"What are you doing here?" Amar asked the woman.

"I own this house." She answered. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello. I'm Prakash. I talked to your father yesterday. You agreed to allow us visit this place." Prakash reminded her.

"You are not allowed. Go away. This is not an inn that allows all sort of people." She attempted to close the door.

"We will just sit in the backyard for a few minutes and leave. It was our niece's favorite place. You promised to allow us yesterday" said Nanditha.

"That was yesterday. Before you guys insulted me. Now I break the promise." She smirked. "Next time you try to be rude to someone, just make sure you don't need them later."

"We didn't do it on purpose. We were just concerned about the girl" said Amar.

"I may reconsider if you apologize." She gazed at Amar, top to bottom,  checking him out. Amar was used to such looks. He ignored her gaze. But he noticed that Vennela felt uncomfortable.

"Stop looking at him as if he is something to eat. It's creepy" said Vennela.

Amar wanted to get away from that woman's sight as quickly as possible. He almost apologized when Vennela stopped him. "No Amar. You haven't done anything wrong. You don't have to apologize."

"But Vennela --"

"No. I don't want to see my husband being insulted." She turned towards the woman. "First thing, we weren't rude. You were. You ruined the child's dress and insulted her. Second thing, even if I knew who you were, I would have reacted similarly. Because you ill-treated a child, which is something I cannot tolerate."

"Anything else, your highness?" She mocked Vennela.

"Yes. There's one more thing. Don't chop trees. Remember, you live in Kerala which is God's own country." Vennela joined her palms in a formal namaste and left. 

"Sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here" said Prakash.

"No. At least I got to see Kochi after so many years" said Vennela.

They went back to their residence. Nanditha promised to take Vennela for sightseeing the following day. Vennela wanted to talk to Amar. But he was busy talking to Karthik. He ended the call after half an hour.

"Important work?"asked Vennela.

"Something like that" said Amar, not meeting her eyes.

"Let's go back home if you are busy." Vennela suggested.

"No. We have to stay" said Amar firmly.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded and switched on the TV. Vennela drifted to sleep in a few minutes. She woke up for dinner and slept again.

She woke up the next morning to see Amar doing one-arm push ups. She saw his dumbbells, lying on the floor, beside him. "You brought your dumbbells to Kerala?" She asked incredulously.

"No. I bought them from a sports shop here." He said. "Oh! No. I lost the count of push ups."

"62" said Vennela.

"Right" He continued.

"Why didn't you buy a punching bag?" Vennela talked intentionally to irritate him.

"That would have disturbed your sleep. What's the count now?" He looked at her.

"67" She giggled. "Why are you such a morning person? How much time do you usually spend on your work out? " She disturbed him again.

"You are asking as if you don't know. We've been married for 4 months." He forgot the number again.

"71" Vennela laughed.

He stopped his work out. "I get it. You don't want me to work out. You don't want me to stay fit." He complained.

"No. I just want your attention" She laughed again.

"You look so cute when you laugh." He tickled her feet. "But moonlight, if I don't work out now, who is going to lift you up in bridal style on our wedding anniversary?" He started looking for her toothbrush in her bag.

"Oh my God!! Wedding anniversary? It's 8 months away. And you don't have to carry me in your arms. I will walk without any support by that time" said Vennela.

"That's the spirit." Amar patted her. "I'll call the servants. Take bath. We'll go and explore the garden. Hurry up. Brush your teeth."

An hour later, they had breakfast and headed towards the garden. Vennela explained the significance of each and every plant grown there to Amar. "Do you know how difficult it is to climb palm trees? Even with the climbing bike it is very dangerous. But they do it for palmyra fruit."

"What's palmyra?" asked Amar.

"Fruit of palm tree." She pointed at a heap of them lying in corner.

"Very good if taken during summer."  

He was amazed by her knowledge of trees. They returned to their room.

"Amar! You bought me a Kerala saree?" She exclaimed.

"Yes. I went for shopping two days ago. You know how to drape a saree?" asked Amar.

"Of course I do" said Vennela proudly. "But, I don't think I can wear it now." She pointed at her leg.

Nanditha called them. "Come on. We have to go."

"One moment aunty. Amar, you wait outside. Aunty please come in."

Amar did as told.

"Help me wear this saree." She showed her the saree.

"We are behind schedule" said Nanditha.

"Please aunty. Aren't you my sweet little angel? Please." She hugged her aunt refusing to release her until she agreed.

"You know very well how to get things done" Nanditha smiled. She helped her. She accentuated Vennela's eyes with kohl and changed her hair style.

Vennela looked at herself in the mirror. "I look beautiful."

