The young
hostess pushed back a tendril, her smile fixed to hide the latent irritation.
She hated having guests mill around in her kitchen during serving time, making
polite offerings of help, it upset her rhythm of serving the food at the
perfect temperature so. In this house, the bowls had to be piping hot and then
there was her phobia of leaving a dish forgotten in the family sized
refrigerator.
While she
bustled garnishing, sprinkling and finishing up the dishes, her fairer part of
the family began dropping their guard, a voice at a time. “What’s that you
are sipping Guddi, don’t tell me it is tea in the steel glass!” Guddi drained
her glass in a long gulp, rinsing it quickly under the tap, “Actually, Gary has
permitted me to enjoy vodka on one condition, I must camouflage it so the
family does not know.”
The
kitchen lit up with knowing smiles, “I stop trimming my split hair months
before this trip home. A false braid does the rest, particularly in the gurudwara,” heads shook a little at
the sight of Pinky’s discreetly draped dupatta over the nape of her neck.
Goldie
beckoned them close, her voice falling to a hush, “Listen, for your ears only,
please do not pass this on. Lovely and her husband are undergoing infertility
treatment. It seems Lucky’s sperms are sluggish but no one will talk about it,
bad for the male ego you know!”
They
turned sharply at the choked sound from Kittie, what was wrong with Montu’s new
bride? “I am so sorry, I can’t help remember what happened yesterday.
Mummy Ji had given me some minor repairs to sew and I was rooted with confusion
at the presser foot sewing machine, we had a hand wheel model at my parent's.
And guess what? Montu pulled the pile from under my arm, banging the door shut
with one heel and settled down, to guide the seams under the needle like a
perfect pro.”
The women
threw back their adorned heads and tittered with glee. “Come on, come on, quit
gossiping, we are blessed to have such nice families, let’s get the hungry
horde to the table.”
The
colorful group filed out carrying the cutlery and serving bowls. They entered
the dining area in a respectful and solemn procession, having sagged and shrunk
in their bearing, a look of appeasement on their faces, treading thin ice with
their indeterminate half smiles.
All was
well with their world.
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