NOTE:
Truth, a very simple yet powerful tool. At any point in our life, we always have the options to speak either the truth, or the lie. Choose Truth, because it's easy, simple and most of all, convincible, especially in relationships. Friendship, with our parents, siblings, relatives, marriage, LOVE ( including GAYS AND LESBIANS) or any relationship that exists here.
- A thought from my brain and heart.
November 14, Friday, a snowy morning in Canada. I was at work in my cabin, attending calls, replying to so many mails, to make the unread count to zero, since I would be leaving to Chennai, India for a vacation. Indians here have the habit of leaving to India at this point of time, from the American Continent to escape the heavy winter, and I am, no way an exception. That was my 3rd vacation to India, after I was posted here for an onsite assignment, and it was no ordinary vacation. :)
I finished all my official work and logged into Facebook and Skype and updated my status
“Leaving to India tonight, Yayyyyy :) . 3 months in En Naadu, with En Makkal “ . Sooner I got a 'Like' and a 'Comment' from my best friend, Vignesh. He commented:
“I’m Waiting :P This is gonna be a memorable trip for you ;) ;). You know what I mean ;) “
To which I replied, “Dai Kraadhagaa… Fublic…Fubliccc :P “.
Before anyone could start to interrogate, I logged out, but there was a notification in Skype. My dad pinged
“Hi da.. Calling you now” and before I could reply, I got a call from him.
“Hello dad”
“Dai , how are you ? Saaptia?“
“Yeah, am about to leave home to pack my things. Flight at 7 pm here”
“Super da.. Naanum ammavum clock eh paathundae irukoam. “
“Haha. Varaen.. It should be midnight there. You people dint sleep yet?”
“Then we cannot speak with you ever. America and its Time Zone” he said and gave a facepalm. My mom came running near the camera and said
“Thangamae, Happy Children’s Dayy “ with a big smile on her face.
“Hahahaha, Thanks ma. How are you?”
“Dai, next year I should see you wishing it to your son” interrupted Dad.
“Shabba… Don’t start that topic.. So both of you are coming to the airport?” I tried to change the topic.
“Yes. Vignesh will pick us up from our home and all of us would come to the airport”
“Alright, I will make a move. See you all tomorrow. So much excited to see you “
“I know why you are excited. Isn't it?” he looked at my mom and both of them had a laughter.
Oh man, how do you stop an elderly person from teasing you!!! Can’t scream, Can’t swear. If only we could ignore!
“Alright, bye” I said and logged out of Skype.
I have never been so uncomfortable in my life. Is it because it’s going to be an ARRANGED MARRIAGE? Or is it simply because of Marriage? The former seems to be much valid. I was not A part of any relationship since my teenage. It might sound bizarre, but that’s the truth. I know I have crossed the age to run behind a gal, follow her, stalk her, impress her, love her and then elope or simply marry her. But I still wish to do a love marriage, or at least marry a gal whom I know for a longer period of time. Time ran away faster than I expected. The IT Industry gave everything, except a soul mate. I wish that was also a part of my CTC. Okay, I am talking nonsense. Let me think about the gal that my parents have set up for me to marry. Who is she? Leave the looks, but who is she? My parents scolded me when I was texting a gal late at night during college. Now they have set me up with a gal for me. Does it look weird because of the influence of the American continent? No, deep down I want to marry a gal whom I should feel she is THE ONE. No one would agree that an arranged marriage could satisfy that feel.
All thoughts of marriage started to haunt me and before I could finish thinking about it, I had reached Chennai airport. The flight was delayed by 2 hours during a transit in Dubai. But, that no way reduced the excitement of my parents’ and Vignesh’s. They hugged me with so much love. I could not express my excitement as much as they did due to the jet lag. We started from the airport right away in Vignesh’s car directly to our home. I was gazing at my city with so much happiness.
Yeah, English pesinalum Tamizhan Da \m/ !!!
“Enna macha, Shivaji movie la Rajinikanth Chennai eh paakara madri nee paakara pola. Is this Chennaaiii nu kaeka poria ? :P “
“Actually Yes. But not in his modulation. Mine would be in an embarrassing tone. No improvements in the Metro project! “
“If you want to see a change, then you should come only once in 3 or 4 years. A yearly visit doesn’t make much difference”. Everyone had laughter for a short moment. Vignesh has been my friend since childhood, who knew in and out about me. Though I had a huge circle of friends right from School till the end of College, Vignesh has been someone whom myself and my parents can rely on, anytime.
“Son, you have become very lean. You have to eat very well in this period and make sure you gain some weight at the time of marriage. Daily veetu saapadu daan. Velila poi kandadha thingaadha“ my mom said.
“Maa, stop talking about marriage. I don’t want to get married now. I have told you many times.”
“You are getting older day by day, remember that. We have filtered 6 gals’ profile from matrimony and from my friends, whose horoscope matches your profile. All you have to do is analyze the profiles, choose one and get married at the end of the vacation”
“Appa, it won’t work that way. I can’t marry someone whom I meet, all of a sudden”
“Enda Love-givuu nu eda iruka? Vignesh told me there is nothing like that and you are single”. I stared at Vignesh.
I didn’t fall in Love dad, and that’s the whole problem. Neither I can deliberately love someone, nor am I ready for an arranged marriage.”
“Why do you stare at me? As if it’s a lie” said Vignesh.
“Don’t tell me you are having an affair with an American” stammered my mom.
“No Amma. Nothing of that sort. Please understand me. Let’s not talk about this on Day 1. Give me a break”. There was AN awkward silence then. We almost reached our street.
“Appa, you and mom go home. Me and Vignesh will have a tea and come in a while.”
“Dai, rendu paerum aathuku vandhu kudingolaen. Ippo daana sonnan. Velila saapadadha nu”
“Hey vidu di. Let them go” said my dad and they left home.
