Note: All characters and venues are totally fictional; any semblance to real persons or places is merely coincidental.
Synopsis: Shanti prepares for a movie date with Reddy. Reddy cooks a special lunch for her and they go to the movies.
Munni's LIA - Episode 21
When Reddy opened his email Monday morning, he found one from Shanti with an attachment: a photo of him standing by the Huron river, under a Japanese Maple Tree at the Nichols Arboretum. She had written that she liked the walk with him, and wanted to go there again when the colors would be at their peak. Reddy was quite happy; that day, he added his contribution to time loss at work due to daydreams. That evening he called her to thank; after much chat about his work and hers, and various other topics for over an hour, he asked if she would like to go to the movie "3 idiots" at Wayne State on the coming Saturday afternoon. She had heard about it, and even seen the trailer on the web. Shanti liked that idea that she will go to a college romp comedy, instead of some serious love-dance-song-chase-fight bollywood thing. They talked about it and agreed that they will have lunch together and go see the 3 PM matinee.
Shanti wanted to clean herself up a bit before that movie date. Patty helped. Patty knew a friend who knew a friend at the local cosmetology institute, where the students did the work for much cheaper prices. She was able to get Shanti an immediate evening appointment for hair styling, nails and facial. Shanti had thick hair with good body and years of wearing twin braids had given her hair that gentle natural wave. At the end of her appointment, Shanti had shoulder length hair, gently curving inwards at the shoulder, nicely styled to highlight her face, covering her ears and some critical spots of vitiligo at her nape. All her peach-fuzz on the face were gone, and she really liked her eyebrows. Patty had often said that Shanti had Penelope Cruz eyebrows and such good natural lashes, whereas many girls had to draw pencil lines and make-do with black goo for lashes. Patty also took Shanti shopping, and after looking at the various shops, Shanti bought shoes with higher heels than she'd normally buy and some dark leggings that would go with her churidhar kurtis. Much as she tried, the latina couldn't convince Shanti to buy some of the blouses that she wanted Shanti to wear; finally she gave up and said,"…OK…you'll gash his heart with your eyes anyway.. ".
Reddy decided that he will ask Shanti home for lunch and then take her to the movie. He made hyderabadi biriyani using cubes of venison steak from the freezer in the basement. He cooked the biriyani in the garden gazebo, so that the exotic aroma remained outdoors; for the slow final phase of cooking the layers he had set the electric cook pot on low heat and a timer switch, so that it will go off automatically. He had also made raita with cucumbers and a cauliflower-bindi subji.
When he called Shanti at 10 AM to ask when he should come to pick her up, she said, "why don't you come now ?". He got to her place in about 30 minutes. When he rang the bell, Shanti opened the door. She was dressed in a churidhar outfit, with black leggings. She had also worn her coral ear studs, although they were hidden under her hair. Reddy was amazed at how beautiful she looked. And he said so:" you look so lovely…". She was pleased, even though much suffering went into making that. Shanti said,"..thanks….come in and sit for a bit" and pointed him to a sofa in the living room. When he sat, he sank into the sofa deeper than he had expected. Shanti went in to warn her room-mate of a male visitor in the living room.
A few minutes after Shanti disappeared, Reddy heard the pair of them coming back. Patty turned out to be shorter than Shanti, chubbier, a mestizo, of wheat-ish complexion !! Quite a bit of that complexion and more was visible at the neckline of her shirt and her waist. Patty rushed straight to Reddy, with Shanti from behind saying,"Reddy, this is my roommate Patty, and Patty this is Reddy …mi novio". Patty was at him, before Reddy could rise from the sofa: she rested her hands on his shoulders, slapped her cheek against his and made a kissing noise, and did the same to his other cheek. Reddy blushed….and Shanti thought,<..dang…here I am, scheming if and when to kiss him..or let him kiss me first ….and she goes and does it..>. Reddy had finally managed to get off from the sofa and on his feet. Patty was shaking Reddy's hand quite enthusiastically, saying,"…al final, we meet…whenever you call, Shanti always tell me ..yes..yes…I will meet you some day…". Shanti was glad that Patty finally let go of Reddy's hand, and did not sit on his lap or hug him, while she delivered that had-been-waiting-for-thee speech. Then Patty giggled and dragged Shanti by the hand back into her room. Reddy heard muffled shreiks from inside. Later he learnt that Patty got very excited because she thought Reddy looked like a venezuelan telenovela star she was once crazy in love with. After Reddy survived that, Shanti put on her new shoes, a knee length light jacket and was ready to go.
