the ONAM treat

“ Onam is a celebration of love, harmony and social equality. The new generation only knows Mahabhali  as just a king who visits his folk once a year; But more than that this is the only occasion in the world where on this day, a king, who once lived years ago, who believed in social equality and justice visits his folks to ensure that his message is still  followed. Whether he leaves the world in tears or by shredding pearls of laughter is yet to be seen….”

                                                                                                                                                                    Shereen

soon to be made into a short film "ONAM"

INTRODUCTION

Social gatherings have always been a part of the growth of civilization. Be it during the prehistoric times when man lived in caves, when at night all his fellow beings used to gather together in the cave with all the food collected during the day. They used to have fun together by  lighting fires, dancing around it,  thumping on big drums, making voices and sounds but this was not just a mere gathering but their mode of survival from the wild animals at night. The world has changed from that time and so has the style of such social gatherings…..

The people you come across during the lunch

Suresh- The host of the house, who likes to throw such parties

Anil- A staunch communist and cousin of Suresh, who is working as a mechanic

Rekha- Wife of Suresh, A socialite who is the woman’s wing secretary of a registered organization

Vinay- A stock broker, whose shares are purchased by Suresh’s company

Aarathi- Wife of Vinay, who is new to Abu Dhabi and is not interested to go to work

Abhilash- The best friend of Vinay, who has been helpful to him on various occasions

Rajan- A close friend of Suresh, who believes in the importance of Social Gatherings

Shobha- Wife of Rajan, who is the HR manager of a firm and believes in her ideology

Maya- Wife of Anil, staying in India

John- A colleague of Suresh

Nikhil- Son of Rajan and Shobha who likes to have fast food

Amie rose- Two year old daughter of John and Catherine

Catherine- Wife of John who is so fond of her elder sister

Prema- A friend of Suresh and best friend of Catherine’s sister Suzanne

Suzanne- The elder sister of Catherine residing in California

Mathew- A software engineer and husband of Suzanne

Anuj- The second son of Suresh and Rekha, and friend of Nikhil

Ankhit- the eldest son of Suresh and Rekha, interested in helping his mother

Shalini- Daughter of Rajan and Shobha studying in a very costly school

Vishwanath- A college professor, and husband of Prema

Haroon- Classmate of Shalini

a)   3 HOURS BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

“Is it clear” Suresh punched out the words to Anil. Wearing a big white kurtha that reached his knees, and arranging his new RADO Watch, Suresh in his audacious style repeated to him again

“Don’t speak out that you are a mechanic and that you reside in the labor camp outside the city to my guests who will be here for lunch. I will do the talking. You just play it cool”

Anil was not surprised to hear this from his cousin Suresh for he had gone through this exercise more than once although the first time it did weigh a little on his heart. As for all the keralites residing outside the country, Onam symbolized a get together function for those who miss the whimsicality of this age old tradition. With the advent of visual media, the maneuver of such functions have started attracting huge attention particularly back in the state, where the onam celebrations has virtually ceased, other than the conventional activity of the bulkiest guy among the group dressing up as the lord Mahabali .

 Suresh was organizing an Onam treat in his house and he had invited some of his friends to the party. Not even in his wildest dreams,  Anil imagined to be a  part of the function but being Suresh’s relative, Anil made into his list that was more of a status measuring report rather than friends turning up to have a good time together. Anil was already prepared for this when he heard the door bell ring, and Suresh crying out loud

“ Rekha open the door, it might be our guests”.

b)   3 HOURS BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

The entire length of the day stretched in front of Rekha. Being the Ladies wing secretary of Kerala Social center ( a registered organization for the Malayali community in Abu dhabi)  and a mother of two, preparing an Onam lunch for her husband Suresh ‘s friends was a herculean task.  She purposely left out her circle of friends to avoid the commotion in handling them together with that of her husband’s invitees. 

Suresh was the general manager of a company and never allowed Rekha to go for work in spite of her promising CV and a career ahead. Hence she had diverted all her attention to the socio-cultural activities associated with the Kerala Social center, and focused on her organizational skills, and in a few years time took up the coveted post of the Ladies wing secretary.

She didn’t like cooking for this many a people. However, she didn’t want to infuriate her husband, who enjoyed hosting parties to flaunt his extravagant life style among his elite group.  But the hardest part in all, was in preparing an Onam lunch and that too with a variety of side dishes, as one’s prestige and the number of recipes served goes synonymous with each other. Rekha thought. She took up the strenuous initiative not to have her menu be influenced by any restaurants, the desi ones that specializes in a readymade Onam menu for its customers and hence a completely home prepared Onam lunch.

She had put the onions in the heated oil, when the doorbell rang followed by her husband‘s exalted cry

“Rekha open the door, it might be our guests”.

c)   1HOUR BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Pressing the door bell, Vinay thought for a moment that he was not late for the party. His wife Aarathi had just arrived in Abu Dhabi for the first time, a few days back and this was their first outing together and that too, to Suresh’s house. His intimate friend Abihlash had arranged a party in their house but Vinay made a lame excuse, saying he couldn’t make it due to health reasons, for he wanted to meet Suresh.

 Although he had known Suresh for years, he never enjoyed the company of Suresh due to his megalomaniacal nature that outweighed his good natured intention to help others seek jobs in various firms. With the cost of living soaring high, Vinay wanted his wife Aarathi to earn alongside him in order to accomplish his long time ambition of a house back in his village. In fact the only condition he had put forth for his parents when they were in the process of exploring a bride for him was that she should be willing to work. Now he wanted to introduce his wife to Suresh, who had contacts that would help her secure a job. But going to work didn’t go well with aarathi.

Aarathi didn’t want to go to work. It was her parents’ browbeating that forced her to lie to Vinay. She was contented to stay in her village as it gave her a lot of wonderful memories, which included the wonderful times she had with her cousins, her swimming lessons in the nearby river with her intimate friend Neethu, her tuition classes to get a look of her charming professor’s new outfit, and most notably the romantic ordeal with her neighbor who had proposed to her, and had gone to the extent of asking her hands for marriage from her father. The affair she felt was the intimidation to push her into the hands of a guy, who was more interested to nurture his dreams of house rather than gain her confidence on life. Standing in front of Suresh’s flat of whom she had only heard about, she wished to be back home in Kerala to dine together with her parents and relatives in the auspicious event of Onam.

“ You are late” bumbling Suresh opened the door  with a glass in his hand. Raising up the glass while he acknowledged them to come inside, he uttered “We already opened the first bottle without you”.

As Aarathi moved inside with Vinay, popping up a half baked smile to Suresh, she looked inside and felt a cloud of consternation subduing her already unwilling mind. Lots of strangers, men and women, engaged in conversations with each other, some men holding  glasses presumably Whiskey or soft drinks of that sort, a  few Ladies trying to hold their children in one hand and at the same time keeping their mouths busy by conversing with the each other, and the children indulged in their jejunile world running around the home. What kind of Onam function is going on in here, Aarathi thought.

“ Ladies and Gentleman, we have here with us a new couple. Mrs Vinay had just flown from Kerala to Abu dhabi a few days ago” Suresh’s introduction brought all conversations to a halt and everybody’s gaze on to the new guests in the house. 

A game Aarathi played with her cousins during her primes breezed in her mind, wherein all her relatives were seated in front of a make shift stage, and she along with her cousins devised some family games for all of them to take part. The best one was the introduction and history of each member. When each of their name when called,  one had to stand on the stage, followed by a  ludicrous introduction of the person by the leader of the group followed by the spectators, who  were allowed to add  all the absurd things they know about the person, and finally the person’s confession that  would erupt shrieks of laughter. But once, Aarathi made use of one such episode by opening up her mind on her establishing romance in front of her parents and her relatives, hoping to gain the support of her cousins and their parents. But that was the last time; the game was enacted in the house. Standing in front of all the new gazes, it didn’t seem to Aarathi the very game which had changed her life once and forever as she found a middle aged lady, with a pandering smile come up to her and hold her hand.

