Part 33

The moment I finished dialing, the phone at the other end started ringing. My heart began pounding against my chest as I handed over the phone to Babuji. My eyes were following his each and every expression.

“Hello, may I speak to Mr. Suri, I am calling from Srinagar?’ I had no clue as to who it was Babuji was talking to.

“Good Morning, Suri Sahab, my name is  Raj Nath Magazine, I think you know my son ,Kishen Lal? My heartbeats went haywire.

“I am fine. There is something important I want to talk to you about” Silence.

“I want to talk to you about your daughter, whatever her…yes, Anita.” I looked towards Amma , who was still standing at the door, not knowing what was going on, a look of complete bewilderment on her face.

“Yes I know. I want to congratulate you on the auspicious occasion of the engagement of your daughter. I am sure you have met my grandson Lalit, haven’t you?” My heartbeats started sprinting. I watched Babuji closely. So far his expression had not changed and he was talking in a very soft and polite tone. Suddenly he turned red in the face.

“What has that got to do with my son?” The voice had become louder, the tone a little harsher. I held my breath.

“Lalit will never stoop so low, I know my grandson very well” What had Anita’s father said that had made Babuji say this?

“Letters, what letters are you talking about? I  don’t know  anything about any letters” So Mr. Suri must have asked Babuji that I should return the letters Anita had written to me.

“Who said anything about ruining your daughter’s life? Why should he or anyone else want to ruin it?” I could see or feel Babuji’s temper rising.

“You are talking nonsense, Mr. Suri. Lalit wants to stop you from ruining your own daughter’s life. You seem to be well aware of the fact that your daughter wants to marry my grandson, then why are you doing something which will make her life miserable?” The fireworks had begun. I was wondering what Mr. Suri had said and would say after this. I wished I had some way of listening to what was being said at the other end. I could only make a guess from Babuji’s remarks.

“Do you really think so?” Think what? Babuji’s voice had become a little softer; I had no idea, why?

“Ah, I see, you seem to be an intelligent person, Suri Sahab!” There was appreciation in the words but not in the manner Babuji uttered them. All this time I had not moved an inch from the place where I was standing.

“Now will you keep quiet for a moment and listen to me? Stop this marriage and stop it immediately otherwise I will have to take drastic action. I swear by my grandson, I will not hesitate to do what I have never done before, I swear by my grandson I shall not let this marriage take place and let me tell you this is the first time in my life, I have sworn by my son and you can well imagine what that means for me but you won’t understand because you don’t know the meaning of fatherly love, all you seem to be worried about is getting rid of your daughter as quickly as possible. Do you really hate her so much? Of course, I forgot that in your Punjabi society daughters are thought of as a burden and the faster they are bundled out of their homes the better it is for you people. Don’t interrupt me; let me complete what I want to say. In Kashmiri society, we do not treat daughters as commodities. We let them complete their studies, let them make their careers if they want to and then take a decision on their marriage, do you really know how precious a daughter is to her parents, particularly her father?”

 This monologue had become a long one and it I found it strange that Suri Sahab had listened to all this without saying anything. He was not the kind of person to show so this kind of decency, that too when he was being provoked to the extreme. Babuji had not only treated him like dirt but had also spoken in a very angry voice. I looked at Babuji’s face, his face had become redder than before and his hands were trembling. I started becoming apprehensive. Babuji rarely lost his cool and since he was hypertensive, anger was certainly not good for his health. I glanced at Amma and there was a look of serious concern on her face but she did not intervene. When the babujis of this world are in this sort of a mood, wisdom demands that you keep your mouth shut. That is what I did and that is what Amma was doing even though both of us wanted Babuji to calm down. I was thinking of what was to come next; it occurred to me that Babuji had used the word marriage, but it was supposed to be an engagement not a marriage! A wave of panic rushed through me. Was it possible that the marriage would take place soon after the engagement? I wanted to say something but how could I? There was complete silence for some time. It was now Babuji’s turn to listen to whatever Suri Sahab was saying.