That tea shop was our routine hangout spot during college days, and even when I started working in Chennai. The tea shop have heard all our feelings more than our parents.
“Dai, ippo unaku enna da prechana. Why can’t you get married? You don’t love anyone now, and I don’t see anything of that to happen in the near future. Dude, for guys like us, Arranged marriage is the ONLY option. “He said and started to laugh. “My sister will be getting married next year. It’s an arranged marriage, and most probably by THE next year, I would also be getting married and even that’s gonna be an arranged marriage, unless some miracle happen “.
“Exactly. I want such a miracle to happen. I just don’t feel right marrying a stranger”
“Dude, you are not getting married tomorrow. You will be having time to know about her, say 3 months. Only then you will be marrying her. So, in case you don’t like her, you can very well reject her.”
“Oh really? Just tell me 5 guys who have rejected after getting fixed up with a gal” He was blank.
“Mudiyala la ? That’s because such things happen only at the rarest of the rarest instance. Everyone just gets adapted to that gal, and vice versa and gets married. It’s like, telling them they have no other option but to love the partner, and even the couple, varudho varlayo, love panraanga. Inga sollanum, iva daan nu” I said pointing to my heart and sipped the tea.
“Dai, ida daan nee 3 varshama sollitu iruka. Anga daan onnumae solla maataengudheyy :D”
I heard a horn sound and when I looked up, a scooty came floating on the road, swiftly climbing over the speed breaker.
Is that my brain perceiving the visuals in slow motion, or is she really driving that slowly? Oh man, she is one damn good Tamil ponnu.
“Boss, heroine introduction eh? Mudittu tea eh kudi. Anga un appa heroine ku audition edukara madri kai la ponnunga profile eh vechikitu screen pannitu irukaru. Go home soon”
I slept for more than 6 hours and freshened up for lunch at 3. The lunch on my 1st day looked more like a sample to the marriage feast. The table was full with all possible vegetarian home food, a typical mom could make, along with sweets. I went out with Vignesh in the evening to meet my other friends who comprised of Single Bachelors, Married guys with kids, and a guy in a relationship. When friends meet after a long time, we would be mostly talking about past, recollecting and cherishing all the sweet and hard days. The married guys started talking about their marriage life, some spoke good about it and some were whining. But the unanimous advice they gave me was to get married now, as this is the prime time.
“Dai, nalla ponnunga count koranjitae varudhu, better get married quickly”
We all had our dinner and had the best day after a really long time. Everyone forced me to open the scotch I brought and have a party that night, but I convinced them we would party in a weekend as it was the 1st day I came home and I don’t want to stay out that day. Vignesh and I started to head back to our home in his bike.
“Machi, nalla ponnunga count kammi eh iruku nu solreenga la. So oru arranged marriage la enna da guarantee that I will get a good gal?” I asked Vignesh.
“Dude, your parents will do that background check. They will definitely get a good gal for you”
“How do you say? They don’t even know about me. I started drinking from college, and I even smoked once. But to them, I am just one step below the Almighty. When they can’t even know about their own son, how can they determine the character of a stranger?”
“Who said? Your parents know about your drinking habit in college itself. Because you smoked only once, they didn’t know about that. They dint ask anything about that to you, since they don’t want to embarrass you, and not to feel embarrassed in front of you. And also, once we know that our parents know about our habits, we would stop having the fear about getting caught and we would start to cross the limits. That’s why they don’t talk directly about these things to us. Don’t under estimate them. They might be in the previous generation, but they too have crossed this phase.”
I couldn’t reply to what he said. Not just I, anyone in my position would be speechless.
“There is nothing wrong in an Arranged marriage. You will definitely be having a good life with your wife. It’s just that it would take some time to set, time to know about each other and to love. But once you have crossed that phase, life will be beautiful. I might not have any personal experience in this, but I have seen a lot here. Some of our friends were whining about marriage, but they are not completely true. As soon as they reach home now, just a glimpse of their wife would put a smile across their face. Trust me; arranged marriage is a slow process, but definitely a steady one. Don’t try to import everything from America. There are certain good things here. End of the day, the Indian inside us will never die, even if you settle abroad.”
“Macha, I value our culture and I agree whatever you have said. But I cannot accept the fact that I am going to marry a stranger.”
“Everyone you now know was a stranger once, including your parents. Don’t say that again and again.
We remained silent till we reached my home.
“Ok. I am leaving now, see you tomorrow” he said and switched on the bike’s ignition.
I switched off the ignition, and asked him to come inside for a moment. Both of us went inside. Dad was speaking to an astrologer through phone and mom was doing a Pooja with my horoscope placed in Lord Shiva’s feet. Dad hung up the phone and turned back to us. We sat on the couch and I said
“Seri. Kalyanam pannikaran”
“What? Really?” Vignesh was full of smiles. My dad screamed my mom’s name and told her to come there. She came rushing to confirm what I said.
“Yes, but on one condition. If I don’t like her after 2 or 3 months, I will call off the wedding without any hesitation. No one should mistake me and everyone should accept that.” All the happiness came to a pause. Mom was looking at Dad, Dad was looking at Vignesh, Vignesh was staring at me and I, with no options, looked down.
“If all of you agree on this, we can proceed to the next step.” I said still looking down. There was not even a micro decibel of sound after that for a while.
“Okay, but the reason for rejection should be absolutely valid. Only then, it would be called off.” said Vignesh. Everyone was shocked to hear it from Vignesh. He gave a nod to my dad and turned to me.
“Yeah, I second that” said my Dad.
“Fine”
“Open your mail account, I have sent you 4 profiles. You analyze all night and zero in on one. We will talk tomorrow morning” Dad said. Vignesh and I got up from the couch, he said he will leave home after talking to my dad for a while and I left to my room to see the profiles. But as I entered I heard them talking,
“Vignesh, what’s going on? I just agreed since you were confident”
“He is just afraid about marriage. That’s normal. Don’t worry Uncle; the marriage will go on smoothly”
“What if he calls off?”
