The Wedding Tamasha | PUBLISHED

Chapter 2

Monday was Shweta's day off. She dialled her mother's number at noon, as she pulled out the carrots, onions, and peppers from the mini fridge to prepare the biryani lunch. It was ten p.m. in India, and her mother, Keertana, may have stayed up waiting for Shweta's customary Sunday call. Today it was a little later than when she usually called home.

'Glad you called,' Keertana said. 'I was just about to go to bed, dear.' She sounded happy and excited.

'Sorry, Ma,' Shweta said, as she picked up a carrot and started peeling it.

'I had gone to meet astrologer Kini today, and guess what he said!' Keertana's voice rose excitedly as it always did after she'd met Kini, their family astrologer, a young government clerk by profession, who read horoscopes on the side and always had throngs of gullible believers lined up at his doorstep because his predictions came true. For most, at least. Or so, it seemed.

Shweta smiled. 'What did he say this time? That I was going to pass my driving test?'

Her mother snorted. 'That's not going to happen unless you actually go for the test.'

Shweta laughed. Graduating from her management degree had been easier. Her mother had guessed right. Shweta wasn't planning on taking the driving test after flunking it twice. Besides, left-hand driving was too confusing.

Her father's voice boomed in the background. 'Ask her if she took the driving test.'

Shweta pictured her father, Prabhakaran Menon, lounging on the easy chair in the porch, puffing away at his pipe for the last time before he went to bed, and listening to his wife's end of the conversation with their daughter. He liked to direct his questions to his children through his wife.

Keertana was just about to repeat it to her when Shweta said, 'No, Papa, I didn't go for the driving test.'

'She says, no,' Keertana repeated to Prabhu.

Her father's voice came up again, 'Tell her she must know how to drive in America. It's very important.'

'I heard that,' Shweta said to her mother before she could relay that back to her.

'It's been three months since you reached there,' Keertana said, with a sigh. 'And you still haven't learned to drive.'

'I'm okay, Ma. I can manage with Shipra around.' Shipra was her old neighbour, who had a car. Their husbands, both US-educated engineers, worked in the same office in New Brunswick.

'And how is Raj? Is he very busy at work?'

'Raj has gone out,' Shweta lied. Last week, she had told her mother that Raj was traveling. Keertana was happier when Raj wasn't around while they were talking. It pleased her to speak to Shweta without her son-in-law listening in. Only then could she ramble to her heart's content.

Keertana loved to flit from topic to topic. One moment she was talking about some close relative, the next moment she remembered what she was going to say about Kini before. 'Kini's predictions are so wonderful,' she said. 'My friend Neelam was thanking him profusely for finding a good match for her daughter. He found her a boy whose horoscope matched her daughter's horoscope perfectly. I had the opportunity to ask Kini about us too. He said this year and early next year will be exceptionally good for all of us.'

Yeah, right! Shweta thought. Obviously, Kini didn't know enough!

Shweta listened some more to Keertana's chatter before she heard her yawn, and smiled. 'Bye, Ma. I think it's way past your bed time now.'

'Yes, I better hang up,' Keertana said, talking through another loud yawn.

Shweta had just hung up when someone knocked.