We heard footsteps.

*Be careful with Shobha aunty. Speak minimum,' she said.

*Why?' I said as Ananya's mother came to the living room again. She and her guru walked towards the main door. Aunty had a disappointed expression.

*Illa practice?' the guru mumbled as Ananya's mother spoke to him in Tamil.

The guru shook his head and left.

*What?' Ananya asked her.

*Nothing. Where is your appa and athai? Let's eat,' Ananya's mother said in a serious tone.

Ananya's father and aunt came to the living room. They carried more dishes than their arms were designed for. I stood up to help. *Hello aunty, can I take something!'

*Wash your hands,' uncle told me and pointed me to the kitchen.

We sat on the floor for dinner. Ananya's father passed me a banana leaf. I wondered if I had to eat it or wipe my hands with it.

*Place it down, it is the plate,' Ananya whispered.

*Radha,' Shobha aunty said in a stern voice as she pointed to her banana leaf.

It had specks of dirt on one side.

*Oh, sorry, sorry,' Radha aunty said and replaced it. It wasn't different from Shipra masi finding faults with my mother. Psycho relatives are constant across cultures.

I followed Ananya as she loaded her plate with rice, sambhar, funny-looking vegetables and two kinds of brown powders.

*What's this?' I asked.

*Gunpowder, try it,' she said.

I tasted it. It felt like sawdust mixed with chillies.

*Yummy, no?'

I nodded at Ananya. Everyone first kept neat little lumps of dishes on their banana leaf. Soon they mixed it into a slurry heap.

*Mix more,' Ananya said as I tried to copy my in-laws-to-be.

*You are Ananya's classmate?' Shobha aunty spoke for the first time.

*Yes, at IIM,' I said.

*IIT student?'

I nodded. Ananya had told me that my IIT tag was the only silver lining in my otherwise outcast status in their family.

*Sushila's cousin is also from IIT. Radha, I told you, no? Harish lives in San Francisco.'

*Which batch?' I asked.

*IIT Madras, not your college,' Shobha aunty said, pissed off at being interrupted.

I kept quiet and looked at the various vegetables, trying to recognize them. I said hello to beans and cabbage.

*Harish's parents want to get him married. You have Ananya's nakshtram?'

Shobha aunty said.

*No, not yet,' Ananya's mother said.

*What, swami? Your wife is not interested in finding a good son-in-law?'

I couldn't believe they were discussing all this in my presence. *Can you pass the rice?' I said, hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere.

*Radha, you must listen to Shobha. She knows best,' Ananya's father said.

Indian men slam their wives for their sisters with zero hesitation.

Ananya's mother nodded as Shobha aunty started to discourse in Tamil.

Ananya's dad and mother also responded in Tamil. It was irritating to watch a regional language movie in front of me.

After five minutes I spoke again. *Excuse me?'

*What?' Ananya's father said.

*Can you speak in English? I can't follow the conversation,' I said.

Ananya looked at me, shocked. Back off, her eyes said.

*Then learn Tamil,' Ananya's father said.

*Yes sir,' I said meekly.

*Anyway, this doesn't concern you,' he added.

I nodded. I heard various technology companies' the boys' names. I felt like upturning my banana leaf on Shobha aunty's face.

I left soon after dinner. Ananya came outside to help me get an auto. Ananya held my arm as we came on the desolate street.

*I am not talking to you,' I said and extracted my hand from her.

*What?' she said.

We passed by a bungalow with coconut trees in the garden.

*They are planning your marriage. What the hell is nakshtram?' I said.

*It's the astrological chart. They are fantasizing. I am not getting married to anyone else but you.'

She held up my hand and kissed it. I extracted it again. I hailed an auto.

Ananya would have to negotiate with him in Tamil else I'd have to pay double.

*How am I going to win them over? It is impossible to get through. Sitting with your father is like being called to the principal's office.'

Ananya laughed.

*It's not funny.'

*It is a little. What about my mom?'

*I used to be scared of her pictures in campus. Forget her in real life! Her looks alone kill me.'

*Her pictures scared you?'

*Yes, that is why I never wanted to make love in your room. I'd notice your mother's pictures and chills ran down my spine. I'd imagine her saying,What are you doing with my daughter?'

Ananya laughed again. *If we weren't in Mylapore, I'd have kissed you. You are so cute,' she said.

*Cut it out, Ananya, what is our plan? Will you speak to your mother?'

*Mom's stressed out. Her Carnatic teacher refused to teach her.'

*Why?'

*I'll tell you later.'

*Can we meet tomorrow? Outside, please,' I said.

*Meet me at Marina beach at six,' she said.

*I can't do six. My extra-caring boss Bala leaves at eight.'

*I didn't say evening.'

*Six in the morning?' I gulped.

Ananya had already turned to the auto driver.

*Nungambakkam, twenty rupees, extra illai, OK?' she told him.

18.

The beautiful sunrise at Marina Beach compensated for the 5 a.m. wake up call.

Hundreds of people took a morning walk along the seashore which ran down miles.

*Do you know this is the biggest city beach in Asia?' Ananya asked as she met me at the police headquarters building.

*You've told me,' I said.

*Why are you in formals?'

*I go straight to work. Trainees are expected to be there at seven-thirty,' I said, removing my shoes and folding my pants up to walk along the beach.

*To do what?'

*To suck up to the boss, who if you do a good job will promote you to the next level of sucking up. Welcome to corporate life,' I said.

*I am not facing it yet. I have to sell a thousand bottles of ketchup every week. I am so behind my targets.'

*You'd better ketch-up fast,' I said.

*Funny,' she said and punched me. Ananya saw a man with a bicycle. He carried a basket full of idlis. *Breakfast?' she offered.

*Don't they have toast?'

*Don't grumble,' she said. We took four idlis and sat on a bench facing the water. She spoke about her mother. *Guruji didn't accept mom. He felt she isn't dedicated enough.'

*But isn't she really good?' I asked, not that I could tell from the shrill cries I heard last night.

*She isn't good enough by Chennai standards. Dad used to be posted in towns outside Tamil Nadu. Mom became a star in the Tamilian community there. Here, she is just OK. Chennai's Carnatic music scene is at a different level.'

I nodded as if I understood.

*My parents came to Chennai with great enthusiasm. But now dad lost his promotion. Pesky relatives visit us all the time. Amidst all this, their daughter wants to impose a non-Brahmin, non-Tamil, Punjabi boy on them. Of course, they will freak out. We have to be patient. I love them, too, Krish,' she said and paused for breath.

A gentle breeze blew on our faces. She laid her head on my left shoulder. I stroked her hair. The sun emerged out of the Bay of Bengal, a soft red at first, turning into a warmer orange. I put my arm around Ananya. In my tie and formal pants, I looked like a salesman with no place to take his girlfriend to make out.