chapter 7

       Mr Subramanian could only nod enthusiastically in assertion of the idea as a huge piece of kesari was stuffed in his mouth. Chetana raised her eyes to look at the 5 men sitting on the sofa who looked so similar to each other as if they were robots arranged in an assembly. She still couldn’t figure out who among them was Anant.“Please come,” she said with downcast eyes expecting the ‘Anant’ among them to get up and join her.“No, my child,” one of the elderly ladies protested while pointing a finger towards the east end of the room, “Anant is sitting over there.”Chetana raised her eyes with a start to look at a handsome man sitting on her left side, battling hard to withhold laughter. Chetana instantly brought her flushed face and embarrassed eyes back to the floor.“Please come.” She managed to turn slightly towards him after a while but her abashed eyes weren’t willing to budge from the floor.As she saw him get up, Chetana hurriedly walked out, well aware of the stunning hunk and his muted giggles following her.“Appa has planned everything so well!” Chetana muttered under her breath as she saw two chairs already waiting for them in the garden.“Please,” Anant said as he helped her in the chair and then sat down beside her. ‘The guy is indeed good-looking and is well-placed too.’ Chetana did some mental calculations after observing him secretly. ‘If it were a couple of years later, I would have accepted the proposal, but… not now.’ They exchanged furtive glances and then smiled awkwardly when they caught each other red-handed while checking the other out.  “This is a beautiful place, isn’t it?” Anant finally broke the silence.“Yes,” Chetana took particular care to keep the promise that she had made to her mother and restricted her replies to monosyllables and smiles.“Do you come here often?”“No, it’s for the firs ….” Chetana was about to give an elaborate reply but then she remembered the promise and swallowed her words. “No”“Are you studying?” Anant’s next query quickly followed the previous one.“Yes”“What is your major?”As this question was beyond the scope of ‘yes’ or ‘no’, Chetana took the help of a wide, morose grin.“Now, what is that supposed to mean?” Anant was taken aback.‘I don’t care whether you think I am rude, silly or a moron, Mr. CA,’ Chetana’s mind implored, ‘just step out of the marriage, for heaven’s sake!’ “Anyway,” Anant shrugged, “I am Anant Subramanian. I work in Singapore. I am a Chartered Accountant”“That’s why you are being liked so much!” Chetana muttered only for her ears.“What?” Anant looked expectantly at her, “Do you like me?”“Yes and no,” Chetana imitated veteran actress Subhalakshmi’s smile and fluttered her eyelids exactly the way the yesteryear diva used to do in her classic movies.“What does that mean?” Anant had a confused look on his face.“No’ for me and ‘yes’ for Appa.” A wicked smile appeared on Chetana’s face as she saw her plan heading in the right direction.“Could you please explain?” Anant shook his head, “I can’t make anything out.”As the promise made to her mother didn’t allow her to offer any explanations, she reverted with a silly grin again. Anant, who was as perplexed by her intriguing replies as he was fascinated by her beautiful face and enticing smile, kept his eyes locked with hers.“May I leave?” she asked without allowing Anant much time to recover from the hazy web of her mysterious replies.“Okay.” Anant’s eyes refused to budge from her.Chetana rose triumphantly to her feet and rushed back to the house. She was sure that Mr. CA was going to board the first flight back to Singapore, right away!    She ran straight into the kitchen from the back door that opened into the garden, bubbling with the exuberance of her victory. All the ladies of the household were waiting for her with a bated breath. They all pounced upon her as soon as they saw her, to know the details of her clandestine meeting with her future groom.“Do you think the boy likes you?” Sarojini wasn’t able to rein in her curiosity.“No chance, Aunty!” Chetana said sipping her tea.“What?” Padmini, who was on the verge of a collapse asked.“I mean,” Chetana winked mischievously at her mother. “There is ‘no chance’ that he would say ‘no’ to this alliance.”  *     *    Chetana, clad in ornate bridal attire, sat grimly on a bed covered with jasmine flowers. She rested her head on a pillar of the bed with a miserable frown on her face, posing as a perfect picture of dejection. She couldn’t believe her ears when her father got a call from Sivaraman uncle saying that ‘the boy’, whom she had so well impressed by her outstanding performance, had nodded his approval to marry her!      The shock would have made her crash on the ground when her ecstatic father was issuing her transfer orders to her in-law's place if her mother and brother hadn’t held her upright from either side. The first thing that came to her mind was to run away but then her mother’s melodrama bound her stride and she was compelled to begin a joint account with the Chartered Accountant for a lifetime.       A day prior to Chetana’s marriage, her mother had conducted a training class to teach her the mannerisms of an ideal wife and daughter-in-law. Now as she waited for Anant on the night of their pompous wedding, her mother’s words from last night echoed in her ears.“According to our tradition, husband is our God and should be treated as one.” Padmini had advised her daughter.A small group of Chetana’s friends, who were also attending the training program, listened intently to Padmini’s preaching. Some of them were already married and some were waiting for their turn to arrive.“That’s why we address him as ‘Patideva’ where ‘Pati’ means husband and ‘Deva’ means God.” Padmini brought her palms together and closed her eyes as if in worship.Chetana chuckled as she remembered her mother calling her father by all sorts of ‘nicknames’ according to the variations of her mood but the word ‘Patideva’ never made it into the list.     She was jolted out of her reverie when the door made a creaky noise and Anant walked in. He looked stunning in the traditional attire of a groom and his charming face held Chetana’s gaze for a considerable time. She dragged her eyes back to the ground at once and jumped to her feet, as per her mother’s instructions. But then the thought of her mother’s teachings made her giggle, forgetting about the presence of her new ‘patideva’ in the room.  “Hey, what makes you laugh?” Anant smiled as he walked in, “why don’t you share it with me?”