chapter 16

“Hi..Good morning…I am Mita’s father…” papa with a big big smile on his face. “Ohh hello….Good morning…I am Jay’s father,” Appa was pleasantly surprised to see him.“Good morning?? Hello Appa ???” Jay was confused.“Not to you Kanna…Mita’s father is here..finally” Appa replied to Jay and welcomed Mita’s father.“Ohh that’s great. Can you give the phone to him?” Jay noticed that Mita was impatient to talk to Papa.Appa gave the phone to Papa , “Jay wants to talk to you..”“Ohh ok.. Hello Jay…Good morning..you woke up so early?” Papa said in his cheerful voice..“What good morning Papa..where were you? I was so worried. Why did you reach so late? You could inform us naa. And why was your phone switched off? I told you to charge your phone many times right??” Mita took the phone from Jay’s hand and bombarded all questions on papa.“wait wait wait..calm down beta..take a deep breath…let me answer your questions one by one ….” Papa.“hmmm..okkk ” Mita.“See, I boarded Rani Chenamma Express at Kolhapur at sharp 2 pm. Trust me, this time I boarded the train on time. You can call your mother and get it confirmed ..”“Ok Ok Papa. I trust you. But why was your phone switched off and you reached so late?” Mita interrupted him.“Let me continue beta, I am answering your questions one by one. Papa.“Hmm.. ok..continue..” Mita.“Initially the train was on time only but the signal at Ghataprabha station took so long..it took almost one and half hour, can you believe??? And then it started raining heavily..so the train was delayed even more. I got so bored…” Papa.“Ok the train was late so you reached late but then why was your phone switched off? ” Mita.“Yes beta, I am coming to that.. because the train got delayed and I was getting bored, I started watching videos on my phone…” Papa.“So you forgot to charge your phone??” Mita.“No no. I didn’t. In fact I had kept the phone for charging and then was watching videos..” Papa.“Then?? What happened?”“then what.. I was enjoying videos and suddenly my phone was switched off. I checked the charging cable and switch. Everything was fine. Then I realised that the socket was faulty. It was not working. And then the train reached Bangalore. I thought to charge it at railway station because the guest house address was in phone as Jay had messaged me, but for charging also there was a queue. Then I remembered, I had written address in my pocket diary. That’s why I could reach here now otherwise it would have taken even more time.” Papa explained entire phone story. “Ohh Papa.. Thank God finally you reached. we were worrying for you, I was about to call Mom,” Mita.“Now you can inform her because my phone has to be charged first,” Papa.“Ok Papa, I will inform her right away, you please take rest now, Appa must be waiting for you, Bbye,” Mita.“Ohh, right, Bye,..” Papa turned to Appa and gave him a cheerful smile again ,“I am so sorry, you had to wait for me for so long” Papa.“That’s fine. Train delayed right???” Appa did not understand the entire conversation as it was in Marathi but he could guess the context.“Yes yes, you are right. Heavy rains, Signal problem, no charge in phone,  so the train got delayed” Papa.“It was a long and hectic journey. You must be tired. Should I order a tea for you? ”“No no, I will freshen up first. Without taking bath I don’t even drink water,” Papa.“Oh ok,” Appa.Papa took bath and got ready. They went out for brunch.“So Mr…………I am so sorry Appa, I don’t know your name. Because of Mita and Jay we have been addressing you as Appa.. I did not even ask them your name.” Papa.“You are right. Same is the case with us. We have been calling you Papa only…” Appa.“Hahahahaha..” both started laughing.“Ok..let me introduce myself then.. I am Mr. Suryakant”, Papa gave a hand for handshake.“Hello Mr. Suryakanth, myself Mr. MuthuKumar Palaniappan Lakshmipathy ” Appa gave him a handshake.“What?? Muthukumaran..Lakshmi….sorry..can you please repeat?” Papa with confused face.“It’s ok. You can call me Sashi…” Appa smiled.“Sashi??” Papa.“Yeah.. like a nick name..” Appa.“Ohh. Thank God..Mr. Sashi…easy to pronounce.. But if you don't mind I am happy to call you Appa..got used to it since last few days you know  ..” Papa sighed."Hahahahaha..yeah I know.. I agree with you Papa," Appa. "Hahahahha.. Thank you Appa" both started laughing again.They talked about their jobs, family members, extended family. native places, culture, language, interests etc.“So our kids have chosen each other as their life partners..who are we to stop them ..they are wise enough to take such decisions, isn’t it?” Papa.“You are right, so what’s next? horoscope matching??” Appa.“mmmmm..actually.I had asked Jay for his horoscope last time, Mita did not like it. She said in arranged marriage it is fine why now?? But still he gave me his birth details and I did basic match making..such a humble boy I must tell you…If you want I will give you Mita’s horoscope details for cross check…Sorry, Jay wanted to take some time to tell you about Mita so I thought till then I can ” Papa.“No problem at all.  Infact I am happy this task is already done. If you have already checked it then no need to check it again. Let’s fix the engagement date..or let me say directly a marriage date? What do you think?” Appa.“Exactly. I was about to say the same. They will have to travel back to India, let’s fix the marriage date only..”“Let me ask Jay once,” Appa dialled Jay’s number.“Tring tring..”“Hello Appa..” Jay immediately picked up the phone.“Kanna. So I discussed everything with Papa.” Appa.“Yeah Appa, tell me” Jay.“We were thinking to fix marriage date directly, no engagement and all.. direct marriage..what do you think?” Appa.“Whatt?? Marriage Date?” Jay exclaimed.“Marriage Date??” Mita was with Jay only, waiting for the updates.Jay told her about Appa and Papa’s discussion.“Makes sense. We don’t need to take separate leaves and no need to travel again and again”Jay and Mita agreed with Appa and Papa's suggestion."OK. Good, kids are fine with that. Let me take a final approval from Sashikala," Appa. "Sashikala? Who is she? " Papa. " My wife, Jay's mother," Appa."Oh OK OK.. Ohhh Okkk.. now I got it... that's why your nickname is Sashi....mmmmm.. Interesting and romantic too, " Papa in mischievous tone. "No no nothing like that..just a coincidence," Appa was blushing."But I liked it. In our culture, mostly they change girl's name after marriage you know? So I really liked it," Papa." Don't you want to check with Mita's mother if she is fine with deciding marriage date?" Appa. "I want to live safely for some more years.. Hahaha.. Of course I have to check with her.  You saved me by reminding that. Let me call Aru," Papa. "Who Aru?" Appa. "Arundhati..I call her Aru..our names aren't so fancy and romantic like yours.. Hahahha, " Papa. Appa blushed again. Both called their wives and got approval. “So…then. Let's check with some good Pandit and fix the marriage date soon,  so that our kids can plan to travel back to India..” Papa. “Done…” Appa.To be continued...