“Avan Attakathi Uncle. Romba pesuvan, aana onnum seyya maatan” he said and laughed. Though I was surprised to hear that, I couldn’t control my laughter too.
”A friend knows better than a parent. Trust me; He won’t do such things. You better start the arrangements; we have a very short time.”
“Except the bride and the groom, everything is arranged”
“Great. Then I will sign off. See you tomorrow Uncle”
“Thank you so much Vignesh” said my dad and hugged him.
I locked the door and was scanning all the profiles. I was wondering if I was reading a matrimony profile or her resume. There was a time when people used to send resumes to apply for a job, and get married through referrals from relatives and friends. Now, it’s the other way. At that point of time, I could only select a gal based on her looks and her interests that are mentioned in the profile. I easily got attracted to a gal, who was working in another IT company in Chennai, daughter of a lawyer. Unlike others, her smile was natural, though very little. She looked simple and pretty and that gave a very good impression. To know her more, I searched her profile in Facebook with the help of her Dad’s name. Interestingly, one of my school mates, Aishwarya, was our mutual friend. It kind of convinced me that she was not a complete stranger, though it was so long since I even said a Hi to Aishwarya. The last thing I told Aishwarya was “Congratulations” after she updated her status in FB, which was 4 years back. I was going through her timeline and I couldn’t find anything special. Though she hadn’t updated many statuses in FB, she seemed to be pretty active on it. There were photos uploaded at a periodic interval of 1 month, and sharing philosophical photos and posts from all pages about love, life, parents etc, which almost every girl does, immaterial of whether it reflects their personal life or not. Few guys’ comments were common in all of her posts. They seemed nothing but friends, or friend-zoned guys.
Sorry guys, but I am gonna win!!
I smiled at this course of events and suddenly it vanished when I realized I was literally stalking a gal.
Am I stalking her? Oh yes I am. Shit dude, you suck. If I were to love someone, would I be doing this to her! Nooooo. This is not the way it should be.
I quickly closed the FB tab and kept looking at her matrimonial profile. Her profile was comparatively simple than the others’. I guessed she was not much interested in searching through matrimonies, so she might have agreed to create a profile only if it was not like blowing her own trumpet.
Next day morning, I showed the profile I selected and my parents were really happy and excited since she was one among the top contenders in my parent’s priority too. We were set up for a date, Errrrrr.. for a meet that evening. Most of the negotiations were made through phone, and my dad went to her house directly for further important negotiations, which also included a polished form of my condition. My dad framed the sentence, that I need more time for A marriage, and that engagement alone would be held as of now. The gal’s parents agreed to it without much hesitation. It kind of looked weird since I felt the girl would be so much in demand that if not me, someone else might easily get engaged with her. It seemed the girl wanted only a guy working abroad, and that was one main reason they chose me. It sounded bad to hear such a demand, but then it was a very common demand that I dint bother much. I was forced to trim my beard, wear a Polo T shirt and not a round neck, and a simple streak of Vibuudhi on my forehead, to send out an indication that I am so much from an orthodox family. I was all set for a date fixed up by our parents.
We were about to meet in a Café Coffee Day at 5 30 PM. I decided to go half an hour late so that I can start the conversation easily by making an apology for being late, and carry on with that for the rest of the evening. With her number given by my dad, I texted her about my dress color and the bike model of mine. I reached the spot by 6 10 and exactly at the same time, I saw her parking her vehicle.
Oh shit, I don’t have a PLAN B.
A guy who had already parked the vehicle, next to her bike, vacated the space and that was the only place for me to park nearby. The next closest place was not in my eyesight. She recognized me from a distance itself, and a shade of smile appeared in her face, like the one in her profile. I slowly maneuvered my vehicle and parked in the just vacated place, next to her, while she just moved out of the place and stood a little away from her vehicle. I checked myself in the mirror, rubbed the vibuddhi in the forehead, and gave a small smile and went near her. What was about to begin with a “Sorry” from me, started with a “Hi” from her.
“Hey, how are you?”
“Am good. Came here directly?”
“No. I went home to refresh myself, and I could only start from my home by 5 30.”
“That’s alright. I started by 5 15, but then I forgot the routes. It’s been so long since I drove alone in Chennai.”
We found seats near a transparent glass wall and settled down there so that in case we fall short of topics, I can search for any from the world outside.
“So how’s life in Canada?”
“It’s nice, though the major part is spent within the four walls and an LED screen”
“Haha” she smiled, a little wider than the one in the photo.“As a bachelor, you always have options to keep yourself busy, going out somewhere or trying out various things, and Canada serves you very well in that. You always have some place to visit, something new to do, and as an Indian, you are always in for surprises, either from the people or their Culture.”
“Oh, that sounds great. So you are comfortable with the Western culture so much?”
“Yeah, they are more independent, more open. But as far as I am concerned, if we are in a place where we are able to eat what we like, and aware of their language, we can easily live in any place in this world. These “cultural differences” are just a myth. “She listened to every word of mine. “ I don’t get our food regularly, yet, I am adaptable”
“But I love Chennai. I don’t know how badly am going to miss Chennai if I move out. I have been here since my birth, and this city is a part of my life” she said.
Then why the hell did you mention that you want a guy ONLY who is working abroad?
“Even I am from Chennai, but I was here only till my school days. I did my graduation in Coimbatore, and started working in Bangalore, and then again moved to Chennai, and now in Canada. So I don’t have that emotional connect like you do” and then we continued for 2 hours sharing all our likes and dislikes, only in an abstract level though. I indeed had a good time with her. She was nice, sweet, and funny and not a kind of person who would accept everything to whatever her fiancée says. She was intelligent, competitive and above all, she was beautiful. I felt it was tough to get everything in a single package. I ended with a note saying that I would be free most of the time, and in case she wanted to meet me anytime, a call would be enough. Gladly, she did not think I was too desperate on her. The next thing I remember was being at Vignesh’s home narrating him everything that happened.
