*We have a reception party day after evening. Have your fun there,' he said and turned to my mother, *Kavita jee, Shipra jee, can I talk to you for a second?'

My mother, Shipra masi and Ananya's father stepped away from me and other relatives. They spoke for five minutes. My mother rejoined me. Shipra masi went to the reception to collect her keys.

*What?' I said as we climbed up the steps towards our hotel rooms.

*Nothing,' my mother said.

*It's my marriage. I deserve to know.'

*They asked me if I wanted a special gift,' my mother said. Perhaps, Ananya had recounted Minti's wedding to her parents.

*And? What did you say?' I said, eyeing my mother with suspicision.

*Don't talk to me in that voice,' my mother said.

*What exactly did you say, mom?' I said, my tone worse, *what? Did you send him to buy a car or split ACs or what ?'

*That's what you think of me. Don't you?' my mother said as we reached the first floor. She paused to catch her breath.

Shipra masi's expensive sandals could be heard four seconds before she arrived the first floor.

*See this stupid sister of mine. She said no to any big gifts,' Shipra masi said to me.

*You did?' I said to my mother.

My mother looked at me.

*You will never understand how much I love you,' my mother said.

I hung my head in shame. My mother smacked the back of my head. I deserved a slap.

Shipra masi waved her hands as she spoke.

*You and your mother, both the same a impractical. She tells him, "I sent my son to do one MBA, I am getting two MBAs in return. Ananya is the best gift,"'

Shipra masi said, *OK, she earns a lot, but Kavita, why say no if someone is ready to give. Why not grab it.'

*Because we are not that kind of people, Shipra masi,' I said and gave my mother a hug, *she is all talk. But she can never behave like Duke's mother.

Never,' I said.

I came into my hotel room where ten cousins, six aunts and four uncles sat on my bed. I sat on the floor as space was at a premium. We had twenty rooms to choose from, but my relatives would rather be cramped together than miss out on juicy gossip session.

The younger cousins battled for the TV remote. I repeated the schedule to my aunts.

*They are big bores. How can they do puja the whole day?' Kamla mami said.

*They don't even have sangeet?' my mother said.

*I think they are trying to save money,' Shipra masi said.

*What language will the pujas be in? Madrasi? Another aunt said.

*Tamil, maybe Sanskrit,' I said.

*I am not coming,' my mother said.

I glared at my mother.

*Where do we eat?' an aunt expressed everyone's concern.

*The meals are in the dining hall at the wedding venue. Let's go to bed, we have to wake up early,' I said.

We had planned to meet in the hotel lobby at seven-thirty in the morning. We only left at nine.

*What is the address?' Rajji mama said.

I took out the piece of paper Ananya's dad had given me.

*I can't read this,' Rajji mama said.

I took the paper back. It said: Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar Karpagambal Thirumana Mandapam 16, Venkatesa Agraharam Street, Mylapore, Chennai After three attempts of reading it, I had a headache. I counted the letters, my wedding venue had fifty alphabets in it. Delhi never gets this complicated. One of my older cousins had her wedding in Batra Banquets, another one in Bawa Hall.

We struggled for twenty minutes on the streets of Mylapore before we reached the venue. Fortunately, the locals had abbreviated the name of the place to AKKT Mandapam. From actors to political parties to wedding halls, Tamilians love to keep complicated names first and then make acronyms for the same.

*What do you mean breakfast is finished?' Shipra masi said.

*Illa, illa,' a pot-bellied, dark-complexioned, hirsute chef said and shook his hand.

He wore a lungi and a chef's cap. If he wore the cap no prevent hair in the food, *

he needed a body sheath, given his hairy arms and chest.

*Orunimishum,' I said *what happened?'

*Your son speaks Tamil?' Shipra masi said to my mother.

My mother rolled her eyes.

*No, I don't. It's a common word for wait a second,' I said.

*Now he belongs to them. They'll make him do anything,' my mother lamented loudly.

*Mom, please. Let me resolve this,' I said.

*What will you resolve? They will make us cook food also,' my mother said.

*Everybody, please sit in the dining hall,' I said then turned to the chef. *Can't you make something?'

*Who will make tiffin then? We have to serve it at eleven,' the chef said.

I checked my watch. It was nine-thirty. My family would have medical emergencies if kept hungry for that long.