After they got in the car, Reddy asked her if she would like to eat Hyderabadi biriyani.
She was surprised:"where do you get that in Ann Arbor?".
Reddy said," I made some at home…I thought we'd pass my house ...it is just on the way to the cinema …but if you would rather eat out ..we can do that too …".
"…oh..that is so nice…you didn't have to go to that trouble…..but now that you had made it…let us go and taste your cooking…"said Shanti.
Reddy was happy that she did not fuss about that. Shanti also wanted to see where he lived, and going there first would be less suggestive than going there later in the evening.
When they got home, Shanti was quite pleased how well it was kept up, inside and out. Reddy took her to the garden gazebo first and showed her the biriyani in the electrical pot that was connected to a timer switch on the wall. The flour-thread seal around the lid was still on. When enduring many "ouches" during that week of getting "ready", Shanti had pondered how much she had been going through to get to that date. She was happy that Reddy too had been thinking about their day together and worked hard to prepare a nice lunch for her.
Shanti got a tour of the house. She was impressed with Reddy's housekeeping. Reddy explained that he had closed off several rooms to keep the cleaning work down. She went to the basement and tried out the treadmill and the lazy-boy chair in the family room with the big TV.
"Nice house, Reddy", she complimented.
"You can come here anytime you want to" Reddy invited.
She blushed at that invite, but appreciated how genuine he sounded without any hint of a sly flirt.
Then they went up for lunch. She thought his biriyani was quite tasty; she had never eaten venison before; besides the raitha and the subji, Reddy had also made a salad with tomato, onion and lettuce. He had set up the table with knife, fork and soup-spoon. She asked him if he ever ate his food with his fingers and he responded, "…often and especially when eating indian food…but today…I don't want you to color your new manicure with saffron and turmeric…". Once again, she was quite pleased at his notice of the pains she had gone through. She smiled at him and said,"…that is so sweet, thank you…yes..I must keep them clean for a while at least…don't I ?" She also liked his subji and raitha. Later he made her some mint chai. She thought that was a good choice after eating the biriyani. They had their tea and chatted about the bollywood movies they had seen until they had to leave for the movie.
At the movies, as Reddy pulled his wallet out at the box office, Shanti asked if she can buy their tickets; Reddy agreed without any protests. He remarked that if she had her student ID, then she could buy tickets at a discount. She used her ID and bought tickets. Then they both went in to the dimly lit theatre. Reddy went ahead first, and Shanti followed him with a hand softly laid on his back. Then they turned right and went sideways into a row of seats to face the center of the screen.
Reddy asked " is this ok?".
She said ", yes…let us sit ".
He took his jacket off, folded it and slung it over his right knee. She folded her jacket and kept it on her lap and placed her purse on it. After she sat down, she noticed that he kept his left hand on his lap and let the arm-rest between them be totally for her arm. For sometime, she wondered if she should accept that offer; she kept her right hand on her bag. Their shoulders and upper arms touched, but the arm-rest was free.
There were already many desis in their seats. A crowd of about fifty or sixty. The theatre was only about a quarter full. There was yet another five or so minutes before the event began. Shanti was thinking to herself <..now what ? I am here with a nice man, probably not much older than may be four or five years, very fit, looks like a venezuelan TV star, but speaks Telugu, from the same Indian city, who lives in a clean house, cooks well, no apparent bad habits, …I have had dreams about him ever since the walk at the arboretum, even when talking to my freshman class… I got aroused and had to put my jacket back on in class…and now I am sitting next to him…rubbing shoulders in the dark of a movie. Now what do I do…and if he does something …how do I react ?….I couldn't have asked Patty for any advice…because…by this time, in this dim light…she'd be sitting on his lap…ooohh…the show has begun…god...please help me…>
Suddenly she heard Reddy whisper to her," do you understand hindi?"…She said,"…yes..how about you ?". "Not very good..now and then I need subtitles help", he said. Shanti wondered if that exchange was a response to her silent scream to god. She decided that Reddy was not going to do anything in the dark, without some help,... from her. After the advertisements, and the trailers, the movie began. She waited for an opportune scene in the movie to help him hold hands with her.
