1. Anika

Author's PoV

On a breezy morning of November, Anika is practicing her yoga in the backyard of her small and compact house. Anika has a little brother who is in his high school now. Anika is in her final year of Bsc., Computer science. Anika's mom is a garland designer who works from home as per the orders she gets from the flower dealers. Just like her mom, Anika is also very good at arranging flowers for bouquets. It is a very happy family with everything they need.

"Dei Advay, get up!" Anika came in, waking up her brother to school. Advay is a slowpoke. His day only starts with the yelling of his mother and his sister. 

"Wake me up after 5 minutes, Akka(sister)!" He covered his head with the blanket and curled inside it.

"Ma, Advay is not getting up!" Anika shouted from inside the room.

Anandhi is Anika and Advay's step-mom. When Advay was a month old baby, their mother got severe jaundice and by the time they found out, it was too late that all her internal organs were already failing and she died of it. It was then Saravanan (Anika's dad)'s relatives made him marry Anandhi to take care of Advay and Anika. 

Saravanan initially opposed the idea but later realized that it is not a joke to bring up two kids alone. He could not manage his work and take care of his daughter and the new born baby. Knowing that he could never be good enough for the kids he agreed to the wedding but on one condition. He insisted that the girl he is going to marry should be an infertile girl who cannot bear children of her own. He thought, by doing this, the girl would treat his kids as her own. One way or another, his calculations worked. They found Anandhi from a village in Tirupur who was 32years old by then and was still not married. When Anandhi was in her teen age, she met with an accident that resulted in losing her uterus. It was well known news in her little village that no one agreed to marry her. So when Saravanan's family asked her hand in marriage, her parents readily agreed to marry her to him.

Anandhi is a woman from a poor family and she was happy to be married finally. She was depressed that all her friends had 2kids by now but she was still a burden to her family. So when Saravanan came with 2 kids, a girl and boy, she was more than happy to marry him. So that is how Anandhi became Anika and Advay's mom. She looks after them like her own kids. She is grateful for the life she has got.

"Advay, your friend Vinod will come any minute now and if you are not ready by then, he will leave you behind and you have to take the bus to the school. Wake up soon!" Anandhi shouted from the kitchen.

"Pch, I am awake!" Advay got up and made his bed.

When he was about to go to the restroom, Anika ran in and locked the door.

"Hey Eruma(buffalo), what were you doing for so long? Maaaa, look at her. She has locked the restroom door." Advay shouted banging on the door. Anika was laughing inside while taking a bath.

He pushed her aside and went into the restroom once she opened the door. "Why did you wake me up when you were not done with the restroom yet? I am going to kill you if you do this again." he yelled at her from inside the bathroom.

"Anu, why did you do that? See, he is angry." her mom asked her when she settled herself on the kitchen slab to eat her breakfast.

"Hahaha ma, chill. He still has 20minutes. Boys just need 10minutes to bathe and get ready." Anu said while eating her idli with yummy tomato chutney.

"We should build a toilet in the backyard to stop this fight. You guys are grownups and still every morning you make the house like a battlefield. It is because of you two, your dad is bathing at 5.30 am even in this winter." her mom told her.

"It's ok, Anandhi. Pack lunch soon. I have to go see my MD before going to the factory. I have to leave early." Saravanan came into the kitchen for his breakfast.

"Good morning, Pa." Anika greeted her dad.

"Good morning, Anu. How is your project coming along?" he asked her.

"Nithya and I are working on it, pa. We have help from our seniors who passed out last year. He is working along with us. Hopefully we will finish it on time."

"Who is that, Anu?"

"Arun, pa. He is a nice guy." she said enthusiastically.

"Hey, is he a boy? How did you know him? Don't you get a girl to help you out?" Anandhi asked her.

"Anandhi, it has nothing in gender. If he is helping them out, it's fine. Stop talking like you are in 60's" her dad stopped her.

"He studied in our college only, ma. He was in his first year of Msc when I joined college. He just passed out. We know him because he participated in college culturals all two years like I did. He is a good guy, ma. He readily agreed to help us to finish the project." Anika tried explaining to her mom.

"How does he get time to help you guys? When are you meeting? Where are you meeting?" Anandhi bombarded her with questions.

"Ma, he is still looking for a job. He will come to the college lab and we are working together. That is why I have been coming late these days."

"Enough of your enquiries. Let her eat, Anandhi." Saravanan stopped the string of questions.

"He himself is not in any job despite the Msc degree. How can he help them? Whatever!" Anandhi mumbled to herself.

"Lunch?" both Anika and her dad asked in chorus.

"It's all ready. Think about building a restroom and another room at the back extending our home. The kids have grown big and it is not right to make them sleep in the same room." Anandhi told him while serving him steaming hot idlis. 

"You know our income, Anandhi. You are the one that is making a budget every month. The only savings we have in hand is for Anu's wedding and I am not taking it for anything else." he said. Saravanan has a fixed deposit where he deposits a particular amount every month in it for Anika's wedding.

"Ma, don't worry, I am in my final year and from next month we will be having campus interviews. I am sure I will get a good job. I will build you a room and a bathroom!" Anika told her mom and jumped down from the slab.

"I know you will." Anandhi smiled at her daughter lovingly.

"Ok ma, ok pa, bye, will see you in the evening." She waved bye to them and went out of the home to catch her college bus.

"Get lost, monkey!" Advay threw a magazine on her as he entered the kitchen for his breakfast.

"You are monkey, donkey, buffalo, everything." Anika ran out shouting names at him.

"Dei Advay, how many times do I have to tell you not to call her names?" His dad asked him in warning.

"She was the one that pissed me off in the very morning. You won't ask her anything but will only scold me." Advay started eating while whining.

"Ennanga(an endearment call for a husband), don't scold him while eating." Anandhi supported him. It is a regular scene in their home. Saravanan always favors Anika and Anandhi always favors Advay.

They all went out to their respective jobs after a busy and chaotic morning. Anandhi, after sending them all out, took a refreshing bath and ate her breakfast while watching TV. She always loves this calm time.