This chapter requires a little suspension of belief so please do utilize that. :)
At Last Realization.
//
As Sonny stared around in confusion trying to take in her surroundings with Chad tightly gripping her arm, she heard someone calling out what sounded like her name but wasn't really her name.
She whipped her head around to see a woman hurrying close to her with a scandalized look on her face.
"Sonny bitiya, what is this? Out in the morning and that with boy touching your skin. Che, che. What will father say? Cover the head and come home. I sent you to get water and now you gallivanting around with Chad." The woman said all at once, taking Sonny by the hand and trying to pull her away from Chad. Sonny blinked at her in confusion. She could understand what this woman was saying even though her English was riddled with errors and she seemed to pronounce her and Chad's name in a weird way. She pronounced Sonny as Sony and she pronounced Chad was Chaid.
"But who are you?" Sonny asked, moving closer to Chad with Chad holding on to her arm even tighter than before. He was staring at this woman with a mixture of apprehension and worry. Had they stumbled across a mental asylum masquerading as a picturesque village to lure in unsuspecting people and then have their evil and mad-villain like ways with them?
"Hai Ram, I'm your mother bitiya." The woman said slapping her forehead in worry. "And Chad beta, your mother is looking for you. You were supposed to take out the cows' na? And now I see you are playing fool with my bitiya. So much like Kanhaiya." She said to Chad tut tut-ing disapprovingly. Chad stared back at her in askance. He was no cow herd. For god sakes he was Chad Dylan Cooper of Mackenzie Falls.
"My mother? But I have a mother." Sonny said frowning.
"Who else is your mother? I gave birth to you. I looked after you, fed you and taught you to be good housewife. Ram Ram, this daughter of mine is ungrateful. How am I to get her married and how will she find good husband. God help me." The woman said slapping her head some more and look very annoyed and put out by Sonny.
"I think we had better listen to her. Your house must be next to mine. Follow me and when you see a woman dressed like her calling you follow her. We'll try to meet up later and formulate a plan of action and get the heck out Crazyville." Sonny said whispering into Chad's ear before reaching out the woman.
Chad nodded. He had no other choice and he didn't want to be killed. America depended on him for their daily dose of drama.
"Sorry Mom," Sonny said touching her not-mother on the arm.
"Mom? What is this nonsense? Call me Ma. Don't acts like those firangs." Sonny's not-mom said to her reprovingly and Sonny nodded.
"Sorry…er…Ma." Sonny said, the word sounding foreign to her. And who the heck were firangs?
"Sonny bitiya, cover the head." Her not-mom said sternly and pulled the loose end of Sonny's sari over her head. Sonny winced, now she was sure Chad was getting a full view of her back. But somehow, her not-mother seemed to think that covering the head was more important that covering her other parts of the body. Her not-mom grabbed her hand and began walking determinedly. Sonny followed her, her mind working furiously.
Where could they be?
//
Chad grinned, he could see Sonny's back. It looked very smooth and pale and it was almost tempted to reach out and touch it. He could document the experience later in his Sonny centric journal. And what a heavenly experience it would be. However he drew his hand back at the last moment. Sonny's not-mom had chided them just for standing close to each other and holding arms, he was sure if he tried to touch Sonny's back, Sonny would react and then Sonny's not-mom would break every bone in his body.
Sighing he followed them as they began walking.
So close and yet so far.
Life sometimes was colossally unfair.
//
"Don't tell father, I found you with Chad. He will take pistol and shoot him." Sonny's not-mother said before shoving her inside the house.
"Take off the slippers and fold your hands in Namaste," Sonny's not-mother hissed pushing her front of an impressively mustachioed man. Seriously, the person had a great big mustache, complete with curling tips and all.
"Good morning …er…Pa…" Sonny said, her hands folded in greeting.
"Good morning bitiya," her not-father said gruffly, eyes going over and approving of her covered appearance before going back to his morning paper. Sonny rolled her eyes in her head. Fathers were the same everywhere. They only approved of their daughter's clothing when she was fully covered.
