Note: All characters and venues are totally fictional; any semblance to real persons or places is merely coincidental.
Synopsis: Shanti makes dosa for brunch and sends Reddy out of her house after she learns of his past.
Munni's LIA - Episode 25
Shanti wanted to cook Reddy some indian food at home on Saturday and then have that girl-dekko terrace chat. Now and then she worried about what Reddy might have to say to her. She was certain that it would have nothing to do with his health; she knew already that he worked hard, even did home maintenance for some of Benny's old clients, played basketball and swam laps. And besides, she had looked at his body when he was asleep and had blushed at her own thoughts, had counted his fingers and toes, and knew he does not snore. Very few girls got such details on a boy even after a girl-dekko "terrace talk". All of that made it seem like she was having a "love marriage"
rather than an arranged one: After all, Reddy had already declared his love for her, and she had reciprocated.
She smiled a lot that week. Even smiled at the pest of a freshman student who asked too many annoying trivial questions in class and try to wreck her lesson plan for the class period. That student was shocked, confused and disarmed into silence by her smiles, when she answered the first few of his questions in class with oozing pleasure.
She had decided that Reddy may have had some previous experiences with a woman or women that he wanted to confide in her during the talk. She had also found it perfectly rational that a few other women may have found Reddy good enough to get involved with. That spin sent her into the thought :< Who would want a man that nobody else wanted ? >. What she couldn't understand was, why the woman (or women) from his past left him, threw him away, so that he could come into Shanti's life; but then, she chuckled to herself and decided not to question her own good luck. Overall, she was all set to listen to his story, be suitably mad/disturbed/sad and then tell him she loved him anyway. That would be the end of that, she thought. She was happy with her resolve and started getting more concerned about what she'd cook for him. After all, Reddy had placed the bar way too high, by making her a venison-hyderabadi-biryani already. The suitable menu for brunch had occupied her mind so much, she almost forgot about her own original concern with her vitiligo and how might Reddy feel when he sees those images she was going to show him on her laptop screen. She soaked lentils, fenugreek and rice to make dosa-dough.
Friday evening, Reddy came to Shanti's to take her shopping. They went to Trader Joe's and then to the Whole Foods. When they came back, Shanti enjoyed a spell of domestic felicity when Reddy carried most of the shopping bags from the car to her kitchen. She planned to cook two curries (chicken and fish) in Chettinad and Kerala styles and make masala dosa and chutney. After chatting and drinking tea, Shanti sent Reddy home, even though she was loathe to let him go home that early. She wanted to get a good night's sleep before she made the dosa-brunch for Reddy. She wanted to make a genuine attempt to make the best she could, although she fully expected Reddy to lie no matter how things tasted.
On Saturday, Reddy came to brunch at 10:30 AM. Shanti wore a sari, a full sleeve blouse and an apron. She had the windows open to the unseasonably warm November weather outside, and the kitchen exhaust fan going full blast to get the cooking aroma out. She had already cooked her curries, the masala for the dosa and had ground the chutney as well. All she had to do was to make the dosas. She had three plates on the kitchen dinette, and glasses of water to drink. After Reddy sat himself, Patty came in, wished him buenos días, kissed him on the cheek, and sat next to him. Shanti made two dosas on side by side skillets and served them. They both ate without a knife/fork.
Reddy was truly impressed with the curries and the dosa. Patty made such fuss over everything; called Reddy the luckiest man on earth to have such a beautiful novia in a sari making him tortillas de arroz. Shanti made two more dosas and served them. Patty told them about the Spanish tortilla de arroz, egg omlette with cooked rice folded in it. Patty thought the non-egg indian version with potato-masala inside it tasted a lot better. After Patty finished eating, she wanted to try and make a dosa. Shanti showed her how to pour the dough at the center and using the back of the ladle to spread the dough. Since the skillet had been well seasoned by then , Patty's first attempt at dosa came out very nice. She was so excited with her dosa, Shanti let her serve that to her venezuelan TV heart-throb look-alike. When Reddy finished eating, he washed his hands, and made dosas as Shanti sat and ate. Patty had already been briefed on how hot dosas are made and served in the native culture; but still, she was quite pleased and amazed to see a man in the kitchen, serving his novia. She rushed into her room, brought a camera and took a photo of Reddy with the ladle and Shanti eating. Shanti laughed and said,"that photo will go viral in venezuela". Patty and Reddy laughed. Then Patty said her goodbyes, and left the two of them on their own.
