Arun, Parvathy and Seetha were sipping their 4pm coffee when Saroja called out from across the wired fence, "Parvathy mami, Parvathy mami." Parvathy yelled back from where she was seated, "Sollu Saroja enna venum?" Saroja continued, "Inniki sayangaalam Ayodhya Mandabathulla DK Pattammal oda katcheri irukkam. Naan pogalaam nu irukken. Neenga varela?" Parvathy thought for a second, "Iru naan oru 5 nimishathula sollaren." She then looked up at Seetha and said, "Unakku thaan carnataka sangeetham pidikkume. Neeyum varaya?"

Before Seetha could respond, Arun said, "Amma nee poitu vaa." He looked at Seetha and said, "Naan avala oru mukiyamana edathukku kooteendu polaam nu irukken." Parvathy nodded, "Appo seri naan poitu varataa?" Then she touched Seetha's arm and said, "Kelambarthukku minnale velakku maathram yethidu kozhandhey. Aparam raathri naan edhuvum saapda matten. Appidi padicha oru tumbler paalum vaazhapazhamum saaptuppen. Madhyanam vacha sambar irukku. Oru edu idli vechudaren. Unga renduperukkum seriya irukkum." She then got up to go to the kitchen but was stopped by Seetha, "Amma Neenga kelambikongo. Naan paathukaren."

Parvathy nodded and walked up to the window and yelled, "Saroja, iru naanum varen. Podavaiya maatheendu vandhudaren." As Parvathy got ready to leave, Seetha put the dirty dishes out for Dhanam who arrived promptly to clean the house and do the dishes. She looked at Seetha and asked, "Mottamaadi la thuni kaaya potene adhu eduthutiya ka?" Seetha gave her a blank stare not understanding what she was saying. Arun chuckled and said, "terrace la thuli onatheerku. Vaa poi eduthundu varalaam." That's when Seetha remembered the flight of stairs she had seen earlier. She followed Arun up to the open terrace. There were 3-4 clothes line with all their clothes hanging. The sun had dried it completely. There was a small room with a desk and chair. There were plenty of books on the shelf.

Arun held her hand and stepped inside the room. He said, "Idhu Appa oda edam. Appa neraya books padippa. Adhu maathram illai, neraya ezhudhavum ezhudhuva. Idho inge irukara pusthagam ellam Appa odadhu. Shakespeare lerndhu J. Krishnamurthy varaikkum oru library ye irukkum. English, Tamil, Malayalam moonu liyum irukku. Appa padichadhu ellam Palakkad aparam Coimbatore naala tamil, Malayalam rendume ezhudhi Padikka theriyum. Indha veedu vaangampodhu Appa ku nu oru room kattanum nu enakku romba aasai."

Seetha smiled, "Naan unga kitta onnu ketta thappa eduthukka maatele?" Arun looked at her, "Kelu maa. Edhuva irundhaalum kelu." She said, "Enakku pusthagam padikka romba pidikkum. Thatha ku kaarthala news paper padikka arambichadhulerndhu enakku kadhaigal na pidikkum. Inge irukara pusthagam naan padikkalaama?" He was momentarily surprised to hear of her interest in reading but he smiled and nodded, "O yes eppo venumaalum endha book venumnaalum eduthu padi maa." She smiled and then stepped out to take the dry clothes. They both grabbed them and took them back to the living room. He started to fold her saree and Seetha immediately grabbed it from him, "Achacho enna neegal ennoda podavai ya madikkarel. En kitta thaango naan madichukkaren."

Arun chuckled and said, "Achacho ennoda shirt a nee mattum madikariye adha en kitta thaa naan madichukaren." She looked at him surprised but looking at him smile, she calmed down and he said, "Idhula enna maa irukku. Yaaru mudicha enna? Seri amma oda pudavaiya thaa. Naan madikkaren." Arun then told her to get ready for the surprise. Seetha quickly washed her face. She plaited her waist long her neatly. She then pulled out a new cotton saree that her sister had given her and wore it. She glanced at herself in the mirror as she applied the kajal in her eyes, the red kumkum bindi and then applied the kumkum on the center parting of her hair for about an inch. She smiled at her reflection. She looked pretty.

She then quickly went to the swamy room to light the lamp and noticed that Arun was missing. She assumed he was in the restroom. While lighting the lamp she chanted some of her usual prayers and sat down to sing her fabourite Pillaiya song, "Vinayaka ninnu vina brochudakku verevaru raa..." she prostrated as soon as she finished the song. Just then she heard the sound of the scooter parking and the gate squealed open. She peeked to see Arun walking in with a yellow cloth bag which had some things in it. He looked charming in a white shirt and veshti. She smiled, applied chandanam on her forehead and walked up to him. She gestured him to bend down and applied the remaining on his forehead. He nodded and said, "Kelambalaama?"

He then glanced at her from top to bottom and whispered, "Romba azhaga irukke." She blushed and mumbled, "Neengalum thaan." He responded with a "Appidiya" and lifted his color in pride only to make her chuckle. The walked up to the scooter and he hung the bag in the front. He then started the vehicle tilting it for her to sit. Once she held on to the handle on one side and his shoulder on the other, he gently moved ahead. Once the reached the main road, the ride was smooth as it was all proper tar road. Seetha enjoyed the ride. She had not seen this many two wheelers, auto rickshaws, busses etc. Madras was a big city compared to where she came from and it amazed her.

They rode for about 20 mins when she heard Arun saying, "Maa ippo oru road la thirumba poren adhu romba kundum meduma irukkum. Gettiya pudichukko seriya?" Seetha nodded and her grip on his shoulder tightened. They went through a muddy road with bumps for a few minutes until finally he halted in front of a temple. He tilted the scooter and said, "Erangikko maa." Seetha slowly got off while Arun pushed the scooter to park it and grabbed the yellow bag. A lady was sitting right outside the temple selling different types of flowers. She noticed them and yelled, "Saar vaanga saar poo vaangittu ponga. Paapa ku poo vaangi kudunga saar."

Arun walked up and brought one kanagambaram with marikozhundhu garland wrapped in a strip of banana leaf and he brought another 2 muzham mallipoo. He handed over the yellow bag and kanagambaram to Seetha. Then he said, "Thirumbikko." She turned around confused. He gently took a small portion of her hair and neatly inserted the mallipoo. Seetha felt butterflies in her stomach. She was facing the poo kaara amma who gave a big smile and did a drishti with both her arms saying, "Nee kuduthu vachirukke papa. Unakku kadavul nalla purushan kuduthirukaar. Unga seruppa inge vachuttu ponga. Naan paathukaren." Seetha blushed listening to her words. Although she did not understand the dialect, the lady's expression and gesture said it all.

Arun then held Seetha's hand and looked into her eyes saying, "Seethalakshmi ippo Mahalakshmi madiri irukke." She gasped saying, "Achacho kovil la vandhu pesara pecha idhu" but she was enjoying every bit of the love and she was falling for this man who had captured her heart so easily and swiftly in just a matter of days. She said a quick thank you to her Pillaiyar while touching the footsteps of the temple before looking up. She was indeed pleasantly surprised. Arun said, "Idho paaru idha ooru pillaiyar."

Brinda Subramanian