“ My name’s Rekha. I will introduce to rest of the others. Let’s go inside”

“ Yes, this is the party zone and inside is the Wine zone” Suresh exasperated raising hoards of laughter  and turning to Vinay “ let me fix you a drink” and walked back briskly in to the group. Rekha gave a smile to Vinay for the green signal to take his wife around, but completely ensnarled in a strange place, Aarathi wanted to be near Vinay, but to her dismay, she found him already engaged in a conversation with Suresh, making her sentient of what he had told her before coming to the party. 

d)   45 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

“ Hi , My names is Shobha. We stay a few buildings away. How’s your new life in Abu dhabi going” a pompous lady  with a golden framed spectacles came up to Aarathi, signifying the beginning of introduction session, as soon as Aarathi had moved in from the corridor to presumably Rekha’s bedroom. 

“ Yes, its fine” Aarathi replied looking around the neatly arranged , luxuriously occupied room.

“Where have you all been to? Have you visited the white marbled mosque located just outside the city” Shobha inquired.

“ He had mentioned to me about this mosque. But we didn’t have time to go yet” Aarathi had put up an excuse.

“What about the desert safari. Any trips planned. “Question again from Shobha, but Aarathi could not understand what she had just mentioned. Her expression of surprise gave in the satisfactory answer for Shobha.

“ Oh you should’nt miss it, particularly the steamy belly dance not just a delight for our hubbies only. We have gone lots of time to these safaris, in fact I now recognize the belly dancers. If you want any details on the trips, let me know and avoid the Najdha one in Dubai” Shobha spoke out as she poured wine into her glass and took a deep sip almost emptying it in one go.

“ You shouldn’t miss the Emirates Place  near cornische too. We used to stay there once in a month just to feel the essence of a totally different world” Shobha had no intention to stop.

“ You can, Shobha. “ Rekha interrupted. “ You have a government job that finishes at 3 in the afternoon. And on top of that you don’t cook anything at house”

“ Yes, why I have to. My husband and children are fond of the western food and I find more convenience in its preparation. Then what’s the botheration for? “Shobha was prompt on her response. Aarathi now really wanted to run away from here and the thought of Vinay enjoying with his friends in the main hall made her frustrated.

As Vinay was about to take a sip of his most favorite “chivas regal” offered, he heard a call from the back that sounded similar to that of his friend Abhilash. A lot of his friends had turned up for the treat. He became tensed and looked around the room hoping not to catch a glimpse of Abhilash, for if he had seen Vinay here, it would be put a big dent in their long lasting friendship. Abhilash had arranged a party dedicated for Vinay and his wife, and he had lied to him. Though two years into married life, Vinay was able to obtain a family status from his company only very recently in order to sponsor his wife, the sponsorship rules getting stringent day by day in the country.

He looked on to the faces of all the gathered guests including a few who had formed a group discussing  politics, when he spotted a man from the group moving towards the window on the other end of the room. Although, he could not see his face, Vinay felt a sudden shrill overpower him, for the tall figure with the broad chest seemed to resemble Abhilash. The man with his face turned to window, then put his hands into his pocket, pulled up a mobile phone and brought it close to his ears when all of a sudden Vinay’s mobile started ringing. As Vinay looked into his new Sony mobile, a sudden gush of guilt caught hold of him. He didn’t know what to do for it was Abhilash calling him on his mobile.

e)   30 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

In spite of the intermittent presence of children and ladies inside the room, and the ongoing debate between Rekha and Shobha on cooking and its importance, Aarathi was concentrating on a wall clock that fascinated her. The room was luxuriously arranged with a brown wardrobe with 2 sliding doors and a mirror door, King sized bed with light green mattress, a brown colored bedside table on it a golden color framed picture of their children Ankhit and anuj, a 32 inch T.V on a Black colored T.V stand and on the right side a shelf, lean and thin presumably for the books and DVDs of that sort. But the most fascinated thing of course that quickly caught her attention was the wall clock. It was a specially designed clock fully open at the front with the pointed Minute and Hour needle exposed, and the background had digital photos of Suresh and Rekha together, that kept changing every 5 minutes. Each time a photo is on display, there was an electronic tag above it, saying In Paris, In Singapore with some numbers presumably the dates that kept changing as the photo faded away.

“ That clock is a typical one .My husband brought from China during one of his official tours.” Rekha had taken a temporary break from the debate with Shobha.

“ Its nice” Aarathi made it short just to concentrate on the photos.

“Yes, the best part is you can add more photos to it and tag it. You noticed that along with the places we have taken those snaps, the year and month of the snap also appear”

“ If its China, it might be a fake” Shobha, the restaurant freak, interfered. “ We brought a Chinese made camcorder two weeks ago, and when went to Palm Jumeirah in dubai, it stopped working”

Aarathi understood that the original intention of Shobha was to broadcast her recent visit to the particular place rather than the item she had purchased, but it seemed Rekha could not grasp that part.

“Shobha, not all Chinese things are that bad. This clock has been with us for 3 years and still no probs”

Aarathi was least interested in their debate but her mind was totally occupied at the photos and the precedence of year in which they were taken, when a loud cry of a child from the adjacent room interrupted her.

f)    45 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Vinay did not pick the phone. His eyes were completely focused on the man standing near the window. A SMS message had appeared on his mobile. It was from Abhilash. Heard about a party at Suresh’s house. Might just drop in and give him a smile, and resume my party. He had heard Abhilash speak about Suresh and that they were together in a business trip in Bangkok. Vinay had remained quiet that time for working as a stock broker and Suresh’s firm already a major investor in their selling shares; it was Vinay’s requisite to maintain a good rapport with him.  So after the trip, Abhilash had criticized his bossy nature, Vinay remained cool and always put up the expression that what he had with Suresh was a mere customer relationship. The mail dispelled his cynical notion and it was the usual of Abhilash to tease him in such moments of hassles. 

 He moved slowly towards him. He kept his drink on the table and had to walk a full length over the room to talk to him. He would tell sorry, and of course he could not find any other excuse.  Abhilash, one of his closest confidante,  who had been to his marriage in spite of the latter’s financial encumbrances; his sincerity in helping to obtain a feasible accommodation for Vinay and his wife and more to that years of their bachelor life together,  hence staying away from his party was no excuse as Vinay found himself in a big turmoil. Vinay’s  mind went totally blank on what he would produce to him for not attending and that too with the false notion of being sick. On reaching closer, with a big sense of guilt he called out” Abhilash”.

g)   30 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

A young lady came inside the room carrying a baby girl in her hand, who was whimpering loudly and rubbing her hand on the back of her completely shaven head. She was probably 2 years old with a perfect round face, wearing a pink frock with a small pink cross bag attached to her dress and pink shoes, of which one was in her mom’s hand. The child with a wheatish brown complexion and small round eyes did not resemble her mother who in contrast was extremely fair, with big but sleep tousled eyes. Aarathi noticed the dissimilarity even in their lips for the baby had thin lips unlike that of the lady’s.  Aarathi was wondering at the completely contrasting features of the mother and the child when her intuitions were dispelled with the arrival of presumably her father, due to his starkly resemblance with the child. Aarathi noticed the man’s apoplectic look when he entered the room, as he moved straight to the lady and in the most untrammeled manner shouted loudly

“I have told you a 100 times to care of the baby. Give me I will hold her. Enough of your pampering” With that he took the baby and went out leaving the lady in tears.

h)   50 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Anil was feeling ensnared in the presence of Suresh’s guests. He had gone once to the toilet, from where he heard Suresh shout at the arrival of some new guests in the house. Anil was least bothered to listen. He wanted to call his wife Maya back in Kerala, but as soon as he picked up his mobile to call her, his mind deterred for some unknown reasons. They had a big fight the previous night on the money that was remitted in his mother’s name. This was a bone of contention for Maya had to ask his mother for the money, to buy some magazines and other ladies stuff, the importance of which would make no impact on his mother.

  After his father’s death, Anil was brought up by his mother along with his two sisters. He had to marry a girl in order to meet the financial demand of his sister’s in laws, who were promised a certain amount of money as dowry but had to back out due to the unexpected but factitious financial crunch. Without a proper job and his property mortgaged to the bank, he had come to the Gulf to settle of his dues. But the situation he found himself in was far from the reality on the stories he had heard on like landing in the gulf and in few years building up a bungalow. As his savings did not match up to his expectations and his sister’s cries becoming excruciating, he agreed to marry any girl who could financially uplift him from his current financial situation. 

