Part 6 of 6 · 3 minThe Journey Back

Pramod left for the office early in the morning. Before going back, the in-laws decided to make all the podis, pickles and snacks that ought to be within their daughter's reach. Her father took on the fetching of supplies and the turning of the grinding stone; her mother took up the cooking and the dictating of recipes. The daughter listened as carefully as a student at lab practicals, and wrote it all down.

A call came from the son-in-law; her father took it and handed it to Lasya. When she recounted everything they had made that day, he asked her to find out whether they might make him minapa sunnundalu with ghee and sugar. Seeing their daughter's cheer, the elders concluded that everything had settled, and booked their return tickets. Lasya told Pramod the moment he got home. "Then get ready — eat hotel food again and take to your bed; they'll stay another week," Pramod said, smiling. "Why, andi? Tell him to eat the varieties we've made — then you'll remember us every day," her mother put in, handing Pramod a sunnunda.

"If you make them this well, you won't be remembered for more than a week. Three days for me, and a week for your daughter, since she's yours — they won't survive in front of our eyes any longer than that. That's how well you've made them. Give me one more if you can," Pramod asked.

To Lasya's "eat like that and you'll get a stomach ache," he replied, "and if it comes, all the better for us — cancel the in-laws' tickets, you'll have company, and I get my snacks as well." They put the elders on the train and started back home. The moment they were inside, Lasya held Pramod tightly. "Forgive me. I never thought the lies I told out of vanity would put you through this. City girl — I was trying to tease you. It's true I went to films, but everything I said about travelling around was a lie. I won't do it again."

"Let it be, Lasya. It's only because you did that your parents came here and cooked all this good food. With no leave and nowhere for us to go, this is how they helped us. If we had simply asked them to come, they might have hesitated — but the moment they knew their daughter was in trouble, they came. They took the kitchen off your hands. It's because they came that I saw happiness on your face again. It's because they came that I learned what you like and don't like. It's this transfer that has kept us this far from our own homes," Pramod finished.

On the Andaman trip Pramod had spoken about himself honestly, exactly as things stood. Lasya had told the truth for the most part, but a few things she had puffed up like this. She decided that the next time anyone was invited home, it should be Pramod's parents. Only, the house would have to be in order by then, so that nobody had to sleep outside and suffer for it. And just then Pramod's words came back to her. "I've heard 'talk you tonight' from you many times now. But every night you said it, you dodged and told me nothing. Tell me now what it was you meant to say," Lasya said.

The moment she finished, Pramod pulled her in, held her fast in a tight embrace and kissed her hard. Unable to move at all, Lasya went rigid. With one hand he held both her hands behind her, and with the other he pinched her waist. She jerked her head with the pain. On Lasya's lips, Pramod's tooth left a hard mark. "Sorry," he said, letting her hands go, "what happens after this is what my 'talk you tonight' means" — and winked.

By the time the year came round, the two of them had become four, and the house was full of cheer.