Gypsy Masala by Preethi Nair

Author:Preethi Nair [Preethi Nair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2010-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

It was then I threw myself fully into the prospect of being Bali’s wife. I could escape my father’s control, my mother’s submission, and begin a new life in Southern India. They had some of the best universities there. He appeared to be a kind man and that was what was most important.

I was left alone to deal with the wedding preparations and immersed myself in this, not actually thinking about the day itself when I would become Bali’s wife. My mother did not help me with anything, her conversation reduced to answering only the questions asked, and on the day of my wedding she refused to get out of bed. It was the only time my mother showed defiance in her life. She did not attend my wedding, not because she wanted me to think twice about marrying him but because she felt God would not approve. It was to be a Hindu wedding and not in the sanctity of our church with the blessing of our Lord, so she stayed at home instead with her rosary beads, consoling herself, and had another conversation with God which I was not privy to. I don’t know if she asked Him if she should come for me and I don’t know if He answered or what He replied. The fact is, she did not come. And nobody else came to stop the wedding.

My father stood proudly, dressed in full military attire alongside my sister Sasha, who came in her school uniform. Discreetly in the corner sat Sister Maria, but I saw her, her eyes bursting with tears. There was really none of Bali’s family there, only a cousin named Raj who need not have come as he hid himself beneath a bushy beard and kept looking down at his feet.

I sat behind my make-up and the thick red veil of my sari, unaware of the full implications of what I was doing. Accompanied only by a feeling that it was too late, too late to take off the veil and run wildly through the town. And yes, if I am truthful, through my veil I caught a glimpse of the African dancer, but he was dancing in another direction and it was too late, so I did not chase him.

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