Roaming around the streets of Senkundroor and buying things at the shops made her very happy. She could not help thinking how wonderful it would be if things continued in this vein hereon. By the time they returned home, the day had ended and an ashen darkness had started to spread everywhere. Her mother-in-law too had arrived just then and was tethering the goats.

‘The entire village is laughing at us, and you want to go about, parading yourselves!’ she said spitefully, and punched a goat in its jaw. The animal bleated in pain. Saroja instinctively touched her own cheek. The day had been a happy one until then. How was the rest of it going to be? Her stomach felt as though it was churning. For a few days now, she had been experiencing dizzy spells now and then, but she was not sure why.

It didn’t look like Kumaresan paid any attention to what his mother was saying. ‘Are you planning to go to the function at Chellakka’s house?’ he asked.

‘I am going all right!’ she replied. ‘To the cremation ground.’

He simply said, ‘Okay, we are going.’

‘Sure! Go!’ his mother shot back without looking at him. ‘Go together as a couple. That’s the best way to ensure all the other villages can laugh at us too.’

Kumaresan asked Saroja to get ready. He looked as though his mind was elsewhere, contemplating some deep thought. He is used to his mother’s anger, so he must be bothered about something else, Saroja concluded.

‘Which fort are you planning to capture now?’ she said to him, trying to tease him about looking so preoccupied.

She understood his dilemma only after he explained it to her. Apparently, Chellakka’s brothers lived in this village. They would definitely depart from here, with a band of musicians, carrying gift plates for her—seven plates that went from the girl’s maternal uncle’s house. Others would inevitably join them, regardless of whether they were taking gift plates or not. As the crowd grew, the group would turn into a long procession. In addition to the drumbeat of the melam and resonant notes of the nadaswaram, there would even be revellers doing a folk dance. There was no way Saroja and Kumaresan could be a part of this crowd. Now that the village had issued its decree, they would not be allowed to join the procession. Kumaresan wondered what they could do.

It was too late for her to ask if they really had to go. After all, they had spent quite a bit of money and already bought everything. Rather than bother him, she thought it best to let him mull over it and come to a decision. So she didn’t say anything and busied herself with getting ready. She put on the same sari she had for their wedding, and combed her hair and wore the flowers in a long string.