Arun adjusted his glasses.

“So around the same time Elena moved to San Francisco, Ravi graduated from engineering college with honors.”

“Again, typical Ravi,” said Karthik. “‘Honors’ means nothing.”

“But Karthik-chinnaana,” began Aarush. “Didn’t you flunk out of college?”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m telling it means nothing. I know of this.”

“Karthik flunking college a long time ago doesn’t really matter now Aarush,” said Arun, raising a finger. “He’s a successful businessman now, and he and Gracy live a very comfortable life.”

Aarush nodded sheepishly. Arun continued.

“Throughout Ravi’s final year Sandhya had him prepare for doing masters in the US.”

“Wait, I thought Avva didn’t like the US?” asked Aarush.

“It’s not that she didn’t like the US,” said Arun. “She just didn’t like living here. She wanted both of the twins to do bachelors in India, masters in US, and then settle in India. Ravi was following that path, but Rani wasn’t.”

“Then did Dad make it here?” asked Aarush. Arun nodded.

“Yeah. He got into a big university in LA.”

“LA!” said Aarush. “Was it the same one as Amit-pednaana?”

“No,” said Karthik. “Actually there are two big universities in LA. Amit-anna went to one, Ravi went to the other.”

“Oh, okay. I get it now.”

Arun chuckled.

“Surprisingly, or perhaps, not so surprisingly, Sandhya insisted on going with Ravi to LA to ‘help him get settled’. And of course she had to drag me with her as well, only because I still had a valid US driving license and she didn’t.”

“Wait, so all of you came to California?” asked Aarush.

“Correct,” said Arun. “And because we were all in California, I invited Rani and Elena to also come down, which they did. We all met up at a Mexican restaurant in West Hollywood, and this was the first time Sandhya and Ravi met Elena. Oh, and Karthik, I do recall Amit was also there!”

“You remember now!” said Karthik, smirking. Arun laughed.

“How did that go?” asked Aarush, a little apprehensively. Arun shook his head in exasperation.

“Exactly as I’m sure you think it did.”

*******

Arun Shivaram sat at a table for six, a little nervous about what he’d arranged here. The ambience in the restaurant was dark, though the thick sarape tablecloths gave it some color. Sandhya and Ravi were sitting next to him, with Sandhya trying to fix Ravi’s hair.

“You need a haircut, Ravi. Make sure you do it properly when I’m not here, okay?”

“Yeah, okay Mom.”

Arun had zoned out at this point, opting instead to focus on the slow Thalía track playing in the background, but snapped back into the present when a waiter arrived with a bowl of nachos. Arun ordered some appetizers and the waiter left, but Sandhya seemed to look a bit confused.

“I can’t even understand these people when they talk. Could you understand him, Ravi?”

“Um… kinda?” said Ravi, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“But what I really don’t understand is why Arun picked this restaurant,” said Sandhya, frowning. “Have you seen the area? Full rainbow flags! I even saw a man wearing a dress and lipstick on the way here. Why does he have to do that? In public, that too?”

Arun looked at her, confused. Ravi hesitated, then nodded in agreement.

“Y-yeah, it’s gross.”

A couple minutes later the restaurant door opened, and a short, dark-skinned young man with glasses and a mustache walked in. Arun waved at him.

“Amit!”

Amit smiled, and shook Arun’s hand.

“Hello Arun Uncle, Sandhya-pinni!”

“Hi Amit,” said Sandhya, smiling. “How are you? How’s Irvine?”

“Not bad, Sandhya-pinni,” said Amit, sitting down. “Hey Ravi! Excited for masters?”

“Yeah dude,” said Ravi, fist-bumping his cousin. “Though I guess we’re rivals now, huh?”

Amit laughed. Then he looked at the remaining pair of empty seats.

“Where is…?”

“Coming,” said Arun. “They’ll be here soon.”

Sandhya’s face showed a flicker of disapproval before going back to a smile.

“So Amit, any plans of marriage now that you’re settled?”

