Amazon Best Selling Novel “Malabar A Flame” in Lima World Library
27. Fusion
1963. Sara’s wedding day.
Inside the church, in front of the madbaha (holy place
in front of the worshippers where Qurbana is conducted)
Rajan is given Holy Communion. He puts a gold ring on
Sara’s right index finger.
Antony’s sisters back home in India and their spouses had
contacted the relatives of Rajan. They were not against Rajan
marrying a girl in London. All because they were anxious that
he find a girl of his choice rather than remaining a chronic
bachelor. It was a simple ceremony. A small gathering of
close relatives and colleagues.
Aiysha and others were in charge of the marriage feast.
Though Ali happily agreed to sponsor the feast, Mary politely
declined the gesture. Aiysha invited her bosom friends in the
neighborhood to join in the preparations of dishes. They cut
the vegetables, chopped the meat and sliced the fish.
The couple on their arrival after the ceremony was
received with bouquets to the well decorated home. Diana
and her parents were conspicuous by their absence. They had
attended the ceremony in the church and excused themselves
from the reception at Danny’s home. They left after a word
with Danny.
Sara looked like a princess in the sari and `crown’ on
head. They bowed their heads and touched the feet of their
parents as customary to Indian weddings. Paying respects
to the parents in such manner was as good as hugging or
embracing in the West.
`The white colleagues of Antony from the railways
witnessed the rituals of their former colony with great fancy.
The parents placed their hands on the head of the newlywed
and blessed. Mary said: “Children, love each other; be
together; be support and shade for each other. You have
been titled as the rulers of a family. Let God bless you.”
Friends and the relatives came forward to wish the new
couple a most happy married life. Some of them presented
gifts. Nimmi put rings on both. Alihaji presented them with
gold chains specially brought from Arabia.
A lavish feast, of course in Indian style, was the
highlight of the reception. The sumptuous dishes included
vegetables, chicken biriyani, salads, cutlets, fruits, sweets,
`adapradhaman’(pudding) etc.
When the guests were about to leave, Abu approached
Sara with a big pack. It weighed too heavy for her and slipped
down and broke into pieces. A large pumpkin! Sarah stood
there in horror but everybody burst into a hearty laughter.
“Eda, did you have to play such a trick on me?” Sara asked
Danny while joining the laughing parade. Rajan tried to
suppress his mirth but had to give way in the end.
One of the white colleagues of Antony (or is he one
of Danny’s ?) was quick to run to the scene and snap it all. He got Sara staring at the pumpkin pieces along with Rajan
trying to hold back his laughter. “Thank you for the pumpkin
show. A grand finale!” he told the couple.
The couple thanked the guests profusely for their time
and indulgence.
First night.
Stars twinkled over the sky. At the last laps of the night
they were enjoying the breeze on the front yard. The street
lights lit like pearls in a string. They entered the room. No
plush bed. No decorated room. No aroma. No pat of cheeks.
No lock of lips. No coyness or shyness. No awe. No dressing
up. No sighs. No sensitive emotions, not wilted. Did not they
know the sensuousness of the night?
What is the hurry? Sara said frankly she was not ready to
surrender her body to the hubby in the first night itself. Nor
was her partner in a hurry. Let us live happily for some time
and know each other better, know the frailties and drawbacks
of each other and make adjustments to lay the foundation
for a more enduring relationship. Consummation of love
could come later, much later. That is what Sara thought.
Rajan was mature enough to understand and appreciate
the philosophy of Sara. He looked at her fast asleep after a
grueling day of all smiles and thanks. She was seeping like
a child, perhaps like an Alice in Wonderland dreaming of a
wondrous world in the company of a man who walked into
her life all of a sudden. He thought of taking her to his native
land in Kerala in India to present her to his age old mother,
who, he was sure, would lap her up as a long lost daughter. He
wondered how his sisters and other relatives would accept
a Christian to their society. After all, the land of his birth
though had many firsts in social indicators still was steeped
in orthodoxy. But he is a charmer who would ultimately win
them all.
When Danny did not return to his new home for a week,
Diana came in search of him.
She had phoned twice to his office and parents’ home.
He was not available. Mary tried to console her that he might
have been under pressure of work. Comes home very late
and leaves home early morning. Mary feigned ignorance of
the divide between her son and her daughter-in-law. But how
could she forget that Diana chose not to participate in the
wedding reception of her only sister-in-law.
Danny was very much upset that his wife and in laws were
not present at the feast. He was embarrassed when many
invitees asked him of their absence. He had to invent some
stories like they were not physically well, etc. When Danny
put a garland on the newly wed, Diana should have been
there to put the rings on both. That is the custom in Christian
homes in India. He was so humiliated that he chose to punish
Diana come what may..
Diana found no one in the portico. But she heard
someone talking in the kitchen. Diana reached the home.
She barged into the kitchen and shouted, “Amme have you
kept my husband in chains here? Where is he? I want to meet
him”.