Anil was tall, had a broad chest, a long nose and was fair and handsome, while Maya was short, dark and big mouthed although she had a smile that did sequester her rest of the traits. However, the significant contrast between them promulgated her inferiority and Anil was quite lucky to receive a call from his company just days after his marriage. Anil had never talked with her openheartedly and was even quite overjoyed to fly back from Kerala. However, since that day morning he tried more than once to reach her but every time she had cut the call.

With all the tension surmounting on him, he was sitting in the fete hosted by Suresh, who at the time was busily indulged in a conversation on the National level Political scenario with John, a colleague of Suresh’s. The political scenario had slowly started shifting to Kerala Politics which irked Anil that brought him immediately on his feet. All the time both Suresh and John were jointly criticizing the central government’s action of increasing the petrol price and then when the scenario shifted to kerala, all the blame went to the communists for organizing hartals and strikes and stagnating development. A hard core communist by heart, Anil couldn’t bear any one saying bad about his ideologists for he with his predecessors where part of the left movement that brought in the radical reforms and status , he believed that no other states in India enjoyed. His father was a brave martyr who had lost his life during the initial stages of the movement thus his name being an insignia of the left advancement in that area.

Anil got up and moved to the window holding his mobile in his hand, an excuse to be out of the discussion. As he was moving by, a small boy came and banged on his leg while the other probably whom he was chasing, and was carrying a tablet PC, laughed out loud

“Hahaha Worms in your stomach”

Anil couldn’t understand what these kids were up to and what they were shouting out loud. He came near the window. He brought the phone closer. He made up his mind to make an attempt to reach his wife but when he brought the mobile near to his ears, he lost the interest.   He was looking down from top of the 25th floor to find people moving below resembling a tiny peck on the ground. He wondered for a moment, how the rich people sitting on their wealth would find the poor ones. They would see them in the same format as he found the people below or will they be human enough to understand that the steps they have gone up where made by the very people whom they see as tiny pecks from the top. All these thoughts were ruminating in his mind when he heard Abhilash being called from his back. He turned around to see a man, whose big eyes seemed to be protruding outside but on seeing him leave a huge sigh of relief.

“ahhh.. sorry, My name is Vinay. I misunderstood you as one of my friend Abhilash”  

“No problem. My name’s Anil.”

“ You are Suresh’s friend” inquired Vinay feeling highly relaxed.

“No, iam his cousin”

Cousin, thought Vinay. That means it’s a step further to being close with Suresh.

“You must be working with him or in a bigger firm” giggled Vinay

Anil wanted to say the truth. A mechanic in a Pakistani company in Mussafah and staying in a labor camp.

Anil nodded.

“I know Suresh for quite a few years. You come from his village”

“ No, I come from cherplussery which is a little far from his” Anil replied contentedly as the name of his village gave him a special pride.

“ My wife also comes from that place. You guys are so proud of your place. I will call her here. May be you know her”

Anil was least interested to meet Vinay’s family or a person from his village either. He was already having problem with his wife and somehow wanted to be away from this group. Vinay meanwhile asked Ankhith, son of Suresh and to go inside and inform Aarathi to be here. He personally did not want to go inside due to a lot of women folk inside the room. Anil was also having a short headache and slightly bothered to listen when he heard an agonizing cry of a child from inside and saw John get up and run inside to the room.

i)     45 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

“No don’t go there Amie ” Catherine was holding her at the same time was busy talking with Prema. A divorcee Prema was a school teacher, and more to that she was Catherine’s sister’s classmate.

“We were together in a hostel. I still remember your sister on the first day at Cochin. She had those flowers neatly tied behind her back, a typical traditional Christian mallu (a colloquial terminology for a typical keralite)”

“Suzanne loved that” continued Catherine and she knew Suzanne more than anyone in her family.

Ever since her mother had passed away when she was just in the primary school, it was Suzanne who had looked after Catherine and her younger brother. Suzanne had stopped her education after she joined college and remained at home to take care of her siblings. Growing up without a mother particularly being a girl was tough but Suzanne, elder to her by 5 years, never made her felt  that loss.  When the time for Suzanne’s marriage had come, she refused to marry citing that she would lose the commitment to her siblings and her care would shift to her husband’s. Everyone in the family wanted to see her get married, but she was reluctant. It was after Catherine had married and their brother had got admission to engineering college, she finally gave consent to her father.

Suzanne finally married a soft ware engineer one year after Amie was born. Dedicated to his profession, her husband Mathew had crossed the marriage age limit and hence was quite happy to accept Suzanne, who still had the charming smile and charisma in her looks in spite of being above 30. They had then relocated to US, as her husband had to do a project in California and Suzanne had ended up working as a baby sitter in a Californian Woman’s only legal firm. The firm’s policy, as told by Suzanne, was any woman who had a child including a primary school going one, was advised to bring their children to office and leave them in the care of the company appointed baby sitters. This was a policy to ensure that woman gave their full concentration to their work and at the same time has a knowhow of their child as well. Suzanne was so happy to take up the job her experience being her endeavors with us since her childhood, Catherine thought. And the best part, according to Suzanne, was her duty to take care of the smallest ones in the group. This was because the management wanted a poorly accented lady to deal with them so they could clearly understand. Catherine and her family was so happy to hear from her, cause they all knew the hard work she had put in to bring her siblings up.

The modest dream that frequently comes in Catherine’s mind is her mobile ringing, showing Suzanne’s call but  due to some abhorrent noises , she being unable to hear her sister’s sound, finally when she is able to,  hears  Suzanne ‘s sound saying “ I am pregnant”. When will this happen; Catherine was already dreaming about her Suzanne when she heard Amie crying out loud. It seemed a hit and run, probably the boys who were running around must have tripped her. Catherine ran and picked up Amie and rushed out of the room and entered another trying to divert her attention to the moving clock on the wall. All of a sudden she found her husband John come in angrily and shout at her

“I have told you a 100 times to care of the baby. Give me I will hold her. Enough of your pampering” With that he took Amie from her and went out of the room. Catherine felt angry and insulted as tears came rolling down her eyes, a character from her childhood, to cry when terribly angry. 

Rekha immediately came to console Catherine asking her to come inside and wash her face, while Prema also joined to console. As they were rejuvenating her up, she heard Rekha’s son Ankith came inside the room and shout out loud

“ Aarathi aunty, Vinay uncle is looking for you in the main hall”

Wiping her face, Catherine saw a lady of her age tall, slim, wearing a saree that seemed to be her wedding outfit, without a haste walk out of the room.

j)    ONE HOUR BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

“ You like Pizza. You don’t like rice” Anuj seemed surprised and was looking at Nikhil as if he had come  from another planet.

“ Yes, in the morning my mother used to give me Nutella. In the afternoon, we used to have some burgers and in the night sometimes Pizza, sometimes KFC and all” Nikhil was elaborating his daily menu but found it strange to see the surprise on Anuj’s face.

Nikhil and Anuj were of the same age. Although their fathers enjoyed a very close rapport due to years of residing in Abu  dhabhi together, Nikhil and Anuj did harbour a sort of rivalry with each other be it in sports and studies. They were studying in different schools, Anuj  studying in an Indian based school while Nikhil adopting a  western oriented schooling system.However, Anuj did pop his eyes out at Nikhil's menu.

“ These are junk food, I heard my father say” Anuj said “ Besides these are tough to digest too”

“ No, I have no problem in digesting. How can you say that” Nikhil questioned.

“ We went to the science Expo in Sharjah and there was a digestion chamber, my brother has recorded that and saved it in his New SAMSUNG Tablet. I will show you” with that Anuj pulled Nikhil and rushed to the main hall, where in the far corner close to the window, he saw his brother working on his new PC tablet.

Ankith was sitting alone completely disinterested in the happenings and discussions around. He was into his secondary level of education and the kids around him were small for him to interact with. He was busy concentrating on his new PC tablet, he had made his father Suresh purchase just weeks before the function. But he was not happy to be alone playing games in the tablet, for he had expected Shalini to be present that day so he could flaunt his new tablet to her.

