Naughty Nuptials
As the chauffeur-driven Ambassador crossed Kakinada, greenery greeted the honeymooners. ‘I never knew that we’re so close to nature,’ exclaimed Sandhya leaning on her man.
‘Once we’re in Konaseema,’ said Raja Rao feeling refreshed, ‘you won’t have eyes for me even.’
‘How I wish,’ said Sandhya, lost in her excitement, ‘that Roopa were with us,’
‘I’m beginning to get envious of your Roopa,’ he said in jest, taking her hand,
‘Why so,’ she said lovingly, ‘she only complements my love for you.’
‘What’s so special about her?’ he tried to appear casual.
‘Oh, she’s unique,’ she said emotively, ‘though it feels nice being your wife, separation from her hurts me as well. We’ve grown up dreaming living as neighbors,’
‘Why,’ he said tentatively, ‘it’s still possible.’
‘Can we move over to Hyderabad!’ she said excitedly.
‘I love that place like no other place,’ he said as he made up his mind by then to try to win Roopa’s favor. ‘Let’s see how soon we can make it.’
‘But meanwhile,’ she said, looking into his eyes, ‘be prepared for my nagging on that score.’
‘Won’t I love that,’ he said kissing her hand.
‘Roopa would be thrilled to hear about that,’ she said excitedly.
‘Don’t tell her,’ he cautioned her, ‘till we come closer to that.’
‘How I wish,’ she said, closing her eyes as if in prayer, ‘it were now.’
‘Oh,’ he said, ‘we have reached Draksharama!’
‘Let’s have Bhemeswara Swami’s blessings,’ she suggested,
‘I think it’s really prognostic of good tidings.’
‘I too have,’ he said smiling, ‘a lot to thank Him about and pray for as well.’
Seeing her in reverence before the deity, he could discern the serenity of her beauty and thanked Him for the blessedness that life had bestowed upon him.
‘What have you sought from Him?’ he asked her as they got back into the car.
‘I think, you can guess,’ she said dreamily. ‘What about your prayer?’
‘Let it be my secret,’ he said smiling.
‘Then keep it under lock and key,’ she feigned anger.
‘It’s all about love,’ he said effulgently.
‘I love you,’ she jibed with him joyously.
Soon they reached the shores of Kotipally to cross the Godavari. Sandhya’s fear of water shored up by his assurances en route, sunk her heart as she saw the mighty river in its lean summer course. While the prospect of boating across it shocked her water phobic psyche, Rao’s coaxing of her, which bordered on pecking, amused the travelers and the boatmen alike. Caught between the onshore embarrassment and the offshore predicament, as Sandhya stepped into the boat as though she were slipping into the river itself, Raja Rao, having jumped into it earlier like a habitual, tended his perplexed bride tenderly into it, and once in, she reached for a cross plank seemingly considering the center of gravity of that which was afloat. Seeing her predicament then, those who sat on it moved away to enable the newly weds ensconced in the middle. In time, having adjusted herself in trepidation, Sandhya clasped Raja Rao as though he were the mast of the boat itself.