She dint offer to meet after that day, though she used to text at least twice a day, and I would call her back since I preferred talking than chatting. It went on for a week, knowing a little more about each other. We spoke about our school and college days, the crushes we had, the proposals she received, the so called dates I went in Canada, about the lies my dad told that I was a teetotaler and am so silent and gentle. I liked her company, and I wanted to spend more time with her. Though we couldn’t meet after that day, we were made up to meet for occasions like selecting the marriage ring, the mangal sutra design, and A few more occasions, mostly related to shopping. We were mostly called to talk with each other than to actually involve in the occasion. My parents were so in love with her, and I liked her and she was also comfortable with all of us.
“So.. It seems things are going smooth between you both” said Vignesh.
“Not exactly. We are indeed talking in good terms, but I am not able to spend more time with her. We speak only through phone calls and sms. Even if we meet in any occasion, my family speaks more than me. Eppa paaru oru gumbal koodayaee suthudhu. ‘Just the two of us’ is what I need”
“Why don’t you ask her out?”
“She is very busy at her office. I even said indirectly that I would be free most of the time, and we can meet anytime if she was free. But she has never stepped forward. She has been nothing more than a normal friend whom I know for some time. I don’t feel this would get any better”
“Dai, even if it’s your wife, girls won’t ask anything straight and direct. Even they would be willing to come out, but they won’t ask you. As a guy, it’s your duty to go meet her. You shouldn’t ask if you can go out. You should only SAY that you both are going out. They prefer the latter. Just call her and say that you are planning to give a treat on your birthday this Sunday. She would come for sure, at least for the treat :P”
“I wish”
It was Saturday, the eve of my birthday and we were as usual talking through the phone. I did not inform her about my birthday, and spoke casually. It was 11 PM, and I was expecting that she would know my birthday from the biodata my dad had sent earlier, and would wish me at 12. But, by 11 10, she said she felt sleepy and I had no option except to hang the call and get back to sleep. I was lying on my bed thinking about how to ask her out the next day. As Vignesh said, the best way was to call her for a treat. I was so much in a deep thought that I gradually fell asleep. At 12, I was woken up by my mom with a sweet in her hand and she wished me first, followed by my dad. I sought the blessings from them and quickly checked my mobile if I have received any calls or sms. But it was nil. I only got few notifications from Facebook. My mom and dad took me to the hall where Vignesh was waiting with a 1 Kg black forest. He hugged me as I came, wished me, and handed over the knife to cut the cake.
“Alright, let the party begin” he said and clapped his hand once. I was about to cut the cake, the power in my home went off. There was a sudden frowning from everyone. I got pissed off as nothing went as I expected.
“Cha, Is this the way should it begin?” I said in a frustrated tone.
Nobody spoke after me. “Ok, let me switch on the flashlight in my mobile” I said and was about to reach out for my mobile. I heard a sound of a matchstick striking against the matchbox. After the sound, there was the light from the fire, which from the matchstick, floated in air to a candle. The intensity of the light increased and the candle moved upwards, rendering me the image of her smile, and then little more upwards, now a pair of glittering eyes, with the two eyebrows getting connected by a small strip of santoor. That was one damn awesome visual of her, walking towards me holding the candle, her glowing face in that yellow-orange mixed light, Mannn! That was THE MOMENT, and at that moment, I fell in love with her. She gave a smile, which was pulling me to kiss her. I had to hold myself to the table to control my emotions. She came near me and kept the candle near the cake, extended her hand and said
“Many more happy returns of the day”
Her words danced in air and slowly went deep inside my body, through my ears and touched my heart, ringing a bell inside me. A part of me wanted to hug her, hug her so tightly that Time would freeze at that instance and stay frozen forever. Meanwhile Vignesh went out and switched on the Power. The room looked so bright, and with her next to me, it could have easily affected my vision.
After her words sunk in deeply, I raised my hand, with my fingers shivering at the minutest level and I said.
“Thank you”
She handed over a gift, which was a photo frame, comprising of various candid pictures of mine in the form of a collage. She had taken those pics without my knowledge whenever we met; including the first ever meet in Coffee Day. On the center of the collage was the bigger picture, the picture of ours being together, where I was looking sideways, and she was looking at my eyes. That was one awesome candid pic of THE two of us, and ‘Just the two of us’. I looked at Vignesh and conveyed my gratitude with my eyes via a blink. He responded through sign language saying that, it was all her plan, and he was merely a participant in the play. All of us spent more than an hour talking, full of fun and laughter. If a new member coming into our family can increase the happiness by many folds, what else do we need! On seeing the happiness on my family’s face, my heart felt so convinced and I decided that she would so be my perfect partner. I informed about the treat that evening and she agreed to it immediately.
The evening breeze soothed our face. Her hair doing the salsa and my heart bungee jumping, we took our seats for a candle light dinner. The hotel had special seating arrangements and a separate hall divided into cabins with each cabin covered by a white cloth, which would be floating around us as we eat. The cabin also had additional lights, other than the candles. She said she would eat anything I order as it was my birthday and everything must be my wish. I ordered the food and left the seat saying that I wanted to make a phone call. The lights in our cabin went off and it was quite dark in our place. The waiter who came to fill the water put off the candles and hurried away. She called for help but none came. She dialed my number, but I dint pick the call. Moments later, I lit the main candle in our table; the waiters who were hiding near our cabin lit the remaining smaller candles and left the place. I slid through my jacket, took out a small box and placed it on the table. She was in a total shock and not a muscle moved in her body. I opened the box, took out A diamond ring and bent down on my knees. For the first time, I saw tears and a smile together in a face.
