Prabhakaram was in a huge dilemma. He wanted to tell her that he wanted to marry her. But, how could he word it? For one thing, he had been struggling for over an hour now; which form of address to use? Should he say mimmalni or ninnu.[1] Up until now, he was using meeru. How could he change it to the informal nuvvu now? And then, the rest of the sentence, “I want to marry you”, how to say it? Finally, he pulled himself together, and blurted out the words, with his heart in his throat; after that, he sat there with his eyes glued to the ground. He didn’t the courage, not even to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He had said it all right. He still was not sure of her response; would she throw her shoe at him? Or, pick on him?

Kausalya looked up straight into his face. Her eyes did not spit fire, nor showered love. They looked as if they were measuring the depths of his heart. No answer from her—gave him courage. He also looked up. Their eyes met; at once, they looked away.

“What do you say?”

“I’d say yes, but I’m not going until I am finished with school”

He did not expect it. He did not expect her to agree so quickly. In his mind a woman not take a man, if proposed, as quickly as a man would, if a woman proposed

“That means only one more year. That’s doable,” he replied, pulling out a kerchief from his pocket and wiping the sweat on his forehead.

Silence prevailed between the two for a while. Neither did not know what else to say. They kept staring at the flowerbed in the front yard. How long could they sit like that? No point.

“See you later,” he said, getting up to leave. She also got up and followed him to the steps. She leaned on the wall, and lost in thoughts while watching him until he disappeared round the corner. He said he wanted to marry her, on his own. Probably, that means no dowry; that means one less burden for my annayya. He took care of her, ever since amma and nanna had passed away; she’d never been wanting for anything. If her marriage were settled this easily, he and his family could be better off. She knew very well that they were in no position to pay huge dowry. Vadina is luckily a nice person, and that’s why she could go to college. Up until now, she was worried about her future; what should she do after she had finished B.A.

The problem was resolved.

[End]

Translated by Nidadavolu Malathi and published originally on thulika.net, August 2004

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[1] The accusative forms of formal you, meeru, and informal you, nuvvu.