Shalini was the daughter of Rajan uncle and Shobah aunty, and she stayed a few buildings away from theirs’. Last time they had a family get together, Shalini,  who was studying in the same school as that of her brother Nikhil with westerners and other Asian communities, many a times mentioned about one of her friend Haroon bringing to her class the latest modal of APPLE Tablet exhibitingit to the class.  She kept saying his name over and over again, which irked him a lot. This time he was fully prepared with the tablet and had even loaded some games into it to play with her. But she didn’t come because of the approaching semester exams, unlike his school’s, where the pattern and duration of exams were not the same as that of Shalini’s. Ankith had many a time discussed about her to his class mates and some have even pointed out that he was developing a crush on her. Although he negated their concerns, but her absence did make him frustrated. Was I falling in love with her?  Ankith was thinking over it when his brother Anuj and Nikhil approached him.

“ Bro, can you show the Digetsive chamber video which we took when we went to the Science EXPO” Anuj really wanted to score over Nikhil.

Ankith was already feeling bored playing the same game again and again. Finding Nikhil, Shalini’s brother, curious to know about it and hoping to impress him, Ankith immediately shut down the game and opened the folder in his Tablet connecting to a  video of the digestive chamber and asked Nikhil  to hold the tablet much to the dismay of Anuj. He then decided to rush through the channels in the Televison (in the main hall) and went in search of the remote control. Since the video file was quite large, it took some time for the video to appear on the screen as both of them waited patiently looking into the Tablet.

k)   30 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Aarathi came into the main hall. She looked around to have a glance where Vinay was standing and found him next to the window. As she was moving through the people, a fat man completely bald, resembling an egg kept upside down, wearing a coat and suit, with a glass (like the others) in his hand interrupted her

“ Madam, the first days of the gulf are really interesting. Lot to see. Malls, hotels, desert, garden, buildings but enter the second part “He was completely drunk so Aarathi smiled just not to annoy her husband.

“ The second part is life. After seeing all this understand that life is far away from all the things you have seen. So enjoy now” With that he moved along.

Aarathi didn’t understand what he meant by the second part of life. But his words were intense which meant something lay hidden among the words. Aarathi moved closer to Vinay.

“Look Aarathi a person from Cherpplassery” Aarathi  turned around unexcitedly. For a moment, she felt the breeze of her village from nowhere, she felt herself in the middle of the long paddy field in her village, she could see the narrow bridge over the canal through which only one person can move through, she could hear the ring of her cycle, she could feel her friends around her walking together to see the traditional Pooram festival and all the time she was not alone for  there was him catching her hand in the paddy field, and there was him giving her space to move through the narrow bridge as she rubbed her body on his. For in front of her stood the very person who escorted her in the paddy fields when retuning from her tuition classes, who had helped her once when she had fallen from the narrow bridge into the canal by risking his life, who had repaired her cycle many a times when it was not moving, he who taught her the meaning of love; Anil.  Regaining conscious after a brief pause, Aarathi asked

“ Where in cherplassery?”

l)    3 HOURs BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

The Lift opened on the 25th floor. John was arranging his hair on the mirror, while Catherine held Amie but from her expression it was clear she was least interested to attend the function. 

“Come on, cheer up. We did plan this outing days ago right” John was feeling disturbed as they came out of the lift.

“ I am not feeling well today” Catherine had no mood to start the debate. Amie who was in her hands stared smiling. Probably, she felt the raise in John’s sound was an indication that he was going to play with her.

“No, you shouldn’t be. In another six months, we will have to get her admission in the nursery which have access to the Indian schools over here”

Catherine did not seem to listen for It’s been two days she had not got any call from her Suzanne and neither was she picking her call up. She made it a point to call her daily to hear from her, which according to her was the most soothing sound in the world. A few days ago, she saw the movie “Kakkothikaavile Appoppan thaddiikal” where two sisters get separated in childhood when one of them gets stolen by a beggar and lands up in the hands of the gypsies. The song “ kannam thumbi  poraamo (Butterfly come)” was one of her all time favorites which drives her passion and fuels her longing desire to be with her Suzanne. But ever since watching the movie, she had tried to reach Suzanne but she was not picking up, neither was she responding back to her calls.

“If Suzanne’s not responding, no problem. She would call up tomorrow. She would be busy. Why you have to panick” John seems to understand her tension.

In the first month of their marriage, Catherine had become pregnant. This was a boon in disguise for her. She refused to relocate to Abu Dhabi hanging on to the doctor’s advice for a complete body rest. She was so happy to be with Suzanne .John thought. It was only after his child was born and her Suzanne getting married, she finally gave consent to relocate to Abu Dhabi.

Catherine did not respond. She felt it appropriate to remain quiet. She walked to the flat carrying Amie when John caught her hand and growled

“ You have that pesky habit of keeping silence for nothing”

At his sound Amie started giggling. Her papa would  take her favorite big teddy bear and play with her. She thought

When he picks up fight regarding Suzanne, Catherine sees John in the shape of the beggar in the film who separates the sisters in the movie. It was on her Suzanne’s compulsion that she had got married to John and she has many a times reminded him that his access card to her life was Suzanne, she preferred to put the word access card because John was working in that industry.

“Don’t dream inside and look after the child. Understand” and John pressed the door bell. From inside, he could hear Suresh  shout” Rekha open the door, it might be our guests”. Poor Rekha, she will have a lot of work to do John thought.

All this time, he was looking after Amie and I am just passing my time doing nothing in the house. Catherine thought as  the door opened wide and in front in her kitchen dress stood Rekha, with a warm smile.

“ You are the lucky  first”

m)   55 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

“ Welcome to the digestive chamber” A man in black suit carrying a stick resembling a Music conductor appeared on the screen .He stood near a cut out of a big mouth with sharp teeth. Another man appeared on the screen distributing some specially designed cap with picture of fruits, vegetables etc. The music conductor then called 4 children from the crowd and asked them to wear one cap each.

“ Each one of you will now be Fat, Protein, Carbohydrate and Minerals depending on your cap. You will now see how you are digested in the body. Everybody should listen to what is being said. Please don’t put your hats down until told to. SO everybody ready” . All the children cried ready and entered into the Cut out of the mouth.

As they entered inside the interior was lighted up. The children found themselves standing inside of the mouth (Palate, as was shown on the board).  Tiny droplets of water came from the side and hit them. The floor underneath them started moving to and fro. Suddenly there was the announcement from the guide.

“ You are now the food particle inside the mouth. This is the first place of digestion. The saliva gets mixed with the food and the tongue gives a to and fro motion to the food as it moves to the oesophagus” The word saliva made the children cautious as they started wiping out the drops from the face and body with a sound of disgust. “ When you move keep you heads low for there is the tonsils there”.

Suddenly the lights had gone and there was just a light on the tonsil model that the children had to move their heads and pass by the side to a very narrow lane that remained pitch dark.  As they moved inside one by one, small lights stared appearing and the curtains on the side started shaking as if sudden gush of air was hitting on the side.

“ Do not worry. You are in the Oesophagus. The vibrating motion moves the food through the oesophagus into the stomach. So Bon voyage”

  The travel through the narrow lane was not so easy due to scanty lighting and the shaky movement of the walls enclaving the path. After, they had reached the end of the tunnel like path, they found themselves in a big dark chamber, and all of the sudden the lights were on.

n)   1DAY BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

“ Have you finished your Maths homework for the tuition class tomorrow ” looking over her spectacles Shobha inquired to Shalini, who had just closed her book with a huge sigh of relief.Although she had Shifted from the indian syllabus to the present when she was in her primaries itself, she found it extraordinarily tough to cope with the syllabus

“ Yes mom” Shalini replied .

“ Then finish your pizza and go to sleep. You know that tomorrow we have a party in Rekha aunty’s house. So after your classes you can have the rest of pizza kept in the fridge or you can take some bread and biscuit. Ohk” Shalini nodded. She did not want to say no to her mother.

“Why does she have to attend the tuition tomorrow. Isn’t it Onam function? Let them also have some nice time there” Rajan, her father blurted out taking his eyes form the television screen.

“ What Onam. Her exams are approaching. She has to concentrate on that” Shobha replied ostentatiously

“ Shobha its such events that defines us. Only the methods have changed but such gatherings only improves their social commitments" it seemed Rajan was in a mood to debate.

“ What use of knowing Onam. You study, work hard and earn a living. These functions have practically no importance. Now enough of the discussion” Shobha was on her feet and went inside leaving Rajan perplexed.

