CHAPTER THIRTY
The Hindi word for treasure is khazana.
Kishore’s Dad was the head of the family but there was no doubt his Mother ran the house.
That morning on the balcony Kishore was surprised by his Mother’s serious tone, he had the feeling she had something significant to talk about. She began by saying how much the family liked Julie and believed she would make a good daughter-in-law. He was pleased, as it was important to him that his family liked Julie.
She said she had never met or spoken to an English person before meeting Julie, her life and culture was so very different to her own. Trying to imagine Kishore marrying someone who was not Indian took some getting used to. She confided in him her thoughts on how an English girl would fit into their household as their beliefs were poles apart. She admitted when she first met Julie she didn’t know how to speak to her but over the days since their arrival she’d gotten to know her and believed she fitted well into their family home and had easily adjusted to their life.
Kishore’s Mum asked him when he thought he would make it back to India again. He told her it would probably be a long time. Julie and he wanted to marry then save to buy a house. Treading cautiously, so as not to muddy the waters, his Mother then approached the subject of them getting married before going back to New Zealand. Both his Mum and Dad had discussed the situation at length and his Dad agreed it was the right thing to do. If they were going to marry anyway, why wait? Why not marry now while they were in India?
Kishore knew the recommendation from his Aunt and Uncle had obviously smoothed the way for his relationship with Julie. His Mother and Father would not have taken this step if they didn’t have some prior knowledge of Julie’s family and background.
At first he was taken aback but then he began to digest his Mum’s proposition. Could an entire wedding possibly be arranged in less than three weeks? His ever resourceful Mother assured him that despite the short time frame, she could organise everything. She was good at planning and would get all of the neighbours to help with the arrangements. She would also rally them into assisting with the cooking - besides Indian people just love parties. It would be a challenge for everyone but to have a wedding on their own doorstep would be exciting and truly romantic.
Kishore agreed maybe it was a good idea. To be married in front of his family and friends was something he was not expecting to happen. To have Julie as his wife was what he wanted from the moment he saw her, if this could be achieved in just under three weeks, then he was ready, bring it on!
As he was listening to his Mum talking, he felt Julie’s eyes boring into him but he kept his eyes down, he needed time to think this through. Part of the reason he had wanted to bring Julie to India was to get his families approval, there was no doubt he now had that. To have his family with him to witness his marriage and to take her back to New Zealand as his wife would be a great honour.
What more could he ask for? Well, convincing Julie was what he needed to ask for. Kishore said a quick prayer to help him to find the right words to say to her.
To convince her to say yes, would be one task, once the elaborate preparations began without any of her family or friends present - would be another, would she change her mind?