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Note: Long one to compensate for the absence. This is the beginning of something larger, so do give me your comments.

The square verandah in the center of the house was unchanged. The rusted iron grills on top filtered the sunlight seeping in. Red chilies were being dried on an old piece of white homespun cotton.
There was an unusual burst of activity, bags of mangoes were being loaded into the store-room and laid down on bright yellow hay, which lay shimmering in the bright light.
“Meera, don’t stand near the store room. It’s not good for your asthma.” It was hardly obvious that she was referring to her twenty-three year old, I sighed to myself. As the eldest daughter-in-law amma seemed to be caught in a role that defied time.
I continued walking about the house and opening the thick wooden doors, observing the long cracks and crevices that I hadn’t known when I was younger. The house had lost part of its majestic charm and grown mellow with time. The long hallway was bare most of all because of the missing massive swing. It used to support all my cousins and me.
The tall pillars that separated a portion of the hall were dull grey now. Leaning against a pillar I felt the granite cold against my skin and rested my head.
“Meera, is that you?”
I turned around to see face Lakshmi. Her oval face neatly outlined against the jet black of her hair. She was radiant in a deep blue cotton saree. I was too taken aback to respond to her, and her face drooped as she gestured animatedly that she wouldn’t speak to me. I laughed aloud and grabbed her in a bear hug. Her eyes were glistening as she blinked continually and resumed her talk.
“I thought you would become one of those snobs and forget all about me.” There was no tone of self-pity in her voice and I sat down next to her. She was slightly alarmed and looked around for a chair.
“Enough about me. I want to know what's happening with you and to your plans of opening your own shop?”
I was trying consciously not to sound patronizing, I was always aware of the lop-sided relationship we shared even when I knew I could trust her with my life.
“What are u kidding akka? I am getting married soon.” Her eyes were dark and I could not read if it was disappointment or anger in her voice.
I waited for her to say something and resisted pressing her for details.
“Do you want to get married then? Do you still want to run away with us to our house?”
I smiled to lighten her mood and draw her back to her cheerful self. She was sullen and shook her head repeatedly.
“Meera, I made payasam, and your favorite ulundu vadai. Why don’t you bring Lakshmi and come to the backyard?” I sighed reflecting on my strict diet regime, which fell apart at patti's feeblest attempts. My resolve to reprimand her for over-doing her hospitality dwindled as I approached the kitchen. The aroma of roasted elaichi and cashew wafted past me as I walked the stretch from the hall to the backyard. As I turned and looked right ahead of me, I once again marveled at the straight doors opening one after the other leading to the front porch. This queer architecture still puzzled me.
Lakshmi stood rooted for a while and joined me tucking the free end of her saree hurriedly, as though she were going to get cracking at some physical task. I smiled and she looked with a strange pre-occupation that struck me as unfamiliar.
The veranda was cleanly swept, the water tank freshly painted stark white but the garden was overgrown with weeds and hedges. I recalled the fondness with which I had planted a small neem plant. My cousin had watered it devotedly until it bloomed with age; substantial and protective with its massive shadow. The bitter smell of crushed neem sprinkled in the yard mingled with the sweetness of payasam rising from the smoke inside. Patti was skeptical of all things electrical and technical; she kept their usage to the very minimum. The firewood made her eyes water, but she beamed over a brass vessel of the sweet liquid when she saw us. Lakshmi had already busied herself clearing the kitchen.
I bent over to sit next to the wall when patti interrupted, “That’s a light colored dress, you better be careful. Now go sit on the cot outside, I will fetch the food.”
I waved my hand and insisted on helping her with the payasam, neatly pouring it into cups with small spoons in them. Lakshmi stood and watched me before following us outside.
Lakshmi sat on a low stool a little distance away and patti sat next to me. She couldn’t drink the sweet milk because of her sugar complaints, she remained quiet and distant. Suddenly she touched my hand and stroked it gently with her wrinkled fingers. I felt a lump in my throat, and sensed my awkwardness in the situation. I was still wary of intimacies and thought of myself as a independent person. Patti did not understand those terms, her love for her dozen children and their families had no bounds. Her constant complaints about the infrequent business-like visits of my father grew from an expectation of closeness and intimacy that was common in her times.
I watched the moon rising above the braches of the neem leaves and barely heard patti talk about the fields that I hadn’t visited in 10 years. Lakshmi listened and kept her head bent. When she put her bowl down patti finally spoke to her,
“Lakshmi you should help me clear the old gunny bags and drop them by the shop when you go home.”
She only nodded in reply but it wasn’t a sure yes. Or so I thought, I was beginning to see the small changes that time had brought in me and this girl, who I now felt I barely knew.
I took leave from patti to go with Lakshmi for a stroll along the fields. Her tired eyes grew smaller in disapproval, young girls that too unmarried taking a walk in the evening was still unthinkable to her. Mother seemed to be far from helpful, running accounts of payments of the mango bearers. I smiled as I found my way out, “ But Palani will be there to show us around , wont he?” I refered to the old gardener who lived a stones throw away from our fields, I still called him by name.
We spoke little along the path. The road seemed longer as we couldn’t take the short cut we often adopted from the backyard of the ice-cream man's house. There was a time when he was the sole seller of ice-creams- home made ones that dripped with syrup, making our tongues frushia pink. He was sitting on the front steps when we passed by, his hand resting on the broken edge of its cemented edges. He would have recognized my cousin, she used to visit patti more frequently than I did.
“So when is the marriage?” I taunted Lakshmi with a wink.
“They have to find a man who won’t ask too much money. They say I am much too educated.” With her high school education she was among the more educated girls of her caste.
“Lakshmi, you can tell me if there is anything I can do.” I spoke earnestly.
She was not moved, not resigned either. She was not too full of pride to refuse help, but I didn’t press her on about this.
“I don’t have many dreams, not because I shouldn’t. But because I simply don’t.” She stopped and pondered for a while. “You don’t expect me to sit and cook for my husband do you? I am going to live just like this, for myself, someday save enough money to buy a sewing machine.” She said it simply and for a moment I envied her.
I couldn’t subtract fate from my calculations, even when I was more in control of my future and decided my own choices. I wouldn’t exchange places with her, but I couldn’t stop thinking of her simple answers to adversity.
The fields were golden with dried rice plants, and we could hear the cuckoos hiding in the tall tamarind trees. The lanky frame of Palani emerged at the gate, followed by a tawny kid who carried a long stick in his little hands.