A bride-to-be turned Jhansi Rani

The blue Mysore crepe sari gave the thief away

I was 23 when I lost my dear father. The grief-stricken family recovered enough to decide to marry me off within that year. It is believed that the punya of kanyadaans done within a year would reach the departed soul. The whole family set out in search of a suitable boy for me.

One morning, we received a postcard from my uncle in Chennai (then Madras), asking me to visit him immediately to meet an eligible boy, an engineer working in Assam who was to visit his parents in Chennai. Another uncle volunteered to accompany me and bring me back after two days. We were to travel by the Madras Mail.

My mother packed a couple of Kanjeevaram saris with matching jewellery, warning me to keep them safe, as we were travelling in an unreserved compartment at night and thefts were common. As the unlit, empty train glided in, and amid the people rushing to reserve seats for themselves with towels, I successfully entered a dark compartment and occupied the seat reserved by my uncle. He left with the empty water bottle in search of a tap.

As I sat clutching the suitcase, a gruff male voice growled, "Seats are meant for people, not suitcases. Place it on the upper berth." I complied. To satisfy myself, I rose and checked with my fingers for its presence in the dark several times. On my fifth check, my fingers felt nothing. Panic gripped me.

Wanting to inform my uncle, I pushed through the crowd in the dark and alighted. The person who alighted just before me was holding a suitcase similar to mine. I hesitated for a while, wondering if his suitcase looked like mine. Just then, from the corner of my eye, I spotted my navy-blue Mysore crepe saree peeping out from the suitcase. Some power propelled me--otherwise a timid person--to run after him, shouting that the suitcase was mine, and I snatched it. A couple of coolies who had heard me, ran after him and started beating him. The police arrived soon after and took my suitcase for further investigation. My uncle, who had arrived by then with the filled water bottle, pleaded with the police officer about the purpose and urgency of our Madras visit. The fatherly figure he was, the policeman quickly completed all the formalities and allowed us to proceed.

The next morning, word spread about my bravery in the neighbourhood, and people dropped in to catch a glimpse of Jhansi Rani, who had single-handedly caught a railway thief red-handed!

Epilogue: In the evening, I visited the eligible boy's house, only to be told that he had to postpone his visit. However, a surprise awaited me when I returned home. Another eligible groom had made an unscheduled visit to Bengaluru. We met, and it clicked. Our marriage was held before the stipulated one year.

As I type this, my life partner of many decades is reading over my shoulder. A confirmed rationalist, he remarked, "Marriages are made in heaven."