“No, not yet, Sandhya-pinni,” said Amit, laughing awkwardly. “But I think my parents were planning to start searching soon, we’ll see.”

“That’s what we’re hoping for Ravi also,” said Sandhya, putting her hand on Ravi’s head while he smiled back at her. “But he should settle in Bangalore only, close to us. None of this ‘abroad’ nonsense!”

Amit smiled awkwardly at her as the restaurant door opened again and a pair of women entered while holding hands.

“Rani!” said Arun, standing up. Rani smiled as she gave her father a big hug.

“Hi, Dad!” Arun then turned to her girlfriend.

“And Elena! Good to see you again.”

“Hi, Rani’s Dad!”

Elena shook Arun’s hand. She turned to Rani, who didn’t seem all that comfortable.

“So uh, this is my Mom,” said Rani, pointing to a clearly agitated Sandhya. “And this is my brother Ravi.”

“Hey!” said Elena, offering a hand. “It’s kinda cool that you’re twins. I mean, I have a brother too but we’re not twins like you guys.”

Ravi just stared blankly at her instead of taking the hand. Amit then piped up.

“Sit down girls, make yourselves comfortable.”

Rani and Elena sat down next to Amit, opposite Ravi and Sandhya. None of them seemed to know what to say until Amit piped up again.

“So Rani, how’s the apprenticeship going?”

“Yeah, it’s going great!” said Rani, a bit relieved by her cousin’s interjection. “I’m learning a lot.”

Sandhya made a tsk while Ravi’s lip curled. Rani ignored them.

“And you, Elena?” asked Amit. “You’re in marketing, right?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s no dream job, but it pays alright. And once Rani finishes her apprenticeship we can really start living. Like, I really like dogs, and with both of our incomes combined we can totally… adopt… one…”

Elena’s voice suddenly trailed off after seeing Sandhya’s face barely trying to hide her disgust. Elena then took a deep breath and put on a smile.

“So, um, Rani’s Mom. What’s it like living in Bangalore? Rani told me it’s not as hot as the rest of India.”

“All of India is not hot,” said Sandhya. “You should know that. We’re not just some exotic land of elephants and snake-charmers.”

“Y-yeah, I... I know…” said Elena, still trying to smile but was now holding Rani’s hand under the table.

“Although, your English seems to be quite good,” said Sandhya. “People with your… facial features… don’t usually speak English so well.”

“Um, thanks…?” Elena tightened her grip on Rani’s hand a little while Sandhya didn’t notice Rani glaring at her.

“What does your father do?” asked Sandhya. “Is he a gardener– oh, Arun, do you remember? In Milpitas we used to have a gardener whose face was very similar to hers.”

Arun buried his face into his hand and shook his head. Rani’s eyes darted back and forth between her parents, wondering why her father wasn’t trying to stop this.

“N-no, he… he works in… insurance,” said Elena, softly.

“Oh, so, in the building?” said Sandhya. “Is he a janitor?”

Elena squeezed Rani’s hand even tighter.

“No Mom!” said Rani, now getting angry. “Her Dad works in upper management at a multinational insurance company! You and your generalizing, I swear…”

“Don’t talk back to your Mom,” barked Sandhya. “And I know how these people are, especially the girls. You don’t know what all they’ll say.”

“You’re doing it again! You know I’ve actually met her family before, and–”

“GUYS!” yelled Amit. The others stopped talking.

“What are we having for main course?”

Rani turned to the outer end of the table, and noticed the waiter standing there.

“Do you eh… need more time?”

“No no, we can order now,” said Arun, shaking his head. “What do you have that’s vegetarian…”


Arun picked up the check after lunch. While that was being processed Elena suddenly got up while muttering the word “bathroom”. A minute later Amit also got up. With both of them gone, Sandhya stopped trying to hide her disgust.

“Did you see all that crap on her arm?” said Sandhya. “Definitely she’ll be in some gang. She’ll be into drugs also, watch.”

“Stop it Mom,” said Rani.

“What ‘stop’? I’m just trying to protect my daughter. By the way when did you decide to become a lesbian? Did she make you like this? Because I didn’t raise you to be like this.”

