The Cactus Blooms...Concluding Part

Kaal called up SI Manikkavel

Kaal :: Manikkavel,I quickly need the locations of Samaj's various addresses in the city and want you to check the marriages to be conducted by them tomorrow. If possible find out the time schedule of the various marriages.

SI :: Yes Sir ,Give me 10 minutes I will report to you sir

SI called up the control room and sought the information from them.They in turn flashed the message and in next few minutes the complete address information was available. But keeping up the tradition of maintaining confidentiality, samaj refused to divulge names and time of marriages.

SI Manikkavel :Sir all the information on location is available but we could not get the details of the marriages since they maintain the confidentiality.There are only three places ,sir

KAAL :: Then we have to arrange for the raid party.Please arrange for it.

SI Manikkavel :: Sir,I have a small request .Tomorrow I have a very important family marriage to attend and Muhurtham is between 7and 8 am.I will attend it and immediately rush..

KAAL :: If it's muhurtham for you ,it will be the same elsewhere.By the time you report for duty,it will all be over.Don't worry I will take charge directly.Please inform control room to advice the respective police stations to assist us.

He still was not sure if the terrorist angle was correct.From the call printouts which Yama had brought along,he wanted to talk directly to Chattisgarh number.Upon calling he realised,it was a genuine quarry contract the boy had been working on.
He wanted to call off the Terrorist Look Out Notice and informed the control room.He shared the news with happiness with Yama.

D -1 ::: 1130 pm

Arumugham calls Appasamy and conveys all the developments.All of them heaved a sigh of relief. Now, at best, it could be a case of kidnapping which could be handled legally.

At the same time ,as Kaal was driving back home with Yama,he realised that Yama wanted to pursue the case ,also he had not yet received any confirmation on the change in action plan from his bosses.

Kaal decided to go along with Yama and calls up control room and informs raid parties to be ready by 6 AM at the three venues.

D - 0 ::: 330 am

Appasamy picks up Aish and Raaj and rushes to the venue.He wanted everything to be completed at the earliest and vacate the place and surrender.He looked at Aish and found her so serene,calm and composed.He felt bad that her parents were missing the marriage

D - 0 ::: 430 AM

The venue is just filled with few dozen people and the couple looked so lovely in their traditional attires.Both were beaming with happiness.Somewhere Appasamy again felt very sad for the girl ,who had left behind everything for the sake of love.The serenity in her face was so wonderful ,for a moment he thought of her as DEVI herself.

His mobile rang.It was Arumugham.

Arumugham : Ayya,the raid time is fixed for 6 AM. Please complete everything fast and vacate the place.I will give you a ring when they are 15 mins away from your place.and a second ring when they are 5 mins away.That outstation cop is still treating this as a terrorist case,hence be careful.If anything happens please surrender,never argue with him.It will help the couple.

Appasamy : Thank you Arumugham.You are a good hearted person and want to unite a young couple. God bless you.

D - 0 ::: 5 AM

Anthony Kaal wakes up and finds Yama already all set for the call of duty.This guy will never change he thought to himself. Yama hurried him to get ready.

The function started.. The first was converting her.Aish became Aishwarya and signed the document

Immediately after that the marriage function formally began. It was 510 AM. Appasamy was praying that the priest would go on a fast forward.He had already informed the priest of the urgency.The normal duration was one hour,Appasamy wanted it to be conducted in 30 mts.

Priest started explaining,the KANNIGADHANAM,as the first step.The father of the girl is supposed to give away the girl to the boy as a Dhan.The role of parents was taken over by Raaj's sister and Brotherin law. He was anxious that Aishwarya understood and in his own pace explained it in English and in his sanskritised broken Hindi.

Aishwarya apparently was enjoying it.Appasamy was on pins.He wanted to vacate the place by 530 at all costs,when it was still dark.It was already 520 AM.Aishwarya's serenity was so Godly,it helped him to calm down.He wondered whether she was aware of the impending danger.

The priest started explaining the second step,PAANIGRAHANAM,which signified the promise made by the couple to be together in life and keep each other happy.Again the explanation both English and hindi.

D - 0 ::: 530 AM

Anthony Kaal and Yama got into the Jeep along with his Gunman.They contacted the control room to check the readiness of the raid party. All set...

The priest started the third and final step ie the sapthapadi..the seven steps and each step signifying the guiding principles of life.


The mobile in Appasamys pocket vibrated. He knew he had totally run out of time..


