“Beta, what are you going to wear?” Farah Aunty asked Kareena. “Not something black, I hope.”
“I’m not sure yet,” Kareena said. Usually, her grandmother and sister put her in whatever outfit they expected her to wear for events like this, so she didn’t have to hear them complain for weeks on end about her choice of style or color.
“Well, you’re less than a month away,” Sonali Aunty replied. “You really need to select something soon; otherwise, you won’t be able to get it tailored and pressed in time.”
“Forget her clothes; who is she going with?” Dadi called from the kitchen. “Bobbi, Veera, are you two helping Kareena find someone for her sister’s engagement party? Even though not that many people care anymore in the community, I still think it looks bad for Kareena that she’s the oldest sister and still single.”
“I thought you all were looking for her?” Bobbi asked.
“We tried, but she wanted nothing to do with the match we found,” Mona Aunty said. She rounded the kitchen to help Dadi take food out of the fridge and to set the water for chai.
“I think it’s because you all realized that it’s not as easy to find a man as it once was,” Veera said bemused.
“She’s right,” Falguni Aunty said.
All the aunties and Dadi turned to her, calling her name in unison.
“What?” Falguni Aunty said. “They’re smart girls. They know if we’re bullshitting them. Kareena, don’t you worry. When you find someone, he’ll be wonderful.”
“She’s already found someone,” Bobbi mumbled.
The entire kitchen went quiet.
“I’m sorry, beta,” Farah Aunty said calmly. “What did you say?”
“I’m going to kill you,” Kareena whispered at Bobbi.
Her friend shrugged and continued to fold the remaining tent cards. “Now you can’t back out tonight.”
She wasn’t going to back out. She’d planned on telling Prem she was willing to do the relationship thing and she’d made up her mind about it. But telling the aunties? That was a whole different experience.
Kareena stood, straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath, and faced the five women who stood around the kitchen like statues.
“Aunties,” she said slowly. “Dadi. I met someone a few months ago. On my birthday. We hit it off really well, then when we met the second time . . . we realized we had huge, fundamental differences. But slowly we, sort of, came to terms with our differences. And now, we’re . . . we’re . . .”
“Dating,” Bobbi and Veera said at the same time.
A series of gasps sounded throughout the kitchen.
“Who?”
“Is he desi?”
“Does he come from a good family?”
“Does he live in New Jersey?”
“Is he real?” Bindu added. She’d been leaning against the back wall checking her cell phone and playing with the curls at the end of her braid.
“Shut up, Bindu,” Kareena said. “He’s real. And you’ve actually all met him. It’s Prem. Prem Verma.”
Kareena waited, counting the seconds of the total silence. Then the entire room exploded with shrieks. The aunties swarmed her, surrounding her with hugs and heavy perfume. Everyone was talking at once, and Kareena had no idea where to turn and who to respond to first.
“We knew he was the perfect person. See? Your aunties know.”
“How could you not tell us right away? We should’ve known earlier, beta.”
“This is so wonderful. I hope that your father is just as happy.”
What the hell was this insanity? She didn’t event receive this kind of joy when she’d achieved her perfect career goals or graduated from law school. The thought that people were happier for her that she found a partner than she found happiness on her own was so cliché it made her nauseous.
But then again, this was something that these women who were like family understood. This was something that they knew well, and finding happiness in home meant something so much to them. Kareena hated that she wasn’t telling them the whole truth, but if she did, they’d never accept her decision to work with Prem.
Dadi squeezed through the masses and gripped Kareena’s face between her hands so that the only person she could focus on was her grandmother. “Beta, do you love him?”
Everyone quieted again, and Kareena felt the back of her neck prickly when all eyes zeroed in on her facial expressions.