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Ammini knew that today would be her last day in her maternal home. It was just six days ago that Ramchandra had come, seen her and the marriage was fixed. Since then, she had been looking around the ancestral home she'd grown up in. Her older sisters suddenly didn't seem like the matrons they'd seemed all these years. Her mother looked slightly more fragile to her and her elder brother seemed to be busy preparing for their weddings. After all she was to marry Ramchandra and her brother Appukuttan was to marry Shreedevi, her future husband's sister in an exchange marriage.
The walls of the house seemed less boxed in, she noticed the height of the wooden beams and lifted her gaze to the open sky that offered natural sunlight in the inner courtyard. Filling water for all the chores from the house well didn't seem so hard anymore. Ammini thought about how lucky she was to have been chosen from among her sisters to be the bride. Ramchandra had been very clear. He had taken the proposal of his sister Shreedevi to Appukuttan and in exchange had said that he would be happy to marry the oldest girl in the family who was younger than him. She thought of her sister just older to her who had a permanent job as a teacher in a government school. This sister was in fact a few months younger to Ramchandra. Ammini knew that it was just because she herself had not enough education and no professional skills that her brother had decided that she needed the marriage more than her older sister. She once again thanked her stars that she'd not continued her studies all those years ago. Ramchandra's face and his smile flashed in her mind's eye and Ammini had to remind herself that it was not now but tomorrow when she would be seeing him again.
Her older brother had handed her a small suitcase in which she filled her few belongings. It didn’t contain much; she didn't have anything new except the gold-coloured saree he'd bought for her from Bombay. The saree had cost 13 rupees and looked like real gold. Ammini was grateful and knew that she would cherish this gift for her whole life. She had heard that after her wedding she would first head with her husband to his village home in Kottarakara, in the southern part of Kerala. Ammini had travelled so little till then. Everything would be an adventure, she decided happily. She ate her supper quietly and stayed in the corner of the room she slept in, when all the chores were done. She would miss this little space, she said to herself, this little sanctuary she had.
It was the middle of the night and she was already getting ready for the long journey. It wouldn't be a huge wedding party. One of her uncles had reached the house the evening before and he would join her and her brother Appukuttan. The only sister who would join them was Sati. The weddings were to happen at the famous Guruvayoor temple. Her mother had a young son to tend to and chores that needed to be done. She wouldn't be joining them. Neither would her older sisters. The budget was tight and not everyone could be taken along.
Ammini took the blessings of the Gods in their home temple and the Gods in the courtyard and then sought the blessings of her parents. Her mother handed her a gold chain. She looked at the chain, surprised that she'd received something so valuable. She put it around her neck. She touched her mother's outstretched hand, that was as much of a physical demonstration of love that she felt was called for. The restraint was not from fear but from having forgotten the gesture altogether. Her sister Sati hugged her and pinned a small flower garland on her sister's braid. They looked at each other and smiled. Ammini hadn't said anything about how she felt to Sati but Sati knew that this was the best thing that had happened to her sister in years. They held hands when they walked out of the home towards the gate of the house.
After a couple of bus journeys, the wedding party reached the temple. The menfolk had gone ahead to make enquiries and the women were left to wait for Ramchandra and his family's arrival. Ammini stood there, under the large trees near the entrance to the temple grounds, sweating nervously, wondering what was to happen next. She also realised that she would meet her mother-in-law soon. What would she be like? Would they like each other? Would she approve of her cooking? As she was engrossed in these thoughts, she saw Ramchandra and his family enter the main gate of the temple. He was accompanied by an older woman and two very thin girls and a young boy. The girls were very well dressed. The older woman had a simple set - mundu , but the girls were in sarees that Ammini guessed were from Bombay. She couldn't guess who the bride was but imagined it was the girl who was talking less. She recognised the nervousness Shreedevi carried. They all gathered together. Ramchandra turned to ask Ammini and Sati something.
Ammini let Sati do the talking but as Ramchandra's voice fell on her ears, something deep inside her relaxed. She felt something she had not felt since some time. Confidence, reassurance and a sense of calm. She wouldn't have been able to express these feelings though, even to herself, but she knew she was happy. As they all walked together towards the inner parts of the building, Ammini felt a soft touch on her arm. She turned to look and realised that her mother-in-law, to be, was holding onto her gently as they walked. She held back the tears that rose quickly, touched by this unexpected gesture of acceptance and belonging.
In front of the sanctum was a huge line of people who'd come to the temple to be married in the auspicious hours of the morning. A temple priest led them to their allotted zone. Before she knew it, the women around were marking the occasion by the ‘kuravas’ or celebratory, high-pitched, oscillating vocal sounds to bless their weddings. Both grooms tied sacred threads around the necks of their respective brides and their marriages were solemnised.
Ammini was married to Ramchandra and Appukuttan to Shreedevi. The newlyweds and their families then proceeded to the hall where food was being served on banana leaves and waited for their turns to be seated. Ammini sat next to her brother's wife and both of them didn't eat a lot. They were seated there amongst hundreds of people, but each was lost in thoughts of what their future homes would be like and most of all if their husbands were good men.
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You may also like the first part here about how my parents met
How my Daddy met my Mummy - Ramchandra & Ammini - The Chronicles of the Youngest Child
or this one about my father
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