By Prasad (cousin) in March 2001

This memory takes on poignancy now as I write it. It must have been 1987 or 88. I was in IIT and my parents were in Bombay. I used to pay a visit to their house practically every weekend. If they knew that I was coming, Sriram and his parents would wait for me to show up, so that all of us could have lunch together.
I remember one such visit. Sriram and I were sitting right in front of the gate to their house. They have large concrete square slabs on the ground there, and grass grows in the cracks in between. I recall that it was particularly sunny, but we were still sitting in the sun. Athai was in the kitchen, finishing up on cooking the lunch.
At one point, she came to the front porch and saw both of us sitting directly in the sunlight. I remember this whole incident only because of her comment. "Move here and sit in the shade," she told us. And added, "Karutthu poitta, yaaru kalyanam pannippa?!" (If your skin turns dark, who will marry you?)
The incongruity of her remark made me laugh out loud. Sriram was only 15 years old. Marriage was hardly on either of our minds. But both of us moved to the shade.
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