Part 4 of 6 · 1 minSnake Gourd in Curd

For Lasya it was as good as having her head cut off. She had said it lightly, to make the city girl look a little bigger; she had never thought it would box her in like this. She put on "Bhagavanth Kesari" and turned the topic. She looked ordinary enough on the outside, but inside she was squirming. Everyone drifted off to sleep.

Early next morning everyone got ready for the chicken biryani. Father-in-law and son-in-law were cutting and spicing; mother and daughter were cooking and serving. Everything ready, they helped themselves to biryani with raita and ate — all except Pramod, who was eating perugu pachadi on the side.

"What is this, andi, eating a pachadi meant to go with rice like that?" her mother asked. Lasya answered at once: "He likes it very much, and when it's made with snake gourd he likes it even more. He has it made once or twice a week."

"How lucky you are, son-in-law. Not because she's my daughter — but you've got a wife who understands a man's likes and dislikes. Then there's mine: bring home semiya and ask for payasam, and she'll make upma out of it, killing my wish and the taste of the upma in one go," her father said. "Stop it, son-in-law will think it's true. And wasn't it eating all that payasam that got you the diabetes?" her mother complained.