Seetha Kalyanam Vaibohame

Valai kaapu

Once Seetha and Arun had called their families to share the confirmed good news, there were tons of instructions from either side. The slightly worried Raji told Seetha, "Jaagardhaiya irundhukko, unnala mudinja varaikkum odi aadi velai ellam pannu appo thaan suga prasavam aagum. Podavaiyala vayara moodikko. Aalugaloda dhrishti padum. Aaram maasathula nee vandhoodu maapillai kooda. Valai kaapu pannaname. Letter ezhudhu kondhey." (Be careful. Do as much work as you can only then will you have an easy, normal delivery. Cover your stomach with the saree else people might throw evil eyes at you. We will bring you home for the bangle ceremony) As far as Parvathy's instructions went, she told Arun, "Dei avala sandhoshama paathukko da. Avalukku enna venamo vaangi kudu. Madras veyyillukku elaneer vaangi kudu. Dhivasam konjam nadakka kooteendu po. Aparam andha Dhanathukitta adikkadi leave podadhikki vara chollu. Innoru mukkiyamaana vishayam. Avalukkum idhu modhal anubhavam. Ava enna paninaalum nee thaan porumaiya poruthundu poganum. Enna nadandhalum ava mela kova padaadhe. Aval oru kozhandha madiri. Nee thaan anusarichu poganum." (take good care of her and keep her happy. Get her coconut water. Make sure the maid comes everyday. This is her first baby. She might have mood swings. Take good care of her. Don't be angry if she seems unreasonable. She is like a child) Arun and Seetha's response to their respective mother's were just a, "Seri amma, seri amma." (Ok amma)

Seetha too made some changes. She decided to take music classes twice a week. So she instructed the student to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Rest of the days, Arun came back home, drank coffee that he made himself, as Seetha just could not tolerate the smell of coffee, then, once a sun went down a bit, the couple went for a walk. It was the same route every day. They walked towards Duraisamy road to the Amman temple and then went up to west Mambalam market where Arun bought two things, very diligently for his wife. One was elaneer (coconut water) for 50 paisa and the other was cut raw mango with salt and chilli powder for another 50 paisa. The old man in the corner would gave 10 thin pieces for 50 paisa but always smiled and gave an extra piece for Seetha.

Most of the time, during these walks, Seetha would talk to him about her childhood, her relatives, her school etc and Arun listened to her with a smile. Some of these stories were repeated a 100 times but he never told her that. Her animated expressions while telling them and her knack of twisting these stories every time to add a little bit of entertainment and excitement, always amused him.

Once they reached home, she would stretch on the sofa while Arun would hand her a glass of water and quickly enter the kitchen to complete the thalichu kottardhu on the food that she had already prepared. This was another smell that Seetha was unable to tolerate. The otherwise sweet Seetha also had her share of mood swings, especially with the sudden surge of hunger. Little things made her upset. Something as simple as a sad song playing on the radio, would bring gallons of tears pouring down her cheeks. Arun was always there to wrap his arms around her and lay her on his lap.

It has become a habit to take on plate of food for both of them to eat from. She seemed to eat better when he fed her so that what her did. Although she had some weird cravings that he just couldn't understand but he knew better not to question those. The girl who always loved her thayir sadam and vadu maanga suddenly craved for paal sadam with vellam (jaagery), before going to bed. Every night, Arun boiled milk with sugar and saffron. He pounded some badam and boiled that along, which she loved as well.

At night, the couple always spoke about how blessed they were to have this baby. Seetha had started to feel the baby moving and her face would brighten up every time she felt it. Although Seetha's routine had not changed much, there were days when she would sleep in but the kolam outside her door never failed to appear. Saroja mami always glanced to check Seetha's gate and if the fresh kolam wasn't there, she assumed Seetha was not up yet and was more than happy to do it.

Saroja kept a watch on Seetha just like her own child. She would make special items such as boli, adhirasam, neiappam etc and would bring them over for Seetha. It was as though Saroja could read Seetha's mind. As soon as Seetha would have a craving for something, Saroja would appear with that. Although she tried to not make too many fried items, Seetha craved for bajjis. Saroja had become like a mother to Seetha so, by this point, Seetha felt comfortable enough to ask.

We might wonder why Saroja was so fond of Seetha. They were just neighbors. In fact, nowadays, most of us barely meet our neighbors but this bond was very special. Saroja had a son who lived in Delhi with his wife and kids but Saroja had had a daughter too. This daughter, who would have been about Seetha's age. Strange enough, Saroja had named her daughter Seethalakshmi as well. When the child was about 4, she had developed tuberculosis and had succumbed to it. Saroja could never get over that loss. So she literally saw Seetha as her own little Seethalakshmi, although she never shared this information with anyone. Not even with Parvathy.

Days and months were moving by fast and it was almost 6 months now. Seetha missed her family. So Arun took a few days off and the couple went to Palakkad where the valaikappu function was performed. Shanthi akka, Meena akka, Arun's mami were all thrilled to participate and fill Seetha's hands with glass bangles but she was eagerly looking for one person, Jayanthi. Jayanthi had gotten married to the Coimbatore Mappillai but Seetha had not heard much after that. She had received the invitation by mail but Jayanthi had not written to Seetha after the small and simple marriage.

Seetha's searching eyes lit up and her face beamed with a huge smile. There she was, her best friend. She was smiling too. Jayanthi hurried in saying, "Bus romba therakka irundhudhu dee. Adhu ninnu ninnu varadhukkulaa neram ayiduthu. Muhurtha neram mudiyalaiye?" (The bus was overcrowded and hence he kept stopping. I hope I am not late) She rushed to place the manjal on the cheeks of her friend, kungumam on the forehead. Then she grabbed a pair of red glass bangles and gently squeezed them in Seetha's wrist. She then smiled saying, "Seetha nee amma aaga porai dee." (You are going to be a mother soon) Then she whispered to Seetha, "Enakkum naal thapeerku." (I have missed my days too) The girls held each others hands and squealed in glee.

Brinda Subramanian