The Arranged Marriage — Act 1, Scene 1
Scene 1
Setting — same as the prelude. It is night now, and the family is in the midst of eating dinner. Shankar and Savitri have already eaten, while 2 plates are set for the children. There is a smaller plate at the foot of the daybed, and Karuppa waits, whining occasionally. The dining table is organised chaos — several large aluminium and steel vessels jostle for space. Foremost — a large Tupperware container of curd with a ladle inside it, a steaming tin jug of rasam, and an open pressure cooker with rice in it. Several well-used jars scattered along the length — salt, sugar, pickles, savoury powders.
Vasudev: (mumbling over a huge book with a forgotten plate of food on the table in front of him)… acylium ion acts as an electrophile and reacts with the arene to yield the monoacylated product — (louder now) Amma, give me one more cup of curd —
Savitri: You have not eaten anything off your plate! How can you expect to survive IIT with just curd?! They’ll not even give you curd everyday in the mess, Ranjani tells me. Eat your rice and vegetables!
Vasudev: (continues mumbling chemical reactions while trying to eat without taking his eyes off the book) — conversion of 1,2 diol into carbonyl compound having a C-O double bond. This is done via a 1,2-migration which takes place under acyl condition — Amma help me! I need to study.
Savitri sighs and begins to spoon some food into Vasudev’s mouth.
Shankar: You pamper him too much, Savitri. (sarcastically) Do they have assistants to help students eat at IIT mess, Vasu?
Vasudev rolls his eyes, ignores him, and continues to study. Savitri makes shushing noises directed at Shankar, indicating with angry eyes that his comments are not welcome. Karuppa jumps onto the daybed and paws Shankar for attention.
Kritika: (eyes twinkling with some inside joke, pleading mock-sincerely) Appa, I have work too. Help me. I have no assistants at my office mess, and need help with my plate now -
Shankar: (laughs, absent-mindedly scratching Karuppa behind his ears) Ada, po di! Ask your husband, whoever he is going to be, to entertain you. I am done with this nonsensical pampering. It’s only your mother who thinks you both are two years old.
Kritika: (whines and pretends to cry) Appaaaaa! So you’ll just throw me to the dogs once I’m married? Will I have no one to turn to in this family? Vasu busy with IIT, Amma busy with Karuppa, Appa busy with newspaper, Kritika saddled with depression?
Savitri and Shankar laugh, amused. Even Vasudev‘s lips tremble with repressed laughter — his recitation of chemical reactions momentarily quavers. Karuppa barks along loudly, as if he gets the joke.
Savitri: Dei, Karuppa, stop! The neighbours will be at the door if you keep this up.
Karuppa begins to howl the song of his people. Savitri smacks her forehead in frustration and rushes to ensure that their windows are shut. Vasudev finishes his food in a gigantic gulp and struggles to swallow, coughing.
Savitri: (runs back to the table, scolds Vasudev, smacking his back until the cough subsides) You stupid boy. What’s the need to eat so fast? You’ll end up with food going down your windpipe!!
Shankar: (declares over the din) You’ll always have me, even if your mother and brother have other priorities. (solemnly, and to Kritika alone) I have something to ask of you, dear child.
Kritika nods her assent, curious. She turns her chair around noisily to face Shankar on the bed.
Savitri: (annoyed at the squealing of the chair in addition to Karuppa’s ongoing singing) Why does nobody else in this family care about living peacefully here? We live on the first floor, and have neighbours on all sides, up down left right!! One complaint from any of them, then life will become miserable —
Shankar: (hesitating, confused, trying to phrase things non-offensively) Erm. Hmm. Kritika. I think we should put an ad in the matrimonials. For you.
Kritika looks down, her expression ambivalent. Fiddles with her nails, checks her phone, then looks lost, nothing else to be distracted by. The noises in the house have abruptly stopped, except for the muttering of chemical reactions in a frenzied pace by Vasudev, and Karuppa’s resigned yawn as he warily eyes Savitri holding a rolling pin.
Shankar: (in a serious tone, as Savitri meaningfully glances at him and leaves for the kitchen with leftovers) We have given this Abhimanyu business enough time, now, Kritika. His parents do not want anything to do with us. With you. We have not heard from them since…you know. You saw how bad your mother’s health was, after they left. We cannot take such insults, ever. And we were quiet all the while, holding our retorts, wondering if we were misunderstanding. Not wanting to make the wrong move, in case the boy…felt differently. We are good people, we deserve better. YOU deserve better. What do you say?
Kritika: (her face hidden by her hair, but voice making her hurt apparent) I thought he was a good one, appa. I really did. He was a different person around me, and different around his parents. (her voice now low with rage) And those people — those people — and he didn’t even stand up for me when they — when they — said I was too dark for their son — too short — too less —
She is unable to go on, and begins to cry in earnest.
Shankar comforts her, resting his chin on her head, arms around her. Savitri, now back and looking alarmed at Kritika’s floodgates, holds her hand, and waits for her to calm down.
