The Pakoda Chronicle

Saroja could not believe that her husband had agreed to get Balu married to a girl brought up in the North. So what if she belonged to the same caste as them? She was still used to the ways of the North. To be fair, she was not all bad. She did have one redeeming factor at least - that huge pottu on her forehead. But then what would a Northie know anything about the customs and traditions that Saroja had so faithfully and strictly followed all these years ? Besides, she looked sickeningly thin and starved. Couldn't her parents even afford to feed her properly ? No, this girl will definitely not do for my son, Saroja decided. She would have to talk to Balu. He was just 23. What was the hurry ? She was sure they would easily get better girls for her darling son.

Pulling her 9 yards around her, Saroja purposefully walked out into her kitchen. She had not been able to sleep all afternoon, thinking of the girl they had just seen in the morning. No, she would have to put an end to this before it went any further.

Just as she walked in, she heard Balu’s voice. She hesitated. She knew she could not possibly say anything to him in front of his father. She had to deal with this smartly. Like she'd done all these years.

She had been 14 when she had got married. She had been learning about the lakes in Michigan when her Athimbair had pulled her out of the class with the news that her father had passed away. She did not really remember how it had affected her. From what she could remember, she had always lived with her oldest sister (Akka) and her Athimbair (sister’s husband). Akka needed help managing her 7 kids. And Saroja, being the same age as the oldest girl was more a playmate to the kids than their nanny. Her Athimbair was a nice man. He used to send her to school with his daughter Lakshmi. Now, as she sat behind him on the scooter, she had a feeling that she was not just leaving school early, but probably leaving it forever. After all, her father had passed away and her mother was alone.

Saroja loved her mother. She had a lot of rules but to Saroja they all made sense. It was important that a girl be isolated during those three days. Saroja herself felt she needed the rest. And anyway, onions and garlic smelled vile. That Christian girl had brought something in her lunch box the other day. Saroja could swear it was onions. It smelled and all the girls seemed to relish it even more. It felt even sinful to look at their expressions as Maria shared her food. Sometimes Saroja regretted studying in a Convent school like this. But, thank God her mother had taught her well, otherwise she may have fallen into the vicious trap herself.

"Dei Balu, inga vaa," Saroja pulled him into her small kitchen. "Unakku andha Anu ponnu pudichirka?" Before he could reply, she knew she had to let her opinion known. He would never let her down. The apple of her eye, born after four daughters, Balu was everything in this world for her. She may have even resented her husband at times but she had never been able to bring herself to scold her boy, however mischievous he had been.

"Enakku avlova pudikale. Unakku innum chinna vayasudaan. Unakku kadekaadha ponna?" She continued, knowing that she had to make inroads quickly.

Balu listened intently. He always listened to his mother. He knew she had a special spot for him. For all the bitterness she sometimes harboured towards her daughters and her disciplinarian husband, she had always been kind and loving.

Now, watching her make the evening coffee for everyone, he wondered why she, and not his sister, was doing this. He sensed she was up to something. His mother was always up to something. He reckoned it was just her way of life. "Po, Appa kitte sollu. Indha ponnu vendaamnu. Nethi maatram irundha poraadhu, vodambilyum konjam irukkanum."

As she had surmised, they had told her she could not go to school anymore. Athimbair would just not be able to afford it. After all, he had seven daughters of his own. And Lakshmi was of marriageable age already. Suddenly Saroja realized that she was the same age as Lakshmi.

She had decided early on that she did not like her mother-in-law very much. She seemed proud of her brood of ten children, most of them sons. Initially Saroja thought her mother-in-law would have the same rules as her mother, but then her mother-in-law seemed liberal. She seemed to eat those biscuits from the potti kadai down the street. Her mother had never done that ! Saroja was not comfortable with all this. She wanted to be like her mother. She was sure that she and her sisters got married into good families only because of her mother's pious ways and all the traditions she followed unflinchingly.

So at 14, Saroja had taken a momentous decision to follow her mother's ways in her new home. And not her mother-in-law's ways though she was the matriarch at home. Saroja had learnt early in life that doing things her way quietly garnered no attention and people soon got used to it. She decided this was the way to go in her new home too. So what if she had to cook for a family of 30 including her wastrel brothers-in-law and their wives from rich families ? Saroja was sure her unflinching loyalty to her mother would reward her.

"Balu! Inge vaa." Saroja heard her husband’s voice calling Balu. "Poda, koopadrar paaru," she pushed her son towards the hall confident that she had done her bit well and that her stubborn son would say no to the girl.

She strained her neck to try to listen to the conversation but could not catch a word. Her daughter, who had just been in the drawing room, walked into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Saroja pounced on her.

"Ennadi solra? Unga Appa phone pannitala?”

“Seri naa sonnar?"

Saroja could not believe her ears. She had been so sure she had managed to get her boy to see her way. How could this have happened ? And so fast. Saroja decided that she now had to take it up herself with her husband. She was not going to watch her young son's life be ruined like this. After all these years of fighting for him, this was the most important fight of her life.

"Enna na...indhaango coffee." She paused. She knew better than to talk to him when he was sipping his coffee. She never spoke to him directly. But this time it was too important an issue to let go. She looked at her son sitting on the sofa. She wondered what was wrong with him. Why could he not stand up to his father ? Man to man ? Why did it always have to be his mother who had to sort things out for him ?

She sighed, watching her husband make another phone call to the family priest. She was determined that it was time that the unwritten rule of not talking to him directly was changed.

(to be continued...)

Translations:
1. "Dei Balu, inga vaa," - Balu, come here.
2. "Unakku andha ponnu pudichirka?"- Do you like that girl?
3. "Enakku avlova pudikale. Unakku unnum chinna vayasudaan. Unakku kadekaadha ponna?"-
I didn't like her at all. You are still a young boy. You think you won't find a girl?
4. "Po, Appa kitte sollu. Indha ponnu vendaamnu. Nethi maatram irundha poraadhu, vodambilyum konjam irukkanum." - Go, tell your father that you don't want this girl. Its not enough to have a big bindi on the forehead, there should be something in the body as well.
5. "Poda, koopadra paaru,"- Go, he is calling you.
6. "Ennadi solra? Unga Appa phone pannitala? seri na sonnar?"- What are you saying, girl? Did your father call them? Did he say yes?
7. "Enna na...indhaango coffee." - Here, your coffee
8. Seri na sonnaar: He said yes?

UPDATE: Edited it a little bit after feedback from a kind soul. It is much better now :) Thanks again, kind soul ;)