Disclaimer: The characters in this novella are purely fictional. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.
Kiran returned home at about 5:00 pm. Geeta and Raman were already at home. Swati had not yet returned.
“Kiran, did Swati call you to let you know that she would be late? I am worried given the fact that there is a bit of hullabaloo in the city”, Ammu said.
Kiran did not answer. Going by the fact that everything was closing early that day, why was Swati not yet at home? He tried calling Raghavan’s home to see if she was there. Unfortunately, she was not there either.
Swati sauntered inside at around 6:30 pm. It was almost dark by then.
“Swati ma, we were worried as to what happened as there has been a tense situation in the city. Glad you are back safe and hope all is fine”, Ammu said.
“I’m not a baby. I have been brought up in this city. I know my way”, Swati snapped and went to her bedroom.
Though no one commented, everyone saw a glare in Swati’s eyes. It was very bright and her pupils seemed unusually large. The fire in her eyes could have burnt them all.
Ammu was taken aback. So were Raman and Geeta. Geeta, felt very sad, as Ammu had always been more of a mother to her than a mother-in-law. Ammu was genuinely concerned. Nobody said anything. Vicky’s confusion of the day’s event increased. What was the reason for this behaviour?
Kiran went to the bedroom to see what happened. The bedroom light was switched off. The green night light was turned on. He could see Swati ‘s silhouette on the bed.
“Swati, Swati?”, Kiran whispered quietly.
There was no response. Straining his eyes in the dim green night-light he could see that her eyes were closed. She was breathing evenly. Swati had not changed into her nightie (her home clothes). Kiran was not sure if she was really sleeping, but he decided not to bother her.
He walked out of the bedroom.
His mind replayed the happenings of the past few weeks. It was almost two weeks since their wedding.
The few relatives that they had, had arrived for the wedding almost a week in advance. Since then there has been festivities at home. His sister Tara was also there from Kerala three weeks in advance to help Raman, Geeta and Ammu with wedding preparations that can be very laborious – buying gorgeous sarees, going to family and friends’ homes to invite them for the wedding, buying return gifts for people, based on their proximity to the family and many more. Easy day was filled with excitement and a lot of work to accomplish.
Amidst all the work associated with wedding, Tara wanted to see her soon to be sister-in-law in person. So, Kiran and her called Raghavan’s house and decided to visit them one evening.
Kiran and Tara knocked the door. Raghavan answered with a pleasing smile. “Please come in”
Kaveri joined and welcomed them both. Sunder was also there. Everyone had a cheerful personality. Tara liked the family immediately.
Swati was not there. When Tara inquired about Swati, Kaveri said –
“Oh, she should be here anytime now. We did mention to you that she was going to be helping some of her students this evening”
Tara and Kiran were immersed in the conversation that they did not realize that it was already past 7:30 pm. And Swati was not there yet.
“Does Swati have a pager? May be we can page her to let her know that we are here and see when she would be back.” Tara asked.
“I have already paged her. May be she is stuck in traffic and doesn’t have access to a public telephone booth” Kaveri replied.
“Wouldn’t it be so useful if we are able to have the phone that they are talking about which can be carried anywhere; that which is going to invade and revolutionize the telecom industry? It seems it is already in use in the elite community in the big four Metros”, chipped in Sunder.
“I would like to say yes, but am skeptical about that phone though. How is it even possible to have a phone that is actually not connected anywhere?” Raghavan mentioned.
“Mama, may be it will be an extension of our current cordless phone. But, how could it work anywhere? Hmmm… Technology!” Kiran sighed.
And their conversation continued. In a little while, Tara checked the time and realized that it was past 8 pm. As she could not wait any longer, she politely took leave of Raghavan and Kaveri –
“We have to leave now Mama and Mami. Please let Swati know that we were here and waited quite a while. Also, let us know once she has safely reached home.”
“Of course yes. We will let you know when she is back”, said Raghavan.
After the exchange of the traditional betel leaves and kumkum, Tara and Kiran took leave. They took off in Kiran’s “Yamaha” motorbike.
On their way, Kiran’s pager beeped. There was the message that Swati had returned home safely. As Tara did not want to go back to Swati’s house, as it was already late and they had umpteen things to do, they continued to their home in Koti.
Though Tara was not happy that her soon to be sister-in-law did not show up on time, even though they had not sprung a surprise on her, she did not say anything.
Kiran was brought back to reality when Vicky said, “Kiran, I need to talk to you. Let’s go to the terrace”.
In the terrace Vicky mentioned that he saw Swati with another man, holding hands. Kiran was in a state of shock and was confused. Was this wedding the right thing? Was there anything that he was missing?
He hoped that everything would become fine and that it was all the initial troubles of adjustments, the starting trouble, which is common in any marriage.
Kiran was once again transported back to the wedding events.
Once Again…???!!! Chapter 3: the Erudition
to continue…