“Should I tell you what I am planning to do?” Babuji’s voice once again resounded in the room. “I am going to put Lalit on the next flight to Chandigarh. I will send a police officer along with him so that you don’t try to harm my grandson in any way. I know you are perfectly capable of doing that, Listen to me first, will you?” But this time Suri Sahab did not keep quiet and Babuji was the one who had to do the listening .

“Yes of course, you are most welcome to have a security cover around your house, do whatever you want to do; you will never succeed in your nefarious designs. I hope you are aware of your beloved daughter’s age, I am sure you must be unless of course you are not responsible for her birth” Oh my God, what was Babuji saying? It was impossible for me to believe that Babuji could use such language! Amma was gaping at him open mouthed but she did not dare  say anything. By now she must have understood what the matter was all about and she had already begun giving me strange looks.

“My dear Mr. Suri, I think you know your daughter is no longer a minor and I think  you also have a fair bit of knowledge of the law, if not much. Lalit and Anita are both adults and none of us can force them to marry against their wishes. Lalit will come to your place, your daughter will come with him and no police force in the world can stop her, am I making myself clear, dear father of a dear daughter or do I need to be more explicit?”

What was all this going on? I was completely stunned. Not even in my wildest dreams had I thought that events would come to such a pass! And, above all, Babuji, talking in this manner?  I simply refused to believe it, although everything was taking place right in front of me. Kashmiri society was as conservative as any other neighbouring society. Love marriages were still frowned upon. If a boy and a girl fell in love, the first reaction of the parents was to oppose such a relationship and the most vociferous opponents were the grandparents and the grand uncles. It was only when the couple fought and fought hard that the family gave in. Here I was witnessing a scene, where the boy was not even prepared for a fight but his grandfather was going out full blast to make it possible for him to marry the girl he loved! My respect for Babuji increased manifold. I don’t think any parent or a grandparent would have taken the kind of stand which Babuji was taking. But I was unable to make any sense of what Babuji was telling Suri Sahib. It just didn’t sound realistic; it looked like a scene from a movie. I was very fond of movies and had witnessed many a melodramatic sequence but nothing to beat this!

“One thing more, Mr. Suri, I have booked an air ticket in the name of Anita on tomorrow’s morning flight from Chandigarh to Srinagar. She will come here and get married to Lalit and the whole ceremony will take place with our blessings, I can book a ticket for you also, if you want to attend their wedding, should I?” Babuji seemed to be enjoying himself now; he looked at me, smiled and winked at the same time. He even had time to give Amma a re-assuring look. The way Babuji was behaving, it was evident that he thought he had achieved some kind of a victory in this war of words. The conversation had not come  to an end as yet. Babuji was listening to whatever Suri Sahab was saying, but he was completely relaxed now. His face had returned to its normal colour and his hands were no longer shaking. I also felt that a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders. All this was fine but if one looked at it as an outsider, nothing had really been attained. An exchange of words had taken place, some impractical threats had been made but practically, nothing had changed, things stood exactly as they had before Babuji had started talking to Suri Sahab. So what was I feeling happy about? What had changed in the last half an hour that had made me feel like rejoicing? Yes, one major event had taken place. I had seen  a very important facet of Babuji’s personality, a facet  which he had never revealed earlier. At that time I thought Babuji was the greatest person on this planet.

“Will you say that again?” Babuji’s words brought me out of my contemplative state.

“Did you say that Anita wants to talk to Lalit and you have no objections to that?”

‘Bittuji, Anita wants to talk to you, her father has given her the permission, don’t be afraid” I turned towards Amma and she nodded her head. I took the receiver from Babuji or rather Babuji handed it over to me. My emotions were all mixed up. There was nervousness but not without some confidence. There was relief but not without some tension. There was joy but not without some fear.

“Hello”, I tried to keep my voice as low as possible. I expected Anita to say something but all I heard were her uncontrollable sobs. Was she sobbing out of joy, were these tears of happiness or was there something fishy going on?

“What Happened?” I waited for her to stop crying and answer my question.