He is a Good Guy

Chapter – I

Attack the mom! Attract with charm

I reached her house. She and her mom were anxiously and querulously waiting outside the house. I had to cross a perfect Brahmin family before I could reach her house. I opened the gate to enter inside and I was stopped by a hexagenerians “Whom do you want?”(yaaru paa venum?).

I do not want to develop another series of questionnaire like avaala theriyuma? Avaa friend ah? Avaa college ah? Saptela? Coffee Sapudrela? Kaaka vada suticha?

"I am going  upstairs" (mel veedu venum).

I didn’t wait for their acknowledgment. I went through an atleast-20-year-old rusted stair case. I was wearing a red-checked-full sleeve folded shirt and light blue jean.

The moment I saw her mom I was out of my nerves. I uttered “Hello Maam”, As if I was there for selling encyclopedias and detergent powders.

Before I could realize that I had made a terrible mistake, I was welcomed by her mom.

I was expecting ‘vango, ukkarungo, sapudrela?’.

But it was not the right time for expecting the expectations to happen. I started the conversation in a humble but bold, polite but self confident, reverent but manly tone as the first impression is always the best impression and I have to give a neat presentation.

Chapter – 2

Perfect chocolate for the perfect girl

I took out a mixer (spicy snack in Tamil) bought from kalaimagal sweets nearby and gave it to her mom. I was eagerly waiting for her, keeping an eye on every door possible. I could sense some Ilyaraja Music playing in my mind.
OMG! She was coming out of her room in her pink with black salwar. She was so fresh after taking her head bath. She looked so romantic in the moist hair. And I realized that her creator was watching me sitting behind. I gave her, her all time favorite Dairy Milk Crackle. She was very much excited but was controlling her emotions. She started unwrapping the foil slowly but passionately like a baby eagerly waiting to unwrap the Christmas presents. The half melted chocolate bulge was carefully sliced by her canine teeth with tongue wiping the vestige left behind. And…..

Mom: how did you do the exam? (exam epdi pannae?)

“That was a sharp interruption given by her mom flowing with multitudes of words and eagerly waiting for her next round of questionnaires “I badly wanted to comment like a cricket commentator.

Me: (which exam? Oh! The exam we created as a reason so that I could visit her house and I have to maintain the same story) Nalla (I was about to tell nanna but things could have gone worse) pannae ma.

She was moved when I told her amma.

I was so confident as if I had passed a preliminary test.

She didn’t ask me further but I should not leave the conversation so blunt because I started well.

Me: Exam was little tough. But let me see if I could clear this time.

Mom: Ah!

Me: Actually I studied well this time and I had given my sincere efforts.

Mom: ah AH!

I was startled by her reactions like in ‘Moov’ advertisement “ Ah muthal ah ah varai”.

Then I started talking about my mom, family, job, then mom, schooling including primary secondary and higher secondary, then mom, job. Finally I created an impression that I am more sticking onto my mother.

I was encouraged by her smile.  

Meanwhile this girl was about to finish her last piece of chocolate. And she was too busy licking the royal remainings in the aluminium foil. I was watching like the male artist watching Katrina kaif drinking Maaza in an advertisement.

I texted her “ Gummunu iruka”

She started blushing until she noticed her mom nearby watching the live telecast. She didn’t reply back.

Mom: You should be hungry isn’t?

Me: (nice discovery! Should be enlisted in next year’s Manorama’s GK book) actually famished.

 I was given a full square vegetarian meal with appropriate ingredients of a Brahmin’s recipe. Well boiled white rice with sambar, rasam with papad, curd with pickles, vegetable dish etc. Unfortunately it was power shutdown and I was sweating profusely.

Her mom gave a hand fan to help myself. I praised her for the lunch and she was moved by it. She and her mom finished her lunch well before my arrival and I was having my lunch in solitude. I wanted to take revenge.

Me: (turning towards her mom) Has she started studying? Exams are just three more days left I suppose?  (She was taken aback and her mom gave her a nasty look).

Mom: She is never listening to my words. Not one bit. I had been scolding her right from the morning and she is not even touching her books.

Now my rasam and papad was getting tastier than before.