The first part of the movie was about a men's engineering college and how students deal with studies, dorm life and the pressures of planning for the future life. Aamir Khan played an unusual student who questions, problem-solves and poses critical opposing views rather than blindly follow and cram the lessons. Naturally he was not well liked by his professors, and the school's principal becomes his arch nemesis. His two friends from the dorm had families crimping to save and send them to college. These two friends as well as many others, constantly worried about having to do well in college, in job interviews and get jobs, so that they can take care of their families. Aamir Khan met up with a medical student (played by Kareena Kapoor) in about 15 minutes into the movie. Kareena happened to be the younger daughter of his college's principal-nemesis; while Aamir-Kareena's initial meeting was strange and the subsequent interactions were rocky, they finally come to an understanding, and eventually Kareena falls in love with him. Aamir's feelings were not really all that explicit in the movie, perhaps he was one of those strong-silent types !
There were several laughs and a few songs. There was a heart wrenchingly sad scene when a student who was overcome with the pressures of life and studies, hanged himself in his locked room. At that scene, even without the need for all her scheming, Shanti gasped and quickly moved her right hand over the arm-rest to clasp his hand. Reddy didn't flip his palm up and clasp her hand; instead, she felt him slowly pulling his hand away, and in a few seconds, it was just her hand on his lap!! She was quite surprised and shocked at what had happened !! She didn't know what to do !! It was an obvious but gentle rejection !! Now what was she to do ?! While she was going through this self-pity, a spirited Aamir Khan was calling his principal a heartless swine (or some such thing) for driving a student to suicide. To Shanti, the action of Reddy pulling away his hand in a dark movie theatre was even more heartless. All of the students were emotionally crushed by that suicide. And Shanti was crushed by Reddy's rejection. Then, she suddenly felt his hand on her left shoulder, and his grasp on her upper arm, gently comforting her. She had goose-bumps. She leaned back on his arm behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief, turned and looked at Reddy. He was still staring at the screen. She continued to watch the side of his face, instead of the screen. Now quite happy, she chuckled to herself at that temporary loss of hope she went through when Reddy was just withdrawing his hand so that he can put his arm around her shoulder. She pressed her hand on his lap, and cursed the arm-rest that was in between them.
Eventually, Aamir Khan was ordered expelled from college, for, essentially being a pain-in-the-butt to his principal. However, before he packed off, there were monsoon floods, loss of electricity everywhere and roads were blocked to all traffic due to floods. The college Principal's pregnant older daughter goes into labor. The access to a hospital was impossible; the younger, medical-student daughter, Kareena Kapoor, who could help with the mid-wifery, was stuck at the hospital and cannot get home to help. Aamir Khan comes to the rescue. Kareena gives Aamir instructions on internet phone and webcam. The pregnant girl, after some initial pushing, could not push anymore, the baby's head was stuck and Aamir had to pull the baby out with vacuum extractor. Kareena showed him how the process could work with a picture on the webcam.
When the electricity went out, Aamir, organized his dorm-mates to collect all the car batteries from all the stalled cars in the neighborhood, rigged up the batteries to provide electric power for the webcast to Kareena at the hospital as well as a vacuum implement to help move the baby's head across the birth canal. When he succeeded in this practical application of engineering knowledge, the principal relented, apologized etc… While all this battery rigging, and baby-vacuuming were going on, there were flashes of lights coming off the screen. And Shanti felt something was the matter with Reddy. She thought she had felt his hand over her shoulder shudder a bit. She turned and looked at his face; in a flash of white light from the screen, when Aamir Khan had all the batteries working, Shanti saw tears rolling down Reddy's cheek. <He cries in movies !! ayyo paavam (the poor dear)!! >, she thought. The baby delivery scene was mostly dark, nothing much to see, and yet Reddy cried, she thought. There were congratulations all around on the screen, Aamir Khan's shirt was bloody, Kareena Kapoor was beaming with love for Aamir and happiness for her sister, who had survived the childbirth. The baby too seemed lifeless at first when Aamir was holding it in obvious sorrow. Then suddenly, the baby kicked Aamir on his cheek as it came alive with a strong cry.
