Short Story
Yelling in a saree shop is acceptable. It is like a cafe... for women... And you get to meet so many of your old friends... Rajani was a dear friend from college.
"I was buying sarees for my wedding..." I said.
"Woooowww... When are you getting married? How come you didnt tell me?" She asked.
"Umm... In two weeks... everything happened so fast..." I managed to say.
"So how is he? What does he do? Is he a Doctor? Remember how you used to say...," Rajani glanced at my mother who was going through a pile of sarees, "Is it a love marriage? Or is it arranged?"
"Umm.. It's complicated Rajani... He's an Engineer. Works with a multinational in Banglore," I said. I looked at my mother who was now getting impatient going through the pile of sarees all by herself... "I should get going Rajani. I will call you some time?"
Rajani left. She noticed I was under a lot of stress. Weddings are stressful. I thought mine will be smooth sailing. But life doesnt happen how you think it will.
I thought I will marry a Doctor someday. He will sweep me off my feet. I would be intrigued by his passion for his work. His dedication towards his patients, his ability do good for the society would attract me towards him. I looked at the sarees my mother was showing me. Peacock green with a turquoise pallu for the sangeet. Bottle red with shades of pink and a light orange pallu for the wedding day... I had a say in choosing the sarees I wanted to wear.... But what about the man I wanted to spend my life with?
Why didnt I have the right to choose him?
***
For our honeymoon, it was decided that we ll go to Ooty. It was close to Banglore. So it was decided.
Sometimes I think things would have been different had I been born and brought up in a big city... Maybe then I would get to choose the man I wanted to spend my life with. But look at Rajani... she lived in the same city... we went to the same college... and she can fall in love and marry the man she loves.
Why didnt I fall in love? I was friends with some guys. I had a crush on a guy in college. But could never fall in love with him. Should it be this difficult?
Walking down the steep inclines of Ooty with Suresh, now my husband, I couldnt stop thinking about how I had imagined my husband to be...
I thought how I imagined our afternoons to be... How we would talk about serious issues... about work... about how we wanted to do something for the poor... contribute to the society....
Suresh cracked a joke... I smiled... just enough to not hurt him... The poor guy had been trying to make me comfortable for the three days that we had been married.
He's so different than the guy I thought I will spend my life with... Suresh pointed towards the valley. He said something and laughed. I didnt hear what he said, I was too lost in myself. But his laughter was infectious. I smiled. This time, not out of mercy.
I was lost in my thoughts as we walked downhill. Just then a state transport bus came screeching down the slope and Suresh pulled me towards himself. I looked at the bus that whizzed by... too arrogant to care about a girl lost in her thoughts. I looked into the eyes of Suresh. He held me by my waist. I could feel his heaving chest, his strong hands... This was the first time I was standing this close to a man. I felt safe. I meant something to someone. There was someone who cared for me. He let his grip loose. His eyes almost apologetic for having held me so close.
He was back to his jocular self after a while. This time, I was lost in his talks. He was so intelligent.. so witty... We came across a park where there were school kids playing with balloons. He kept looking at them, a smile playing on his lips... The smile faded when he saw a poor boy in tattered clothes looking at those school kids. He went ahead a bought a balloon for him. The eyes of the little boy lit up. He ran off with the balloon jumping with joy. There was a smile on my husband's lips...
I fell in love with my husband.
***
Back home, once we were out shopping...
"Heyyy.. long time... How are you?" It was Shreya. We were friends from school... "And when did you get married?"She asked looking at my mangalsutra and the sindhoor on my forehead...
"Last month." I said.
"Woooowww... that is so amazing... Love marriage or arranged?" She asked.
"Arranged." I smiled.
Editor in chief Arshat Chaudhary
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dr viral thakkar said...
wow.........one of your all time best post......so philosophical and yet so close to reality,,,,,i do not understand why these days people feel that there cannot be any love in arranged marriage system.
Anonymous said...
hey u being a person who has written such a beautiful love story and has sold around 280000 copies of ur book and supporting an arranged marriage is really surprising for me..
btw u have already written this post earlier right???
Anupama K. Mazumder said...
Its really how we see things: Mr Right was sounding like Mr Wrong only until a moment changed everything, and he started appearing witty and all that.
Vinodh Kumar said...
Like!!
Anonymous said...
Wow!!!!!
loved it absolutely...
Budget Hotels in Ooty said...
Well love marriage or arrange marriage is not a big question. The main concern after marriage to spend some peaceful time where newly married couple can get enough time to understand each other and I believe that Ooty is one of the best place.