"Come Sonny, let's go into the kitchen and make breakfast." Sonny paled at this as her not-mother shepherded her into the kitchen. But she only knew how to make American breakfasts!She broke into a nervous sweat. What would her not-mother do if she found out her daughter was not really her daughter? Dreadful thoughts filled Sonny's mind.
Oh boy, did she ever so need a friendly face now. Even Chad's handsome mug would do.
She was desperate.
"I kneaded the dough, you roll out the chapattis and I'll cook them." Her not-mother said sitting down in front of a stove. Sonny sat down next to her with her legs crossed, Indian style, with a wooden slab in front of her and a rolling pin.
Okay she got it. She was supposed to take the dough and roll it out. It would just be like making crepes.
She took a small ball of dough, dipped it in some flour and then placed it on the slab and began rolling it out. Thank goodness her mother had been insistent on her learning to cook with her and that too any different kinds of cuisine.
She expertly rolled out the ball of dough and handed the flattened piece of dough to her not-mother who nodded at it approvingly.
"Nice work, Sonny bitiya. You are learning well."
The dough was tossed onto some sort of a pan and Sonny watched as her not-mother poured oil around and watched it puff up before her not-mother swiftly poked it and flipped it to the other side.
Sonny was fascinated.
"Mad girl. Work faster. You've seen this all before." Sonny's not-mother said fondly, pinching her cheek before returning to her job of grating coconuts. Sonny smiled into her sari. Her not-mother was nice, just like her real-mom who she missed terribly sometimes.
She wondered how Chad was doing.
//
"Chad beta, I asked you to take the cows out and instead I find you not in the field but somewhere else? What is this childishness, hein?" a colorfully dressed woman said brandishing her rolling pin at him. Chad inched backwards. Was this woman going to go crazy on him? Thankfully, he could shout out the Sonny, she was only next door.
"I wanted to see the sunrise," he said glibly making up an excuse.
"Beta, you are going to get married soon. No time for fooling. You have to make living. Otherwise, who will feed wife and you and my grandchildren?" Chad's not-mother said waggling her finger at him.
"Sorry?" Chad ventured. And no way was he getting married. Unless it was to Sonny, maybe than he would consider it.
Chad's not-mother's face softened. "You are young and want to have fun. I understand. But beta, we have no time for fun or youth. There's too much work to be done." She said sighing tiredly. Chad suddenly felt bad. On impulse he moved forward and hugged her. It was such a Sonny thing to do but he could not help it. His not-mom looked tired and exhausted, even in the morning and she looked like she needed some cheering up. And as her fake-son, he was obligated to do that.
His not-mother returned the hug with surprise but when they broke apart she was smiling widely and Chad smiled back, happy that she was smiling. It gave him a warm fuzzy feeling to see her like that.
"Silly boy. Come have breakfast. I have made makki di roti and sarson da saag." She said taking his hand and pulling him inside the house which he noticed was huge and old, just like Sonny's house.
Chad blanched at the mention of food. He only hoped that it was palatable. And he hoped that for all their niceness, they were not cannibals.
//
Chad wiped away beads of sweat from his forehead as he stood up and surveyed the field before him. Hoeing a field was tiring work. Normally he would have protested at any kind of work, because hello, he was Chad Dylan Cooper but here discretion seemed like the better part of valor and he agreed when his not-father asked him to come to the field right after breakfast, which had been excellent by the way. He had no idea what makki di roti and sarson da saag were but they definitely were vegetarian and not made of human beings and they tasted heavenly.
His not-parents had been very happy when he agreed to work in the field. His not-mother in particular. Her eyes had been shining and Chad felt a twinge of sadness. When he did get out of Crazyville he would be leaving this awesome person behind.
Anyhow his not- father on bringing him to the field had shown him how to hoe it and while his not-father worked on once side, he worked on the other. Thanks goodness, his not-mother had made him change his clothes before he went. He was wearing a vest and a loose cloth around his waist, which was tucked in securely into his underwear. He had been worried about the loose cloth which he had learnt was called a dhoti-- he was afraid it was going to fall off and that it wouldn't be very comfortable to work in but actually, so far, it had been great.