Reddy's thoughts (and tears) were about what a cad he had been for not insisting that he be with Ana when she was somewhere in California delivering their baby all on her own.
Synopsis: Shanti prepares for a movie date with Reddy. Reddy cooks a special lunch for her and they go to the movies.
Munni's LIA - Episode 21
Reddy Cries in the Movies
When Reddy opened his email Monday morning, he found one from Shanti with an attachment: a photo of him standing by the Huron river, under a Japanese Maple Tree at the Nichols Arboretum. She had written that she liked the walk with him, and wanted to go there again when the colors would be at their peak. Reddy was quite happy; that day, he added his contribution to time loss at work due to daydreams. That evening he called her to thank; after much chat about his work and hers, and various other topics for over an hour, he asked if she would like to go to the movie "3 idiots" at Wayne State on the coming Saturday afternoon. She had heard about it, and even seen the trailer on the web. Shanti liked that idea that she will go to a college romp comedy, instead of some serious love-dance-song-chase-fight bollywood thing. They talked about it and agreed that they will have lunch together and go see the 3 PM matinee.
Note: Unspoken thoughts are within Chevrons, as in <Thoughts>
Shanti wanted to clean herself up a bit before that movie date. Patty helped. Patty knew a friend who knew a friend at the local cosmetology institute, where the students did the work for much cheaper prices. She was able to get Shanti an immediate evening appointment for hair styling, nails and facial. Shanti had thick hair with good body and years of wearing twin braids had given her hair that gentle natural wave. At the end of her appointment, Shanti had shoulder length hair, gently curving inwards at the shoulder, nicely styled to highlight her face, covering her ears and some critical spots of vitiligo at her nape. All her peach-fuzz on the face were gone, and she really liked her eyebrows. Patty had often said that Shanti had Penelope Cruz eyebrows and such good natural lashes, whereas many girls had to draw pencil lines and make-do with black goo for lashes. Patty also took Shanti shopping, and after looking at the various shops, Shanti bought shoes with higher heels than she'd normally buy and some dark leggings that would go with her churidhar kurtis. Much as she tried, the latina couldn't convince Shanti to buy some of the blouses that she wanted Shanti to wear; finally she gave up and said,"…OK…you'll gash his heart with your eyes anyway.. ".
Reddy decided that he will ask Shanti home for lunch and then take her to the movie. He made hyderabadi biriyani using cubes of venison steak from the freezer in the basement. He cooked the biriyani in the garden gazebo, so that the exotic aroma remained outdoors; for the slow final phase of cooking the layers he had set the electric cook pot on low heat and a timer switch, so that it will go off automatically. He had also made raita with cucumbers and a cauliflower-bindi subji.
When he called Shanti at 10 AM to ask when he should come to pick her up, she said, "why don't you come now ?". He got to her place in about 30 minutes. When he rang the bell, Shanti opened the door. She was dressed in a churidhar outfit, with black leggings. She had also worn her coral ear studs, although they were hidden under her hair. Reddy was amazed at how beautiful she looked. And he said so:" you look so lovely…". She was pleased, even though much suffering went into making that. Shanti said,"..thanks….come in and sit for a bit" and pointed him to a sofa in the living room. When he sat, he sank into the sofa deeper than he had expected. Shanti went in to warn her room-mate of a male visitor in the living room.