Reddy helped Shanti clean up the kitchen, wash dishes and put away the left overs. As they stood side-by-sdie at the kitchen counter, Reddy hugged her and told her that the dosa and curries were very good and thanked her for it. She blushed and decided to stay put in his hug and enjoy the thanks. After they had their coffee, Shanti took him to her room and closed the door. She didn't want the sound of the exhaust fan as a background for what she had to tell him.
Shanti asked him if they can have a brief start for their terrace talk at home before they went out for a walk. He agreed; then she told him about her skin pigment loss and how that could get worse as years go by. Reddy asked,"vitiligo ?". Shanti was surprised that he knew the term,"…how do you know…did your mother..?". "No..no..no…I had noticed the spot on your ear and neck ….and guessed you may have more…", said Reddy. She touched her ear, put her head down, and said,"..sorry... yes…I also have more on my body…can you sit in the chair…and I will stand behind you when you look at the images..... on screen". Shanti's voice was breaking a little as she said that. Reddy got off the bed and sat in the chair, as Shanti switched on the laptop on her desk. When the desktop screen was up, she pointed to a couple of image file icons on screen to Reddy. Reddy clicked the mouse over the first image and maximized it. In the image, Shanti was standing in the middle of that room, with both her hands held straight out. Her head had been cropped off the image. It was the image of the front of her body. She had probably used self timer, Reddy thought. He looked at the image for several seconds. He moved his left hand behind himself, over his shoulder and wrapped it around her. Then he minimized that image and looked at the second; in this image, she had turned around. Reddy looked at it briefly and minimized that. Then he stood up and hugged her; she looked up at him and saw that his eyes were filled. She put her head on his chest and asked him,"then ?". Reddy said,"…this doesn't change anything, Shanti…now I know where they are….that is all". Such a straight forward simple response sent her into a muddle of happiness, surprise, and excitement, she didn't know what she ought to do. Then she wiped her eyes on her saree pallu, and asked him,"….I am so happy now…can you not tell me anything…can you just say you love me and then we skip any talk about your past……I am just happy not to know…"
Okonomi: See image at the site http://bit.ly/iYPUGT
The foot note on the website reads: SHILPA AMODE, 33, runs the marriage bureau for the Shweta Association. "It's is a great job, I love to see so many people getting together." Shilpa, who has had Vitiligo since she was a small child has not found a husband herself. Her father is worried, but Shilpa smiles and says she no longer cares..........Pune, India. 2009
Reddy said,"I had been thinking about this for sometime now…and you know…if I can hide things from my wife and it will make her happier, I will certainly do that….but you need to know this ….may be we can just talk here and then go out for a walk in fresh air later….let us wash our faces, drink some water, get calmer and then talk…what d'you say ?"
Shanti loved him even more for this reasonable request. She wondered if she just didn't listen to what he would say -- just like some of her students do in class -- and then pretended she had heard it, then everything would be just fine. He would have said his peace, she wouldn't know what it was and they could go on with their lives. She said,"ok.." and went to the kitchen. He went to the bathroom, threw some cold water on his face, wiped dry and came back to Shanti's room. She came back with glasses of water. They both drank the water and sat on the bed, face to face.
Reddy began by telling her the story of Boris and Oksana from Novosibirsk (Episode 16). He had been mulling over how to begin his story for two weeks. A detailed chronological order of events seemed a softer approach, rather than starting with the big shock of marriage-baby-and-divorce, and possibly, losing Shanti's attention after that.
Revived by washing her face and drinking some cold water, Shanti decided to listen. Reddy went through the story in exactly the order it had happened. Oksana losing Boris, coming to America to marry Greg Olander, her escape from physical abuse, Benny helping her, then the support of Kamla & Benny, meeting Reddy when he was new in the USA and the marriage with provisos that Ana gave him. Shanti's reaction to that news of his past marriage was as expected. Reddy saw her shoulders droop and she stopped looking at his face and put her chin down to look at her own lap.
Reddy continued on with the story of his past, his night work, Ana's graduation, job offer in california and the unexpected pregnancy. For a brief moment Shanti lifted her head up and looked at Reddy in disbelief. Then she looked down and moved back a few inches on the mattress, away from Reddy.
Reddy continued on with his recital with the adoption agreement, Ana disappearing to California for almost a year, her return and the divorce….and how he had lived a simple, lonely life since that time. He told her that he wanted to work for a few more years, save money and return home to Chennai, before his sister had asked him to go and meet Shanti Naidu. He stopped at that point, took a very long pause and said,"…please…I had to tell you all this…I am so sorry….but I had been stupid…I cannot really explain the rationale for why all these things happened…I was just there …and I lived a very strange life when I was married….but I was very kind to Ana until the day she left…but I couldn't hide such things from you….I couldn't hide anything from you and marry you…..I am sorry if I had made you sad….it just couldn't be helped…I love you.."
