78 | The One With the Fortune

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"You coming inside to worship, Madhav?" Yashoda asks as Madhav halts the car outside the mandhir in Munnar.

"No, I'm good." Madhav shakes his head.

"He lost all the hope he had in god after the jet incident." Shree whispers adjusting the pink kurta she was wearing. "And by god, I mean gods from all religions. He simply stopped believing in Them."

"So he's not coming with us?" Yashoda asks.

"Wrong!" Madhav says unbuckling his seat belt. "I'm coming in for Shree."

"Hooray!" Madhu exclaims from the front seat.

"But we better make it quick, since you have a checkup in an hour, Shree." Madhav says.

"I know, baby." Shree says pinching his cheeks.

"After the check up drop me at the Munnar bus halt. I'm going to my friend's house in Thodupuzha. I'm staying over at her house for a few days." Yashoda says. "I haven't seen her after Madhav's wedding - I mean the wedding that happened in 2017!!!"

"Don't worry Ma!" Shree consoles. "We'll drop you at her house."

"And on the way home can we get ice cream?" Madhu asks.

"No!" Madhav and Shree both exclaim to her disappointment.

* * * * *

They walked inside the mandhir, Shree was struck the divine beauty of the mandhir, she walked in listening to the sound of his own bare feet slipping across the cool stone floor which was decorated by little lamps fluttering, running in parallel lines, running perpendicular to the steps that led to the entrance of the temple, and breathing deeply in the familiar smell of incense and lamp oil, feeling the comforting atmosphere of the old stone walls.

Madhav follows Shree, Madhu and Yashoda as they walk around the temple premises. 

"Mumma! Nanna! Look that's a parroty!" Madhu exclaims excitedly. pointing towards the parrot-fortune teller who was seated under the big banyan tree. The insects sang as the winds whispered into the air around them. Madhu noticed the leaves of the tree dropped lazily onto the soil.

"That's a parrot fortune teller, baby." Shree says.

"WHOA!" Madhu wonders amuse. "What do they do?"

"They have a stack of cards, and the parrot will draw a lucky card for your name to tell your fortune." Yashoda says.

"Mumma, I wanna try!" Madhu exclaims.

"But kannamma, it's all fake!" Madhav says. "It's all based on hoax and is just as fake as astrology itself! A bird turning over cards? How entertaining! How absolutely mindless and ridiculous!"

"I wanna try it, Nanna!" Madhu replies looking at him. "Please?"

Madhav sighs as Madhu looks up at him with her big brown eyes.

"Fine. But this is the first and the last time!" Madhav says. Madhu jumps up and down excitedly running towards the tree dragging Madhav.

Under the big banyan tree, an old lady was seated, dressed in a green sari chewing on betel. She had a white cloth spread out before her, with a deck of card and a cage that had a green parrot.

"Can you ask the parrot to take a card for me?" Madhu asks excitedly sitting down under the tree.

The old lady laughs. "Sure child, what's your name?"

"Madhushree Ramakrishna-Prasad."

The old lady opens the cage and the parrot waddles outside towards the card deck. "Pick one card for Madhushree Ramakrishna-Prasad."

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