A few minutes after Shanti disappeared, Reddy heard the pair of them coming back. Patty turned out to be shorter than Shanti, chubbier, a mestizo, of wheat-ish complexion !! Quite a bit of that complexion and more was visible at the neckline of her shirt and her waist. Patty rushed straight to Reddy, with Shanti from behind saying,"Reddy, this is my roommate Patty, and Patty this is Reddy …mi novio". Patty was at him, before Reddy could rise from the sofa: she rested her hands on his shoulders, slapped her cheek against his and made a kissing noise, and did the same to his other cheek. Reddy blushed….and Shanti thought,<..dang…here I am, scheming if and when to kiss him..or let him kiss me first ….and she goes and does it..>. Reddy had finally managed to get off from the sofa and on his feet. Patty was shaking Reddy's hand quite enthusiastically, saying,"…al final, we meet…whenever you call, Shanti always tell me ..yes..yes…I will meet you some day…". Shanti was glad that Patty finally let go of Reddy's hand, and did not sit on his lap or hug him, while she delivered that had-been-waiting-for-thee speech. Then Patty giggled and dragged Shanti by the hand back into her room. Reddy heard muffled shreiks from inside. Later he learnt that Patty got very excited because she thought Reddy looked like a venezuelan telenovela star she was once crazy in love with. After Reddy survived that, Shanti put on her new shoes, a knee length light jacket and was ready to go.
After they got in the car, Reddy asked her if she would like to eat Hyderabadi biriyani.
She was surprised:"where do you get that in Ann Arbor?".
Reddy said," I made some at home…I thought we'd pass my house ...it is just on the way to the cinema …but if you would rather eat out ..we can do that too …".
"…oh..that is so nice…you didn't have to go to that trouble…..but now that you had made it…let us go and taste your cooking…"said Shanti.
Reddy was happy that she did not fuss about that. Shanti also wanted to see where he lived, and going there first would be less suggestive than going there later in the evening.
When they got home, Shanti was quite pleased how well it was kept up, inside and out. Reddy took her to the garden gazebo first and showed her the biriyani in the electrical pot that was connected to a timer switch on the wall. The flour-thread seal around the lid was still on. When enduring many "ouches" during that week of getting "ready", Shanti had pondered how much she had been going through to get to that date. She was happy that Reddy too had been thinking about their day together and worked hard to prepare a nice lunch for her.
Shanti got a tour of the house. She was impressed with Reddy's housekeeping. Reddy explained that he had closed off several rooms to keep the cleaning work down. She went to the basement and tried out the treadmill and the lazy-boy chair in the family room with the big TV.
"Nice house, Reddy", she complimented.
"You can come here anytime you want to" Reddy invited.
She blushed at that invite, but appreciated how genuine he sounded without any hint of a sly flirt.
Then they went up for lunch. She thought his biriyani was quite tasty; she had never eaten venison before; besides the raitha and the subji, Reddy had also made a salad with tomato, onion and lettuce. He had set up the table with knife, fork and soup-spoon. She asked him if he ever ate his food with his fingers and he responded, "…often and especially when eating indian food…but today…I don't want you to color your new manicure with saffron and turmeric…". Once again, she was quite pleased at his notice of the pains she had gone through. She smiled at him and said,"…that is so sweet, thank you…yes..I must keep them clean for a while at least…don't I ?" She also liked his subji and raitha. Later he made her some mint chai. She thought that was a good choice after eating the biriyani. They had their tea and chatted about the bollywood movies they had seen until they had to leave for the movie.
At the movies, as Reddy pulled his wallet out at the box office, Shanti asked if she can buy their tickets; Reddy agreed without any protests. He remarked that if she had her student ID, then she could buy tickets at a discount. She used her ID and bought tickets. Then they both went in to the dimly lit theatre. Reddy went ahead first, and Shanti followed him with a hand softly laid on his back. Then they turned right and went sideways into a row of seats to face the center of the screen.
Reddy asked " is this ok?".
She said ", yes…let us sit ".
He took his jacket off, folded it and slung it over his right knee. She folded her jacket and kept it on her lap and placed her purse on it. After she sat down, she noticed that he kept his left hand on his lap and let the arm-rest between them be totally for her arm. For sometime, she wondered if she should accept that offer; she kept her right hand on her bag. Their shoulders and upper arms touched, but the arm-rest was free.