“Are you serious right now? There is so much wrong with what you just said–”

“No Rani, she’s right,” said Ravi. “I mean, she raised me too, and I turned out, y’know, normal.”

“Normal?” said Rani, raising an eyebrow. “Try ‘stunted’.”

“Everyone, please…” said Arun. Ravi ignored him.

“I don’t know what ‘stunted’ means, but I’m willing to bet that these life choices, like the homo stuff and the weird career, is the exact reason why she hasn’t come back to India in so long.”

“Can you shut up now?” said Rani, her patience wearing thin.

“Don’t you DARE talk to your brother like that!” said Sandhya, now looking murderous. “You should be looking up to him, not telling him to ‘shut up’–”

“UGH, that’s IT!” yelled Rani, slamming the table. “Dad, it was great seeing you, but maybe next time please don’t invite us to these?”

Rani stormed off to the bathroom. Arun glanced confusingly at his wife and son, who didn’t seem to think they did anything wrong.

A few minutes later the whole group was standing outside the restaurant. Rani and Elena were keeping their distance from the others. Rani had an arm over her girlfriend, whose eyes were still red and puffy from crying in the bathroom.

“Hey,” said Amit, approaching them. “If you guys are ever in SoCal, feel free to stay over at my house in Irvine whenever you like.”

“Thanks man,” said Rani, fist-bumping him. “It was genuinely great seeing you today.”

Amit placed his hands on both of their shoulders, and walked away. Sandhya happened to see this and winced.

“Bye Rani, Elena,” said Arun, waving. “See you next time!”

The two women waved at him until Sandhya pulled him away.

*******

“Okay,” said Aarush, taking a deep breath. “So Avva’s a racist also.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Arun, looking uneasy.

“I would,” said Karthik. Arun frowned at him.

“I think it’s more ignorance combined with an unwillingness to reflect and learn. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves.”

Aarush nodded, somewhat disappointed.

“So with both Dad and Rani-attha in California, they could’ve met up right? Did they?”

Karthik shook his head and turned away. Arun looked sad.

“After what happened that afternoon? Not a chance. During the entire two years Ravi was there they didn’t meet up even once. In fact, after that disastrous lunch they would barely even speak to each other for the next four years. It’s my fault I feel, maybe I shouldn’t have invited them…”

“It’s not your fault Thatha,” said Aarush. Karthik, sensing the tension, decided to change the subject.

“Hey Aarush, you know that big house your grandparents live in now?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“It was finally finished later that year, in 2017.”

Aarush looked stunned.

“Wait, how long did it take…?”

“About six years,” said Arun. “Way longer than it should’ve taken. I blame the architect, he was an idiot. No offence, Karthik.”

“None taken,” said Karthik, laughing. “He’s my uncle, I guess. In fact I don’t even know how he’s related to us!”

“And you’ve been to our house many times, Aarush,” said Arun. “Have you noticed anything?”

“Like what?” said Aarush. “Oh, is it that it still looks unfinished?”

“Huh? No, I mean in the twins’ bedrooms. Have you noticed anything with their rooms?”

Aarush thought for a minute.

“Oh, I think I got it. Dad’s room looks bigger, and has a better layout.”

“Correct,” said Arun. “And do you know why?”

“Let me guess. Avva?”

“Also correct.”

Aarush slapped his forehead. Arun continued.

“Yeah, so we moved there in late-2017, six years after the ground-breaking. Ravi graduated masters in 2019, and moved back to Bangalore after getting a job at a big tech company there.”

“And Rani-attha?”

“Her apprenticeship ended at around the same time Ravi graduated,” said Karthik. “She got promoted to a full-time designer at that same studio.”

“Oh cool, so that’s when they got Tippy, right?” asked Aarush, his face lighting up. “You know, like Elena was saying at the restaurant in your story?”

Arun chuckled.

“Not yet Aarush, patience. We’ll get there. In fact, I think the next part of this story is your parents’ wedding!”

Aarush nodded, excited but nervous.