Tit for tat

"It's a heaven-sent opportunity," said Sarawathy to Selva Rajoo, my barber, "and one would be a fool to miss it. I've seen the young man; he is good-looking and his father Jaganathan is well-off."

"But if they are rich, why should they consider Indrani for their son?"

"Why, Selva," protested Sarawathy. "Our Indrani is the prettiest girl in Sentul. Where can they find a girl like her?"

"True, true," said Selva.

As Selva went about snipping my hair, he listened thoughtfully to his siser elaborate her point.

It was near closing time in the hair saloon. I was the only customer and was listening to the conversation between him and his sister.

It was decided that a friend would act as a go-between to invite the Kumars over so that they could see the girl.

"But there is one hitch," said Selva. "How about Dewi?"

Dewi was Selva's sister who had been in and out of a mental hospital several times. Whether a strain of madness ran in Selva's family, no one knew but this was something they did not want to Kumars to know.

"It's simple," said Sarawathy. "We can send her away for a few days."

What transpired later, according to Selva, was that the Kumars were satisfied with the girl. A week later, the Rajoos returned the visit. The Kumars live in an old single storey bungalow in Brickfields. But the inside of the house was different. It was furnished with carved Italian furniture. A piano occupied one corner and a home theatre system stood in another corner. The kitchen was equipped with a microwave oven, induction cooker and dish-washing machine.

All the way home, the Rajoos chatted excitedly. The match was as good as settled. Indrani was lucky girl. She wouldn't have to do any work after marriage.

On Deepavali, I visited Selva to partake of festive goodies.

The Rajoos were about to leave to visit the Kumars, and I was invited to join them. "Come and see my son-in-law's place."

When we arrived, the Rajoos were shocked. Gone were the Italian furniture, home theature system and the electrical appliances in the kitchen.

Mrs Rajoo couldn't help expressing her shock, and Mrs Kumar explained that her husband had lost heavily in the stock market. Thus, there was a need for austerity.
The Rajoos found Indrani in the kitchen cooking lunch using a gas cooker.

Jaganathan and I were sitting alone in the living room. "Hope you don't mind my asking," I said, munching some muruku. "My friend Selva said you were doing very well. What happened?"

"That bugger Mr Rajoo thinks I don't know about his sister who is mad eh? I made enquiries and his neighbours told me. He's not honest, trying to hide her from us. Anyway, it's a case of tit for tat because I played a nice trick on him, too. I knew his family is awed by first impression. So I hired the entire stuff from a shop. I fooled them into thinking I was rich, didn't I?" said Jaganathan, laughing uproariously.