“Hey, I always wanted to be with a person, whom I should feel as ‘THE ONE’, and to love her for every second in my lifetime, to take care of her in such a way that not even a drop of blood should shed from her body till am alive. But I never met one till I came here from Canada. I was wondering if an Arranged marriage could work out like a Love marriage. Then I met you. My doubts were clarified one by one from the day we met. Now I thank god for not making me to fall in love with anyone else, and I also thank him for not making you fall in love with anyone else either”
I swallowed my breath and continued.
“I Love you. Will you marry me?” I asked raising the ring.
She was dumbstruck, but the tears never stopped falling down her cheeks. Slowly, the curves in her lips became straight. She got up and ran out of the place with full of tears and stood near the swimming pool outside crying aloud.
“Hey what happened? Was I too dramatic? I think I was. I just wanted to make this day so special. You dint like it?”
She remained silent.
“Or you don’t want it?” I asked in a distorted tone.
“No, it’s not that I don’t want, I want in a better way”
“Better way? What do you mean?”
“I always wanted to tell you something, something that is stuck in my heart for a longtime. I thought of telling you tomorrow so that your birthday doesn't get spoiled. But I dint expect you to propose me with so much love, in a beautiful way tonight. Now, I am in a position to tell you everything before I accept your proposal. I don’t want to hide anything from you”
What? Did she say it will spoil my birthday? What could be that secret? Is she married already?
“As I am now, I don’t used to talk much during my college days as well. I had a limited set of friends, and I was a chatterbox, only with them. It was full fun in college. If I ever came out of the circle and spoke with someone outside it, it was with him, my partner in Lab. Beyond the Lab hours, I never spoke with him. He too dint make an effort to speak with me or try to be a friend of mine. But once I fell sick and I couldn't attend the lab. He got my number from my friends and called me.”
“Hey, are you alright now?”
“Sorry, who is this?”
“It’s me… Your long time lab partner.”
“Oh… Hi.. Yeah I am fine. I felt so tired and restless. Did the faculty ask you anything about me?”
“Yeah, but I had no clue. So I said I don’t know. You could have informed me earlier.”
“Hmmm”
“Today is the last day to get the signature in the observation note”
“Oh my god, I am yet to write today’s experiment and have to get sign for last week’s experiment too. I can only write after I get the notes from my friends in the evening. What do I do now?”
“Don’t worry. I wrote in your note as well and got the signature. I have given your note to Priya. Collect it from her.”
“Oh… Thank you so much”
“Hmmm, Friends don’t say thanks to each other”
“Hmmm… Okay..Sorry”
“Friends don’t say Sorry either ;)”
“Hahaha”
“Since you have my number now, text me if you aren’t coming to class”
“Yeah, okay”
“You can text me even otherwise too”
“Hmmm okay”
“Okay then.. Bye.. Take care.. “
“Yeah, bye”
He then cut the call and sent a sms ‘Get Well soon, C ya in class tom, friend’. I liked him. I liked his gesture, and his sweet nature. Everyone had a good opinion about him in class. He was liked by all, and I had no reasons to resist myself from being his friend. Peria hero or dream boy ellam kedayadhu, but avana yaaralum veruka mudiadhu. We were then good friends in college. Rumors started to build in our class that we were committed. But he never cared about them and was casual as always.
Feb 1, 2 and 3, annual tech fest in our college and we were in our 3rd year. He was the chief organizer for the tech events and I was one among his assists. As part of the organizing committee, we used to sit together and discuss a lot about it, with major discussions on all the gossips and rumors prevailing in college. Sometime we would be travelling in the city for meeting the sponsors too, and I had to go out with him, and only him. We spent most of the hours together in those days, and most of the time it was just the two of us. I started liking him more since then. He was the class rep in 3rd year and one day he made an important announcement in class.
“Hello people, if I can have your attention, that would be so great” the students stopped their chat and became silent.
“Off late there have been rumors about myself and another gal that we both are in a relationship. Nowadays I hear them very frequently and it is kind of disturbing me and more disturbing to her. So, now I want to put an end to all such crap. The rumors were all lies, but only till this moment. Now I wanted to make things straight. I love her now and I really wish to make that rumor real. So today being Feb 14, hey “he said and turned towards me. “I love you, and I wish to be more than a friend, a friend who would be travelling throughout your life by your side holding your hand, and please promote me from a lab partner to your life partner”. After seconds of silence, the class went wild and applauded for his short speech and sweet proposal. Gals around started to congratulate me and guys were whistling at him. He came down to me and said
“Take your own time to decide. But once you have decided, we are no more friends. We either live as lovers, or we part ways and remain just as classmates. But until you decide, we stay as how we are now. I love you and hence I can’t stay as a friend throughout. Choice is yours” he said and left the class
The next 7 days, my mind was filled with his thoughts and his proposal. We dint speak much on those 7 days and on 8th day the first thing I did after getting up in the morning was to text him “I love you too”
Our pair in college was very famous. We were rated as the best pair in college. Once I called him home to introduce to my parents, but only as a friend. I told them, he was a very studious person and that he helps me a lot in studies, which gave a good impression to my parents. Later I called him home one week prior to our final exams in final year. That subject was so easy that one could pass even without preparing for it. I just wanted to spend some time with him, and I wanted him to spend time with my parents. Halfway through our studies, my dad got a call from one of our aunt that her husband met with an accident, and is very serious. My parents rushed to the hospital, leaving me at home, with him. We continued our studies after they left.