Shanti was only prepared for a lot less than what Reddy dropped on her lap. The commitment of a marriage and an actual baby in Reddy's past were beyond what she was prepared for. What Reddy told her was just too much to gloss over.
Shanti looked up at him and asked,"…do you also love her ?", and immediately bit her tongue and wanted to take that back.
Reddy replied,"…please understand … I was a lot younger six years ago…and didn't know if I loved her…I never said that to her …but then…taking good care of her…being kind to her…and making sure that she can do whatever she wanted…and just providing her an environment at home that never ever reminded her of her previous husband ….was all the things I did….eventually none of these mattered against some pull that Russia or her old love Boris had on her…..even our accidental baby did not give her a reason to stay with me."
Shanti asked,"…if she had kept the baby and asked you to be the father and her husband ?"
Reddy said,"…this is hypothetical….but I will answer it for you….I would have stayed with her….then I would have worked for the baby, make sure he or she had a nice life…nicer than either of the parents….if you think about it....many desi husbands do just that...they have a marriage and then a duty to support the family.."
Shanti asked,"…you don't know if the baby was a boy or a girl ?"
Reddy turned his face away, and wiped his tears, his voice became tremulous,"…no …I don't …I was not there....she didn't tell me... I had signed away my rights…because that is what Ana wanted …I had promised Ana she'd have anything she wanted in that marriage…"
Shanti got up, went out of the room and went to the bathroom. She washed her face again with cold water, …then came back to her room and addressed Reddy,"….Reddy, please leave now….I want to organize all of what you had said to me this afternoon and think about them…I am really happy that your secret past didn't turn out to be some incurable disease….or something like that…but then, now there is a large something between us, the image of a Russian mother with her child will be standing between us…when we talk, take walks in the park, eat meals together, or especially when we .....mmmh... share a bed. I don't know how I can deal with that. I really wish I can deal with that in some way. May be I will sit and think about it on my own for a while…OK ?".
Reddy stood up and was about to say something. Shanti brought her hands together in supplication, walked to her room door, opened it and said,"…could you please give me some time…?…then I can call you ?"
Reddy was about to say,"how long ?", but it sounded like a haggling desi, so he gave up. He hung his head down and walked to the door. He slipped his shoes on, opened the door, went out and the door swung shut behind him. Shanti returned to her room, peeled off her sari, blouse and petticoat and fell on her bed and sobbed uncontrollably.
Synopsis: Shanti makes dosa for brunch and sends Reddy out of her house after she learns of his past.
Munni's LIA - Episode 25
Self-destructive behavior
Shanti wanted to cook Reddy some indian food at home on Saturday and then have that girl-dekko terrace chat. Now and then she worried about what Reddy might have to say to her. She was certain that it would have nothing to do with his health; she knew already that he worked hard, even did home maintenance for some of Benny's old clients, played basketball and swam laps. And besides, she had looked at his body when he was asleep and had blushed at her own thoughts, had counted his fingers and toes, and knew he does not snore. Very few girls got such details on a boy even after a girl-dekko "terrace talk". All of that made it seem like she was having a "love marriage"
rather than an arranged one: After all, Reddy had already declared his love for her, and she had reciprocated.She smiled a lot that week. Even smiled at the pest of a freshman student who asked too many annoying trivial questions in class and try to wreck her lesson plan for the class period. That student was shocked, confused and disarmed into silence by her smiles, when she answered the first few of his questions in class with oozing pleasure.
She had decided that Reddy may have had some previous experiences with a woman or women that he wanted to confide in her during the talk. She had also found it perfectly rational that a few other women may have found Reddy good enough to get involved with. That spin sent her into the thought :< Who would want a man that nobody else wanted ? >. What she couldn't understand was, why the woman (or women) from his past left him, threw him away, so that he could come into Shanti's life; but then, she chuckled to herself and decided not to question her own good luck. Overall, she was all set to listen to his story, be suitably mad/disturbed/sad and then tell him she loved him anyway. That would be the end of that, she thought. She was happy with her resolve and started getting more concerned about what she'd cook for him. After all, Reddy had placed the bar way too high, by making her a venison-hyderabadi-biryani already. The suitable menu for brunch had occupied her mind so much, she almost forgot about her own original concern with her vitiligo and how might Reddy feel when he sees those images she was going to show him on her laptop screen. She soaked lentils, fenugreek and rice to make dosa-dough.