The debate was normal between her mom and dad. Shalini thought. Her dad who worked as a travel executive used to be highly paid but due to the competition in the industry had to bear the brunt in his wages. But her mom got a job in the government sector as executive secretary and due to her sheer hard work she was promoted to HR manager. She received accommodation allowances from the government, the flat where they were residing now, and also was receiving a very decent salary including their educational expenses met by the firm, due to which , she and her brother Nikhil were studying in a globally recognized school.  

Residing to her room, Shalini opened the book least interestedly, for due to some reasons that she couldn’t understand, she wanted to take part in the Onam lunch tomorrow at Rekha aunty’s house.

o)   25 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Anil took his mobile from his pocket. He was not interested in the function neither was he interested to call his wife Maya. Already, he had spent a good amount of his salary on buying telephone cards and trying to initiate conversation with his wife Maya, but every time it ended up in long silences and finally the call going dead. Including the last time, when he said that money was send to his mother and she had to collect from her, all she replied was that she will not at any cost.

 He was watching Rajan who had stopped probably Vinay’s wife and seeing his inebriated state,  Anil expected something to turn out. But when he moved away, Anil couldn’t believe his senses for approaching him was none other than his neighbor, the girl he used to hold her hand and walk in the paddy field, the very girl whose used to intentionally spoil her cycle chain to bring it to him for repair, the very person who used to sing to him all the latest movie love songs behind the banyan tree back of the temple where he used to wait hours for her.

It was almost 3 years Anil had seen Aarathi, but she haven’t changed in all these years. When she turned around heeding her husband Vinay’s words, Anil noticed the look in her face and was confident that the reminiscence of the times, they used to share including their thoughts, their vision of life together and their dream of canoeing together in the river nearby, ran through her mind. How he had dreamt of singing the song

Alliyamabal Kadavilen arrakku vellam, annu nammal thuzhanjille kothumbu vallam…, a hit song from the early 70’s which when remixed and relased recently in a Malayalam movie” Loud Speaker” did hold the same mesmerizing effect in the hearts of the music lovers.

Anil’s eyes widened as Aarathi slowly inquired lowering her eyes

“Where in cherplassery?”

“You don’t know. You don’t know the house at the back of your field.” Anil could not control his emotions

 “You don’t know the river on the banks of which we used to sit for hours and dream of canoeing together”

Aarathi kept her head low.

“You don’t know the paddy field across which you used to go for tuition, and on being scared of returning alone, make me wait there even for hours. You don’t know the canal you fell into it when you were a kid, that I in my new school uniform had to jump into the canal to save you. How could you forget Aarathi. How could you forget our banyan tree, where we have written our names a thousand times and have dreamt of living together with our children and grand children”

He could see tears rolling from her eyes. On their back, a hit song Alimar kavvil pooram kanna from the movie “Midhunam” started playing

“What happened” Vinay asked looking astonished at Anil. “You forgot where you stay in your own native village”

Recovering from a dream, Anil immediately replied “True, I have forgotten where I stay since we moved out from cherpplussaery years ago.” With that he turned away, for he never expected Aarathi to behave so strangely to him. Aarathi looked at Vinay and walked back into the room while the TV channel Asia net was playing the song from Midhunam on the screen.

Anil did notice her walking by and after she had moved away turned to Vinay to have a word with him but found him moving towards the television screen. The channel was showing some scene of Amitabh Bachan and Dharmendra on the screen from the movie SHolay. Thank god, this fellow has also moved away. Anil thought. He took hold of his mobile and then made a quick search for a number in the mobile.

p)   50 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

The children entered a big chamber where it was written Stomach in bold letters. Inside there were four slow revolving cylindrical figures at the center and suddenly the lights were focusing on it, with the rest of the lights dimmed.

“Now all of you, had to go inside each room associated with the tag. Here is one of the major steps of digestion where your broken down food gets mixed with the digestive juice in the stomach. After completing, each one of you should proceed to a digital screen next to the cylinder and there would be a question for each after which the gate will open. Then you have to go the exit location shown on the other side of this room. So are you ready?”

The children shouted ready and each one entered the cylindrical chamber 

The chamber starts rotating as they enter and water can be seen falling from the top but it does not fall on the child standing inside the cylinder probably because of a glass kept above that prevents it and sends it through the side. The water is a symbol for digestive juice of the stomach as announced. Then each cylinder starts revolving, with their respective tag names (Minerals, carbohydrates etc) shown on the wall of the cylinder. In order the child with Minerals tag comes out of the door first as inside his chamber, the word Mineral gets covered to Nutrients, after that child with the carbohydrates tag comes out second, the word  Carbohdrate converts to Glucose, followed by the child with protein tag comes out third, the word  Protien gets converted to Aminoacid, and finally the child with fat tag comes out last with the word Fat gets converted to fatty acid.

“ You come out depending on your speed of digestion.  Which means you should know that Minerals takes the smallest time to digest while Fat takes the longest time to digest”  

Then there was a digital screen where different types of food were shown and the children had to categorize them in terms of fat, protein, carbohydrates and minerals. All the fast food items were found under the fat tag more than the protein. The individual gate opened and Minerals had come out fast, Carbohydtares too made a quick exit, followed by Protein and finally fat.

“Each one of you sit on an inflammable boat and you will now go on a ride through the small intestine”.    All the children one by one sat on four inflammable boats in the order as Minerals, Carbohydrates, Proteins and Fat. Then slowly each boat started its movement trough a narrow lane on water beneath pushed by a motor similar to the water theme parks, while there was an announcement

“Minerals had already been digested in the body, while Protiens and fats need more juices to digest. So the protein and fat please enjoy”

As all the boats moved through a very narrow lane, they saw a mushroom shaped thing on the side with LIVER  written on it. Suddenly water splashed on the boat carrying fat, while from the other side water splashed on protein from a clay model with PANCREAS written on it.

And as all the boats moved by, they reached a tunnel where it was written in bold letters FOR THOSE WHO EAT FOOD THAT CANNOT BE DIGESTED and speed of the boat reduced as the boat entered the dark tunnel.

There was a strange music similar to a slow Brazilian Samba music, and as the baots turned, left, and right slowly, the music instensity increased and all of a sudden there was a large worm shaped figue that stood in frontof the boats with sudden music and light that immediately made the children cry in horror.

“ beware, I will live in your stomach, if you eat more junk food”. The worm was moving and laughing while the boats moved slowly.

Anuj immediately pulled the Tablet from Nikhil and started running while Nikhil who was deeply listening and watching everything very cautiously deiced to chase Anuj when he came and hit a tall man.

Hahaha Worms in your stomach” cried out Anuj while Nikhil was immediately on his feet and ran to catch him.

“ Eating pizza full of worms” Anuj was teasing Nikhil while running. They did not notice little Amie standing in their way and Nikhil fell on Amie and she fell down with her head hitting the edge of sofa. She immediately cried out loud and the boys sensing danger ran out of the room as they watched her mom come and pick up the child.

q)   20 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

John first kept Amie on his lap. He had to hold the glass in one hand too. Amie had stopped crying when John gave the key of his car to her. For Amie, the key is an indication that they are going out. She giggled and started playing with the key.

“When are they going to bring down the petrol price?” John wanted to be back in action. He left out of the discussion when he heard Amie crying. He had immediately taken the child from Catherine with the notion that she was still dreaming about her Suzanne and that she was not taking care of the child.

Amie sitting on his lap was giggling hearing her father’s intensifying sound. But after some time with no activity and many a times looking over to John, she found something missing. She didn’t know what was missing but decided to explore. She got down from his lap.

“The left has no alternative.. wait there darling don’t go” John immediately turned his attention to his daughter who had already started moving around in search of something missing she felt.  John raised her up and started talking.

“Regarding petrol price increase what alternative does the left have” John moving his face away from the exploring fingers of Amie. She was in fact pulling John’s mouth because every time she does that he comes up with some funny sounds. But she didn’t know this time that a serious subject of discussion was going on..

“Increasing corporate tax is an alternative says the left” Rajan was also in the discussion. Although he was drunk and a few minutes ago gave some philosophical statements to Aarathi who was introduced earlier in the day, politics brought in him some consciousness, John thought.

