LITMIR.BIZ

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Paati, so I can be happy.’

      ‘I heard Sanjana is going to S P Jain for further studies. You must be very proud parents!’

      Karuna, Sanjana’s mother, came in with the coffee at this point and heard what Kummi Paati was saying. She looked at her husband quickly, and then looked away. Then she handed out the cups of coffee and sat down.

      Kumar had said nothing during this process. Once all three of them were seated, he spoke.

      ‘Nothing can happen in this colony without you knowing, isn’t it?’

      He was smiling, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

      ‘Nothing can happen without everyone knowing,’ Kummi Paati said.

      ‘If you heard that news, I am surprised you didn’t hear that she is not going,’ Karuna said.

      Kummi Paati looked at her.

      ‘I did hear it, but I assumed there must have been a mistake. After all, such an opportunity –’

      ‘We are very simple people, Kummi Paati,’ Kumar said. ‘All this fancy education – what is the use? Sanjana has a good job already and it is time we found a good boy for her.’

      ‘She would get a much better job if she went to S P Jain,’ Kummi Paati said. ‘And as for marriage ... what is the rush?’

      ‘She is twenty-four!’ Karuna said. ‘By the time I was twenty-four, I had a baby. The truth is, we have spoiled her. She doesn’t know how to cook or manage a household and those things are more important than going and studying more. She has an engineering degree already. If she gets an MBA, it will be even harder to find a boy!’

      ‘Not nowadays. My daughter had a masters degree when she got married. She is also still working. We are also simple people, ma, but one must change with the times. Sanjana is a nice girl who listens to her elders. After all, she is not asking you for permission to go to parties or go drinking. So why not allow her to do this?’

      ‘Because she won’t be studying. We know what goes on in places like that where everyone is living on campus, away from home. She will just spend her time with boys. No one is there to look after her.’

      Kummi Paati nearly asked what was wrong with spending time with boys. After all, Sanjana might meet a nice boy at S P Jain. That’s what had happened to Sharma’s daughter in C-6. Such a nice, respectful boy too. What was his name again? Rohan? Rohit? That was it, Rohit.

      But she was wandering again.

      ‘I don’t think you need to worry about that,’ Kummi Paati said. ‘I am sure she will be spending her time there studying. And then she can do well, get an even better job – after all, it is an investment in her future.’

      ‘What these girls want to study so much for is beyond me. These modern girls, with their office jobs, suddenly thinking they know what’s best! What do they know?’ Karuna said.

      ‘Kummi Paati, getting married is also an investment in her future. It is a better investment, in fact, because it will hopefully yield earlier payback. Just let me get her married, then you can come and ask me for good news, heh?’ Kumar said, using the common euphemism for pregnancy, then grinned broadly.

      ‘That would also be good news. Definitely. And I am sure you are a good judge of what will bring her happiness. But so is she.’

      ‘She doesn’t know anything. None of these young people do,’ Kumar said.

      Kummi Paati sighed.

      ‘I don’t know about that. My children have not done what I expected them to do, nor what I would have advised them to do. But they are happy.’

      ‘Hmphh. What happiness can a woman have without children? Your daughter is forty if she is a day, and still no—’ Karuna asked.

      ‘Karuna!’ her husband said. ‘What the hell are you saying?’

      ‘I don’t want my daughter to start thinking being childless is a good thing! That might be okay for some people, but I don’t see how a woman can be happy if she doesn’t—’

      ‘Karuna, are you going to stop talking or not?’

      Karuna pursed her lips together.

      ‘Fine. I’ve said what I had to anyway.’

      ‘Sorry, Kummi Paati. My wife shouldn’t have said that. But if you don’t mind my saying so, whether or not we send Sanjana to Pune is a private matter.’

      ‘Oh yes, you are right. It is a private matter. I am surprised you’ve made this decision but then I’ve learned that people can often surprise you. Even those you know quite well.’

      ‘I hope – I hope you didn’t take what I said the wrong way,’ Karuna said. ‘I think I just got a bit carried away and well ... anyway, I hope you aren’t offended.’

      ‘Oh no, I am not. When you are my age, you probably won’t be easily offended either.’

      Because, she finished in her mind, you will know, as I do, that when people say offensive things, it is usually more about them than it is about you.

      Kumar cleared his throat.

      ‘Now, Kummi Paati, did I show you our new media unit? Just bought it last week! The very latest model from Japan, you know? That’s where the best electronics come from ...’

       * * *

      Kummi Paati spent a whole week trying to come up with a way to approach Sanjana’s parents again, to no avail. Mr Kumar had told her, in no uncertain terms, to mind her own business. And she did not want to give Sanjana away by telling him that his daughter had asked for her help.

      Said daughter was in Kummi Paati's kitchen now, helping her make onion pakoras. It was a weekend, and Kummi Paati suspected she was keen to spend some time away from her parents.

      ‘I suppose I should have known it was of no use,’ Sanjana said. ‘But thank you for trying.’

      Kummi Paati said nothing as she dropped a few dollops of dough into boiling oil. She looked up at Sanjana.

      ‘Given up so soon?’

      ‘Well what else can I do? They seem so determined to marry me off! I just don’t understand, Paati. They were so happy when I got a job straight out of engineering, so proud. They never so much as mentioned marriage. In fact, a year ago, my aunt asked him when he was going to start looking for a boy for me, and he told her to stop being so narrow-minded. He said he wanted me to live my life.’

      She shook her head.

      ‘And now ... now there is no reasoning with him.’

      ‘For now there isn’t, no.’

      ‘But Kummi Paati, I have to confirm to the institute by the end of the week that I will be accepting the offer! You seriously think we can change his mind in a week?’

      ‘One thing at a time. You have to accept the offer this week, yes? Not pay the fees or take out a loan.’

      ‘Well ... yes, that’s true.’

      ‘Then accept the offer for now. And we will see what happens. I have not given up, child. And you shouldn’t either. Not so soon.’

      She used a spider ladle to remove the pakoras from the oil.

      ‘Go sit at the table. I’ll bring out some plates. Eat while it’s hot.’

      She called out to her grandchildren, daughter and husband, and very soon there were five people seated around the table, eating hot pakoras almost as quickly as she could make them. They were laughing and cracking jokes, and it warmed Kummi Paati’s heart to hear them. It was certainly true that she had been shoehorned into this life of cooking and caring for others, but she had found joy in it nonetheless.

      And really,

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