“Are you terribly disappointed, son?” Aurobindo asked Mukundo. An old cousin uncle of Aurobindo’s had passed away and custom dictated that there could be no weddings or other happy celebrations in the extended family for next one year. Aurobindo was worried about Debendra’s falling health and didn’t want to observe this restriction. But Debendra himself wouldn’t hear of it. So, they had decided to wait for a year before Mukundo and Piyali could be married.

“Come on, Baba. You aren’t really asking, are you? You just want to pull my legs.”

“I really am asking, Mukundo.”

“I think it is good this way. She is too young, Baba. This gives her some time.”

Aurobindo laughed, “Oh, that girl adores you, Mukundo. I can bet she doesn’t want to wait and is terribly disappointed. Debendra is being nice, but I really don’t care. Dina Kaku lived a full life. Nobody is going to mind if we don’t observe a full year of mourning. And if they do, I don’t care. So, why don’t you ask her and let me know what both of you really want.”

Mukundo flushed. In the matter of his and Piyali’s relationship, his father was acting like a know-it-all he had never seen him do before.

“What has been decided has been decided, Baba. I am not asking her. You stop pulling my leg,” Mukundo affectionately rebuffed his father. Aurobindo grinned at him and shrugged.

The next day Mukundo had to attend a wedding in one of his friend’s family in a town a few hours of drive from Kolkata. He had asked Piyali to accompany him and she had readily agreed.

He drew in a sharp breath when Piyali climbed into the car beside him. She had just washed her hair. It was loosely tied in a hairband and beads of water could be seen on her forehead and neck. If this was the sight that could greet his mornings, but won’t until they were married, Mukundo realized that he should have answered his father’s question in affirmative. He was terribly disappointed that they couldn’t be married for an entire year.

“I will change and get ready after reaching there,” Piyali said as she dumped a small bag on the back seat, “Otherwise clothes would crumple on the way–” The she noticed his smoldering gaze and fell silent. She gulped hard and turned to look ahead. Mukundo started the car and got out of the house. After five minutes of driving he stopped at a secluded spot. He reached out and cupped her face. Then kissed her gently.

“Good morning,” he said after breaking the kiss and smiled. Even through her lowered eyes, her happiness showed.

They drove in silence for a while. Then he asked her, “Are you terribly disappointed, Piyali, that the wedding is postponed?”

She was startled, then blushed hard. Instead of answering, she asked him back, “What about you?”

Mukundo thought about what he had told his father the previous day and how he felt this morning and laughed. Then he answered truthfully, “I would like to believe that I am not disappointed, but I think I am.”

“Why would you like to believe you are not?”

“Because I think you should have time. Since Ma already knew and you also insisted that I ask them first, it was almost a given that the wedding will happen sooner rather than later. So, I didn’t say anything. But this technical issue looked like a blessing in disguise to me.”

“I should have time?”

“Yes, Piyali. You are–”

“Twenty. I know. Young by your standards. But I am not a child, Mukundo Babu. And there isn’t anything particularly unpredictable I am waiting for in my life. I have had my fill of education. I know where my career is to go and I have a job to get me started there. And you can’t still be harboring a notion that I will have some other prince charming in my life.”

“You are saying that you are old at heart,” Mukundo grinned.

“Old enough for you, I hope.”

Then Mukundo asked sincerely, “Does it bother you that I bring up your age into these discussions.”

“A bit. At times. But mostly it makes me want to prove that I will be good enough a wife to you.”

“You are and will be more than I ever deserved, Piyali. You don’t need to prove anything. And I promise that I will not bring it up again.”

“Thank you,” she looked close to tears. She must be overwhelmed.

“Now that it has been proven that you are old enough to be my grandmother,” Mukundo said to distract her with jokes, “Will you answer my original question? Are you terribly disappointed?”

“You really want me to answer it?”

“It would be fun.”

“Well, then. Yes, I am. But it is what it is. I can’t fight it and I don’t want you to fight it either.”

Mukundo chuckled, “Baba was sure you would be. He knows you better than I do, Piyali.”

“Kaku was sure of what? That I would be disappointed about the postponement of wedding.”

Mukundo nodded, grinning.

“He said that to you?”

Mukundo nodded again.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Piyali sounded so panicked that Mukundo instinctively pressed the brakes and brought the car to a stop.

“What happened?”

“How terrible is that! I must behave myself. Especially before Kaku. What kind of a sight I must have presented for him to say something like that?”

Mukundo smiled and pressed her hands, “You, Piyali, present the sight of a young woman in love. And I think it is a beautiful sight. Nothing needs to change.”

“But you are not going to tell him what I said, right? You won’t!”

“Calm down, Piyali. He is my father, not my best friend. I don’t report to him my conversations with my fiancée. I won’t report that even to my best friend.”

Piyali gulped hard and then looked doubly embarrassed. “Sorry for creating the ruckus,” she said in a small voice, “Let’s drive.”

“Piyali, I mentioned this because I thought it was funny. I didn’t think you would be so mortified. Just know this. Nobody is judging you for loving me. In fact, everybody is happy. That includes my parents. And especially Baba. Don’t ever be self-conscious. Okay?”

She nodded, then said, “Perhaps I am indeed not old enough to understand all this.”

“Nobody is complaining. Definitely not me. Come on, now. You were so happy just a few minutes ago. Let me see the love of my life happy again.”

She smiled, the frank, child-like grin that he had grown so fond of. He leaned forward and stole another kiss before starting the car again.

He stopped again after driving for another hour.

“We aren’t there yet, are we?”

“No. But this area on the left side of the road is a part of a reserve forest and it has a beautiful trail. I wanted to bring you here.”

“Won’t we be late for the wedding?”

“Wedding isn’t happening until evening.”

“But you had said… You had lied?”

Mukundo grinned, “I am not going to share all my plans for you with my parents, am I?”

Piyali giggled and climbed out of the car looking excited and happy.

—

To be continued