They went outside. To say that Amar was very happy was an understatement. He grinned ear to ear. "If being beautiful is a crime, you should be imprisoned for lifetime."

She blushed. 

"Do you really like it?" asked Vennela.

"I love it. You should wear sarees more often." He took her to their car.

They reached a famous church. As it was a week day, the church wasn't crowded. Vennela prayed for a while. "You are here for treatment?" The church Father asked her.

"Yes Father. My husband brought me here." She pointed at Amar.

"Good morning Father" Amar greeted him.

"Good morning son. You are not a Catholic. Are you?" The Father asked him.

"Um, yes." Amar felt uncomfortable. "We just wanted to pray. We didn't mean to--"

"You got me wrong. I am impressed by your faith. Everyone is welcome in this sacred church."

"Thank you Father." Amar smiled at him.

"Have faith in God, child. Never let any negative thought enter your mind. Keep yourself busy with whatever you are good at. Above all, never lose hope." The Father advised Vennela. He blessed her.

For some reason, Vennela liked the advice very much. "Did you hear what he said? He asked me to keep myself busy. He's right. I need to focus my mind on some creative work."

"We'll see." Amar wasn't sure how to keep her busy in that condition.

He led her out. There were numerous street vendors. He bought freshly strung jasmine flowers to adorn her hair. "There. Now you look like a traditional Indian girl."

They saw Prakash buying perfume. "For you, Nandu darling."

"Don't call me darling. What if the children hear?" said Nanditha reprovingly.

"We are out of earshot" said Prakash and waved at Vennela who was a few meters away.

She waved back. "Uncle thinks we can't hear them." She giggled.

"Was theirs a love marriage?" asked Amar.

"What are you saying? No. It was love after marriage" said Vennela.

"Love after marriage? Such a beautiful phrase. Mind explaining this to me?" Amar asked her.

"Well, we feel that we can't love the person our parents choose for us. This is a misconception. We never know when cupid strikes. I have seen many couples who started off as strangers during their wedding and became soulmates. It's doesn't matter whether we fall in love before or after the marriage. Love is all that matters." Vennela explained with a twinkle in her eyes as she remembered how she fell in love with Amar. She looked at Amar, whose eyes were twinkling too. 

They continued their tour.

"Look at that. Is that a houseboat?" asked Amar.

"Yes. I wish we had booked this" said Vennela. "The next time we come here I will book a ride in a houseboat. I will be normal by that time."

"Sure" Amar promised. "It looks exciting. We need to hurry. Kathakali show in an hour."

When the show started, all four of them held their breaths, mesmerised by the performance.

---***---

"When are we going back home?" Vennela asked Amar.

"Tomorrow. Evening." He answered.

"Why tomorrow? Why not today? What will we do here for one whole day?"

"There's something you need to see tomorrow. Something I can't let you miss" said Amar.

"A lotus pond?" asked Vennela.

Amar changed the topic. "Just look at the room. It's full of items you bought today. My hands ached carrying them..."

---***---

"Amar, where are you taking me?" Vennela asked him.

"Just wait and watch."

"Wake me up once we reach." She slept.

A few minutes later Amar gently tapped her to wake her up. "We are here. Look."

Vennela opened her eyes. In front of them stood the house in which she spent her childhood. "Why are we here again? I told you I don't want you to apologize to that rude woman."

"Rude woman? Which rude woman?" Amar asked her.

"The house owner's daughter" said Vennela.

"The house owners don't have a daughter. How can they? They have been married only for four months." Amar grinned.

"What are you sayi-- Oh! Oh my God! You- you bought the house?" Vennela was shocked.

"My wife spent her childhood here. How can I let that woman deny my moonlight a chance to relive her childhood memories?" He knelt beside her and cupped her face.

"Is that why you were busy day before yesterday? But, how did you get this done in two days?"

"I asked Karthik to call her father and offer him four times what the house is worth. He accepted the offer. Karthik paid them and requested them to shift their things yesterday itself. They readily agreed. They don't even know who they sold the property to. I'll get the registration done later." Amar gave her a small box which was gift wrapped beautifully. She opened it to see the keys of the house.

"Open the lock. The house belongs to you." Amar held her hand and helped her unlock it.

They went inside. Prakash thanked Amar profusely. "We couldn't have found a better husband for Vennela."

Amar smiled at him. "Thank you uncle."

He took Vennela to the room in which she used to sleep. She didn't know how to thank him. She wasn't sure if any language in the world has words that can express what she felt at the moment. She embraced him. "Why are you so sweet, Amar?"

He didn't speak. He just held his wife in his arms for a long time.

---***---

I love Kerala. God's own country. 

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