Akash was surprised as well speechless about the girl. Was there anything she can not do? Does she even need to marry a husband? She took the initiative to talk. She brought mangoes for him which he failed to get. In the previous two interactions she has upper hand. "A pure village girl. Too much showing off" he thought.
Both are facing the vegetable garden which is being watered in silence. This silence is a bit awkward but both have them have their reasons. She is feeling shy thinking that she has been too forward. He is thinking how to break the main purpose of his to talk with her.
Suddenly an idea struck him. Why not make her feel relaxed first?
He asked her about how much she has studied. Varsha was afraid of this topic. She thinks out of all her eligibility criteria this one will bring her lowest marks.
She said meekly "I passed 12th grade when I was 17 years old. Now I'm 20 and yet to go to college. My family did not wish to let me go to the city and study alone, so they wanted me to continue my college after marriage if needed." She looked at his indifferent expression and mumbled "I did not waste this time. I learned cooking, gardening and all about farming." She hoped that he will see her sincerity toward himself.
Akash maintained his calm expression but he is raging inside. An undereducated village girl? What was my family thinking? He kept trying not to show his frustration.
She thought he will ask something again but felt disappointed that he did not. Then she thought that she already mentioned vegetable garden then why not continue in that direction. She asked shyly "Do you also have a vegetable garden at your home in the city?"
Akash felt surprised on her question and annoyed by the change of topic but still, he answered calmly "Yes, we have one. It is not as big like this one you have here but we do not ever need to buy vegetables."
Varsha felt happy in mind and thought that she has something available at her matrimonial home to show her skills. Seeing the silly smile on her face Akash felt annoyed. He thought at least conversation is progressing and she is feeling relaxed in talking with her.
Akash looked at flowing water in the water channel in the garden and felt lot into that and then he looked toward her and found that her pigtails are funny and asked "Do you braid your hair in pigtails always? And what about your dress, do you wear some other dresses other than the one you are wearing?"
She looks at him momentarily and then turned her head again toward the garden and said "Normally village girls who are unmarried keep two braided tails in hair styling. Married women keep only one tail. There is no such rule but it has become a custom just like that. And in dress, I like to wear a frock with legging and I also like wearing saree." She smiled happily and said "I would like to wear beautiful jewelry with saree after marriage. It looks so beautiful." Then she looked at him embarrassingly "If you don't like, I can try to adjust to modern dresses."
He looked at her and seeing her expression, thought "Just as I thought. Dumb village girl with her backward thinking. And what about 'If you don't like', she does not even have enough self-esteem."
He thought how he did not know anything about this girl till yesterday and felt annoyed. So, he thought to make her understand that this marriage is not good and asked: "Do you know anything about me?"
She looked at him and smiled at his answer and then started thinking. Seeing her thoughtful expression, Akash smiled mockingly "Now you will know that you don't even know anything about me. Even to you, this marriage will not make any sense." He thought.
Suddenly she felt excited and her expression showed her curiosity and she blurted "Do you believe in God? Do you also care about virtues and sins?" And looked at him expectantly.
He feels like crying. He does not what to do. He felt frustrated. This girl is even better than everyone in irritating him. What questions she is asking? Shouldn't she ask him about his education, achievements, future plans, likes and dislikes or she already knows everything? Finally, he answered "Yes, I believe in God and know that there is a supreme being who sees everything we are doing. I also believe that if we do good work, we will accumulate virtues for that and sins will bring punishment in our life."
But unknown to him, Varsha is happy to know that whatever she has learned can be used in her future family like gardening and cooking. She has also learned that her future husband cares about his family and values morals and believes in God. Isn't this good enough for her to have such a husband?
Akash looked at her and seeing her expression, felt like her nervousness around him is gone and now he can strike the real conversation and make her understand why this marriage is not good.