*We want something now,' I said, *anything quick.'

*What about tiffin?' the chef said.

*We don't want tiffin. We'll only come back for lunch later.'

*Girl's side wants tiffin. They came for breakfast at 6.30,' the chef said.

Rajji mama came up to me. *Bribe him,' he whispered.

I thought about the ethics of bribing at my own wedding to feed myself.

*Wokay, I go now, I am busy,' the chef said and mumbled to himself, *pundai maganey, thaayoli koodhi.'

*Anna, wait,' I said.

The chef looked at me in amazement. How can a person with a heavy Delhi accent toss in a Tamil word or two?

I kept a hundred-rupee note in my hand and shook hands with him. Perplexed, he examined the currency.

*We are giving you out of happiness,' my uncle said.

*I can make upma fast,' the chef said.

*What is upma?' my uncle said.

*Salty halwa. No, not upma. Can you make dosas?' I said.

*For dosa one by one making no staff now. Then lunch also delayed,' the chef said mournfully.

We settled on idlis. There would be no sambhar. However, the chef had drum full of coconut chutney, enough to pave roads with.

My family sat in the dining hall as servers placed banana leaves in front of them.

*We have to eat leaves?' Shipra masi said, * What are we? Cows?'

*It's the plate,' I said, *and there is no cutlery.'

*They have hardly any expense in weddings, how lucky,' Kamla aunty said.

Forty of us consumed at least two hundred idlis.

Ananya's father came when we had finished. *There wasn't breakfast? I am sorry,' he said.

*It's fine,' I said, *We came late.'

*Hello, Kavita-ji,' Ananya's father said with folded hands, as per Ananya's instructions. He took the bucket of idli from the servers and served one to my mother.

*Hello,' my mother responded, a hint of pride in her voice as her sibilings saw her being served by the girl's father. This is what grown-ups live for anyway, considering they have so little fun otherwise.

*How's Krish's father feeling now?' Ananya's father said next.

*He's better, he had soup last night and porridge in the morning. He is taking rest now. He sends his regards,' my mother said.

Ananya's father nodded in concern.

*What are the ceremonies today, uncle?' I asked for my relatives benefit.

*First we have the Vrutham,the wedding invitation prayers. We also have Nischayathartham, the formal engagement ceremony where we set the auspicious time for the wedding and give gifts to close relatives,' Ananya's father said.

My aunts only paid attention to the last four words.

We came to the main hall, the center of action for the next two days. Every ceremony of my wedding took place in this room. In the middle of the hall, there was fire urn, not too different from Punjabi weddings. However, in our weddings people only came around the fire after eating their dinner and dessert. Here, everyone lived around the fire. I sat down on the floor. Four priests started the mantras. Close relatives sat on the floor while distant and arthritic ones sat on chairs in the back rows. The priests at theVruthamchanted so loud, it scared some of my little cousins into crying and made it impossible to talk. My aunts behind me shifted their positions several times.

*Should we do a city tour later?' Kamla aunty said.

*What is there to see in Chennai? If you want to see Madrasis, there are enough in this room,' Shipra masi said.

I saw Ananya's relatives. I recognized few aunts. The younger cousins had come down from abroad. They sat in traditional Tamil attire, clutching their mineral water bottles.

*Ananya didi,' Minti said as Ananya came inside. She wore a maroon Kanjeevaram sari with a mustard yellow-gold border. Her tightly braided hair made her look like a cute schoolgirl. Her face had make up, and Ananya looked prettier than any girl on any Tamil film poster every made. Her eyes looked deep, due to kaajal around it. For a few seconds I couldn't recognize her as my Ananya.

Was this the same girl I met in the mess line fighting for sambhar?

Our eyes met briefly. She gave me a little smile, enquiring on how she looked.

I nodded, yes she looked more beautiful than she ever had.

The prayers continued for another hour. Smoke filled the room. The priests kept adding twigs and spoonfuls of ghee to the fire. Ananya and I exchanged glances and smiled several times. Was it really happening? Was I finally getting married, with consent from everyone I shared my DNA with?

The priest asked for my father. My mother told him he was unwell.

I thought of dad again. Why are adults so stuck up?

*What's your grandparents' village?' Ananya's dad asked me. There priests required it for the Nischayatharthamceremony.