70 Result day

In the morning, we went to church. The mass timing was 6 AM. Usually, it was at 6:45. But the priest changed the timing because of the election result. After all, our dad was the most famous and influential person from this village.

Although we no longer lived here, the people here still considered us as one of them.

After the mass, we visited the cemetery and asked our ancestors for blessings. Then we returned home and started watching the news.

I ate leftover cake with chicken fry as I watched the news.

"Why are you eating cake and chicken together?" Sam asked me.

"Because the cake is sweet. If I eat cake continuously, then the marginal utility reduces. But if I eat a bite of cake and then one bite of chicken, then the flavours in my mouth would change continuously. Because the chicken is spicy and the cake is sweet. That way, the marginal utility of the cake as well as chicken won't reduce and I can enjoy both for longer." I explained.

"..." He stared at me for a whole second with his mouth agape.

"Don't listen to him. Just a few days ago he convinced me to cut off my finger." Chachan advised Sam.

Despite chachan's words, Sam joined me with a plate of chicken fry and two pieces of cake. At first, he just wanted to try it. Then he liked it.

Soon, there were many who were trying out my combination.

Dad had agents at the counting stations to pass him the latest numbers. Dad doesn't have the habit of going to counting centres. He likes to hide at home and play with numbers. Before the counting started, more people joined us.

"I wasn't able to sleep yesterday. If I don't come here, I won't have any peace." Uncle Johny explained as he joined us.

"Me too." Lakshmi aunty's father, Bose followed him. He was not directly related to politics. But he recently started investing in our party because of our growth.

"Please come in, we have cake and chicken fry." I invited them inside.

Chachan played host. I was his assistant. Chachan sent someone to buy more chicken. He was happy that everyone liked his chicken fry.

As usual, the first votes to be counted were postal votes. As usual, we didn't have any good response from the postal votes.

Then we waited impatiently for the coming rounds of counting.

About thirty minutes later, the first round finished and results started coming

Joe was dad's assistant. He was tasked with entering the data in a spreadsheet dad had prepared. He was happy with duty. He double-checked every number before entering.

"We are leading in six and trailing in one." He announced the result of the first round.

"Six? I thought you said we have hope only in five." Johny uncle turned to appa.

"We have hope only in five seats. In the case of the sixth one, they are counting places we have good support. It will change soon." Appa explained.

His explanation was on the spot. After three rounds, we were leading on four seats and trailing on three.

Among the seven seats we contested, we were sure of victory in two, failure in two and the remaining three were uncertain.

Every minute felt like an eternity. Eldest aunt stayed in chachan's room and listened to the news. She was nervous and praying non-stop. Jeemma stayed with her. As for mom, she was listening to music and doing her best not to hear any news related to the election results.

This is a small superstition she has.

Whenever she watches a cricket match of India, India would lose. So she stopped watching the matches. Similarly, whenever she listened to the news, the opponents made progress. So this time, she decided not to listen to the news till the end.

Anuchi and elder sister Anita were busy bullying the kids. The elders occasionally warned them. But other than that they didn't move a finger to help us. Because the elders were confident that the two sisters won't harm us.

Doodu sat beside me and ate the bones I passed to him. The bones were crushed between his teeth as if they were cookies. I left a lot of meat on the bone so that it will be tastier for him.

By noon, the result was almost finalized.

We won five seats and lost two.

Even before the final result was out, dad got calls from other major political parties. They wanted to make alliances. With five seats won, they could no longer ignore us.

Our state has 140 seats. To rule the state a minimum majority is needed. So whoever has the support of more than 70 winning candidates can rule the state. The winning party had the support of 74 candidates. So they were somewhat safe. But they wanted the support of our party so that they can rule comfortably.

Dad didn't reject any of them. He agreed to talk to them in person.

By evening, the results were officially declared.

The villagers,  party members and members of the KDF club joined us with drums and crackers to celebrate the win.

It was a happy evening for us.

But there was one person who wasn't that happy.

Chachan!

He was excited that we won. But at the same time, he was sad that we will have to leave the next day.

We went to bed late. But we woke up early. When I came out of the bedroom, dad and mom were ready to leave.

"Take this too. This is honey made from pineapple plantations. It's sweeter and more nutritious than normal honey." Chachan said as he placed two bottles in the car.

"Thank you. But I want only one bottle. You can give one bottle to others." Mom replied. But her actions didn't match her words. She was happily hugging the two bottles.

"Don't worry. I will get more bottles for others." Chachan assured.

"Also, this is a wine made from basil leaves. It is good for throat." Chachan grabbed another bottle.

"Don't lower the windows. You will get throat ache if you face the cold wind."

"On the way, don't eat breakfast from any hotel. Instead, buy a parcel and eat when you reach a good spot. The kids would love it."

Chachan was talking non-stop while avoiding eye contact. He was clearly sad and trying his best to hide it.

I was sad too. In the last few days, I got close to our cousins. Especially, Aloshi. He was friendly and cute. Elder sister Anita was just like Anuchi. Their two little ones were just like Piya and Pichu. Then there were many big brothers and sisters to keep watch on us. Leaving this big family felt painful.

Anuchi was the saddest. She and elder sister Anita were hugging each other and crying.

Everyone was sad.

"Let's get together for Onam. This time felt too short." Chachan proposed.

Everyone nodded.

Finally, we said bye to everyone and started our journey.

Before leaving, I didn't forget to open a plastic cover and swing it in the air before sealing it tightly.

"What are you doing?" Chachan asked me looking at the plastic cover which looked like a balloon.

"I'm collecting fog." I replied innocently.

The elders laughed and dismissed it.

The return journey took five hours. Appa and mom took turns driving. It was boring. On the way, we had breakfast. We bought it from a restaurant on the way and ate it by a small dried-up waterfall.

Finally, we reached home.

There were a few people waiting for appa there. Dad talked a few words to them and came inside.

We kids went to check on the egg.

The egg was properly covered with an old cloth.

"Egg is warm." Anuchi commented while looking at the egg which was tucked in carefully.

The kids nodded.

We were happy to see that the egg was properly taken care of when we were away. Before leaving, we had asked Arjun to look after the egg. He had done a good job.

With that, our trip to highrange came to an end.

________________________

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay. I got busy.

Next chapter onwards, the story will continue with the school life of our lovely kids.

Also, I have two important announcements for you guys. You can expect the announcement in a few weeks. (It is not about my marriage.)

Please vote and comment.

Thank you.