It was the Brahmamuhurtham. Four-thirty in the morning, during the month of Margazhi had become commonplace at the Venkataramans. The mama of the house, Mr.Srinivasan, Retd.Dty.General Manager, South East Railways, he liked to emphasise the second half every time he introduced himself, Venkataraman's dad, woke up at 4.00, a habit from his working days. He was the typical "Tam-brahm" mama, his radio woke up with him, to belt out Mudakaratha Modakam, Kandha Sashti Kavacham and Vishnu Sahasranamam in the divine voice of M.S.Subbulakshmi. A bath, and sandhyavandhanam later, he would be sipping on his morning coffee, grown in Coorg, brewed in Chennai, but he still preferred calling the Kumbakonam degree coffee. His wife, Anandavalli mami, was his secretary for all practical purposes, and also the man-who-run-the-house. Coming from a humble background, she was soft-spoken, and a very timid creature, till she learnt the ropes of life from her mother-in-law, Srinivasan's mother, the late Letchumi paati.
Srinivasan and Anandavalli were living with his only son Venkataraman and his family, for the last twenty eight years. Venkataraman was an engineer by profession, but like most engineers of his generation, he was into business. He realized the potential of a catering business early in his career, and they started a mess. His wife Varalakshmi, an amazing cook, and his mother ran the kitchen, while Venkataraman went around delivering the orders they received. He had got his daughter Swetha married a week back. She had fallen in love with her classmate while doing her M.S at the U.S. Like any other Iyer father, his first concern was if the boy was an Iyer.When his name was revealed to be Sivaramakrishnan, fears evaporated, and his horoscope was demanded. Though initially Swetha refused to have her horoscope checked for compatibility, she realized she didn't have a way out. Luckily for her, not only did they have astha-porutham (8 agreements on 9), Sivaramakrishnan was also Vadama (an Iyer sub-sect), and so Venkataraman was only over-joyed to give his daughter away in marriage to the boy.
Margazhi was a busy month for the Venkataramans since catering began early in the morning. The madisaar-clad Varalakshmi would start off with making the kolam outside the front gate of the house. This would be followed by the cooking. Venkataraman was away for a week, and Varalakshmi took up the double work of delivering stuff after the cooking was over. But, today, something wasn't feeling right at home. Last evening, a glass tumbler had broken at home, and glass breaking on Friday evenings was considered inauspicious in a Brahmin household. A disturbed Varalakshmi was driving her way to the customer's place when she swooned and lost control of her vehicle. She did not see the tanker lorry coming.
Srinivasan and Anandavalli were living with his only son Venkataraman and his family, for the last twenty eight years. Venkataraman was an engineer by profession, but like most engineers of his generation, he was into business. He realized the potential of a catering business early in his career, and they started a mess. His wife Varalakshmi, an amazing cook, and his mother ran the kitchen, while Venkataraman went around delivering the orders they received. He had got his daughter Swetha married a week back. She had fallen in love with her classmate while doing her M.S at the U.S. Like any other Iyer father, his first concern was if the boy was an Iyer.When his name was revealed to be Sivaramakrishnan, fears evaporated, and his horoscope was demanded. Though initially Swetha refused to have her horoscope checked for compatibility, she realized she didn't have a way out. Luckily for her, not only did they have astha-porutham (8 agreements on 9), Sivaramakrishnan was also Vadama (an Iyer sub-sect), and so Venkataraman was only over-joyed to give his daughter away in marriage to the boy.
Margazhi was a busy month for the Venkataramans since catering began early in the morning. The madisaar-clad Varalakshmi would start off with making the kolam outside the front gate of the house. This would be followed by the cooking. Venkataraman was away for a week, and Varalakshmi took up the double work of delivering stuff after the cooking was over. But, today, something wasn't feeling right at home. Last evening, a glass tumbler had broken at home, and glass breaking on Friday evenings was considered inauspicious in a Brahmin household. A disturbed Varalakshmi was driving her way to the customer's place when she swooned and lost control of her vehicle. She did not see the tanker lorry coming.
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