1144. Sivakami Aunty

"Then?" asked Manimekalai.

"Then what? We have spoken about every thing!" said Chandran.

"Does it mean we don't have anything else to talk about? If this is the state of things now, how will things be after we get married?"

"After marriage, we will have many things to have a fight about. Life will be exciting, with fights and truce coming one after the other."

"Are you suggesting that there is nothing interesting in our love life?"

"Oh, my God! I didn't mean to say so. When we are in love, we will be careful that we shouldn't quarrel, lest a quarrel should lead to a break up. But, after we get married, we won't have this fear. That is what I meant" said Chandran

"It is true that our love life lacks excitement. Normally, there will be opposition to love from the parents. But we didn't have that problem. Your parents are not alive. Though I have not yet told my parents about our love, I have no doubt that they will consent to our marriage. After all, their marriage was love marriage too. So, our love life has been going on without any hitch. Only if some problem crops up, there will be excitement" said Manimekalai. 

They didn't meet for the next five days. Chandran came to their usual meeting place every day, waited for Manimekalai and returned home, disappointed.  

When Manimekalai came to the meeting place the sixth day, she had a worried expression on her face.

"What happened, Manimekalai? Are you not feeling well?" asked Chandran, with concern. 

"Are you not aware of what is happening around us?" asked Manimekalai, in an angry tone.

"What is happening around us?"

"Some people have been gossiping about you and me. Has the gossip not reached your ears?"

"No. But, what are they gossiping?"

"They say that you and I hugged and kissed each other in public!"

"This is atrocious! I have not even touched you. Who created this story?" asked Chandran, angrily.

"There is one Sivakami aunty in our village. Gossiping is her full time profession. She seems to have noticed our talking to each other. She has created a story around our sitting together and conversing with each other, by adding elements like hugging, kissing etc to our conversation and spread it to a wide circle of people."

"What is the reaction of people to this gossip?"

"I don't know about it. But, this gossip has reached the ears of my mother too. She asked me about it. I told her about our love. She told me, 'Ask your lover Chandran to meet me and your father soon and seek our consent to marry you.' But, I was scared to come out, since I didn't know what the people of this village would be thinking about me and how they would be judging me. That is why I didn't come to meet you for the past few days" said Manimekalai.

"We were feeling that there was no excitement in our love life. Sivakami aunty has filled this void, by creating some excitement. Let us go and meet her and and convey our thanks to her" said Chandran, laughing.

Manimekalai stared at him with disbelief, for a while. Then, she relaxed herself and joined in his laughter.

Thirukkural
Section 3

Love

Chapter 115
Gossiping by Others

Verse 1144 (in Tamil):
kavvaiyAl kavvidhu kAmam adhu inREl
thavvennum thanmai izhandhu.

Meaning:

Our love grows due to the gossip of the villagers. Otherwise, it would lose its power and languish.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'sivakAmi seydha udhavi' by the same author.)

Verse 1145 (Soon)
Verse 1143