Becoming Pavani

One Sunday, Maya looked at him with bright eyes. “Let’s go out as Pavani.”

“No way,” he replied.

“Just once?”

Eventually, he agreed.

Maya helped him shave, bathe, and dress in her unused black anarkali. She adjusted the padded bra, applied light makeup, adorned his ears with dangling earrings, and fixed anklets around his feet.

He looked in the mirror—and gasped. A beautiful woman stared back.

They watched a movie, wandered the mall, and Maya even took him to the women’s washroom. She reapplied his lipstick with a playful smile.

“Now you know why women take so long.”

A month passed. Then two.

Every weekend, they went out as Maya and Pavani. Every weekday, Maya styled his hair before work. He began wearing innerwear too—Maya insisted on the bra, saying it shaped the look.

At first, it made Pavan self-conscious. But he got used to it. Even Kavya noticed.

“Adjust your bra, Pavani,” she whispered once at work.

He was mortified.

Later, she added him to WhatsApp groups about saree styles and jewelry. When he told Maya, she grinned. “We women look out for each other.”