A mother’s ambitious plans
Veena is sipping coffee thinking about her strange dream from the night before. She is listlessly nibbling on a delicious pastry sitting in front of her, half paying attention to bird chirping sounds from her backyard. She usually enjoys the flaky layers of her pastry savoring every last crumb while she listens to the birds chirping. However, this morning is different.
Veena is a lucid dreamer and she often remembers her dreams. In this dream she was a man. Veena is amused that this dream could be a result of reading a book about a girl who was forced to switch places with her twin brother due to circumstances beyond her control. She doesn’t remember the name of the book.
Veena recalls how her mother was introducing her to a woman in her dream. Veena is amused by how unusual it is for her mother to set her up with a prospective bride. According to Indian tradition she would be arranging పెళ్లి చూపులు (Pelli chupulu - meetings) with the prospective bride’s parents. A literal translation of పెళ్లి చూపులు is “Marriage sights” which is an an occasion when a prospective bridegroom and his family visit prospective bride’s place to meet her and her parents. Hence, Veena’s mother would take the entire family to the prospective bride’s place and meet them all at once. There might not be an opportunity for prospective bride and groom to talk in private during the visit.
Veena’s mother and father didn’t even see each other before they got married. According to her family lore, Veena’s paternal grandmother got mad at Veena’s father for rejecting every single marriage proposal she put forward for his consideration. He found something wrong with every single proposal giving reasons, such as a prospective bride didn’t have enough education or he didn’t like how she did her hair and so on. After Veena’s paternal grandmother had given up, Veena's paternal grandfather took up the mission to find someone for his son. This was why he went to Veena’s maternal parent's place to see her mother and meet her family. No clue why he didn’t take his son with him.
Veena’s maternal grandmother visited Veena’s paternal parent’s place to see her father. Veena’s maternal grandfather couldn’t travel for medical reasons. He had a stroke when Veena’s mother was about 10 years old and was bedridden for the rest of his life. Veena’s mother would not have accompanied her mother. It would have been a big no no for a prospective bride to go see a prospective bridegroom back when Veena’s parents were younger.
One thing led to another and Veena’s parents never met face to face until their wedding day. Veena starts grinning ear to ear as she thinks about her parent’s wedding pictures. The ceremony took place in the wee hours of the morning and there was not even one picture in which both of them had their eyes open. They both would smile sheepishly whenever people including their children teased them about getting married while snoozing. It suffices to say Veena’s parents started their marriage seeing only a black and white picture of each other and started their 50+ years of marriage with their eyes closed. It was a perfect blind wedding story. They loved each other dearly and Veena’s mother continues to cherish his memory.
Veena's thoughts drift back to her dream when she was a man. Dream started with Veena, who was a man and mother were sitting at a restaurant when she introduced Veena to a woman who was presumably an awesome baker. Veena’s mother wanted Veena to taste a few samples the woman brought along and pick one for Veena’s birthday. Cakes looked great and tasted delicious. Veenal doesn’t remember the specific details about the cakes. After the woman left, Veena’s mother turned towards Veena and asked “What do you think?”. Veena said the cakes were good and Veena’s mother then said “I am glad you liked the cakes. What about the woman?”. Veena was beginning to catch on to what was really going on and trying to remember what the woman looked like. The woman wore a black skirt and beige sweater a size or two small for her bosom. Veena didn't say anything in response and said bye to her mother and left the table.
As Veena was walking towards the door, the baker woman was sitting at a table with a couple who looked like her parents. As Veena was passing by their table, she turned towards Veena and said very quickly, “Please pick a cake you like. Also when would you like to meet? Please pick a day and time? Keep in mind I fast on Fridays and eat light meals on Saturdays”. Veena nodded and walked out of the restaurant making an observation that this woman appears to be religious and observant. She would want to fast on Fridays and prefers light meals on Saturdays and visit places of worship, Veena would want to eat gourmet meals on Fridays and avoid places of worship at all costs any day of the week.
Veena gets back to paying full attention to her breakfast and coffee, amused by the dream and very glad that the dream brought back happy memories of the family lore about how her parents started their lives together. Birds are still chirping in the backyard and two squirrels are now chasing each other making loud noises. Veena watches a squirrel sitting on hind legs with front legs holding an acorn and munching on it, almost forgetting her dream. Just then Veena’s phone rings, interrupting her thoughts. Veena picks up the phone and starts sharing her dream with her mother who is on the other end of the line.