Sonali's Suitors, Bharati Rose [short story to read TXT] 📗

Sonali’s Suitors

Chapter 14

Gautham’s family was not very small. That was apparent from the large number of people who arrived at my house to help pick out my engagement sari. Moreover, this vast sea of people consisted of only the womenfolk of the house. There was Vani auntie, Gautham’s mom and his older sister. There were his maternal aunts Mala and Sutha. His grandmother, Kaveri, had accompanied them. Above all, there were over a dozen small children who ran excitedly through the entire house since arriving. They introduced them me individually, but I failed to grasp each of their names. The only child I remembered was the one who had present on the day of the bride-seeing ceremony. He was Gautham’s nephew, his sister’s son. The boy’s features reminded me of Gautham. I wondered if this was how he would have looked in childhood. I shook my head to relieve myself of such stupid musings. Gautham and I were not actually planning to go through with the marriage. Then why was I foolishly attaching myself to constant thoughts of him throughout the day. Most likely it was because I was obsessing over this entire drama. I hoped we succeeded and that everything would return to normal.

I directed my attention back to the fine ladies seated on the couches before me. They all wore fashionable chudithars, a common outfit in India. Unfortunate for my ears, they were extremely loud speakers. I was afraid at some point that the next door neighbours would come knocking on our door in alarm. Nonetheless, I was happy to see an entirely new side of my mother while she interacted with them. She had the most magical illuminating light in her eyes. I couldn’t help but notice that her smile reached up to her cheeks. She rarely smiled that openly after losing her family after her marriage. I felt a pang of guilt for fooling her, for having to take away this mirage of a family from her. My mother belonged to one of those extended families, where everyone lived together in harmony, regardless of their petty fights or frequent bantering. My maternal grandmother had not picked up the phone once, even after my parents had me, to inquire after our wellbeing.
My mother didn’t mention her parents anymore, but her eyes would sometimes take on a forlorn look when she someone uttered their names or at the mere mention of another’s parents. My father would have a hurt look on his face in those moments. Guilt clawed at him for separating her from what had been the most loving family once. Everything had changed for her when he stepped into his life. Yet he had done everything in his capacity to give my mother a life that surpassed her lifestyle with her parents, and an abundance of love. He was still helpless when it came to getting her parents to accept him.

“Sona my child, we could sit here all day chatting, but we still have tons of work to do before you I can take you home as my daughter-in-law. Are you ready to go?”
Vani Auntie proceeded to place her warm hands on top of my clasped hands. I smiled lightly and got up. We all crammed ourselves into the mini-van that Gautham’s sister drove. There was barely room for all of us to fit! We must have broken a few road rules for sure. I had Gautham’s nephew sitting on my lap. I had to hug him to me closely when we hit speed bumps, because the seat belt wouldn’t fit around both of us. I sighed.
I breathed in a fresh breath of air once we unloaded from the van. I avoided crowded buses and ironically, I had let myself be dragged to the Indian bazaar in an overly crowded van. The TTC buses seemed like a better option now.

We made our way into Neelam Silks. It seemed that Gautham’s family were regular customers because the owner of the store came running, calling out a greeting as he came. He addressed Vani auntie by name, insinuating the underlying relationship of a brother and sister. Calling customers brother or sister was common among South Asian salesmen, especially Tamil ones. Nonetheless, it surprised me that he knew Mala auntie and Sutha auntie as well. He also asked after the well-being of Gautham and his father. I tried to make myself invisible throughout their exchange of words. Unluckily, I could remain unnoticed for long. Vani auntie pointed at me and introduced me as her future daughter-in-law. To be respectful, I pressed the palms together in a sign of greeting. He smiled and switched his attention back to Gautham’s mother. Did I mention how I hated shopping already?

The salesman, who I came to know was called Easan, directed us to where he had the wedding saris displayed. The saris were showcased in the most vibrant colours of mango yellow, onion skin pink, chindoor red, all heavy stonework and embroidery. I didn’t understand why they were at this section. They only needed to buy a simple engagement sari for now. I felt lightheaded as I watched the women around me begin the agonizing process of selecting a sari for a wedding, not only the engagement. When voiced my thoughts as a question, they told me that it was best to buy the sari ahead of time, granted they didn’t have much time in the wedding arrangements. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. They were going to be drastically disappointed when they found out Gautham played a part in this charade, in fact, that he engineered the plan. Why were they showering this much affection on a mere stranger? Nothing made sense to me.