The way it was going ,the explanation for the seven steps would easily take at least 7 minutes and after that rushing out would mean straight onto the face of the cops.There was no way the function could be curtailled at this juncture ..

The formal marriage got solemnised in the next few minutes and the registers signed by witnesses.

The only other way,a thought flashed across,as soon as the marriage was over, switch another couple in their place and and hide them off in the small anteroom.
He precisely did it and the phone vibrated the second time. 5 minutes, he thought ,was going to be long.

He had substituted Raaj's younger sister and brother in law, who had got married just few months back . He requested the priest to recite normal slokas.Tension was writ on everyones face and they tried their best to hide it.

In walked Kaal,Yama and his gunman.They had a look around,and as they turned around in disappointment,Anthony kaal noticed that the bride was wearing a toe ring,Metti,which was sported only by married woman.He hesitated for a moment and then briskly walked away.

As soon as their heads disappeared the happiness returned to everyones face.In two minutes the groom and the girl took everyones blessings and were taken away by Appasamy through the numerous lanes and by lanes .

After roaming around for several hours in the car,they went to the magistrates place and surrendered.

Kaal was called in to interrogate and in just few minutes he realised it was a sweet end to a beautiful love story.Aishwarya was called seperately by Yama to find out if she married Raaj willingly which she confirmed.Kaal wished them the best of luck.Aishwarya and Yama spoke for few minutes in their language and both seemed very happy with whatever they exchanged.

Yama meanwhile had also received the communication from his bosses that the boy was clear and no way connected to terrorism,and he finally looked at the development nonchalently.

Appasamy could not get over the fact that Aishwarya had the courage to face it all and never showed any sort of unhappiness of missing her people.He realised she was a very mature girl and they all had to learn many things from her.

As he started moving away from the scene one thing haunted him.Why cant we all be mature enough to co-exist and look at conversions as a horrible thing.Would it have been possible for Raaj and Aishwarya to marry maintaining their own respective religion.Would the society be accepting such a situation.What would happen to their children ?Would the society be accepting such a situation ?Was it mature enough?The calm composure maintained by Aishwarya was an eye opener for him.

As they came out Kaal and Yama had a good laugh at the of events and decided to take the rest of the day easy since Yama's return flight was only at 6 pm.Yama called up home and shared the deveopments with his wife .Finally his wife requested him to buy couple of famous silk sarees from T Nagar.When yama requested Kaal, he said the best person to help, would be his wife.So they drove back to Kaal's house.

As he entered his house Anthony Kaal called out to his wife

Kaal :: Saraswathi,Saraswathi,look who has come.My good friend Yama and he wants your help.Before that,I need a clarification.When do South Indian Hindu woman wear the toe ring : after the marriage or during ?. Saraswathi explained,Anthony Kaal burst out laughing.He knew he got fooled at the marriage hall.or did he delibrately overlook it,though he had spotted it !!

Anthony fell in love with Saraswathi years back and after all kind of resistance both got married but retained their respective religious identity.They decided not to have a kid since they didnt want each of them to influence the kid on religion.
So all along this episode of Raaj and Aishwarya,perhaps his love marriage and its difficulties were running in the back of his mind and he perhaps played soft on the issue and wanted the marriage to happen!!. For example he could have posted a policeman right thru the night at the marriage venue,but he didnt.He looked fondly at Saraswathi and told her about the incident. Both shared a beautiful feeling that it ended well !!Perhaps a repeat of their marriage with more of action in between !!

So in the end Appsami and Anthony Kall, who were very tough persons in their own respective beliefs crumbled before true love.Both of them like the CACTUS had a lot of thorn around them,but now BLOOMED in all splendour of the goodness.


D :: + 7 ::: RAAJ'S house

Raaj,Aishwarya,his father and mother enjoying the Sunday at home.Being Non vegetarian day,Raaj's father had bought good Mutton.As Raaj's mother started to move towards the kitchen,Aishwarya,jumped up saying she would cook the best Briyani for the family.Both Raaj and his father also liked the idea and supported it.
Raaj's mother gave a reasonably stern look at them and said it would be better that Aishwarya rested as she must be tired after a late night movie of the previous day.. (heart of heart she thought to herself::after all she knew the taste of Raaj and her father better ).

message conveyed..Kitchen domination was mother in laws prerogative and the daughter in law rather wait...

and thus started the mother in law ::daughter in law episode which will go on forever and ever......


TC
CU

Everything in this Story is a fertile imagination from my head..except for...I leave it to your guess !!! AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR P A T I E N C E