Taking a sip from his glass, bringing down Amie, John was quick to make his comment “No, That is not an alternative. Without the corporate, it’s impossible for India to move forward”

 “Why not, since the corporate are building empires and with such a huge consumer population in india, it’s not advisable to keep the same tax perks for them over the years again and again” Suresh made his mark. But when Suresh had given his opinion, John had calmed down. Folding his hands and keeping the glass on the table, John most respectably replied, “isn’t that naïve for the corporate to invest in the country and end up paying taxes which would be eating into their profits. There should be toys, by the government to support them”

“ Toys” exclaimed Suresh.

“ Oh no, Amie” regaining his senses that Amie was not around him, he started moving through the guests and as he came out of the main room, saw Amie giggling and smiling, sitting comfortably in the arms of her mother Catherine. For a moment John turned around and then slowly came near to his wife, and his head hung in shame said

“ I am sorry dear”

r)   30 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Maya was once again feeling bored. She did not pick up purposely her husband Anil’s call. She was irritated when he had sent the money to his mother rather than to her account for she wanted to buy the latest edition of manorama, which contained some articles much to her interest. She had that hard intuition that her husband did not like her and was forced to marry by his mother; that wretched lady, she thought.

She looked at her wedding photo. She still remembers the photo shooting session when some of her friends who had turned up for the marriage, slowly murmured in her ears, how did she get him. Further to that, when they were taking some snaps outside the marriage auditorium, the camera man pointed out that the due to significant contrast in their complexion, natural color could not be used and they had to use extra lighting to make the photo better. She was infuriated right from the day one of their marriage.

Standing in front of more than 50 people who had come to see her as part of the traditional, undemocratic , as per her opinion, selection of bride methodology, she didn’t remember seeing Anil’s face  except that he was a fair person and that she was confident that she would have to wait for the next guy. But when her parents came up to her saying that the groom had given his consent, she really wanted to have a word with him, probably thinking that he might too have done a lot of bride hunting and the selection must have been a misunderstanding. But her parents did not allow and considering their worries in getting their daughter get married off, she decided not to hinder. Maya loved her parents a lot.

 But what was in store for Maya was even worse. Anil never talked with her in spite Maya trying to indulge in some conversations with him. Neither was he sexually interested in her, as once she had undraped her sari, while he was in the bed and tried rubbing her body against his. But he had pushed her to the side and resumed his sleep. Just days after marriage all of a sudden he had come up saying that his manager requires him there urgently and without saying a word packed his things and left. Maya thought that this was once and for all and he would never return.

After some weeks, when she had not received any calls for him, she decided to speak about this to her mother. Probably, his actions fuelled her frustration with her in laws that she started hating his mother. Before she was about to speak on is to her mother, he called up one night. She felt probably this was the first time she was hearing his sound properly other than when he made a general announcement of flying back urgently. But the phone call she felt was his another drama. He was silent throughout the call such that she had to cut the phone infuriating her further. An advice from her close friend, that it was the wives who should normally initiate conversations, the next time he called, she started speaking of her village and her pets, once again there was dead silence at the other end.  However,the next day his mother in law came and gave her a mobile and this she found as positive. She decide to take the next step, the typical nagging criteria, asking for various things including new undergarments just to arouse his passion and also make him feel that she was totally dependant on him. To her surprise he responded, saying that he would send her some money for her private things.

But instead he had sent the money to his mother. She did get frustrated at this. When he had advised her to collect the money from his mother, she had said a big no and ever since she did not respond to his calls. Maya was thinking about this when she saw Anil’s call on the mobile. She cut it. God know’s where he is, what he is doing, no idea, no information. She thought.

But to her surprise she found the mobile ringing again. This was not normal. Because when she had cut his call, he would call after a long time and even might not call. She picked up his call.

“ Hello.. what is it? “

“ Maya, I am coming home tomorrow. I have told my friend to reserve two tickets to Munnar. He will come in the afternoon and give it to you. Prepare yourself for the journey. I want to talk with you a lot. See you Maya. “

The phone went blank. Maya did not understand what had just happened. She wanted to recollect  what he had just said in the phone and was it her husband? Regaining senses , she ran out of her room, went inside the next room where his mother was watching Television, touched her feet , laughed , leaving an astonished look on her in law’s face, came back inside and jumped into the bed. Maya had already started dreaming.

s)   DURING THE THE ONAM LUNCH

“More and more. It’s so delicious. “Rajan was commenting while Rekha was serving him the various dishes that she had prepared as part of the function. “the avial ( a specially made dish comprising of mixed vegetables) is excellent . Remind’s me of my mother.” Rajan was heartily eating from his leaf. All the dishes were served in the banana leaf typical to a traditional onam lunch. 

Shobha who was sitting on the other end of the table was not looking up. She was not watching her husband enjoy the traditional meal arranged by Rekha. In fact, normally during this time of the year, they would be travelling to some places or staying in some hotels. But this time, due to her daughter’s change in semester, they could not. So being present in town and rejecting the invitation of Suresh, would be a sheer insult for him. Since she had to leave fast because her daughter’s tuition would get over, she was told to have lunch along with her husband who for her now seemed to be a joker in the pack.

“I have read in one article. It says food is one of the easiest ways for a woman to reach her husband’s heart. “Rajan was not willing to stop. “ I don’t think for Suresh and Rekha the way is long” With that all the people who were seated on the table erupted in laughter.

“You should be proud of Rekha. How well she has organized such a big function. “Rajan continued. The other guests who were seated around also seems to share his opinion “True”

Suresh looked at Rekha for a moment. The very charming smile when for the first time he had been to see her with his parents 18 years ago, had not changed. He had never allowed her to go for a job but she had never complained in all this years of married life. Ever since being the general manager of a firm and moving into this new flat, they have hosted a various amount of parties in that house, and for a moment he thought that all this has been possible since she had been a wonderful hostess.  A few minutes back he was able to see how she had managed the lunch session.

She had arranged the table with banana leaves and then brought in 17 dishes on to table with the help of her eldest son Ankith’s who found it most usual to run errands for his mom.  After arranging the dishes she had put all the items one by one on the leaf in a extremely professional manner. All this time the male guests who had gathered there were busy talking, and at the same time taking the occasional sips from their respective glasses. After that patiently she came up to Suresh, for he was busy involved in a discussion of international politics, to announce that lunch has been served. At the same time she listed out the names of those who want to leave early due to private reasons as preference were given to them. She also advised her husband Suresh to dine with the group just to give them a company while she served. Now the words from his friend Rajan reverberated in his mind.  How lucky he was, thought Suresh.

“My wife too cooks food, she is specialized in chicken” John spoke out loud, proabably after the bad episode he had this morning and somehow wanted to negate it. “ My wife’s speciality is her dosa and I invite all of you one day to mine” another echoed his opinion.

“ And mine’s pizza” Rajan claimed “ I will not invite you because you can get that in Pizza Hut” that resulted once gain in groups of laughter. Rekha looked at Shobha who had stopped her lunch and got up from her seat. Shobha was feeling disgraced at her husband’s words and as she turned around, she found her son Nikhil come, hug her and say “ Mom, please give me more vegetables. You know digestion is very tough when we eat protein and Fat. And on top of it we will get worms in our stomach. I don’t want worms”

Shobha felt totally surprised at his words and now she really wanted to push out from there with both father and son making the necessary dent on her pride. She couldn’t think of Rekha laughing behind her back, when all of a sudden the door bell rang. Rekha asked Ankith to open the door, thinking proabbaly it might be some item from the grocery she had ordered some time ago.

On his mother’s order although least interested, he opened the door and much to his delight, the person at the door was none other than Shalini. She smiled and extended her hand to him

“ hi Ankith, hope your treat is not over? “

Shaking her hand Ankith replied” No No, its not ,please come in”

t)    20 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Aarathi was surprised to hear Anil’s words that he no longer lived in cherplussery. As she turned around to Vinay and walked away, the song that was played from the movie Midhunam, the song that featured a boy and a girl going to watch pooram (a traditional festival of kerala) brought into her mind the long gone days of the past. She used to go with her cousins while he followed them all the way to the festival and back till she reaches her house.  When her husband had asked whether she knew him, she was wondering how she could not know him. How could she forget the days he used to escort her to tuition class and wait for hours to help me back to her house?

Aarathi entered the room where the clock was kept displaying the photos of Suresh and Rekha together. She was watching carefully the smile of Rekha in each of the photos. She noticed that the smiles never remained the same as their years of marriage moved ahead.  In their first year of marriage, she posed a grin standing probably on a hilly area with Suresh, and as the photo rolled by this time inside a big hotel, her smile had changed to a more pleasing one and with each photos, the intensity of her smile had become betterand better. Aarathi suddenly felt a grip of  responsibility of a wife in her, her husband, and her future. That’s what makes the smile of a woman rather than the memories.