Ever since Chandrika, Neelu’s wife, cleared Vani auntie’s doubts regarding my friends, she had started to act as if she wouldn’t believe any ill comment about me. Her close friendship with my mother had strengthened the fact. How were Gautham and I ever going to break up the engagement before they all got hurt in the process? This was not the time to start second-guessing the decisions I had chosen to make. I tried to reason with myself, to reduce the feeling of having a tightly knotted stomach. I needed to call Gautham and reassure myself that this would indeed work out as we intended it to.

After all the ladies took turns laying an assortment of colours across my shoulder, gazing at my reflection in the mirror, they decided on a onion skin pink sari, decked with stones and silver threads as the wedding sari and a tree green sari with gold flecked embroidery for the engagement. Both the Sari’s were too grand for my liking, but I may as well give them this mirage of happiness, before I proceeded to burst their bubble once and for all. It didn’t matter to me what I wore to that engagement, as long as it was done and over with for good.


When we got home my eyes just barely peeked out through the slits. I had a hard time staying awake and it was only 10 p.m. I rushed to my room, changed out of the day’s clothes and rested my head on my pillow. As if someone purposely hoped to disrupt my sleep, my cell began to ring incessantly. Grunting I punched the answer button and placed the receiver to my ear. Gautham’s voice washed over me.

“Hi Sonali, my bride-to-be. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Too late, you already have. What’s up?”

“How did the shopping go? I know my family can be a bit intense at times but I love them all regardless, so please don’t say anything that bad.”

“You have no need to worry. You have a precious family. I’ve never seen a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law get along so nicely like your mother and I.”

“Then perhaps I should marry you?” I kept silent. I didn’t know how to react or respond.
“Sonali, I was just kidding, no need to give me the silent treatment. We’ll always be good friends.”

“Thank you Gautham. I know you were. It’s just that all this marriage talk is making me nervous. Spending time with your family today made me realize just how much pain we have the capacity to create.”

“Sonali, I love my family more than anything in this world. I’ve had the same doubts you’ve had but this is the only way I can see not to hurt them. If I tell my mother I don’t want to get married for years to come, she’ll be devastated. All she’s dreamt about since I turned twenty-five is getting me married. As it is, she feels I’ve delayed the occasion too long. At least if I agree to marry someone, even if it’s a few short years from now, she’ll be content. I can’t bear to see her upset.”

“And you don’t think she’ll be far more upset if she finds out her only son was lying to her, scheming behind her back, to act as if he’s honouring her wishes.”
“That’s why she can never know. I’ll break up our wedding at any cost, but my mother should never know that on what pretence we agreed for the engagement. She has to believe that we really wanted to marry one another.”

“Alright Gautham. Was there anything else we needed to discuss?”

“Yes, as our marriage is the day after tomorrow, I thought I’d swing by your house to pick you

up to select engagement rings.”

“Can’t our families do that for us?”

“My mom has taken quite a liking to you and wants everything to be of your liking.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” I mumbled.

“Sorry, what did you say, I couldn’t hear you?”

“Nothing important Gautham. Do you think that’s best given the circumstances?”

“If we’re going to play bride and groom, we’ll have to act the part to perfection. Any suspicions, and the will be the end of the story. We’ll either be forced to get married for real, or to separate partners, but marriage will be unavoidable. You get what I’m getting at right Sonali.”

“Yes, I guess I do. So when are you stopping by?”

“I’ll come over tomorrow after work at 5:00 p.m. Is that ok for you?”

“Yes, that’s fine. See you then.”

“Ok Sonali, good night.”

“Goodnight,” I yawned into the phone.

The next day as spoken, Gautham arrived at our doorstep. He wore a charming smile as he shook hands with my father, and kissed my mom on the cheek. He then proceeded to touch their feet as a sign of respect for his elders. My parents had been blown over seeing just his photograph. He was the son-in-law they dreamed of and much more. Why wouldn’t they be happy? They thought their daughter was going to be wed off to a well-educated, settled, and understanding young man. Though he possessed those traits, the engagement was nonetheless a ploy, written and orchestrated by two freedom seeking young adults. I could only pray that we need not face any repercussions for our traitorous actions.

As we got into his Chevy, I let out a sigh. Gautham turned his attention to me.

“Are you alright Sonali?” he asked concerned.

“Yes I’m fine.” I smiled half-heartedly.

Before he could pester me on the subject, I buckled my seat belt and gazed out