Friday evening, Reddy came to Shanti's to take her shopping. They went to Trader Joe's and then to the Whole Foods. When they came back, Shanti enjoyed a spell of domestic felicity when Reddy carried most of the shopping bags from the car to her kitchen. She planned to cook two curries (chicken and fish) in Chettinad and Kerala styles and make masala dosa and chutney. After chatting and drinking tea, Shanti sent Reddy home, even though she was loathe to let him go home that early. She wanted to get a good night's sleep before she made the dosa-brunch for Reddy. She wanted to make a genuine attempt to make the best she could, although she fully expected Reddy to lie no matter how things tasted.
On Saturday, Reddy came to brunch at 10:30 AM. Shanti wore a sari, a full sleeve blouse and an apron. She had the windows open to the unseasonably warm November weather outside, and the kitchen exhaust fan going full blast to get the cooking aroma out. She had already cooked her curries, the masala for the dosa and had ground the chutney as well. All she had to do was to make the dosas. She had three plates on the kitchen dinette, and glasses of water to drink. After Reddy sat himself, Patty came in, wished him buenos días, kissed him on the cheek, and sat next to him. Shanti made two dosas on side by side skillets and served them. They both ate without a knife/fork.
Reddy was truly impressed with the curries and the dosa. Patty made such fuss over everything; called Reddy the luckiest man on earth to have such a beautiful novia in a sari making him tortillas de arroz. Shanti made two more dosas and served them. Patty told them about the Spanish tortilla de arroz, egg omlette with cooked rice folded in it. Patty thought the non-egg indian version with potato-masala inside it tasted a lot better. After Patty finished eating, she wanted to try and make a dosa. Shanti showed her how to pour the dough at the center and using the back of the ladle to spread the dough. Since the skillet had been well seasoned by then , Patty's first attempt at dosa came out very nice. She was so excited with her dosa, Shanti let her serve that to her venezuelan TV heart-throb look-alike. When Reddy finished eating, he washed his hands, and made dosas as Shanti sat and ate. Patty had already been briefed on how hot dosas are made and served in the native culture; but still, she was quite pleased and amazed to see a man in the kitchen, serving his novia. She rushed into her room, brought a camera and took a photo of Reddy with the ladle and Shanti eating. Shanti laughed and said,"that photo will go viral in venezuela". Patty and Reddy laughed. Then Patty said her goodbyes, and left the two of them on their own.
Reddy helped Shanti clean up the kitchen, wash dishes and put away the left overs. As they stood side-by-sdie at the kitchen counter, Reddy hugged her and told her that the dosa and curries were very good and thanked her for it. She blushed and decided to stay put in his hug and enjoy the thanks. After they had their coffee, Shanti took him to her room and closed the door. She didn't want the sound of the exhaust fan as a background for what she had to tell him.
Shanti asked him if they can have a brief start for their terrace talk at home before they went out for a walk. He agreed; then she told him about her skin pigment loss and how that could get worse as years go by. Reddy asked,"vitiligo ?". Shanti was surprised that he knew the term,"…how do you know…did your mother..?". "No..no..no…I had noticed the spot on your ear and neck ….and guessed you may have more…", said Reddy. She touched her ear, put her head down, and said,"..sorry... yes…I also have more on my body…can you sit in the chair…and I will stand behind you when you look at the images..... on screen". Shanti's voice was breaking a little as she said that. Reddy got off the bed and sat in the chair, as Shanti switched on the laptop on her desk. When the desktop screen was up, she pointed to a couple of image file icons on screen to Reddy. Reddy clicked the mouse over the first image and maximized it. In the image, Shanti was standing in the middle of that room, with both her hands held straight out. Her head had been cropped off the image. It was the image of the front of her body. She had probably used self timer, Reddy thought. He looked at the image for several seconds. He moved his left hand behind himself, over his shoulder and wrapped it around her. Then he minimized that image and looked at the second; in this image, she had turned around. Reddy looked at it briefly and minimized that. Then he stood up and hugged her; she looked up at him and saw that his eyes were filled. She put her head on his chest and asked him,"then ?". Reddy said,"…this doesn't change anything, Shanti…now I know where they are….that is all". Such a straight forward simple response sent her into a muddle of happiness, surprise, and excitement, she didn't know what she ought to do. Then she wiped her eyes on her saree pallu, and asked him,"….I am so happy now…can you not tell me anything…can you just say you love me and then we skip any talk about your past……I am just happy not to know…"
Okonomi: See image at the site http://bit.ly/iYPUGT
The foot note on the website reads: SHILPA AMODE, 33, runs the marriage bureau for the Shweta Association. "It's is a great job, I love to see so many people getting together." Shilpa, who has had Vitiligo since she was a small child has not found a husband herself. Her father is worried, but Shilpa smiles and says she no longer cares..........Pune, India. 2009
Reddy said,"I had been thinking about this for sometime now…and you know…if I can hide things from my wife and it will make her happier, I will certainly do that….but you need to know this ….may be we can just talk here and then go out for a walk in fresh air later….let us wash our faces, drink some water, get calmer and then talk…what d'you say ?"