She was thinking about this when her husband Vinay came inside the room and uttered

“ Aarathi we have to leave now. If anybody asks, tell one of my friend is seriously hurt and have to get there immediately. Get ready”

u)   30 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

Catherine was feeling terribly angry. Since childhood when she was angry, tears used to roll down from her eyes. Her husband had insulted her in front of everybody. She looked in the mirror. She was choking with rage when she heard the knock on the door.

Some lady has got so in much interested in the fight. She thought.

She opened the door to find a smiling Prema in front.

“come outside dear, don’t cry. All this are part of life”

Catherine came outside and Prema made her sit beside her. “ Husbands are those guys who should be willing to take responsibility. Even if it’s handling the child, or running around for your wife or anything that involves family. You should be happy” Prema paused for a moment. “ My husband was never”

Catherine had come to know about Prema from her sister Suzanne. She was in love with a professor in her college as was told by Suzanne. After some hassles and tussles in the family, it ended up both the parties agreeing on their marriage. But very recently from her sister she had come to know that Prema is divorced. Suzanne had never said the reason neither cathrin had inquired because she had attended their marriage and they were a lovely pair together in spite of more than 10 year age difference between them.

“Believe me Catherine , men are very weak creatures. They only know how to shout and don’t analyze a situation as we do. So go now, I am sure by this time your child would be alone”

Catherine went inside to the main hall and from a distance spotted her child moving through the people. She went and picked up Amie and probably her touch would have made Amie giggle again, because by now Amie was completely aware of the something she was terribly missing. After a few minutes, she saw her husband John coming from the main hall into the corridor searching for the baby. She was so angry at him for insulting her, but her husband’s look of remorse and Prema’s words on a husband’s responsibility diluted her feelings and she felt more happy when he had come up to her and said sorry.

“ Suzanne calling Catherine” Prema holding Catherine’s mobile in her hand. John immediately took Amie in his hands while Catherine rushed to get the mobile. But on picking the mobile, she was not able to hear from the other end . She rushed through the room into the corner trying her best to hear from the most admired person in her life.

v)   DURING THE ONAM LUNCH

“ Why are you sitting now. You could have taken the lunch last” Suresh was not happy when Anil had sat in the first round of the lunch session.

Holding a pappad in his hand and munching heartily, anil replied "I have to go fast, I am going to Kerala today” Anil had made up his mind to sit.

“Why suddenly. You just came back a few months ago. I don’t think you will get leave”

“ I am planning to resign” Anil said unhesitantly.

“ What, are you mad. What are you going to do, beg in kerala” Suresh inquired raising his voice.

“No, my friend is the tourism minister. We were together in SFI (a left leaning student’s organization) after which he got completely into politics. When I told him about my situation, he told me about a KINFRA based food park, the government has already opened and asked me to join that firm as lot of industrial openings are expected”

“Expected. You know in kerala industries and that too by the left parties will take years to open. Its just words. Don’t listen to them and lose this job” Suresh spoke insultingly

“ I belive in him and I belive the left movement in kerala. All this will be possible. Already I have booked the ticket and i have decided” Anil’s words were stern this time and not like the way he used to be when Suresh would hurl words of insult at him. He had taken the decision to go back. He already told his wife Maya that he would be at home the next day. He wanted to start fresh with her.  He was sure she would understand her. He had called his friend who had promised him on something for his betterment. Anil was eating heartily and compared to his previous visits and dining with them, he felt the food more delicious.

Suresh was surprised at his cousin. He still had to pay out the loan he had taken from the bank for his sister’s dowry. On top of it, his marriage also had cost him a good amount. Amidst this he was quitting the job and in search of something which had no guarantee. But he knew one thing. Defientley he must have seen a white light at the end of the horizon. For sure, it must be his minister friend since Suresh was aware of Anil’s father killed in apolitical fight between the left and the religious fanatics and hence his influence in the left parties in Kerala.  As Suresh watched him eat, his confidence outshined the huge responsibilities infront of him and for the first time he felt a respect for his cousin.

w)   DURING THE ONAM LUNCH

Vinay pressed the button for the Ground floor. He was excited to come out of the treat. Aarathi found it amusing because all this time, he was eager to reach Suresh’s house, now without even completing the lunch he was leaving the house and that too excitedly.

“ We are going to my friend Abhilash’s house. He is conducting an onam treat with some of my close friends in his house. We will have lunch from there. “

Aarathi has met Abhilash and knows how sincere he was to Vinay. But suddenly what changed his mind. Was it something related with her? She started feeling tensed. Slowly she mustered the courage to ask

“ Why this sudden change?”

“ Nothing I just thought about him. In fact let me tell you the truth. I saw the scene from the movie Shoaly, Amitabh dying in the hands of DHarmendra (both great actors from the industry). The song “ yeh Dosti , Hum Nahin CHodenge” made me more remorse that I had reneged on my word on celebrating Onam together. You know we used to sing together that song when we do partying in his house there. “

“That’s good ,he is your best friend anyway” Aarathi replied smiling.

“I wanted to tell you one thing Vinay”

Vinay looked at her, thinking that she had already made up some friends there at the party and that she wished to be there.

“ I am willing to go to work” Aarathi mentioned  cautiously keeping her eyes fixed on vinay.

“Good, that’s nice to hear. But why this sudden change” Vinay inquired although excited.

“I saw that man , you know you said from my place, struggling here in U.A.E while his wife back in the country. How could one live like that. I have understood that for all the good living on today, its best that both husband and wife is off to work”

Vinay smiled at her stealthy response.

The lift had reached the ground floor and they got out. Vinay was walking quite front to catch a taxi, but suddenly he stopped and asked Aarathi, who was behind him” By the way how do you know the man’s married”

For a moment, she felt caught. She should have not given such a big expression. It’s true that empty vessels makes more sound. She had come to know from her friends that Anil had married. In fact she wanted to ask about his wife but his reply did come as surprise for her. Aarathi then looked straight into Vinay's eyes, and replied in a composed tone

“I saw the ring on his finger”

x)   20 MINUTES BEFORE THE ONAM LUNCH

It was 4: 30 am in California. Suzanne was sick and its been two days she was off from her job with the California based legal firm. Her husband Mathew had flown to London urgently. Mathew was quite busy with his new project as the work had just started, and lots of outstanding issues were associated with his work.   Suzanne thought. Although she did not understand the nature of his work to the core, he had many a time mentioned about the British airways, their traffic issues and program to ease traffic. But she didn’t understand why for the work in Britain had to be done from U.S that too recruiting labor from India. The world had become so complicated, Suzanne thought.

Suzanne was not feeling sleepy and was having a nauseating feeling. She didn’t have anything since two days, because any consumption would end up in vomiting. She didn’t feel like getting up from the bed. She didn’t want to call Catherine that night cause she had told about an Onam party with her husband’s friends. Christmas was approaching in another two months, and she was thinking of buying a gift for Amie. Amie, how sweet she was, thought Suzanne. Suzanne still remember the day she was born and Suzanne was the first person to hold her in her hand. She at once understood that the baby resembled more like John. She was so happy that day,But her happiness had its limits. Ever since she was forced to marry from all corners, this time her father too seriously got involved in that discussion. Six months after her birth, Catherine took Amie away from Suzanne as a sign of protest, promising that she would return only if Suzzane had given consent for marriage. Silent protests from her father and brother continued on one side and finally Suzanne had to agree to be tied the knot. Only after she had agreed, she was allowed to hold Amie and till now Suzanne considers that the most memorable day of her life. The thought of Amie, her giggles, promulgated her love for her, that Suzanne immediately rang up her sister up to know whether she had reached home after the party in order to engage in a webcam chat with Catherine. But to her dismay, it seemed Catherine was still in the party as she was not able to hear properly from the other end. She might be with Prema. Poor Prema she thought.

