saying the right thing. ‘They must have been disapproving when you were younger and rebelling against them.’
‘That’s just it. I wasn’t rebelling,’ Vikram said. ‘I genuinely didn’t give a hang about what they thought. I went ahead and applied for a law degree without consulting them—not even my dad. And after I left home I didn’t visit orcall unless I absolutely had to. I was so busy trying to get a winning position in the rat race. Then I started dating a girl they didn’t approve of. My mum made an incredible effort to get to know her, and just when they’d begun to understand each other I announced that it was all off.’
He’d paused and, remembering an earlier conversation they’d had, Tara asked, ‘Why didn’t they approve of Anjali? Because she wasn’t from the South?’
Vikram obviously remembered the conversation as well, because he said, ‘No, I think I was over-simplifying the issue when I said that. Vijay was seeing a girl who wasn’t even Hindu, and my parents loved her from day one. They’re not narrow-minded in the least.’
There was a little silence as Tara waited for him to continue.
‘Put very crudely, Anjali was high-maintenance,’ Vikram said finally. ‘She was the youngest in her family, and she’d been petted and spoilt her entire life. She expected a lot from our relationship. My parents knew me well, and they were pretty confident it wouldn’t work out.’
‘Were you in love with her?’ Tara asked.
‘I was initially—or at least I thought I was.
But after a while the whole thing seemed utterly pointless. Emotional scenes aren’t my thing, and I’d be treated to one almost every time we met. To be fair to her, it was far more my fault than hers—I neglected her shamefully—and I was incredibly relieved when she decided to call it quits.’
Tara digested that slowly. She wasn’t sure whether he’d told her about Anjali as a warning, or to distract her from the earlier part of the conversation about his parents. Probably the second. With several thousand miles between them he couldn’t use sex to lighten things up when the conversation turned too personal.
‘Have I succeeded in completely ruining your good opinion of me?’ Vikram was asking, his tone casual.
The question seemed serious though, and Tara took heart. ‘At least you’re honest,’ she said. ‘That’s a quality that will last, hopefully. And I can sympathise with your not liking emotional scenes. They’re not my thing, either—though I think a good fight now and then is healthy. Helps to clear the air.’
Vikram began to laugh. ‘You’re adorable,’ he said. ‘I suppose you have a little timetablemapped out in your head? Are we overdue for a fight now?’
‘Terribly,’ she said. ‘You’ve been a big disappointment that way. You’re so reasonable and accommodating all the time.’
Vikram shut his eyes for a second. She expected so little from him, he thought. Since they’d come to Bengaluru he’d been travelling almost all the time, and when he was in town he worked crazy hours. By any standards he was a far cry from the perfect husband.
‘Send me a list of topics you’d like to fight about and I’ll be happy to oblige,’ he promised. ‘Anything to make my perfectly practical and sensible young wife happy.’
‘That makes me sound like something you ordered from a catalogue,’ Tara said, sounding deeply disgusted. ‘Practical and sensible, indeed. You might as well say I’m house-trained and don’t chew the doormats.’
‘Rubbish,’ Vikram said. ‘It’s a compliment. If anything,
I’m
the mail-order husband—you picked me out from an ad in the paper, remember?’
‘All six foot two inches of you,’ Tara agreed. ‘Well, if I was doing an appraisal, the way they do in offices, I’d say you’ve met expectations so far.’
‘Not exceeded?’ he asked.
She could tell that he was smiling again. ‘Noooooo,’ she said. ‘There’s still scope to
‘That’s just it. I wasn’t rebelling,’ Vikram said. ‘I genuinely didn’t give a hang about what they thought. I went ahead and applied for a law degree without consulting them—not even my dad. And after I left home I didn’t visit orcall unless I absolutely had to. I was so busy trying to get a winning position in the rat race. Then I started dating a girl they didn’t approve of. My mum made an incredible effort to get to know her, and just when they’d begun to understand each other I announced that it was all off.’
He’d paused and, remembering an earlier conversation they’d had, Tara asked, ‘Why didn’t they approve of Anjali? Because she wasn’t from the South?’
Vikram obviously remembered the conversation as well, because he said, ‘No, I think I was over-simplifying the issue when I said that. Vijay was seeing a girl who wasn’t even Hindu, and my parents loved her from day one. They’re not narrow-minded in the least.’
There was a little silence as Tara waited for him to continue.
‘Put very crudely, Anjali was high-maintenance,’ Vikram said finally. ‘She was the youngest in her family, and she’d been petted and spoilt her entire life. She expected a lot from our relationship. My parents knew me well, and they were pretty confident it wouldn’t work out.’
‘Were you in love with her?’ Tara asked.
‘I was initially—or at least I thought I was.
But after a while the whole thing seemed utterly pointless. Emotional scenes aren’t my thing, and I’d be treated to one almost every time we met. To be fair to her, it was far more my fault than hers—I neglected her shamefully—and I was incredibly relieved when she decided to call it quits.’
Tara digested that slowly. She wasn’t sure whether he’d told her about Anjali as a warning, or to distract her from the earlier part of the conversation about his parents. Probably the second. With several thousand miles between them he couldn’t use sex to lighten things up when the conversation turned too personal.
‘Have I succeeded in completely ruining your good opinion of me?’ Vikram was asking, his tone casual.
The question seemed serious though, and Tara took heart. ‘At least you’re honest,’ she said. ‘That’s a quality that will last, hopefully. And I can sympathise with your not liking emotional scenes. They’re not my thing, either—though I think a good fight now and then is healthy. Helps to clear the air.’
Vikram began to laugh. ‘You’re adorable,’ he said. ‘I suppose you have a little timetablemapped out in your head? Are we overdue for a fight now?’
‘Terribly,’ she said. ‘You’ve been a big disappointment that way. You’re so reasonable and accommodating all the time.’
Vikram shut his eyes for a second. She expected so little from him, he thought. Since they’d come to Bengaluru he’d been travelling almost all the time, and when he was in town he worked crazy hours. By any standards he was a far cry from the perfect husband.
‘Send me a list of topics you’d like to fight about and I’ll be happy to oblige,’ he promised. ‘Anything to make my perfectly practical and sensible young wife happy.’
‘That makes me sound like something you ordered from a catalogue,’ Tara said, sounding deeply disgusted. ‘Practical and sensible, indeed. You might as well say I’m house-trained and don’t chew the doormats.’
‘Rubbish,’ Vikram said. ‘It’s a compliment. If anything,
I’m
the mail-order husband—you picked me out from an ad in the paper, remember?’
‘All six foot two inches of you,’ Tara agreed. ‘Well, if I was doing an appraisal, the way they do in offices, I’d say you’ve met expectations so far.’
‘Not exceeded?’ he asked.
She could tell that he was smiling again. ‘Noooooo,’ she said. ‘There’s still scope to
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