Shanti loved him even more for this reasonable request. She wondered if she just didn't listen to what he would say -- just like some of her students do in class -- and then pretended she had heard it, then everything would be just fine. He would have said his peace, she wouldn't know what it was and they could go on with their lives. She said,"ok.." and went to the kitchen. He went to the bathroom, threw some cold water on his face, wiped dry and came back to Shanti's room. She came back with glasses of water. They both drank the water and sat on the bed, face to face.
Reddy began by telling her the story of Boris and Oksana from Novosibirsk (Episode 16). He had been mulling over how to begin his story for two weeks. A detailed chronological order of events seemed a softer approach, rather than starting with the big shock of marriage-baby-and-divorce, and possibly, losing Shanti's attention after that.
Revived by washing her face and drinking some cold water, Shanti decided to listen. Reddy went through the story in exactly the order it had happened. Oksana losing Boris, coming to America to marry Greg Olander, her escape from physical abuse, Benny helping her, then the support of Kamla & Benny, meeting Reddy when he was new in the USA and the marriage with provisos that Ana gave him. Shanti's reaction to that news of his past marriage was as expected. Reddy saw her shoulders droop and she stopped looking at his face and put her chin down to look at her own lap.
Reddy continued on with the story of his past, his night work, Ana's graduation, job offer in california and the unexpected pregnancy. For a brief moment Shanti lifted her head up and looked at Reddy in disbelief. Then she looked down and moved back a few inches on the mattress, away from Reddy.
Shanti was only prepared for a lot less than what Reddy dropped on her lap. The commitment of a marriage and an actual baby in Reddy's past were beyond what she was prepared for. What Reddy told her was just too much to gloss over.
Shanti looked up at him and asked,"…do you also love her ?", and immediately bit her tongue and wanted to take that back.
Reddy replied,"…please understand … I was a lot younger six years ago…and didn't know if I loved her…I never said that to her …but then…taking good care of her…being kind to her…and making sure that she can do whatever she wanted…and just providing her an environment at home that never ever reminded her of her previous husband ….was all the things I did….eventually none of these mattered against some pull that Russia or her old love Boris had on her…..even our accidental baby did not give her a reason to stay with me."
Shanti asked,"…if she had kept the baby and asked you to be the father and her husband ?"
Reddy said,"…this is hypothetical….but I will answer it for you….I would have stayed with her….then I would have worked for the baby, make sure he or she had a nice life…nicer than either of the parents….if you think about it....many desi husbands do just that...they have a marriage and then a duty to support the family.."
Shanti asked,"…you don't know if the baby was a boy or a girl ?"
Reddy turned his face away, and wiped his tears, his voice became tremulous,"…no …I don't …I was not there....she didn't tell me... I had signed away my rights…because that is what Ana wanted …I had promised Ana she'd have anything she wanted in that marriage…"
Shanti got up, went out of the room and went to the bathroom. She washed her face again with cold water, …then came back to her room and addressed Reddy,"….Reddy, please leave now….I want to organize all of what you had said to me this afternoon and think about them…I am really happy that your secret past didn't turn out to be some incurable disease….or something like that…but then, now there is a large something between us, the image of a Russian mother with her child will be standing between us…when we talk, take walks in the park, eat meals together, or especially when we .....mmmh... share a bed. I don't know how I can deal with that. I really wish I can deal with that in some way. May be I will sit and think about it on my own for a while…OK ?".
Reddy stood up and was about to say something. Shanti brought her hands together in supplication, walked to her room door, opened it and said,"…could you please give me some time…?…then I can call you ?"
Reddy was about to say,"how long ?", but it sounded like a haggling desi, so he gave up. He hung his head down and walked to the door. He slipped his shoes on, opened the door, went out and the door swung shut behind him. Shanti returned to her room, peeled off her sari, blouse and petticoat and fell on her bed and sobbed uncontrollably.
----o)(o----
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