The Wake-up Call

Chapter 3

Nandini, a girl of solitude remained adamant against her mom’s wish to get her married soon after graduation. She was sitting idle at home without any job in hand and marriage seemed the next best thing to her mother. As usual, Nandini was deeply engrossed in building a card castle. Her dad’s footsteps distracted her and she enquired curiously, “How is he?”

Raghavan smiled as he looked into her eyes and thought to himself “My guess is right.”

                               #

That morning, she woke up early and did her morning chores in an unusually restless manner. Her mom asked, “What is the matter with you?”

“Nothing,” she replied. After a pause she stated, “You know mom, Pandu is arriving today. I think by this time he might have arrived already,” she looked up at the clock that showed 8:35 AM.

“So what?” her mom interrogated.

“I was just informing you,” she continued sweeping the floor.

Raghavan who had noticed her daughter’s actions from behind guessed that she was glad about Pandu’s arrival. He immediately put on his shirt and walked to Gopal’s home.

“Where are you going without having this coffee?” his wife Subhashini asked loudly. “I will be right back,” he said and on his way out, whispered to his daughter, “Let me see whether Pandu has come or not?”

While waiting for her dad to return, Nandini finished the sweeping quickly and had started with her favorite pastime of building the card castles. Like the card castles, Nandini’s dreams were high and vulnerable. She was an ambitious girl during her college days. When her classmates were talking about getting married and having kids, she used to make them feel inferior by talking about her goals – to work in a company in her own domain of curriculum, to excel in her career and later to become a CEO of a company and become a role model for generations of women. However, her career dreams were shaken in the final year of graduation when she found no companies turning to their campus for interviews and when none of her off-campus interviews bore fruit. Adding to her dismay, her mom took up the topic of marriage every morning when she woke up. “Why don’t we get her horoscope and match it with that of my brother’s son?” she asked her husband.

“Don’t ever take up that topic, Subhashini. I know when she should get married,” said Raghavan at the top of his voice. Subhashini stared at him. He knew the aftermath of his disobedience. A couple of utensils would be smashed on the kitchen floor. Later he would be denied coffee. Sometimes, her anger persisted disrupting their romance at nights. But he dared to take up the risk for his lovable daughter who, he had noticed, showed little interest towards marriage. Nandini was happy that at least dad was by her side. He told her one day, “You can still pursue your dreams, you know dear!” She looked up at him quizzically. He continued, “You can go to Bankata and try searching for a job there.”

“Has mom agreed to this?” she asked. To an outsider, Raghavan may appear to be hen-pecked. Though it couldn’t be denied completely, the fact was that before any formal decision was made, Raghavan ensured Subhashini’s nod came through.

“You are not going to stay alone dear,” he smiled

“Are you going to accompany me then?” she asked innocently.

“Not me...”

After noticing her annoyed face, he came near her and said, “You see a deal can be made only if it’s a win-win situation for both the parties. Your mom wants you to get married quickly. But you like to take up a job and excel in your career. Hmmm, what if we do like this?”

“Like what?”

“You agree to your mom’s wish but on condition that the groom should be employed in Bankata. And while meeting your groom, you can demand his commitment to pursue your dreams after marriage.”

For some time she remained reluctant, gazing at the floor. He whispered, “And I guarantee that you will not have to marry her brother’s son. I have already framed a story to dismiss her idea altogether. What do you say? Deal?” He raised his thumb up.

She blushed and both burst into laughter.

                               #

“Dad...” Nandini brought Raghavan to the present.

“Hmm...”

“Did you meet Pandu? How is he?”

“Nope, he had just woken up. Give him some time, dear!” Raghavan patted his daughter’s head and went inside. 

Her interest for Pandu had increased by day; not just because he was working in Bankata but he was her favorite childhood buddy with whom she got accustomed to already. She wrote many ‘how are you?’ mails and sends ‘forwards’ to him. Some of her mails got immediate responses but some never got any reply. “He might be busy,” she consoled herself. She developed a warm relationship with Pandu’s mom Vidya and it was from her that she came to know of Pandu’s arrival. Her happiness knew no bounds since she was seeing him after a long gap. This time around though, their relationship won’t be the same as before since she has begun to give a new perspective to their relationship. She wasn’t satisfied with her father’s response but remained calm nevertheless. She sat in the corridor and gazed at the road. On the small glass-top table in front of her, the card castle remained half-built.