It was the day after the wedding. The decorated car meandered through dusty streets.  Mohan and his bride Uma were on their way to his apartment.

The whole flat, nay, entire building wore a festive look to welcome the newly weds. Renuka, Mohan’s elder sister, was busy with her preparations. When Mohan tied the mangalsutra around Uma’s neck, it was Renuka who had tied the third knot, sealing the relationship. She, her mother Anandi, father Ramamurthy and a small entourage of relatives had reached ahead of Mohan and Uma to make the welcome preparations. The house reverberated with her voice as she expertly coordinated last minute arrangements. Saree tucked shin-high; she finished drawing the rangoli at the entrance and arranged the lamp and arati plate for Uma’s Grihapravesh.

The wedding car came to a screeching halt. Uma shook herself from her reverie and looked out of the window. ‘Shantiniketan’, the arch read. She stretched her aching limbs and ran her mehendied hands through her hair while Mohan helped unload the luggage. “So this is my new home,” she smiled as she followed Mohan.

A mini commotion broke out in the building as they began ascending the stairs. The neighbours lined the corridors sporting lightning smiles. They had missed the wedding and didn’t want to miss the couple’s grand entry. As the couple stood at the front door, all of them gathered around Uma, eager to take a look at the new bride. A visibly tired and harried Uma scanned the crowd for familiar faces. She relaxed when she spotted Renuka emerge from the crowd with the arati plate in hand.

Sensing her discomfiture, Renuka deftly led Uma through the swarm of guests into her room, asked her to change and rest. Uma smiled gratefully as she bolted the door behind her.

The rituals over, most of the guests dispersed. A few neighbours still lingered, ostensibly helping Anandi. A light drizzle started and Renuka hurried to the terrace to fetch the clothes. She heard voices near the water tank as she neared the clothesline. Curious, she peeped from behind and spotted Uma and Mohan. She tiptoed out noiselessly, not minding the clothes getting wet in the drizzle.

Renuka and her husband Ravi left for their hometown after a couple of days.

Anandi doted on her new daughter-in-law. She took Uma everywhere – to the local market, to the corner grocery store, to the neighborhood temple - in a bid to get her acclimatized to her new environs. Uma for her part, fitted into her new home with quiet ease. Her affable nature and radiant smile endeared her instantly to whoever came her way. Anandi was obviously proud of Uma and her accomplishments. “Uma is a section head in her bank; she has five people working under her,” she announced to all and sundry, right from the milkman to the priest at the temple. Uma blushed in embarrassment whenever Anandi mentioned about her, but humoured her good intentioned mother-in-law. Uma’s job transfer order also came and she resumed work after a few days.

At home, Anandi pampered Uma like a queen and surprised her with all her favourite dishes. She just wouldn’t let her daughter-in-law dirty her hands and managed all the household chores herself. Not one to shirk responsibility, Uma insisted on joining her mother-in-law. She considered herself lucky to have an adoring mother-in-law and loved Anandi like her own mother. A man of few words, Ramamurthy was content in his own world of news and politics. The family was like a multi-coloured bouquet, always cheerful.

The otherwise perfect arrangement had only one hitch.

It so happened that Anandi was the center of gravity in their apartment building and all activities centered on her. The welcome board at the front door was treated with due reverence and the ladies flocked to Anandi in right earnest. Anandi was a Jane of all trades and a mistress of spices-dispensing recipes, pantry supplies and free advice with equal élan. And those times when the house didn’t resemble a dispensary, it wore the look of a marriage hall. If it was Yoga practice one day, it was Satsang another day. People flitted in and out constantly, cramping their already tiny flat. The only thing missing was a revolving door. When Uma returned home from work, it was a neighbour who invariably greeted her from their sofa. Over time, Uma became an expert in guessing the identity of the guests inside by simply looking at the footwear outside. And with guests in the living room, she wasn’t comfortable closeting herself in her room; she didn’t want to be seen as rude and discourteous.

One evening, Mohan and Uma were all set to go to a movie, when next-door Kamalam came buzzing in. That day was Ekadashi. Not content to go to the temple by herself, she tagged Anandi and Uma along. Mohan could only look helplessly at Uma’s pleading eyes.

Another day, Mohan returned home early to find Uma holding a baby, literally. The baby’s parents were busy working overtime and Kamakshi had left her grandchild in Uma’s care. Mohan and Uma babysat, while the elders enjoyed an evening of Seetha Kalyanam*at the temple. After three hours, Uma and Mohan had earned enough credits to start a crèche.

