Prithvi... [Vol 5]

Chapter 127

Nandini entered the living room to ensure that there were no more vessels on the table. She was heading back to the kitchen when she saw an interesting sight.

Seated comfortably in a rocking chair, an elderly man was holding a novel far away from his face to read it.

She approached her grandfather and stood in front of him silently, hands on her hips.

Bhoothnath looked up nervously at her. Then he hastily picked up the gold-rimmed spectacles from his lap and placed them on his face.

"If I see you reading without the glasses again, I will not buy any more books for you, grandpa," Nandini warned.

"I'd forgotten this time. It won't happen again," Bhoothnath said glumly, then mumbled something that sounded like 'bossier than your grandmother'.

Nandini chuckled as she returned to the kitchen.

A lanky teenager was wiping the surface of the granite platform. She walked to him and snatched the cleaning cloth from his hand.

"I'll do this. You go and rest."

"I reached home at two in the afternoon. You reached after seven in the evening," Prakash reminded her sternly, trying to grab the cloth back. "And you also walked to that temple today morning. So, you're the one who needs to rest."

Nandini hid the cloth behind her back and gravely said, "Yes, but let me tell what could happen if you don't let me do this. You will keep working in the kitchen while I relax, and as the months go by, you will start to resent me. And one day...one day you will stop making tea and special dishes for me," she said with growing horror, keeping the back of her palm against her forehead in an attitude of despair. "How will I survive then, Pikku!"

Prakash slapped a hand against his forehead. "How much drama can God have stuffed into one human being," he groaned.

Giggling, Nandini pushed her grumbling brother out of the kitchen. "Go to your room and think about what delicious dish you're going to make for dinner tomorrow."

Watching her children, Sarojini placed the last dried plate in the steel stand, and laughingly said, "I hope both of you have these kind of fights every day."

Nandini grinned and began the task of thoroughly cleaning the platform. For two whole hours after her return from office, no one had said anything that made her want to run off into the night. If she could go to sleep without having her mood spoilt by ghastly discussions and arguments, she would be the most grateful person on earth.

"Did you think about what I said?" Sarojini asked tentatively, keeping her voice low so as to avoid being overheard by her father-in-law and son.

Nandini stopped cleaning abruptly, gripped by anger and despair. She shouldn't have hoped...

"I gave you my answer yesterday," she said tautly, moving the cloth quickly over the granite.

"Without considering it for a second!"

"I can think about it for a hundred years, but my answer won't change," Nandini retorted irately.

She walked to the basin and began washing the cloth.

Frustrated, Sarojini walked to her daughter and angrily whispered, "Why are you being so stubborn? What is wrong with this proposal? The boy is just three years older. He is good looking, well-educated and has a secure job. And the family is open-minded. They don't have any problem with letting you work after marriage."

"Could you get me their pictures? I would like to worship them," Nandini said sarcastically, tossing the cloth on the platform.

Sarojini exasperatedly said, "Nandini, listen to -"