‘Ten thousand a month,’ he said, in a heavy Punjabi accent.
‘Great, I make twenty-five thousand. Still, can you tell me what have you done
to deserve a wedding like this? What have you done to deserve a car to be gifted
to you?’
‘I, I am the b ... boy’s side,’ Duke stammered.
‘So? Have you seen Minti?’ Ananya said.
Duke nodded.
‘You are having an arranged marriage. That is why you are getting a girl like
her. If you had to woo her, can you even in your dreams have a girlfriend like
her?’
Duke kept quiet as he shifted his largeness from one leg to the other.
‘What?’ Ananya said.
‘This is too much,’ Duke said.
‘I am too much,’ Ananya agreed and gave Duke a Bharatnatyam-style glare.
She spoke again.
‘Do you know what Minti’s parents had to go through to do this wedding for
you? That car cost two and half years of your salary, Mr Duke! These two parties
have thrown him into debt. Now you want an Accent? It won’t be your Accent, it
will be what you managed to wrench out of a helpless father, who didn’t want a
drama at his daughter’s wedding to turn into a scandal.’
It was too many words for Duke to process at one go. He was stunned, like the
rest of the cousins, more by Ananya’s confidence and fluent English than what
she was saying.
‘Sit down,’ Ananya said. Duke complied instantly. Ananya turned to everyone.
‘Listen, all brothers and sisters of Duke, there isn’t going to be any Accent. The
elders have shown their true colours, now it is down to Duke and all of you. If he
wants to take Minti with respect, he should say so. If he doesn’t, then he is just a
schmuck and we don’t want the wedding.’
‘Ananya beta....’ Rajji mama came to us as the youngsters’ meeting had gone
for too long.
‘Almost done, uncle,’ Ananya said. ‘Five minutes, Duke. Make up your mind.’
nora
(Nora)
#1