Thambiah who may be likened to an Indian version of Mulliner, a Wodehousian creation always had a chronicle under his belt. It is my fortune (at times misfortune), he treated me as his one man audience. “Fortune favours the brave,” he began that day. “Perseverance of a Robert Bruce grants one the fruits of victory. Yet, on some who are not ambitious, Lady Luck, as if drawing their names from a hat, suddenly smiles at them.”
“Not sure if I had told you about Ananthu (said Thambiah ). The scene of action was in a village near Tanjore where the wedding of the daughter of Paramu, a wealthy landlord was in progress. If asked to evaluate his properties, Paramu would merely smile. He felt, ‘If one can count his riches, he is not rich!”
“At this point (continued Thambiah), we should bring in Amrita, his alluring daughter, whose wedding with Vaithi, a scion of yet another rich family was in progress.”
“The two streets where Paramu had his sprawling houses were covered with a pandal. The elite guests, fortified by the breakfast eminent Thanjavur cooks put together, were seated to witness the wedding. Amrita was being led to the dais when Vaithi’s mother threw the bombshell. She was told only minutes back by a person, who was an amalgam of Sakuni and Manthara, that Amrita’s horoscope was falsified by the astrologer to match with that of Vaithi’s. No, she will not permit her son to be married into a family that resorted to fraud.” “The astrologer could not be contacted as he had died recently, so the wedding was called off.”
“Now the denouement. Cancellation of the wedding was a stigma in those days, Parama was in jitters. Down but not out, he had a hurried huddle with his wife, bride-in-waiting Amrita and a patriarch of their family and took a snap decision.”
“Soon, Ananthu, the tall handsome lad, who grew up in Paramu’s house as a majordomo, was dressed up. Then, the wedding of Amrita with Ananthu was solemnised, the groom pinching himself now and again to make sure he was not dreaming.”
“As epilogue (concluded Thambiah) three things are to be told. One, Ananthu and Amritha who loved each other but were scared to speak about it were on cloud nine. Two, influenced by the lucky star of his son-in-law, Paramu’s riches grew manifold that even Almighty God would have taken time to count! And three the eligible bachelors of that taluk made it a point to be present at the weddings of rich men’s beautiful daughters, just in case!” Thambiah burst into laughter.
J S Raghavan
Email: writerjsr@gmail.com