Part 8

We went through to the lounge where we found Guptar sitting at his desk with a notepad open in front of him. He was looking at his tablet and writing names. When we walked in he looked up and said “Now look what you girls have done; all these people suddenly want to talk to me. I will have to start with the local MP and Mayor first and the rest will have to wait.”

He broke into a smile and came over and hugged us both. “Magnificent” he laughed “everything is magnificent!” He then got serious “Now, young Geet” he took me to sit on the settee, “I have noticed how Gaurav has been acting since he saw you and I have told him that any thoughts he may have about you will have to follow tradition. This usually means chaperoned dates only but I told him that it would not be needed as long as he invites you to public events only until we consider that he is serious. This will mean that he will not have a chance to be alone with you and get up to his usual hanky-panky. If he can follow these orders for six months we can give him a bit of rope if you still want to be with him but there is traditionally no sex before marriage and an engagement could last a couple of years. This would give you time to make certain adjustments.”

Aganee said that we had already discussed this. He nodded and then said “Geet, I gather that my mother has told you that you have become a very important member of the family and we would love it you become a genuine part of it in the future. We will help in any way we can but we will leave it at that for the moment. Janet said last night that she may have found a nice place for you to live so you may be moving out during the week. Your stay has been good for everyone and it will be very quiet without both you and Grette but it will be good for Gaurav if you were not in the house.”

I asked if I could have some help getting out of my old room and he said he would speak to his friend about pushing the process. He then said that Birgitta would drive me over there so I can clear it out. He told me that I didn’t need to worry about furniture as Janet had told him the new one would already be furnished.

I asked him how I could pay for the clothing and the salon work and he told me that I should not worry about it as he considered it money well spent. “I’ll take it off your wedding gift” he laughed. “Now I have to get to work and keep my business on track, Gaurav has gone into his store to supervise Sunday trading; that’s something he always used to miss because he was hung-over.” He bade us cheerio and left the room. Aganee said “Come on my dear. Let’s go and find Birgitta and see if we can get you clear of that room.”

We found Birgitta in the kitchen with bags under her eyes and drinking coffee. She agreed in helping us out and I was told to go to my room and put on something a bit brighter. When we left the house in her car she looked a lot better and was able to converse normally. She also said that the evening had been good for her business and said that a number of women had looked at my own semi-permanent make-up with a thought to getting it done themselves. “The profit margin on that work is great” she said “the same time as doing a good one that wipes off in five minutes but three times the price.”

At the tower block I pulled out my door keys and we went into my room. For me it was like going into a museum and Aganee commented on how clean it was. I picked the suitcase off the bed and the other two took a couple of minutes to inspect the place to see if I had missed anything. We were out of there inside ten minutes and I locked up and gave the keys to Birgitta to give to Guptar. That was a part of my life over, the future now beckoned.

On the way home I asked Birgitta to stop at an op-shop bin and dropped the contents of the case into it and put the empty case back into the car. “That’s final” said Aganee when I got back in. “Yes, start as you mean to go on and even if I went back to being a boy I would be buying new ones with more colours” I said. Back at the house I helped tidy up the rooms the girls used and put my dholaks in their bags. I had a case now to put my new things in when I moved. I was looking forward to seeing what Janet had found.

At lunch with the ladies I was spoken to as if I was already the new daughter. Birgitta laughed about how Gaurav had been at the reception and they both agreed that he had been on his best behaviour. It was lovely being part of a family again after being alone for a long time but I felt that I needed to be in my own place again.

Janet rang in the early afternoon and told me that she could pick me up on Tuesday to have a look at the new unit and told me that she had been flat out all morning with phone calls, many confirming the dates she had provisionally written in at the sangeet. I asked he what the venue manager was talking to her about and she said that it may be an exciting development but there needed to be details worked out first and that it would be revealed to the whole band when we were together. She then said that she would be putting some money in our accounts so to check mine on Monday.

I spent the rest of Sunday afternoon with Aganee helping the cook preparing the Sunday roast and learning some finer points of cooking along the way. Monday was a whole new experience for me. After I had checked my bank on-line I realised that I had enough money to do a little shopping. My wardrobe, so far, consisted of a small number of salwar kameez outfits and a couple of stage dresses. I had been given a good supply of underwear but I did need some jeans and boots so I could fit into normal society without standing out.

When I mentioned this after breakfast it turned into a shopping safari. Birgitta went and searched among the clothing that Grette had left behind and found a western style long skirt which fitted me as well as silk blouse which I was sure she had left by mistake. With a pair of knee-high stockings and ballet flats I looked every inch a normal woman but still wore the chunni. Indian women do dress in western clothing but usually in the more conservative styles unless they are straying from the path of tradition, in which case they can look stunning in short dresses and showing cleavage. It is something that Indian men don’t like as they need to be able to claim that the body of their woman is only for them to see.

We went into town, Birgitta driving with Aganee beside her and me in the back like a proper lady. I had been given a handbag that matched the skirt and had my old Gavin cards and passport in it, along with some ‘feminine requirements’ that Birgitta had added. As we went along I realised that, except for going to clear out my room yesterday and being taken to do the shows, this was my first outing as Geet as a normal woman going to do some shopping. It felt a bit frightening at first but I pulled my shoulders up and said “I can do this, I have sung in front of a thousand people so this is not a problem” to myself.

Our first stop was an ATM where I withdrew enough money to buy a reasonable amount of clothes. There was no way I was going to pay with my card that was in the name of Gavin Fooks when I looked a lot different. I already had the cash that I had kept back from my busking. Was that only a few weeks ago? It seemed like a world away.

Birgitta then took us to a very fancy looking dress shop where I thought that I would never be able to afford anything. She saw the look on my face and said “Don’t worry, Geet. This is a shop that I co-own with a cousin. The front is full-on western styles but the back half is devoted to Indian styles and there are a lot of things that would look good on you and, best of all, you will get the owners discount.”

We went in and the front of the shop was packed with stunning and very expensive dresses. Birgitta said hello to a couple of Anglo sales girls as we went to the second room which was packed with even more colourful clothing. There were two Indian girls there who both greeted us with a smile and hugged Aganee and Birgitta. When they saw me they both clapped their hands and gave me a hug, saying “We are honoured to be graced with your visit, today. Your singing last night was beautiful and we were sure that you must have been a big star that Guptar had brought in to entertain us.”

Aganee told them that I was Geet, a very treasured friend of the family and that we were here to get me a selection of clothes that I could use for every day wear. The two girls were Aanya and Adweta and were, you guessed it, cousins as well as being related to Birgitta who took me and Adweta to one side and asked me if I had my passport with me. When I said I had she turned to the other girl and said “This is strictly family business, Adweta, do you still go out with that boy from the passport office?”

Adweta said that it was getting close to a marriage and Birgitta asked me for my passport. When I brought it out of my bag she took it and when she saw it was unused she said “This will be an easy one. Geet, we need to give you an Anglo name to suit so what would you like to be called from now on? I see it was Gavin Jonathan Fooks so we will need the same initials.” I was too astounded for some moments to respond and then I realised that this may be another point in my life which marked a new path.

I said that my mother had told me that I would have been Gayle Joanne if I had been a girl so that is what I thought would fit. She gave the passport to Adweta and then took out a couple of photos of my face that she had cropped from pictures of us she had taken earlier. On the back of one she wrote that she had known Gayle Joanne Fooks for some years and signed with the note underneath that she declared herself an official notary. She told Adweta that we needed the new one back in a couple of weeks and that she would pay for me and the band to play at the wedding and sangeet when it comes up.

Marianne G 2021