Prema was her best freind although she had to quit her college in the middle. Prema at that time was already in love with a young professor Vishwanath and soon after her college, they had married amidst the hoopla from his and her relatives from both the sides. After some years, she called her one day to announce that she was pregnant. Suzanne could feel Prema’s enthusiasm when she had informed this news to her. Shortly afterwards, she called up saying that she had performed an abortion. This surprised Suzanne for her enthusiasm had resided and she spoke monotonously.  

But worse was to follow. Once when Suzanne had called up to her in law’s house, the lady who picked up the phone said she had no idea where Prema was. Immediately Suzanne then called to Prema’s house and to her surprise, she had come to know that she was somewhere in Chennai. For many months, concerns of Prema filled up the thoughts of Suzanne, until Amie was born. Finally when her marriage was fixed, Suzanne decided to search for Prema to invite her for the marriage. With the help of some of the friends of Mathew in Chennai, she was finally able to get her contact number. Prema was so happy to hear from Suzanne and said definitely she would come for the function.

As promised on her marriage she was present and that too alone. SUzanne asked about Vishwanath, but Prema replied very casually that she was divorced. Standing on the marriage auditorium with Mathew, she felt the shock of her life.

Before she left back to chennai, she did narrate her horrendous experience with Vishwanath and his family.On Vishwananth’s compulsion of not being settled in life, Prema was forced to abort the child. However, this proved to be costly for Prema as the doctors declared her future chances of being a mother not possible. As years moved by her in laws started complaining on why she was not getting pregnant. Her husband didn’t inform them that it was his decision to abort the child and all the blame came upon Prema. When Vishwanath had moved into a comfortable job, Prema became a burden for him.  Constant blame game by her in laws and silence of Vishwanath, made her take this decision of which her parents even did not stand up with her. Prema was crying when she had finished narrating this to Suzanne on the same day of her marriage. Lying on the bed, stuffing herself under the blanket in California, Suzanne thought at least Mathew is not hard hearted as Vishwanath, when she heard her mobile ring.

“Suzanne how are you? Tell me why no call? Are you alright” it was Catherine on the other end.

“ I was sick two days. Getting better now” Suzanne replied hearing her little sister’s sound she was already feeling well

“ Wow, good” Catherine exclaimed excitedly. “ Go immediately, have a check up with a gynecologist”

“ No, no need of that” Suzanne replied calmly” You call me when you reach home, I want to see Amie also”

“Ohk Suzanne, I will sure. How nice to hear” with sound of excitement she cut the phone.

I should not have  informed to her about my sickness. Suzanne thought.  She must have already started thinking about me being pregnant. How could I tell her , it is not possible.Suzanne thought with tears rolling down from her eyes. How could I say to her that my husband is a gay.

y)    DURING THE ONAM LUNCH

Shobha was surprised to see Shalini come inside the room..Already feeling frustrated at Rajan, she could not control herself seeing Shalini

 “ Shalini, what is this? How come you be here”

Shalini on seeing her mom angry, replied calmly” Mom tuition classes got over an hour ago. I was about to study and have something when papa called me up. “ Shobha was quite frustrated but she controlled herself and said “ Ohk go eat. We will talk about it later”

Shalini feeling relived after her mother’s questionnaire session went near to the dining hall accompanied by Ankith.

“ Wait I have something to show you” the thought of the tablet came into his mind. 

“ Sure, why not” Shalini replied with a sheepish grin.

He went and caught hold of Anuj and asked him to bring the PC tablet and now it was his time to flaunt his techie knowledge in front of her.

“ By the way, I forgot to tell you. You remember last time I told of a techie guy Haroon who had a tablet with him. He was a big freak. He used to flirt around with every girls and I have seen him flaunt his tablet to them all. I was so pissed off. I think all the techies are big freaks”

As soon as she finished saying that, she turned around to find Anuj with a Tablet in his hand. She looked at Ankith for a moment.

“ Ahh.. that’s not mine, that’s papa’s. He usually carries it for business meetings” Ankith was trying hard to make up a story leaving Anuj astonished. “ I don’t like all this things. I just load some games for Anuj to play, that’s all” with that he gave a hint to Anuj to take that away , leaving Anuj confused onhis brother’s character who a few minutes back caught him on his ears and ordered him to bring immediately the tablet. Ankith immediately changed the topic to her school and educational syllables and for all the first time throughout the day, he was feeling happy. 

Well, big brothers are like that. When they have new friends they forget the old ones. Anuj thought and he took the tablet inside to his room. 

z)   AFTER THE ONAM LUNCH

Not much was left . Rekha thought while cleaning the plates. She noticed the keralites interest towards spicy dishes, for the ones which were spicier had finished. Probably the men folk were consuming alcohol and a little more spice didn’t make much difference to them. She had made 17 dishes and had been working on it two days back. She did not want anything to be served from outside and hence a complete homemade dishes were her plan. She knew that her husband would come up and inquire whether everything was alright and would be of no much help.  The only person who would support her would be her eldest son Ankith, the darling of her life. She had already sent him out to buy some soap powder, as she had already drained the bottle. When Rekha turned around to keep the plate on the rack in her kitchen, she was surprised to see Suresh standing beside her.

Suresh took one plate from the sink and was about to put soap on it, when Rekha interfered

“No leave it there. I can do it. It’s not much” Rekha said catching his hand although in her mind she wanted to rent someone for a day to clean the plates.

“No problem dear. I will help you. I know you must be feeling solidly tired. You take rest, and leave this to me and Ankith” Suresh said while bringing the scrubber near to the plate.

“No I will stay here. Remember, the days when we used to together wash the dishes. At that time we used to stay in a flat, sharing the kitchen with another family and before they used to start their cooking we used to finish all our work to avoid their cooking experiments. It was so nice” Rekha was already in a mood to dream.

“Ya, all those financially bad times” Suresh replied trying to evade away

“No , not bad time at all” Rekha responded immediately. “that’s life. Why are you becoming so much money minded”

“How many times I have told you Rekha. I have come through poverty. My education, my family suffered many a times due to financial crunch” Suresh replied calmly.

“ Ohk, then why do you insult people. I know the person in you who never insults anyone just because he came a from a lower financial background” Rekha knew that this was the perfect time to ask.

“ Whom did I insult” Suresh asked drying the plate with the table cloth.

“Your cousin Anil. You don’t want him to sit with you neither you gave him drink. Why do you insult”

Suresh laughed. “ He deserves to be insulted. He has two sisters behind him and on top of it his father had passed away.  Neither was he serious in his studies, his life and more over he was back of some girl without even properly standing on his own legs”

Suresh looked straight into Rekha’s eyes” He took a loan to get his sister married. I brought him here and gave him a job as store keeper in a supermarket, with a decent accommodation in the city. And you know he quit that job, for this girl and rushed to kerala to marry her. Did that work? No, after that again he landed up here, this time I did not help him.”

“The why did you say to him no to tell his job to others” rekha raised her concern

“Just to make him feel guilty that he lost a good job for this small one” Suresh was adamant this time.

“ And I know one more thing of many who had come here. Vinay’s intention from me was to get his wife some job in my firm, John’s intention was admission of his daughter in some schools from my recommendation. I enjoy that. I know the times when were not even considered by our very own neighbors, now people start coming to me to get their things done. I have achieved this from my hard work”

SUresh paused and he took the second plate.  Rekha came close to him and with her forehead bumped him on his cheek erupting in laughter. Suddenly they heard Anuj shouting from inside the room” Mamma, Shobha aunty is there on phone”

“ clean all the plates before I come back” with a smile Rekha washed the hands and rushed out of the room. She knew Shobha was so frustrated as she left their house, now just hours after the party calling her means something bad must have happened. She felt pity for a moment at Shobha who was at the receiving end from all the other three members of her family including her son who had come up to her saying that he wants to eat more vegetables. She picked up the phone to hear a tensed Shobha

“ Hi rekha”

“Hi Shobha, whats the matter? “ Rekha asked

“ Nothing , I just wanted to know one thing”  Her words seemed to cut in between.

“ What is it tell me? “ responded Rekha tensely.

“ I wanted to know the recipe of Avial you made today”

Rekha couldn’t understand what she just asked

“ My husband and childen loved it. I plan to make it for lunch tomorrow”

Rekha felt like laughing out loud and informing this to her husband, but she did not want to insult Shobha for she knew from Suresh about Shobha's hard work and perseverance that did make their family financially secured. In the most humble manner ,Rekha replied

“ At first, take the vegetables and boil………

THE END