10.You & Me - Sandhya

Thulasi took some extra seconds to word her response.

"Seetha madam, I am very much overwhelmed by your affection... But you don’t know anything about me to even consider me for..."

"Thulasi, this is your problem... You are under estimating yourself... Your character outweighs everything else... You may not be a beauty queen but your personality and appearance are pleasing and charming... The way you care about your family speaks volume about your affection and love... The way you help your friend showcases your good nature... The way you adjust and try to avoid confrontations with my son shows your tolerance... What else should I expect from a daughter-in-law? Money? We already have lot of them and I don’t care about money... I want my daughter-in-law to be a second mother to my son. And I am sure you can replace me quite well...’ said Seetha with a smile.

Again Thulasi hesitated to reply...

"Madam, you don’t know about my past..."

"Why should I even care about it? Whether it’s good or bad, we can’t change it. I know about you... and I am least bothered about what happened earlier in your life..."

"But madam, this is not just about you..."

"Yes, I know it’s about my son too. I know him well Thulasi. He will not worry about your past even if you have done some major mistake... But first tell me, what’s wrong about your past life?"

Again Thulasi didn’t reply immediately. Seetha patted her softly, as if to convince her to share the truth.

"Madam..."

"Thulasi, stop calling me madam... You need not call me using my name but may be you can call me as amma if you like..."

A shocked Thulasi looked at Seetha’s face and Seetha smiled back at her.

"Don’t worry Thulasi! Nowadays it’s ok to call your mother-in-law as amma too..."

A hesitant smile appeared in Thulasi’s face.

"Sure, amma is much easier for me... I am very unlucky amma, so please don’t even consider me as your..."

Before Thulasi could complete the sentence, Seetha interrupted,

"Aha! That’s it? Unlucky? I was expecting some interesting flashback Thulasi... No love failures? Hmmm...."

Thulasi’s face lit up with smile hearing Seetha’s teasing words.

"If I had known that something like this would happen, I would have surely tried to love someone during my college days..." said Thulasi with a grin.

"Even now it’s not too late! You can try romancing my son..." said Seetha with a wink.

"No Seetha amma, you are a bad mother..." replied Thulasi again with a grin.

"Perfect! This how you should be! Always smiling and not worrying about unnecessary things..."

"But amma, it’s easy to say this when you have everything you need in your life."

"What do you mean by everything Thulasi? This house? Money? The servants? But these things can’t buy you happiness... Do you know I have been so very lonely for the past four, five years...? My husband passed away five years back and since then I have been leading my life on my own. My son is good! He is affectionate, yes... But he doesn’t have any time to spend with me... Both week days and weekends are same for him. He thinks only about business and nothing else. You don’t know Thulasi, how painful it is to eat your food all alone daily and roam around in a big house like this without any one to talk to... You remember the wall decoration that you liked when you first visited this house? That has been there for almost a year but I don’t think anyone else even bothered to look at it... The way you shower affection towards your mother and sister has really made an impact on me... Just imagine how this house will be if you come here as my daughter in law? Your smile, affection and good nature will not only brighten up my son’s life but it will also bring peace to my life..."

Thulasi who was listening to Seetha’s words keenly, took her hands in her hands and said,

"So, you want someone to talk to and give you company? This is not a big problem, amma. Uma and I can do this for you... Why should you talk about marriage and other big words for this? Marriage is not something that we both can talk and decide on. For me marriage is something that should bring families together and the most important person here is your son..."

"If that’s true then you are equally important too!"

"Yes, accepted but I have lot of other commitments amma. I have to take care of my mother and get my sister married..."

"You sister is younger to you Thulasi!"

"Yes amma, but there’s nothing wrong in her getting married first too! I want her to get settled in life. Then think about my mother, what will she do?"

"So you want to stay like this to take care of your mother? You really think that your mother will be very pleased to hear this? See Thulasi, I know the pains of staying alone... I promise you, there will be no need for you to worry about your mother after your marriage... I will give her good company..." said Seetha winking.

"But, your son..."

"You don’t worry about him... You give me an answer and then I will talk to him. I want you to decide on this and not him. To be frank Thulasi, my son is not a match for you in any aspect... It’s just that I am a bit greedy..."

Thulasi wanted to disagree with Seetha but she didn’t want to praise Dinakaran too. She understood that, that might send across wrong signals... So, instead she laughed and said,

"Enough Seetha amma... I can’t withstand this anymore..."

"All Right, I will give you a month to decide on this... If you say no..."

"What will you do?"

"I will give you one more month to think!"

Thulasi continued to laugh and Seetha also joined her with a smile.