Mom: Her dad will be very angry when he comes to know that she is not at all studying.

She threw her sharp eyes upon me and I started eating curd, absurd. 

Chapter – 3

Filter coffee? Illa ithu bru

Minutes later. Her mom went inside the kitchen for refilling my plate. And I was doing nothing but staring at her. We couldn’t take our eyes, off, each other. Thousands of Giga bytes of information were being transmitted within us, seamlessly, until her mom butted in.

Mom: Is food enough?

Me: (taking my eyes off her) up to the brim

I could sense there was a slight disturbance in her mom's facial expressions that made her feel uncomfortable.

She sat in the sofa and started talking with her daughter. I went to the kitchen for hand wash and returned back to occupy my seat, as if I am going to hatch eggs.

They were talking and I started viewing my previous messages in my mobile. And still they were talking with each other. I open an unused application in my mobile and uninstalled it to create free memory space. And still they were talking. I locked and unlocked my mobile several times. And still they were talking.

I badly wanted to shout “Excuse me ladies, we introduce ourselves. He is Saravanan, I am his friend Partha”.

But I didn’t and started watching them talking. Their gossip was so unhealthy that I was growing sick. My future mother-in-law was doing this so intentionally to get rid off me. But she liked me. And I was so confident about it., only thing was she couldn’t accept the slightest doubt that was germinated in her mind.

 " are they really friends?" her mom's eyes spoke a lot.

Her mom went inside the kitchen for preparing coffee.

Mom: You need coffee?

Me: half sugar (like a diabetic patient).

I accepted her hospitality to lengthen her stay in the kitchen. 
I started walking slowly towards my girl. But she ran off to the balcony. I gesticulated to feel her presence by extending my hand. She responded well. I clutched her hand so tightly until the coffee aroma sprawled in the hall completely. I came back to my sense and released her hand under parole.

Mom came back with hot degree coffee in a well cleansed tumbler and Dawara.  

Mom: Is sugar level ok?

I nodded my head, confused while doing, if that was a tone of sarcasm or hospitality?

Me: (I couldn’t control my anxiety and I asked the most obvious question) Filter coffee?

Mom: (laughing) illa ithu Bru

All started laughing for this unprecedented comedy.  

Chapter – 4

Aunty in nighty

Aaaunttyyyyyy…….

An aunty from downstairs called my aunty. Let us refer her as Aunty.

Aunty: Is this the boy from IBM whom you were looking for your daughter?

I was frenzied and glared at her. She nodded horizontally in deliverance. 

Mom: No! This is her friend. (Turning towards me) come and say hiii

Me:  (I went to the door and) Hi (I saw an ugly Aunty in nighty)

Aunty: Hi,you are from? ( As if like an interviewer asking her interviewee the most obvious question” tell me about yourself”)

Me: (I told a small gist of my introduction, where I am from, that she is my friend. Blah blah... I came inside as I could not stand the sight of the aunty in nighty as I need to protect my eyes from cataract, night blindness and all forms of communicable and non communicable diseases.)

Aunty: When is your daughter getting married?

Me:  (WTF)

Her: (Turning towards me with red cheeks in anger and moist eyes)

Mom: Not now. Maybe in two years.

I got hold of her hand, pacifying her, “don worry nothing will happen“.

She nodded. 

Chapter – 5

He is a good guy

After leaving the aunty behind us we sat in the hall with no conversation going between us. And it was time for me to impress her mom again.

I came close to her and talked about my mom, how she takes care of me, how I am taking care of her, how I should take care of her in future, that I should come up big in life, that I want to study more in life. She was carefully listening to every word I was uttering. She was moved but she couldn’t express it. She was touched but couldn’t accept it. She liked me but couldn’t express it.

After that I stopped talking. I was waiting for her to express something.  She remained silent. Everybody remained silent.

She was watching the floor with eyes that failed to blink. She started breathing heavily, exhaling the air, trying to tell something.

I badly want to tell something to breach the silence.

Me: I am leaving ma

Mom: (nodding her face, facing down, with no words of expression)

I waved my hand to her and her mom. Slowly walked downstairs, and went out into the scorching street.

Mom: (turning towards her) He is a good guy (and left back to the kitchen).