job, then we’re happy. At least it means you don’t have to work in the disco any more.’
‘It’s a pub,’ Nikki said and this was as far as she went towards correcting Mum. She had neglected to mention that she would still be working at O’Reilly’s. The pay for empowering women through narrative would not fully cover her living expenses.
‘Just make sure you’re travelling safely. Are these night classes? What time do they finish?’
‘Mum, I’ll be fine. It’s Southall.’
‘Crimes don’t happen in Southall? I must be the only one who remembers Karina Kaur. You’ve seen the ads for Britain’s Unsolved Murders, no?’
Nikki sighed. Trust Mum to bring up a murder case from fourteen years ago to prove a point.
‘They never found out who did it,’ Mum continued. ‘The killer could still be on the loose, preying on Punjabi girls walking alone at night.’
Even Mindi rolled her eyes at Mum’s theatrics. ‘You’re being a bit dramatic,’ Mindi informed her.
‘Yeah, Mum. All kinds of girls get murdered in London, not just the Punjabi ones,’ Nikki said.
‘It’s not funny,’ Mum said. ‘It’s the parents left behind who suffer with worry when the children leave.’
After dinner, Mindi and Nikki took over the washing up in the kitchen while Mum retired to the living room to watch television. They scrubbed the pots and plates in silence until Mindi spoke up. ‘So Auntie Geeta’s recommended a few eligible bachelors. She gave me the email addresses of three guys that she shortlisted.’
‘Ugh.’ Nikki could think of no other response to Mindi’s mention of Auntie Geeta. She was a friend of Mum’s who lived up the road and often dropped in unannounced, her eyebrows wiggling with all the secrets she struggled to contain. ‘Not gossiping, just sharing,’ she always claimed before unpacking the ruins of other people’s private lives.
‘I emailed a few times with one guy who seemed okay,’ Mindi continued.
‘Lovely,’ Nikki said. ‘By this time next year you’ll be washing up in his kitchen instead of this one.’
‘Shut up.’ After a beat Mindi added, ‘His name is Pravin. Does that sound like an all right name to you?’
‘It sounds like a name.’
‘He works in finance. We’ve chatted on the phone once.’
‘So I go through all the trouble to post your profile on a noticeboard and you’ve enlisted Auntie Geeta as your matchmaker anyway?’
‘I didn’t receive any responses from the temple profile,’ Mindi said. ‘You’re sure you put it on the Marriage Board?’
‘Yes.’
Mindi studied her. ‘Liar.’
‘I did just as you asked,’ Nikki insisted.
‘What did you do?’
‘I put it on the Marriage Board. It just might not be the most prominent flyer there. There are lots of flyers and—’
‘Typical,’ Mindi muttered.
‘What?’
‘Of course you’d put the least amount of effort into helping me with this.’
‘I went all the way to a temple in Southall. That’s no small effort,’ Nikki shot back.
‘Yet you’ve signed on for a job which means you’ll be travelling there regularly. How does that work? You’re all right with going to Southall as long as it benefits your needs.’
‘It’s not all about me. I’m helping women.’
Mindi snorted. ‘Helping? Nikki, this sounds like another one of your …’ she waved as if trying to stir up the word from thin air. ‘Your causes.’
‘What’s wrong with having a cause?’ Nikki demanded. ‘I care about helping women tell their stories. It’s a much more worthwhile pastime than advertising for a husband.’
‘This is what you do,’ Mindi said. ‘You follow your so-called passions and don’t consider the consequences for other people.’
This charge again. It would be easier to be a criminal fairly prosecuted by the law than an Indian daughter who wronged her family. A crime would be punishable by a jail sentence of definite duration rather than this uncertain length of family guilt trips.
‘How exactly did my leaving university have consequences for other people? It was my decision. Sure, Dad could no longer tell his family in India I was becoming a lawyer. Big deal. It wasn’t worth being unhappy just so he could have bragging rights.’
‘It wasn’t about bragging rights,’ Mindi said. ‘It was about duty.’
‘You sound like an Indian housewife already.’
‘You had a duty to Dad. He had been so devoted to championing you – all those school debates, all those speech contests. He included you in political conversations with his friends and he didn’t stop you from arguing with Mum if he thought you had a point. He put such faith in you.’ There was a note of hurt in Mindi’s voice. Dad and Mum had taken Mindi on a trip to India before her exams as well, taking all spiritual steps to ensure that she got into medical school. After the results indicated nursing – not medical school – as her best option, Dad’s disappointment had been obvious and, with renewed enthusiasm, he shifted his focus to Nikki.
‘He was proud of you too, you know,’ Nikki said. ‘He wished I were more practical like you.’ Having been measured up against his brother his whole life, Dad had been careful to avoid comparing his daughters but after Nikki dropped out of university, all fair play went out the window. ‘Look at Mindi. She works hard. She wants a stable future. Why can’t you be like that?’ he’d said.
Nikki felt a sudden rush of irritation with Dad. ‘You know, Dad contradicted himself all the time. One minute he was saying, “follow your dreams, that’s why we came to England” and the next he was dictating what I should do for a living. He assumed that my dreams were identical to his.’
‘He saw a potential career for you in law. You had the chance to succeed professionally. What are you doing now?’
‘I’m exploring my options,’ Nikki said.
‘By this time, you could have been earning a salary,’ Mindi reminded her.
‘I’m not as concerned with money and material things as you are, Mindi. That’s really what this whole arranged marriage thing is about, isn’t it? You’re not confident that you’ll meet a professional with a fat salary in a pub but if you screen the profiles of a few Indian doctors and engineers, you can zero in right away on their earnings and filter them accordingly.’
Mindi turned off the tap and stared angrily at her. ‘Don’t you make me feel like a gold digger for wanting to support Mum! There are expenses to think about.
