I crossed the 50K mark!! While a whole other post will be written about the experience, here is another excerpt from the novel! 🙂 Please forgive the grammatical errors and bad formatting. I am going to have to edit the hell out of this later.. But for now, its time to celebrate!
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“Do you want to go to a movie?” Ambujam could not believe that her timid husband had finally wanted to make a move and take her out. She looked at him in disbelief. He looked around and checked to ensure that nobody was there and then asked her again, “I heard Parashakthi is a good movie. My friends in college have already seen it. The new actor Shivaji Ganeshan is said to have acted very well and the script is very powerful. I believe it is running in Raja Talkies close by. Do you want to go?”
Seshadri was a man of very few words, especially around the elders. Her mother had said that he was a brilliant student. “I don’t know anyone in our circle of relatives who have gotten into Stanley Medical college at such a young age!”, her mother exclaimed. Ambujam knew that getting into Stanley Medical College was an achievement by itself as it was one of the oldest and most reputed colleges in the country. Her husband had also consistently been a topper in his batch. Ambujam often felt a pang of jealousy when anyone talked about his achievements. She had longed to do all that and it was a reminder that she had sacrificed her dreams for a man she hardly knew or spent time with.
Of course, she wanted to go to the movie. She had not stepped out of the house in days and she longed to go out. A movie would just be an additional delighter. Even though they owned a movie theatre, her father- in-law did not allow the women to go there to watch movies. The women folk in his household rarely went out but they were highly content with that lifestyle.
Ambujam gingerly thought about her life in Kolar. Her father took the kids out every week, either to the park or to the club. She also played tennis with her friends and took a stroll in the neighborhood with her sister every evening. They hosted parties in her house, where her father’s colleagues swarmed. They would employ a chef, a butler and a bartender and the party would flow in the typical English fashion. She would dance with her friends and have a great time. All that had changed after marriage. Her father had insisted that she stayed away from the fun because her in-laws and her husband would not approve if they ever heard of it.
Everything seemed unfair to her because she did not feel married. In the eight months of her marriage, she had exchanged a few letters with her “husband”. He usually wrote short stodgy letters and she wrote equally formal letters back to him. She had visited her in-laws thrice during those eight months and had met him for a day or two during those trips. They had never had any time alone and the only outings they went to were to the Srirangam temple, but they were surrounded by family and barely had a chance to talk to each other.
Seshadri had felt very awkward to ask his wife if she wanted to accompany him to the movie. He had felt bad for her and wanted to do something small to make up for her misery. Her silence made him wonder if he had offended her. He quickly made up his mind to tell her that he was sorry for asking her that when she surprised him by answering, after what seemed like an eternity of being lost in thought- “Yes, I’d love to go to the movie”. Now that she said yes, he began to think about the logistical difficulties. His father would never give them permission and he felt stupid for even asking her. He would just be disappointing her if his father did not give them permission.
“Ambujam, if I ask Appa would never give us permission. The best way to approach this would be you talking to my mother and somehow getting the permission for us to go out.” Ambujam had mixed feelings about his suggestion. Her parents had told her that she should not come across as spoiled or over demanding with her parents in law. “Don’t ask them anything unless you absolutely have to”, her father had said. She wondered what impact the request would have on their perception of her. She realized that by this point, she was pretty desperate to step out of the house as she felt suffocated and this was the perfect opportunity.
“Amma…”, she ventured softly. Her mother in law, who reading something, did not hear her. “Amma”, she said a little louder as her mother in law put her book down and looked up at her. “He wants to take me to a movie.” There it was out. She had felt her heart pound heavily and wondered if she would faint before she could convey request. “What?” Ambujam suddenly felt emboldened by the surge of adrenalin and ignoring the shock on her mother in law’s face, she continued, “Amma, he asked me if we could go out for a movie. He was scared of asking Appa for permission and instead wanted me to ask you.”
Namagiri did not know what to reply. She knew that her husband would not agree to send them out alone. She also felt bad for her son, who had not had a chance to spend even a few minutes alone with his wife. But her husband, her sister-in-law would not agree since their shanthi-muhurtham was not yet fixed and it would not be considered right to let them spend time alone.
“Appa and Athai will never agree to let you both out alone if you tell them that you are going for a movie. I don’t agree to this idea either but I feel sorry for you. Tell Anna that you have a headache and he will give you some money to buy yourself medicines. Slip out with him and go to the matinee show. Make sure nobody notices you both in the theatre or they will tell Anna. Hurry back soon after the movie ends. Don’t ever make a habit out this. May this be the last time you are making such a request.”
Ambujam could not believe her ears. She grinned and thanked her mother in law. Now came the tougher part, convincing her father in law. Dr. Raghavan was a no-nonsense person. The little she had interacted with him was enough for her to know that if he saw through her excuse, she would be in deep trouble.
She just wanted to give up when she saw her father- a formidable figure- sitting in his easy chair, resting before heading back to the shed to continue seeing patients. This was her only chance because if he stepped out into the shed, he could not be disturbed. The shed was his hospital, it had a chair and a desk for him and stool for the patient. On one corner, there was a table with the instruments needed to do minor surgeries. He had one assistant who served as the compounder, cleaner and helper. The surgeries were done on a large wooden bench which was covered with a plain white cotton cloth. He had assigned days, Tuesdays and Thursdays, when he performed surgeries. Patients would throng on those days.
Despite being a doctor, her father-in-law was a very traditional and orthodox man. He always took a bath in the backyard before entering the house in the evening. Even when he got called on emergency calls, no matter what time of the day or night it was, he would never enter the house without taking a bath.
“Anna, I have a headache”, she said, quickly elaborating her statement when he looked at her, “Anna, I have a headache and Amma asked me to tell you that.” She tried hard not to shiver or look frightened. He had not said a word in reply while he got up. Maybe he saw through the façade. She really hoped he wouldn’t tell her parents how their daughter lied to him. She did not know what to expect.
“Here, take this and go get yourself some medicine. Then go lie down and take rest”, he said handing her Rs. 5. She took it, thanked him and scurried out of the room. “Bring me back the change ok. I will need you to tell me the details of every purchase you made”, her mother-in-law warned.
When nobody was around, she slipped out of the house with her husband. A sense of accomplishment spread over her thoughts. It felt so wrong, yet so right- almost like a clandestine meeting with a lover, something a heroine in the novels she read would do. Yet, here she was, secretly going to a movie with her husband. She decided to make the best of her outing and during the evening, she also discovered a different side to her husband, who was not as serious or silent as she had thought. They watched the movie and had sneaked back into the house just in time for her father-in-law to come in to check on her. She had managed to look suitably sick when he inquired about her health. She also handed over the change of Rs.2 to her mother in law. “The tickets cost us Rs. 1.5 each”, she had explained. They did not buy any snacks in order to save money.
Nevertheless, it had been a great evening and she was quite content for the moment.
The Random Pendulum 