Chapter 3

            Pallavi was awakened by the sound of the doorbell. Who could it be at this hour? She checked the clock. She had already taken in the packets of milk, and gone back to bed to snooze for an hour extra, and she had kept the garbage bags outside her door late last night, so that left only one possibility at seven in the morning.

 

            She was right. It was her mother, soaked to the core in the heavy Mumbai rains with all her luggage.

 

“Ma, how come you are back so early? You weren’t supposed to be back before Sunday. So what happened?”

 

“Whatever happened to asking your mother for a cup of chai before bombarding her with questions? Mumbai rains! Menace of God, I tell you. I can feel the rainwater soaking in my marrow.”

 

“Go freshen up, I’ll get the tea ready.”

 

One inch piece of ginger, one teaspoon sugar and one teaspoon tea, Pallavi noted mentally. This is how her mother liked her tea, and this is how she had been making it for years.

 

“There is something about tea, isn’t there?” Mother said wiping her soaked hair on a towel. “I mean, tea is something that tastes different everywhere, but you can never really get the same satisfaction as from the tea that is made in your own home. For me, the taste of home, is the taste of tea, without a doubt.”

 

“Now can you tell me what happened? How come you came home a week earlier?”

 

“The wedding got cancelled.” Mother almost mumbled.

 

“Come again?”

 

“Apparently the groom’s family was going overboard with their demands. Mira finally put her foot down, and called it off.”

 

“Good for her.”

 

“Hmm. Well, you know, things happen for the best. It is all a part of God’s plan.”

There wasn’t much Pallavi could say about this. There were things she wanted to say, but with her mother, she had learnt to hold her tongue. There was no point in arguing about things that they would never agree upon. Things were just better left unsaid. This was the one thing she always encouraged the parents of her patients to do. To keep the lines of communication open, and to allow their children to express themselves freely. Mother, though, was as old-fashioned as they get.

 

“Mm.. Ma?”

 

“You want me to get breakfast ready for you?”

 

“You’re a savior mom! I was so sick of eating dry toasts and take-outs this last week. Please make some pohe for me, please.”

 

“What will you do when you get married girl? You mother-in-law will curse me for not teaching you a thing.”

 

Pallavi just winked at her mother and left the kitchen to get ready. Just the thought of pohe sprinkled with fried groundnuts and sev, was enough to get her in a great mood for the day.

 

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Note: – This is all I could get my brain to cough up today, because of no sleep for the last 48 hours. But I am having a whole lot of fun developing the characters, and I sure do hope you guys like what you read. I am off to sleep for the day, to be in a fresher state of mind when I continue writing tomorrow 🙂

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