“Narrating it from first person view”
The
countdown was over and my blood pressure was rising fast as if the rocket had
just blasted off from its blast pad and searing fast into the atmosphere. Dheeraj
was on time to pick us up from the hotel to their home. Though it was a short
drive, millions of neurons were fast bombarding against the walls of my brain.
The car to came to a halt inside a small lane next to a big lake and I could
see Pranika’s father standing at the entrance of their home.
He
welcomed us all inside and there we were greeted by her mom, her sister-in-law
Anasuya, their pet dog Rover and at the far end of the living room stood
Pranika in her Ghagra Choli. Greeting them all one by one, I signaled a short “Hi” at her with a
gentle smile on my face, not knowing if she had even noticed it. So, all of us
got settled and the elders were having their own set of conversation while I was
wondering what my conversation would be with her. This whole arranged marriage
setup itself was totally being strange to me and yes, I had never imagined that
I would also end up doing an arranged marriage.
Well, I
am not against arranged marriages but I had always wanted to break the odds
against the common notion that was prevailing with a middle class family about
love marriages and prove to them they can’t just go by presumptions. However,
as you know, things tend to be always opposite of what I want and so was in
this case, as well. No regrets though, I was sure that my parents would have
definitely found a nice life partner, since all these years they had offered me
the best that they can afford with.
Very
slowly each member of her family was having light conversation with me and
slowly it made me ease my nerves and feel comfortable with the new place. And
then Pranika came serving us some cold beverage and some snacks, which I do not
remember right now what it was. All I could do was to grab a look at her face
and even before that sight could get register in my memory she vanished off,
like a swift bird.
“Uff, tough luck” was my
mind voice.
But,
her sudden disappearance rerouted my attention towards the side table next to
the TV, where one of her portrait was neatly framed. It was just a casual pose
and Pranika had a bright smile on it. Wow, that smile is contagious and may be
that was the moment when I fell for her. Meanwhile as all the pleasantries were
exchanged between both the families, Pranika’s father uttered the golden sentence.
“Why don’t Vikaas and Pranika go and speak somewhere private?”
My mind
voice was like, “Thank god, finally!!!” someone spoke it up. Oh please, don’t
judge me as a despo, but well yeah that was the sole purpose of visiting their
home. To get to know Pranika, her views, thoughts, likes, dislikes, etc and
most importantly if she can sustain to my tantrums and lead a life with me.
Anasuya, took Pranika and me into the room next to the living room and left us
both with two chairs facing each other. The immediate thought that popped up
into my mind was, “Am
I having some sort of an interview?”.
What happened next is to be
followed in the upcoming posts.
So, stay tuned folks.