Numerous incidences like these followed, but Uma’s polite nature didn’t let her demur. If she was frustrated, she didn’t let it show. After all, the families had been together for the past twenty years. The fallout was that Mohan was still a stranger to her. “We are still like newly weds even after four months of marriage,” she would quip jokingly.  The subtle hints that she did throw were lost on Anandi. If the neighbours were the embodiment of “Love thy neighbour,” then Uma was the epitome of “Grin and bear it” with her mother-in-law being the un-anointed queen of naivete.

Matters came to a head one day. That evening, Uma returned from office with a mild headache. The front door was closed (for a change!) and the sofa was unoccupied (strange!). She peeped into the kitchen and found no one there (incredible!). Surprised (and delighted), she entered her room quietly, to a shocking sight.

There on the floor was Visalam Mami*, face down, in a ‘deadly’ pose. As a wary Uma approached Visalam gingerly, Anandi sauntered in from the bathroom and broke the silence. “Visalam had a sprain in her back. Since I had some ayurvedic oil, I invited her over for a massage. I had asked her to lie still while the oils got absorbed,” she explained to a dumbstruck Uma. Too dazed to react, Uma mumbled a quick apology and made an awkward exit.

That night, Uma needed extra doses of aspirin – for her headache and for the heart attack she almost had.

Anandi kept the receiver in its cradle, her hands perspiring. Ramamurthy looked up from the newspaper he was reading.

“It’s Ravi. He was calling from the hospital. Renuka has had an accident. The doctors are attending her. He has asked us not to worry, but still…” A distraught Anandi filled her husband on the details. 

“I hope it’s nothing serious…” Ramamurthy remarked, trying to sound cool.

Anandi hardly heard him. “I don’t know what’s happened to her. Ravi didn’t give any more details. We are leaving now. Oh God! Please keep her safe…” She was fanning herself with her saree and had already started calling out fervently to all her favourite gods. She couldn’t wait to see Renuka. Even Ramamurthy could hear his wife’s heart thump loudly.

It was midmorning the next day. Travel weary Anandi and Ramamurthy waited anxiously as they rang the doorbell the second time. They could hear the chiming inside.

They were confounded when Renuka opened the door.

“Amma, appa!” Renuka was all smiles when she saw her parents at the door. Anandi scanned Renuka from head to toe for bandages, plasters and telltale signs of injury. Not finding any, her brow creased in perplexity.

Both of them didn’t speak a word as Renuka carried their bags and led them inside.

“Where is Ravi?” Ramamurthy was the first to talk. Renuka had laid out tea and snacks.

“Why, he is in the office.” Renuka sounded surprised.

“Okay, cut the chase. What’s the problem between you and Ravi?” An impatient Anandi interjected.

Renuka chuckled at her mother’s fertile imagination. Must be the soap-opera effect, she thought. “Amma, whatever makes you think there is a problem?”

Anandi drew a long face. “I see you didn’t have an accident. You don’t have problems with your husband. Then what are we doing here?” Her irritation was in plain sight.

“I just wanted you to take a break from your busy schedule. So just relax and enjoy your time here,” Renuka replied coolly, sipping her tea.

Renuka’s casualness agitated Anandi all the more. She didn’t relish being taken for a ride. “It’s just so silly of you, Renuka. I dropped everything to come here. Uma is alone there. She is new and knows very little about the house and our neighbours. How is she going to manage all by herself?”

“That’s the whole point Amma, for Uma and Mohan to be alone…” Renuka said slowly, stressing the words as she spoke. “And don’t you worry, she will get to know about the house and the neighbours too…” she was sporting a naughty grin now.

It took a few seconds for her words to sink in.

“But…but…” stammered a bewildered Anandi.

Renuka went inside and came out with a piece of paper. “Here read this,” she thrust it in her mother’s hands. “And take your time.”

It was an email from Uma.

“Dear Renu,

How are you all? Appa and amma are keeping good health. Amma dotes on me and takes good care of me. I love amma, so do all our neighbours. Amma is like a matriarch for them. She hardly gets any rest. The entire flat is like a big extended family. It’s never boring here. I never feel lonely; we always have company. Mohan is working hard for his promotion. I also plan to offer tuitions in the evenings. Mohan conveys his regards to you. Do take care. Uma”

Anandi smiled as she finished reading the email a second time, this time between the lines. Renuka laughed as realization slowly, very slowly, dawned on her mother.

“My daughter is smart,” Anandi mused softly and joined in her laughter.

“So is your daughter-in-law,” Renuka winked at her mother as the twosome prepared for lunch.

~*~

Mami – Elderly lady; aunt

Seetha Kalyanam – Bhajan session re-enacting Seetha’s wedding to Rama.

PS: If you missed Uma’s and Mohan’s wedding, click here for a replay.



Featured by Sulekha