They came to invite me for their wedding. Don’t remember the young man’s name but I can’t forget the young lady’s name. She was Karthi, the abridged version of Karthyayani, her original name . My daughter in law had told me before their arrival that they were living together for more than a year in an apartment a few miles away from us and in fact, she had taken me to their house for an evening tea, sometime ago.
‘They are already husband and wife if they are living together!’
I exclaimed.
Either she didn’t hear what I said or heard but thought that no response was called for. So, she got me a tumbler of warm water!
‘Your water consumption is inadequate, dad!’
Coming back to Karthi.
‘You must come for our wedding and bless us uncle,’ said Karthi while Seth ( I recollect his name now- Seth, for Sethuraman) endorsed her request, nodded his head and said, ‘yes, uncle, you should’
As an elderly gentleman, I should have blessed and wished them. Instead, I asked her, ‘Weren’t you there in Seth’s house when I came there the other day?’
Seth was trying to say something, my son and DIL were trying to say something but before a word slipped from their mouth,
Karthi jumped from her seat and replied,
‘me? No uncle no. The girl you saw, was my twin sister whom I had sent there for making decoction coffee, knowing that you drink only quality coffee. How was the coffee and onion pakoda Arthi made?’
Again, every one wanted to say something, but I jumped from my seat ( though not as forcefully as Karthyayani did) and said,
‘What? Onion Pakoda? Who gave me onion pakoda? What I ate was onion oothappam’
Now Karthi was cool. She came close to me, adjusted my ear aid and said, ‘uncle there is marked difference between onion pakoda and onion oothappam, but you could not tell the difference. I am, therefore, not at all surprised that you
got confused between me and my twin sister!’
I stood blinking! Others too sat blinking.
Getting up from her seat Karthi said affectionately, ‘you should come for our wedding, uncle. You should’
‘I will, Karthi,’ I said, getting up from my seat and patting her back.
After they left I told my daughter in law,
‘Megh, I’m absolutely certain that whom I saw there was this girl Karthi and what I ate was onion oothappam. Don’t you agree?’
‘Yes dad,’ she confirmed and kept a tumbler of warm water near me.
‘My water consumption is inadequate?’
‘Yes, dad’