There were already many desis in their seats. A crowd of about fifty or sixty. The theatre was only about a quarter full. There was yet another five or so minutes before the event began. Shanti was thinking to herself <..now what ? I am here with a nice man, probably not much older than may be four or five years, very fit, looks like a venezuelan TV star, but speaks Telugu, from the same Indian city, who lives in a clean house, cooks well, no apparent bad habits, …I have had dreams about him ever since the walk at the arboretum, even when talking to my freshman class… I got aroused and had to put my jacket back on in class…and now I am sitting next to him…rubbing shoulders in the dark of a movie. Now what do I do…and if he does something …how do I react ?….I couldn't have asked Patty for any advice…because…by this time, in this dim light…she'd be sitting on his lap…ooohh…the show has begun…god...please help me…>
Suddenly she heard Reddy whisper to her," do you understand hindi?"…She said,"…yes..how about you ?". "Not very good..now and then I need subtitles help", he said. Shanti wondered if that exchange was a response to her silent scream to god. She decided that Reddy was not going to do anything in the dark, without some help,... from her. After the advertisements, and the trailers, the movie began. She waited for an opportune scene in the movie to help him hold hands with her.
The first part of the movie was about a men's engineering college and how students deal with studies, dorm life and the pressures of planning for the future life. Aamir Khan played an unusual student who questions, problem-solves and poses critical opposing views rather than blindly follow and cram the lessons. Naturally he was not well liked by his professors, and the school's principal becomes his arch nemesis. His two friends from the dorm had families crimping to save and send them to college. These two friends as well as many others, constantly worried about having to do well in college, in job interviews and get jobs, so that they can take care of their families. Aamir Khan met up with a medical student (played by Kareena Kapoor) in about 15 minutes into the movie. Kareena happened to be the younger daughter of his college's principal-nemesis; while Aamir-Kareena's initial meeting was strange and the subsequent interactions were rocky, they finally come to an understanding, and eventually Kareena falls in love with him. Aamir's feelings were not really all that explicit in the movie, perhaps he was one of those strong-silent types !
Eventually, Aamir Khan was ordered expelled from college, for, essentially being a pain-in-the-butt to his principal. However, before he packed off, there were monsoon floods, loss of electricity everywhere and roads were blocked to all traffic due to floods. The college Principal's pregnant older daughter goes into labor. The access to a hospital was impossible; the younger, medical-student daughter, Kareena Kapoor, who could help with the mid-wifery, was stuck at the hospital and cannot get home to help. Aamir Khan comes to the rescue. Kareena gives Aamir instructions on internet phone and webcam. The pregnant girl, after some initial pushing, could not push anymore, the baby's head was stuck and Aamir had to pull the baby out with vacuum extractor. Kareena showed him how the process could work with a picture on the webcam.
When the electricity went out, Aamir, organized his dorm-mates to collect all the car batteries from all the stalled cars in the neighborhood, rigged up the batteries to provide electric power for the webcast to Kareena at the hospital as well as a vacuum implement to help move the baby's head across the birth canal. When he succeeded in this practical application of engineering knowledge, the principal relented, apologized etc… While all this battery rigging, and baby-vacuuming were going on, there were flashes of lights coming off the screen. And Shanti felt something was the matter with Reddy. She thought she had felt his hand over her shoulder shudder a bit. She turned and looked at his face; in a flash of white light from the screen, when Aamir Khan had all the batteries working, Shanti saw tears rolling down Reddy's cheek. <He cries in movies !! ayyo paavam (the poor dear)!! >, she thought. The baby delivery scene was mostly dark, nothing much to see, and yet Reddy cried, she thought. There were congratulations all around on the screen, Aamir Khan's shirt was bloody, Kareena Kapoor was beaming with love for Aamir and happiness for her sister, who had survived the childbirth. The baby too seemed lifeless at first when Aamir was holding it in obvious sorrow. Then suddenly, the baby kicked Aamir on his cheek as it came alive with a strong cry.
Reddy's thoughts (and tears) were about what a cad he had been for not insisting that he be with Ana when she was somewhere in California delivering their baby all on her own.
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