Mary who was expecting such a scenario was wellprepared to take on her. But she controlled herself and said,
“Just wait, he should come home soon. Haven’t you been
seeing each other these days?”
“No, my misfortunes started on the day of my wedding,”
Diana retorted.
Sara was also in the kitchen. “Your misfortunes are your
own making. We have nothing to do with them,” she chipped
in.
“ I did not ask you. I asked my mother-in-law” Diana was
not to be cowed down.
“No. You cannot insult my mother with such silly
questions.”
“No. I will say whatever I feel, “ said Diana simmering
with rage.
“Amme don’t be afraid of her. Is she a queen for us to be
at her beck and call?” cajoled Sara.
“Will you please stop it,” Mary shouted at both girls.
“Dear, just come here.”, Mary said to Diana. A bit cooled
down, Diana went to the dining table. “Just sit down,” Mary
told her. Diana obeyed again. Mary opened an almarah and
took out a new bottle of wine, unscrewed it and poured it
into a glass to the brim and offered it to her. “ Drink, your
ruffled feelings will die down,” Mary told her curtly.
“Have it. Danny will come in no time,” she told her again.
She sipped a little when Antony and Danny walked in
together. Antony did not like what he saw. But he went up
the stairs to his room and Danny followed him. Now it was
Mary’s turn to go upstairs. Diana ran up after them. Sara also
followed.
“Why did you come here? This is a place you did not like
to step in. This is godammed stinking place for you!” Danny
raised his voice and asked Diana..
“Yes, I don’t want to come. I don’t want to come at all.
You and your bloody home!” Diana shouted.
“What did you say? Say it again!” Danny shouted back
raising his hand.
“I said you and your bloody parents and bloody sister!”
Diana said defiantly and three the wine glass at him The red
liquid splashed across his shirt and dripped down..
Danny’s right hand rose and came down heavily on her
right cheek. The slap was so heavy that she fell on her knees,
her lips hurt and blood oozed. But regained her composure
and went to hysterics,
“You son of a bitch, you hit me? You slapped me? I knew
you would do this. You will pay for it,” she shouted again like
a wounded lioness.
Antony and Mary stood there aghast. Sara jumped in to
keep her at bay lest the shrieking Diana should fall on Danny
and devour him. Poor Danny, she thought. But Mary kept
her back. Antony and Mary stood there in horror.
Just then they heard the siren of a police vehicle. Two
constables came in as if they had been waiting for their turn.
It was a matter of family feud. Someone had alerted them
that something was wrong in the house or something wasgoing to happen there. Was not sure whether the young girl
was the one who alerted them. Everything happened in a
matter of a few minutes.
‘Come, we will have to take both of you to the station
and register a case. Who slapped the young lady? You, the
husband?” the police asked Danny. Abusing the wife had
become a cognizable offence in Brtish jurisprudence.
Danny was too dismayed to answer right away. He looked
down at his soaked shirt. The cops looked at the girl who
stood there as a damsel in distress, with disheveled hair and
bloody lips. Mary’s eyes had welled up. Sara stood there in
abject helplessness..
“We are arresting Danny for abusing his wife. You both
will have to come to the police station for further questioning
and signing papers,” one of the constables said. They took
Danny in their car and allowed Diana to follow them. Antony
also drove to the station leaving MARY AND Sara back in
home to console each other..
Antony while driving ruminated about the latest
happening. He had long been feeling that his son had been
pushed to the brink by a capricious girl. She had made his life
miserable. He had thought that by the passage of time would
act as a leveler and bring them back to be normal and happy.
But that was not to be. His son was an innocent victim of a
haughty, scheming and diabolic wife.
What went wrong was thrusting a wife into his life. He
should have been allowed to find a girl of his own choice, a girl
whom he knew and trusted. He should not have succumbed
to the pressures of Mary when she chose a girl far above their
class. She might have been dreaming of a high pedestal for
the boy in society. It was a wrong selection. Danny was a nice
boy who knew very well how he was brought up in difficult
circumstances by ordinary parents.. He knew the trying times
when he was sent to college with a single parent income. But
he was happy with it. When he was to marry, they should
have gone for a girl belonging to a middle class family. Now
it is too late to do any correction. Harm is already done. It is
time to make a break.
As and when they entered the station, they found Alihaji
coming out with two of his aides. He had gone there to
settle some problem of his community. Or worshippers in
his mosque.. Alihaji was surprised of the developments in
Dannys’ household. He had liked the boy very much and
considered him as his own son. As soon as he knew of the
latest flare up, he volunteered to phone up one of his lawyers
to bail Danny out. The police let the girl go on her own surety.
But the case will continue in the court. Both could contest it
or at worst go for a divorce.
While Antony drove Danny back home, he told his son
that he had taken the final decision. “Let us part.. Let us file a
petition for a divorce!”
Danny sat there in shock. He could not utter a word.
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