We took an auto to the Sheraton. I am not kidding, a hundred youngsters in
party clothes waited outside in the sunny courtyard. The disco opened in ten
minutes. Everyone went inside and the lights were switched off. The bar started
business. The DJ put on the latest Rajni Tamil track. The crowd went crazy as
everyone apart from me registered the song.
Ananya moved her body to the music. She danced extremely well, as did most
others trained in Bharatnatyam while growing up.
‘Naan onnai kadalikaren,’ she said ‘I love you’ in Tamil. I took her in my arms.
I looked around at the youngsters, doing what they loved despite everyone
from their parents to the government banning them from doing so.
Yes, if there can be afternoon discos, Punjabis can marry Tamilians. Rules,
after all, are only made so you can work around them.
‘Uncle, Ananya told me you are having trouble with your business plan.’
Uncle braked his car in shock. We never spoke in the Fiat. We had a ritual. I
read my reports, he cursed the traffic and the city roads. In twenty minutes, we
reached the traffic signal near the Citibank where he dropped me. I thanked him,
he nodded, all without eye contact. Today, one week after my Amethyst date, I
had made my move. Ananya had gone to Thanjavur on work for five days, and her
mother joined her on the trip to see the temples. Ananya had told me it would be
the perfect time to offer help. Her father wouldn’t suspect I wanted to come home
for Ananya. Plus, more important, he could actually take help from me
I looked around at the youngsters, doing what they loved despite everyone
from their parents to the government banning them from doing so.
Yes, if there can be afternoon discos, Punjabis can marry Tamilians. Rules,
after all, are only made so you can work around them.