“Hey bring me some water” he asked me. I went to the kitchen and brought a bottle. He made a couple of gulps and said
“Hey look into this. There is something inside it, an insect I guess”. He showed me the bottle holding it in his hand and keeping it close to my face. I peeped into the bottle with my left eye and found nothing. But he told to look deeper inside the bottle. When I was looking into it, he came close to me and kissed my cheeks. I looked at him furiously for what he had done. I was fuming with anger, and he felt so embarrassed. But he was cute when he looked embarrassed. I continued to stare at him, and gradually, the lips started to make the curve. I couldn’t control my anger beyond a point, and couldn’t control my smile as well. A big curve in my lips, and he too started to smile, which made him to give another kiss, this time, on the source of the curve. The kiss lasted for almost a minute. A kiss on the lips is always addictive. The kiss count started to increase exponentially, and we were so in love. I just felt like hugging him forever. One thing led to another, and we couldn't control with the kisses. The love waves vibrated in a very high frequency. The combined study in the hall converted to study of each other, in the bedroom. We were so much in love, and yes, we made love, and I must admit that I got carried away in the mood. We made love, once more. A normal me wouldn't have allowed him to even touch me. But I was not normal. I was in love, and I was crazy in love. It is said everything is fair in love, but to me, it looked fair only at that moment.
Her cry never stopped. She continued looking down into her reflection on the swimming pool.
“Now I regret, regret every second of that day, not only because we broke up, but that now I am unfit for an Indian marriage. I am no longer a normal gal. I’m a bitch, a slut and whatever name society could call me. The basic qualification for a gal to get married here is to be a virgin right? Even if someone is ready to marry such a person, it would happen only with lots of terms and conditions right? If I had just loved him and remained virgin, it wouldn't have been a problem”
“What’s the point in crying about it now? Should have thought about that when you were IN LOVE?” I stressed the word ‘IN LOVE’.
She gave a sarcastic smile and said “Very true. I should have thought we might break up halfway and that when I marry a different person I must have saved it for that person right? If the love has to be that cautious, then one can only love through internet and phone call, so that even when we make love, at the maximum the phone will get wet right? How awesome!”
“No I dint mean that. But do you mean to say what you did was right?” I should have remained silent, because the universal rule is that immaterial of whether a girl is right or wrong, when she cries, the guy has to console, or atleast stay silent. Damn, I violated the law.
“No it’s alright. Actually am sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. May be it is better when lovers stay within the limits before getting married. Life after break up would be simpler. The feel of guilt wouldn’t be there, as I feel now. I am sorry” she said and cried out loud. I dint know how to react. Great amount of anger on one side, and a gal crying in front of me on the other side. I sensibly hid the anger for later and took her to the car. We rode back home without having the dinner. The drive was very silent. The jam packed Chennai’s traffic noise did not enter my ear, except her hiss when she cried. We reached her home and she got down from the car.
“Not coming in?” she asked me.
“Why?” I asked.
“Oh.. Dad would ask why you did not come in. Come in for name sake and leave in 5 min please”
“That’s okay” I said and started the ignition.
“Hey” she said and I turned towards her.
“It’s your wish now. You can call off the wedding if you wish”. I had nothing to say except to put on the 1st gear and drive. But she continued
“But don’t ever think I thought to cheat you and our family had a trap for you. Even I was not ready to get married. Dad was unhappy, and mom was upset. I came over from that relationship longtime back, and I really wanted to start a fresh life, I was tired of crying, and above all I really liked you. I never wanted to hide my past before the marriage. I wanted to be true to you, and that’s why I have told you everything. I thought a guy from abroad would understand me better, than a guy living here, because you people would have witnessed this quite frequently there. I was wrong I guess. Fine. Please call off soon, so that your time and all of our money need not go wasted. Your parents can at least look for alternatives. Please tell my sincere apologies to them as well. God, I have hurt such lovely souls!” she cried hard and rushed into her home. I couldn’t stay there any longer. I drove back to the tea shop and called up Vignesh to come there. I told him the entire Drama.
“Did she tell why they broke up?” he asked.
“Yeah. But nothing special, the same reason why any couple after college would break up. People only start thinking whether their relationship will work out during the last days of college. Veetla othupaangala, avangalukulla set aaguma, nalla life lead panna mudiuma, idhu ellamae college mudikum podhu daan yosikaranga, and unfortunately, oru confidence illama, break up panikaranga. In addition, the guy was a Christian.”
“Hmmm…So what are you going to do now?” he asked.
“Don’t know. I don’t know what and how to tell my parents”
“Seriously. It would be so shocking to them. They had so many dreams about your marriage, especially after you said you are ready for a marriage. I have never seen them so happy like they were in the last few weeks. Romba aasa pattanga”
“Yeah, enakum adhu daan kashtama iruku. The marriage of the only son is always special for parents. I don’t have the guts to tell them. Machi nee eh solliru da”
“Me? Nooo wayyyyy. I would rather abscond to Afghan and live there. Dude, it’s you who is going to get married. So whatever you decide, we would abide BY it. I know it’s not an ordinary issue that can be solved by talking or compromising. I am totally with you on the decision you take”
“Okay, I will tell them directly, though not with the actual reason. I will tell them that I am not interested in the marriage since we were not in synch, and we have lots of differences in opinions. She has a good name in my home. I don’t want to spoil that”
“But why do you want to become a villain? You could very well tell the truth. They themselves will call off the wedding. Why do you want to carry the burden unnecessarily?”
“It’s a very sensitive issue. I don’t want to blow off the trumpet. If not me, someone else might marry her. Or they can even hide the past and get her married. I don’t want to spoil that unnecessarily. Moreover, imagine how my parents would feel. They would feel lost to me. They can’t be normal; they would think that they made a huge mistake by fastening up the marriage process. It would be embarrassing to both of us. I don’t want to do that to them. I don’t want to make them a loser. Let me be the guy. Enna, adutha ponnu eh paaka solli pressure panuvanga. That’s not a problem. I will somehow convince them to postpone it to the next time when I come again.”
“Alright then. You better tell them right away. I will also join you. I have to take a part of the blame because I was the one who agreed to your marriage condition and convinced you to get married.”
We both reached our home and as we entered, my ever busy dad was sitting calm in the couch with mom looking at a photo album. We both went near them and looked into it. It was my childhood photo album. They both were deeply sunk into it that it took them a while to realize that we both were standing in front of them.
