‘No. he used to call when she wasn’t at home. Anyway, until the nakshatram
matches, the boy and the girl are not allowed to talk.’
‘Nakshatram what?’ I asked. The list of Tamilian hoops one needs to jump
before getting married seemed infinite.
‘Horoscope. It is a must. If they don’t match, boy and girl’s side don’t talk. But
they have matched for akka and him.’
I thought about my own family. The only nakshatram we think about is the
division of petrol pumps when we have to see the girl.
‘You are a science whiz kid who wants to see Saturn rings. And you accept
that people whose horoscopes don’t match shouldn’t talk?’ I said.
‘That’s how it is in our culture,’ Manju said, his hands itching to get to his
workbook. I gave him back his notes.
‘And he is coming now?’ I said.
‘Yes, for breakfast. And please, don’t snatch my notebook again.’
‘I am sorry,’ I said and stood up. I wanted to have a showdown with Ananya
about this. Surely, she’d have known a bit more about his visit. But for now, I
wanted to get out.
‘Bye, Manju,’ I said as I turned to leave.
‘Krish bhaiya, can I ask you one thing?’ he said.
‘What?’ I said.
‘Can something bad happen if you watch blue films?’
I stared at him.
‘I won’t, I promise, I just wanted to know,’ he said.
‘If you just watch them?’
‘Just watching ...and,’ he said and hesitated, ‘and if you do something else
afterwards.’
‘Why don’t you ask your appa?’
‘Aiyo, what are you saying?’
nora
(Nora)
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