Then she lifted her hand in a pataka mudra —the gesture of a royal decree. And she began.

The crowd shifted. The uncles leaned forward. The aunties clutched their potlis. The bride’s mother whispered to the groom’s mother, “Is this appropriate?”

And they had asked Radhika to perform it.

He handed her the jasmine. “I know a good teashop near the Varadharaja Perumal temple. They play only Tyagaraja kritis. No remixes.”