At a distance, he spied Sonny who was now in a different sari and was wearing plenty of bangles which jingled as she walked.
"Chad' father and Chad, uh…Aunty wants you home for lunch," she called out standing at the edge of the field.
"Thank you, Sonny bitiya," Chad's not-father called out."You go Chad beta, I will finish this line and come. Tell to the mother."
Chad placed his hoe down and walked towards Sonny. Working in the sun, he was sure he was going to get a terrific tan with some not so attractive tan lines. Oh well, there was nothing he could do about this. At least he could get some well developed muscles though with the way he was working.
Sonny gulped nervously as she noticed Chad approaching. She had always seen him fully covered but seeing him almost naked was a different thing. She had thought of him half naked but she hadn't seen him half-naked. Chad had a wiry musculature that she found quite attractive. She blushed. She could not think of Chad like this, especially when she was supposed to be hating him.
There was no telling him that though. He didn't need any more of a boost to his big ego.
"So how are things at your place?" Chad asked as he flexed his fingers which were beginning to ache a bit. Damn it, he was going to have to dip them in some cold water to soothe them.
"Pretty okay. My not-parents are nice and they aren't mean to me." Sonny said shrugging, a gesture that looked weird when coupled with her covered self and bangles and all.
"Yours?" she asked peeking out from underneath the loose end of her sari.
"My not-parents are pretty nice. Especially my mom, she's pretty cool." Chad said giving Sonny the once over. "Why is your head covered?"
"My not-mom asked me to cover it. Apparently, it's scandalous for girls to walk around with out covering theirs heads. Why are you…half dressed?" Sonny asked giving Chad the same once over, which made him feel a little self-conscious. He was a little under-dressed here while compared to Sonny.
"These are my work clothes," He said shrugging.
Sonny's' eyes widened. Chad Dylan Cooper voluntarily doing work? Had a pod person taken his place? She pinched him -- not caring when he squealed-- and herself just to be sure. Yep, they were real and yes, Chad had been doing work.
A stranger thing she had never seen.
"Got to go Sonny. My not-mom said she's making rasgullas' and I'm quite excited to find out what they are." Chad breezily said before waving to Sonny and then disappearing into his house. Well he definitely seemed to be taking this displacement from Hollywood to god knows where quite well.
Hmmm, where were they, she asked herself. As the realization slowly hit her Sonny stood dumbstruck outside the house. The name rasgulla rang a bell. She had heard of it somewhere. Think, she told herself.
Ah…she had it, rasgullas' were a yummy Indian sweet.
Suddenly everything clicked and fell into place.
The chapattis, the saris', the Namaste, the food, the people, the language, the way her not-parents spoke using terms she didn't completely understand sometimes, the way people conservatively dressed. It was like that Bollywood movie she had seen, Sholay.
They were in rural India!
Crap. But how did they get here in the first place?
Reference.
Bitiya – Daughter. Term of endearment used for a girl.
Che – sound of disgust
Beta- term of endearment used for a boy.
Hai Ram – Oh God.
Kanhaiya – Name for Lord Krishna, a Hindu God who was a goat herd in his human life and was very popular with the girls. Basically flirting with the girls and all.
Ram Ram – God God.
Firangs – Foreigners.
Namaste – Indian way of greeting. Is done with putting both the hands together and in front of the chest.
Chappati – Flattened piece of dough, which is eatable when cooked. Just like a crepe or a tortilla.
Beta – Son. Term of endearment.
Makki di roti and sarson da saag – a type of chapatti and a vegetable dish made from mustard leaves.
Dhoti – cloth worn wrapped around the waist and legs.
Rasgulla – Indian sweet made of milk cream.
Sholay – Very famous Bollywood movie set in a village.
Wow, that reference note was long. A quick reminder, all the grammar errors are intentional because I'm translating how they speak from Hindi to English. And since I think in Hindi and then translate it into English, the translation is literal and the errors are very visible because of syntax differences.
Maybe you can review and make my day? :)