“Hey, sorry I dint notice you people. I was looking at your childhood photos. It only has the collection till you were in school. After we bought a digital camera, nothing has entered the books and everything is in the laptop”
We both were thinking how to start our topic, but nothing helped.
“The pleasure I get when I turn the pages and look at these photos, is way higher than pressing the arrow keys and seeing the photos. Digital technology couldn’t match the classic photo prints. Look at these pictures. See how happy was your face when you were a child” He opened the album once again and talked about each and every picture of mine, without missing single details and I have never seen such happiness in his face. It was very evident that photo prints gave more happiness to people than seeing them on a screen. I could only smile at his innocence.
“Dai kanna, can you do me a small favour? Select few pictures of yours from your college days and make them printed and place it in this album. I have one picture printed already and placed it few pages later” He turned few pages and showed me the picture. It was the picture of all of us together with full of smiles during my very recent birthday celebration, which featured all of us along with her, standing next to me and giving me the cake. He continued
“Fill the gap with your college and office pictures until here. The next one after this birthday picture will be your marriage photo where you tie the knot on her neck. That would complete the album from our side. This will be our marriage gift to her. From that day, it’s your responsibility to continue adding pictures. Can you do this for me?” He asked like a baby. Vignesh and I were stunned. We couldn’t respond to anything else. Vignesh tried to start the topic, but I stopped him from saying anything as I couldn’t bare the sight of destroying my dad’s dreams and happiness. I promised him that I will tell him after some time, once he comes down from the excited state. Vignesh left home and I went inside my room to catch some sleep. But hardly I could. The thoughts of her, my dad and the marriage started to toil my mind.
In order to divert myself, I opened YouTube to see some videos. There was an interview of a couple who makes their livelihood in Ranganathan Street, T.Nagar, which was one of the ‘Trending videos’. It was uploaded on Feb 14, as part of the Valentine’s Day special interview and went viral on the internet. I saw the video which started with the basic information about the couple. The man used to sell marijuana in the same street while she used to sell jasmine flowers. Once there was a police raid in that street and he had to hide it somewhere. He initially threatened her to hide it in the flower shop, but she refused and was never afraid of him. He said it was very evident from her eyes that he cannot win by threatening her. The police were very near and he had to do hide it immediately. He with no options, begged her to hide it as he would be beaten to death by either the police or his boss if he gets caught. She finally agreed to hide it, though not inside the flowers, but inside her blouse. She told him not to stand near her as the police might doubt her as well. So he stood near a fruit shop. When the police made a thorough check, they could not find anything, and they did not doubt the woman as well. They went back empty handed. He then went back to the lady and asked for the packets.
“I have thrown it in the drainage. If you still want it, go take it from there”
“Hey, do you know the worth of it? It’s in 1000s you moron”
“Let it be in crores. I don’t care. Those are shit, and that’s the place where shit should be”
“Oh god, what will I do now!?”
“Hey, be happy that you are still alive. This is a second chance god has given you. Use it and lead a better life. This is wrong and this will never make you live happily. Even if you earn just 100rs a day, if it is hard earned money in a legal way, the happiness you get is incomparable”
A woman, and some nice words from her, is sufficient enough to transform a man. He surrendered to THE police and confessed all the truth about him and his boss’ illegal business. He was kept in jail for 6 months and later released. He came back to the street and met the woman once again to thank her for changing him. He also asked her to marry him. She accepted his proposal only after another 3 months when she realized he had really changed and started selling mobile cases in the same street. Later was the tragedy in their life. His old boss had sent some men to beat him to death for confessing the truth. Unable to kill him, they started to attack his wife and broke her leg and escaped as the cops intervened. Her right leg was removed. When asked about the difficulty of his current situation, he said
“There is absolutely no difficulty in this. I was a rogue before. She came and changed me. I did not love and marry her, because she was able to walk, or because she was beautiful. It was only due to her will power, courage and sincere heart. That hasn’t changed even a bit. So how could my love on her change? She has only lost her leg, not me. As long as I exist, she will never face any problem. Carrying her is not a duty I do, it’s paying her back for what she has done to me” and the video ended on that note. The video and his words slapped me in my face and woke me up. I felt really bad for deciding to screw the marriage because she was not virgin. Virginity sounded nothing more than a biological term.
I quickly got up and called Vignesh to come near the tea shop. I took my bike and went there. As soon as he came, I told him to get on the bike and told him that I wanted to go for a long bike ride at that moment. He had never told ‘NO’ to any of my wishes and came along with me. But it was not as long as I said. The ride stopped in front of her home. He was totally surprised.
“Dude, what are we doing here at this point?”
“Just follow me. Don’t ask any questions”
We both climbed up the compound and took the stairs to the terrace.
“Just tell me why are we here?” he asked.
“Wait a min” I said and called her. She did not pick up the phone on the 1st attempt. I again called her and at the last ring, she picked the call.
“Hello”
“Hey, it’s me. Sleeping or doing any other stuff?”
“Facebook”
“Okay, come over to the terrace. We are waiting. Myself and Vignesh”
“Whattt?? What are you people doing here?”
“Ssssh.. don’t make a fuss. Just come up silently. Make sure nobody sees and nobody wakes up. This is pretty serious”
She was confused on what to do. But since I was already up there in the terrace, she obliged and came to the terrace in her night pants and t shirt.
“Why are you both here at this time?” she shouted at both of us.
“If you wanted to say something, you could have come home in the morning or called my Dad” she said looking down with worry.
“Okay, listen. I did not react well that evening, and I am not going to apologize for that. Any guy in my position would have reacted even worse. You gave a shock on my birthday. But that’s okay. I have given a lot of thought yesterday, A lot of realizations, and I have come to a decision”
She slowly looked up at me. But I went on my knees, took out the same small box from my pocket and said,
“With all the past aside, and for a happy future ahead, will you marry me?” Her jaws were wide open and her eyes were fully wet. Vignesh was speechless in happiness. She was smiling with tears.
