being blackmailed into this but that was what was happening to him too. So far he had seen nothing that he hadn't seenbefore. He followed her as she walked. From the corner of his eyes he saw the worried look her mother wore on her face. They were a strange lot. As he followed her through arow of rooms then up a flight of stairs to the terrace he appreciated the architecture of the house. A lot of the new houses were betterbuilt with better floor plans but lacked soul or as one would say character. They reached the terrace and he breathed a sigh of relief.This was so awkward it wasn't even funny."Our terrace garden," she said and pointed her hand towards the pots with lots of flowers.Arnab,looked at them and couldn't resist the smile. She had a beautiful voice and the sarcasm wasn't lost on him but it washilarious to refer lots of pots with flowers as a terrace garden. It was strange how muchone could deduce from one little sentence.She was well spoken, her diction was perfect,and she was sharp."Not bad," he said and saw a surprised look on her face.What was she surprised about? Probably she had been expecting him to say something else. Her expression piqued his curiosity."You were expecting something else," he asked.He watched her eyes widen at his comment as she looked at him. He was beyond curious now. This was going to be interesting. But would it be interesting enough for him toagree to this proposal? He will just have to wait and watch.************