Savitri: My health be damned, child. If it meant you found happiness in that marriage, I would have suffered silently. I want you to be happy, and it’s not possible in that sort of family. You saw that, no? You understood. You have not spoken about him since.
Kritika: (wiping her eyes, but failing to stem the tears) I’m so sorry, amma, appa. I never wanted to hurt you. Never. He tried approaching me at office the next day, tried to schedule some stupid one-on-one meeting in his cabin on the pretext of a performance review. I snubbed him and let HR know that we are no longer together. He has not bothered me since then. That’s all I meant to him… Three years, dust and smoke. And here I was, building sandcastles in the air…
Savitri: (insistent) I want you to promise me something, Kritika.
Kritika: Tell me, amma, anything -
Savitri: (more insistently) First say yes. Only then I’ll tell you what’s on my mind.
Kritika: Yes, amma, yes. Yes, yes. Tell me before I start itching all over again.
Savitri: Krishna! You need to do something about this anxiety of yours before you become a mound of hives!
Kritika: TELL ME NOW (begins scratching her ankles)
Savitri: Ok OK!! I want you to promise me that you will not see yourself through their eyes. Not now, not ever. You are much more than your complexion, your height or your horoscope. You are free to find the man of your choice, but no more Abhimanyu-types. I want your partner to be your equal, someone who respects you for who you are.
Shankar: (nods fervently in agreement) You are an MBA graduate from IIM Calcutta, dear child. And a national topper in chartered accountancy, to boot. That idiot boy was from some nondescript crack den engineering college. Being from wealth did nothing for his manners. (Shankar swears pristinely in Tamil. Savitri looks both affronted and impressed)
Savitri: Ennanga, our son is listening to you, please control yourself.
Shankar: (the picture of politeness) Sure, my dear. (eagerly) So what do you say, Miss MBA? Do you consent to this arranged marriage gas? (farts musically as if to emphasise his point. Kritika sniggers and covers her nose with the nearest pillow. Shankar smiles and takes up the newspaper again, opening the sports section with a determined ruffle)
Savitri: (waving her hand in front of her nose to disperse the foul smell) I will personally inform the bajji-bonda mami on 2nd street to not serve you anymore. I am tired of this regular smelly orchestra. (looks at Kritika)
Only if you want this, kanna. If you want some more time to settle down, we’re ok with it. But eventually, you’ll have to find someone, and find happiness. We’re ok with it, right? (angrily pokes Shankar)
Oh for heaven’s sake! How many times will you read the same rag in a day?
Shankar: (smiles beatifically) Anything my wife says, right-ho, right-hoo. So what say, Kritika? (drums on the sleeping Karuppa enthusiastically, mistaking him for the bolster. Karuppa barks once in protest and runs to rest under the dining table, undisturbed)
Savitri: (grunts and stands up, massaging her lower back) Of course he didn’t hear a word we said. Please marry someone better than this piece of outdated equipment I ended up with, Kritika. I have to keep tuning it with an occasional whack, else it doesn’t work.
Kritika stands up, smiles in assent, and hugs her mother gratefully; They are the same height. Savitri ruffles her hair, gives her forehead a kiss.
Savitri: (gently) Go, stretch your legs and fall asleep. (now sternly) Leave your phone in the hall! No taka-taka-taka in the night. All that is for after you find your King Charming.
Kritika: (rolls her eyes) Prince Charming, not King -
Savitri: Something, something. You’ll be queen of your house, that’s all. Now go.
Kritika: Good night Amma, Appa. (hugs them both. Shankar absent-mindedly pats her ponytail.) Dei, Vasu, remove your books from my side of the bed, for God’s sake!
(the siblings bicker as she enters the room and closes the door).
Shankar: (in a soft voice) I am worried about her, Savitri. She has lost too much weight in the past few months. Stress is eating her, and she is not eating enough… (points at the half-eaten plate Kritika has left behind)
Savitri: (eyes distant, voice low) It’ll be alright. Soon. We’ll find the right boy for her, won’t we? (looks at Shankar, anxious) She’ll be happy again, won’t she? Poor thing, she keeps asking me to help her eat while she works, but I somehow end up paying attention only to Vasu. (straightens her back and proclaims in a low voice) I’ll not refuse her from tomorrow. Vasu can eat on his own for a while. After all, we don’t know how much longer she will be under our roof…
Shankar: (rolls his eyes and clucks his tongue impatiently) Is this 1947? It’s 2021 for heaven’s sake! She doesn’t have to go anywhere. The boy will come live with us. (sees Savitri laughing, he looks at her, bemused) I’m not joking.
Savitri: And where will you find this boy? In the cattle market? (she continues to laugh, snorts accidentally, and laughs more raucously) Why don’t we buy him some grass and a mat to lay on? And give him Karuppa for company? (there are tears in her eyes now, and she is holding her side, laughing all the way to their bedroom)
Shankar: What on earth did I say and why is it so funny?
Shankar shakes his head and follows her.
End of Act 1, Scene 1