“Hey, react later, respond fast. My knees hurt” I said and kindled a little laughter in her.
“Yes, yes, yes I will” she said in a higher volume and wiped her tears. My heart which was beating at a faster rate slowly relaxed and came back to the normal pace. Vignesh lifted me up and hugged me and began to shout.
“Okay okay cool, relax. The job is not yet done” I told him.
“What?”
“Be a good minister, and get us married, a Christian wedding, in the terrace”
“What?” this time a chorus.
“We are getting married now, so do the rituals dude” I told him.
“The knot will be tied later, on a SUBHAYOGHA SUBHADHINAM, as per our parents’ plan. Now we shall exchange the ring, with what I have, and the one that you are wearing now” I said to her.
“This is great. Both of you stand here. I don’t know the exact words, but I will try with as much I have learnt from movies” he said and stood in attention.
“Indo-American dude, do you agree to accept her as your wife, and soul mate and promise me that you will take care of her with love and respect, forever?”
“Yes, I do, my dear friend” I said
“Great. Hey Mylapore Maami” he said looking at her, to which she stared at him and said “Kick you”
“Okay cool. Hey Chennai girl, do you agree to accept this Unpredictable Idiot , and a dear friend of mine, to be your husband, and you know, tolerate all his nonsense behaviors, all through your life and stay with him forever?” he asked and we couldn’t stop laughing. She caught my hand and said
“Yes I do”
“Awesome. By the blessings of all the almighty, you both shall exchange the rings, a little quicker so that all of us don’t get caught” he said and turned to me “Dude hurry, else we will end up in trouble”
We exchanged the ring and looked at him.
“Now I declare you, husband and wife” he said that put up a smile in our faces. I again looked at him expecting him to say the next sentence. He too was looking at me, wondering if he should say the next sentence. I sent a signal to say it and he then said,
“Now, you may kiss the bride”. I again smiled and looked at her. She was puzzled and don’t know how to take this. She was looking at me with eyes wide open. I continued to look at her. She was cute with that look. She continued to stare, and then gradually, the smile started to appear, inch by inch till the maximum level. I slowly went near her face, and very slowly tilted my face, and gently kissed on her lips. The world froze. I was unaware of time, place, climate, and Vignesh’s presence. Our lips were stuck at that moment.
“Dude, enough. Save the rest after the marriage. We have to vacate quickly” said Vignesh. We both came back to this world and felt too shy to look at each other. I then slowly let her hands free and went back home thinking about all the events. I made Vignesh to drive me back as I was occupied with thoughts.
The marriage was planned a month later, on an auspicious day with various rituals that one could see in a typical Brahmin wedding. We continued to meet outside and sent millions of texts within that one month gap. All was fine and happy. On, the night before marriage, we were texting each other.
“By Dawn, we would be married. Am so thrilled. What about you?”
“More than you”
“Great. See you tomorrow. Let’s catch some sleep. We have a hectic day ahead. So, Good night :*” I sent
“Hey, I want to ask you something”
“Yeah, what?”
“Do I really deserve you? After all that had happened. Don’t you feel, you deserve a much better girl?” she sent.
She made me think again. I dint reply to her. I switched off my mobile and slept.
Next day morning, I got ready early morning and the rituals started. Lot of mantras were recited, lot of process was carried out. The KASI-YATRA, the swing ceremony, the exchange of garlands, where we were lifted up by our uncles and had a small game while we exchange the garland, all went on smooth and nice. Then were the final and the precious moment, KANNIHADHANAM, tying of the mangal sutra. The girl was made to sit on her dad’s lap, with her mom standing nearby. The emotion of the people started to pour. Her mom had tears witnessing the marriage ceremony. The guests, relatives who were seated till now, stood up and came near the stage, where the ceremony was taking place to throw the flowers, and AKSHADHAI (holy rice) on us to show their blessing. When the priest recited the mantras, and raised his index finger up high and shook them so hard to signal the instrument players to play the marriage beats, and shouted ‘KETTI MELAM KETTI MELAM’, I slowly bent down and started to tie the knot. Huge amount of flowers were falling on us, and we were almost hidden under it. I slowly went near her ears and said
“I don’t think I could ever get a girl like you, whom I would love as much as I love you now” and gave a quick kiss on her cheeks and stood up. The beats slowly ended and the post-marriage process began. People began congratulating us only after the post-marriage process, as the priest has announced not to touch us in between as part of some significance.
The marriage ended on a happy note and people started leaving the hall. Our first night was arranged in a room inside the hall itself, which was fully decorated with flowers, fruits, with white pillows and white blankets. It indeed looked like heaven. We got the blessings from all the elders in our family before we entered the room. My friends at a distance were giving funny signals and I knew they would have cracked all the Adult jokes they had learnt, starting from the school days. As we entered, I was surprised to see the whiteness in our bed. I have never been, or seen such whiteness, and I exactly knew the reason behind the whiteness. There could be various reasons for considering white to be ‘pure’, but here ‘white’ was used to test the ‘purity’ and the ‘effectiveness’ of the first night. I knew the purity about my wife, and I did not want other people to judge her. I gave a sarcastic smile, and spilled the fruits and milk on the bed. I then called our parents for a change of blanket, and I myself selected a red blanket and locked the door as I got in.
Early morning next day, we were supposed to answer hell a lot of indirect questions. Various assumptions were made by others about our night. But only we knew what exactly happened inside. With all the made up answers, I set out next day evening to handover the Scotch bottles I brought from abroad, which I had stocked up all these days, to my friends for the party they all have been asking me for.
Oh wait. Dint I tell the names of each one of us? Huh? Well, do you actually need the names? I am sure every guy has a best friend named Vignesh and every girl has a classmate named Priya or Aishwarya. So, do names really matter?
THE END
No comments:
Post a Comment