Location: Sindhudurg, Maharashtra
Megha's POV :
Next morning, just like every day, I woke up after listening to the sweet, sweet words of my mother in her very sweet voice. And now, after breakfast, I am getting ready to go with my mom to my friend's place because, as she told me yesterday, we have to join her for pooja , because her marriage functions are starting from tomorrow so for that we have to take Bappa,s ( Lord Ganesha ) first .
After getting ready in a beautiful kurta — because we are going to the temple . Just like normal girls — yes, I am not an Indian TV serial's ideal daughter who is middle class but gets ready like a model. I think I should hurry up because my pure Indian mother will never think twice before showering me with her extra sweet words like gulaab jamun.( Note the sarcasm ).
Here I am, moving towards the temple, which is 15 minutes away from my home. Just like every time, all the women and some men are already gathered, and once again, I am late. Congratulations to me.
I quietly take a seat beside Varsha who is performing pooja. As she notices me, she quickly opens her mouth to taunt me : "Why come so early? Directly come after marriage, na !" "I came here to eat prashad, " I shot back. As she glared at me, I spoke once again, "Haan, haan, focus on pooja. What if you later know, only because of this distraction of yours, God gave you an unromantic husband ? You should be carefull. " And I giggle. She shot me one more glare as the pooja ends and all the rituals are over . Most importantly, prasaad distribution comes and I sit on the stairs of the temple with my gang — they are children from ages 5 to 15. All are in school.
As we are again eating prashad's halwa, one more time I notice a lady from the same village — a neighbor of mine — Lata Maushi (aunt), coming with an old man, in his 70s almost, wearing a white old-type short kurta-pajama and Gandhi topi (cap) on his head . They both are coming towards us — I mean towards the mandir — and approach my Aai (mom) first. As usual, I thought to ignore it, but this time she got my attention . "Do you remember , Madhavi , I told you about a baba who told me that in the upcoming year , your son and daughter both will get married one after the other — and the same happened " . She is telling with so much enthusiasm " He is the same one," she completed, and took everyone's attention . This is interesting I thought and rub my palm together to remove tiny parts of halwa which is stich to my palms. And decide to give it my full attention .
And one more woman from the crowd commented on that saying, "It's just a coincidence. Everyone always says something. And you were already looking for a girl and boy for marriage, so it's basic that they both get married." On that, Lata Maushi replied, "I also thought the same, but you know, that time he said everything about your girl's marriage will be good , and about your boy — I can't say anything . He said you will get a very good and loving daughter-in-law, but your son — the one who will cause problems in your home and his marriage. And see, the same happened. It's been almost 3 years — my daughter-in-law is a gem, but my son is totally getting wasted in that alcohol ." She complete with a sad face . She is the only women in our hole mala ( A particular area of village you can consider like a colony ) who talk sweet about her daughter-in-law and other women from village ..., okay leave them . Lets focus on matter .
On this, everyone kept quiet. Now this is going to be interesting . After silence, she continued saying, "When I saw him near the school road, I called him here to ask about my son. And as you say you're worried about your children, so I take him to you too," she said, looking toward my mother and continued, "If anyone wants to ask anything, then they can ask too." And everyone started to ask. Some of them were genuine and some of them were just trying to check whether he was telling the truth or not. And just as one by one, women started to leave the temple and the crowd thinned out, my beloved mother decided to ask — and I already know what's coming next.
"Baba, my daughter — she is married for the last seven years but nothing goes good. So tell me na , when will happiness knock on my daughter's door ? " And I took a deep breath — yes, my elder sister Meera Tai — her in-laws and her so-called husband are not always on good terms with her , and it worries us all the time. But the way they brainwash my sister, we just can't do anything . After asking some questions, Baba finally spoke, "There are many things waiting in her plate. But don't worry — once this time passes, everything will get well and it will stay good for a long time. But for that, she has to go through all this . "And my Aai got worried once again.
To distract this, I said, "Ask about your lovely son too, na !" And she quickly asked, "My son — will he get happiness, good job, money, good wife and good wealth, right?"
"And some brain too," I completed . On this, just like every time, my Aai royally ignored me . Then Baba said, "Don't worry — everything will be okay in his path. Just make sure he learns to control his anger and takes good decisions before it's too late . "And again, my Aai went into her worried zone. Hobby of Indian mothers . I just shook my head and decide to moved towards Baba but before that i looked at my palm which are shinning under the oil of halwa which i had finished recently so i just my palm on T-shirt of dadu ( a boy ) who is sitting near me and said, "Done asking about your beloved son and daughter? Look Maushi, she only cares about her two children — only asked about them, not me."
I made a sad face looking toward Lata Maushi, on which she took my side and told Aai, "Yes! Why Madhavi? You always only care about those two, ha?" Then looking towards me, she continued, "Leave her, I am here na for my daughter — let's ask. What do you want to ask him ? " And she made me sit in front of him. And within a second, I showed my palm in front of him and asked him, " Will I get a seat in a good college ? " Because already this is the last week and now the admission process will get started from next week and I am worried — will I get a good college or not ? On which he said, "Yes ." Which made me happy .
Then I asked again, "And what about a job ? "On this, he answered differently: "You will get it, but will not be able to continue for long ." I just made a weird face on this and was about to ask the next question, then suddenly my Aai decided to jump in and ask, "And about her marriage, Baba — will he be a good man or not and keep my daughter happy, na ? And her in-laws ?" Uff ! This Mother India of mine. Before I could say something, Baba replied — which made me laugh:
"Don't worry — he will come and take her with him. No matter how much you refuse, hide her in a room or lock her — he will come and take her with him ." Now I couldn't control and the result — I laughed loudly. And Baba frowned towards me looked deep in my eyes and said, "Don't laugh, daughter. When he will come — even if you run far from him, hide from him, or leave him — he will follow you and take you with him." which makes me little scared only little oaky . But I am also megha . "So tell him to come soon. I am waiting — for me!" I replied sass and stood up, ready to leave.This whole thing just made me laugh and nothing else.While coming home from the temple, I told this story to half of the village and almost made fun of it — of course, this thing is funny and funny things are meant to be shared.And behind me, my Aai just shook her head at my antics.As I saw my neighbor coming and asking me what happened, I narrated them the whole story and mimicked Baba saying, "He will come and take me with him!"On which they also laughed.And finally, my Aai said, "Whoever he is — Baba, come soon! Because now I can't handle her anymore."On which I replied, "Don't worry, Aai — He will come!" and laughed loudly and ran toward home to tell this to Baba (father).
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