Mixed Masala

Chapter 2

The wedding hall was teeming with guests, most of whom seemed to know one another judging by the numerous levels of greetings going around, from the respectful smiles and nods of acknowledgement , to the handshakes and embraces and more often than not, the shrill cries of recognition from one end of the vast room to the other. Meera guessed the crowd to number anywhere between eight hundred and a thousand people, for the most part dressed in vibrant colours and exuding great noise. The loud background music (religious of course) simply added to the din.

The hall was adjacent to one of the larger temples in Ipoh (hence the strictly vegetarian lunch) with a backdrop that consisted of limestone hills and a somewhat murky river. There was a large stage whereupon the wedding ceremony was to be conducted. The priest was already there, seated before the agni (the sacred fire) but as yet there was no sign of either the groom or the bride.

"Wow!" Raj exclaimed, quickly stepping aside to allow a bulky elderly woman in a psychedelic green and purple sari to waddle past. "Now this is what I call hell."

His mother shook her head slowly, "It looks as though only about half the invitees have turned up. What a shame!"

Just then, she spotted her eldest daughter who was seated next to her husband in one of the rows closer to the stage, thus commanding a better view of the ceremony. Jayashree caught her mother's eye and started to wave frantically.

"Oh good. Jaya has managed to get us some good seats," Lakshmi smiled.

Raj winked at Meera. "So what sort of a show do you think this'll be? Romantic comedy or horror?"

His mother ignored him and said instead, "You kids go on ahead. I'll wait for Appa to park the car and then we will just mingle for a while ... Oh, there's your Aunty Leela." And with that, Lakshmi Devraj disappeared into the throng of multi-coloured guests. Meera and Raj quickly made their way to their sister.

Jayashree's husband, Dr. Ravindran Kumar was tall, attractive, in his mid-thirties, and this morning, wearing a genial expression on his clean shaven face. He occupied the seat on her left whilst on her right, were four empty chairs, empty that is except for a peculiar item on each one of them - a man's handkerchief, a Revlon lipstick, a small pack of tissue paper, and on the chair closest to her, a pretty sequinned turquoise handbag, matching Jayashree's sari for the occasion.

Meera picked up the lipstick and tissues and handed them to her older sister. "Did Amma actually get you to reserve these seats for us?" she asked, giggling.

Jayashree simply grinned. "You know how she is ... Where is she anyway?" she asked, scanning the crowd. "Oh, I see her. She's talking to some old ..." Jayashree broke off as another old person suddenly appeared by their side.

The elderly lady looked to be around at least a hundred years old, her small bent frame encased in a yellow and brown silk sari. She squinted at Jayashree.

"Jaya? Is that you? ... Oh my dear, how are you? ... And that's your husband? Nice to see you again. You do remember me, don't you? I attended your wedding ... I'm very close to your father, you know ... Pushpa Patti?"

Jayashree nodded her head enthusiastically. "Of course, of course. How nice to see you again. I hope you are keeping well." She smiled as she got up and leaned across her siblings to embrace the old woman.

The little old lady sighed. "Oh, I'm okay, dear. Of course I am almost eighty-four now and I'm always getting some pain or other every day. Praveen, my son ... you remember him? He's always telling me to go see a specialist but Deepa, his wife says I should try Ayurvedic treatment instead." Pushpa Patti shook her head slowly and then suddenly brightened up as she said, "You are a doctor, aren't you, my dear? Maybe I will come and see you one of these days." She paused, slowly leaned over Meera and Raj and whispered, "I am suffering terribly from piles, you know."