The Garden City Tale: Part 2 – The Meeting

“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.

She moved in, but I had moved out – Part 7

So, just a small recap from the previous part, I was getting excited upon the news of moving to a new academic block, our regular academic session began in which Mithun & I shared most of our classes, and finally Mithun had woke me up from my nap just to share his excitement of finding Meenakshi in the same class and where I got petrified of a totally different sight.

A girl of peaches-and-cream skin tone with perfectly threaded eyebrows and waist length brunette half straight & half wavy hair had walked in right behind Meenakshi. Her eyes were calm and they were an instant attraction. She carried a perfect hour-glass figure with the right attire & accessories matching her complexion and structure, ending it with a neat box heel sandal. A shinning gold wrist watch slides down her smooth waxed arm every single time she moved the few strands of hair away from her face and a neat shade of “Starla” nail color gave a finishing touch to her beauty.

At the very moment, out of nowhere, the following lines started playing in my head, on a continuous loop.

“Chubby Cheeks, dimpled chin,

Rosy lips, teeth within,

Curly hair, very fair,

Eyes so blue, lovely too”

Do the lines sound familiar to you? Well, of course every one might have sung this famous nursery rhyme in their childhood.

I felt like the composer of rhyme composed it by looking at her, as it rightly exemplified her. She moved in gracefully with a broad smile that totally illuminated her face. And all these while my eyes were totally glued on her, ignoring what Mithun was saying to me or any other guy in the class, as this was the girl whom I wanted to meet right since my first encounter.

She was Ms. Elegant!

Thanks to my mind that it instantly put aside every other junk stacked in my brain and started prioritizing with the new job of just observing her. My eyes were in parallel acting swiftly to capture every single frame of her and getting it uploaded right away on to my hard disk.

Say, for another ten minutes or more, she was still involved in some sort of casual conversation with Harini, one of our other classmates from Coimbatore but I was doing just one task and it was to keep looking at her. And then suddenly it happened! She turned around and looked at me for the first time and it brought instant goosebumps within me. Her face was naturally radiant and the dimples were an instant eye catcher. Looking at me she gave a small smile.

“Khalaas!” I truly can’t express that feeling through words

(Honestly, even now, smile adorns my face while reminiscing that moment)

Getting back to my sense, my mind that was processing rapidly all these while did not expect this sudden bump to hit it that it got jammed totally. Not knowing how to react to the situation, I felt a gentle smile would do the justification. So, I acknowledged her with a warm smile and to my disbelief she welcomed it, turned around and blushed. Her peachy cheeks were turning bright red and she seemed to relish the moment.

What more will a guy ask for, other than this!

In your teens, normally if a girl looks at you and smiles; unquestionably you get butterflies in your stomach and I have heard a lot about it from my friends. But, for the first time when I experienced it, it was like a sudden rush of adrenaline flowing through me and as if all the other hormones that were on sleep mode were suddenly activated. It was one of those rare happy moments of my life when I had experienced such adrenaline rush; well of course the last time was when my brothers were born.

Amidst this cute moment, I failed to notice that the staff was already there in the class and she had been talking to Harini. Shortly then moving to the center of the class she gave a small self-intro and asked us to do the same. The guys in the front rows started introducing themselves finally ending it with Mithun and I. Now the staff turned her attention towards the girl’s side and so did we. Mithun was equally excited to know more about Meenakshi as how I was to know about Ms. Elegant.

Meenakshi started and finished off her part in an instant and she sat down quickly, to which Mithun was totally disappointed. Next in turn to speak was my girl. As she stood up, her thick free-flowing hair glided gently on her back like the waves that hit the shores. She introduced herself as Sri Vidya, from Bangalore. Her voice was so soft, she was very attentive and clear in speaking about her, just to make sure that I get hold onto every word that she spoke (which I learnt it later).

Finishing her part she sat, flipped her hair sideways, turned towards me and gave a small nod, asking if I had taken down the details. Well of course, every guy tends to put in his full attention on the girl he likes and I am nowhere different from them. In fact I had noted down inch-by-inch of her from head to toe. But being a good boy (as how the society tagged me) I acknowledged her with a small smile and for the next few minutes our eyes were glued on to each other. This new feeling was something first of its kind for both of us and we both seemed love it. So, we just ignored the rest of student’s intro and were busy with our own task.

But, when you have a friend like Mithun, your special moments aren’t supposed to last longer. Mithun shook me vigorously, as it seems he had been lately noticing the short romance that I was having with Sri (that’s how I always refer to her) and also purposely since he was annoyed with Meenakshi not speaking much.

“Hey Dude, get back to your sense and focus on the class. May be you can continue with your romance, later”, said Mithun, turning my face away from her, still pissed off!

I turned around and stared at him for ruining the lovely moment and started focusing on the class, though not whole heartedly. My mind was constantly hovering and over the next forty minutes, Sri & I would have exchanged looks at least 10 – 15 times.

The class came to an end and as per the school rules girls moved out of the class followed by the guys. On the way to the next class Mithun started pestering me with questions. “Well, you always stick with us but had never mentioned about her. So, how did this happen?” asked Mithun, cornering me inside the class.

“See there was nothing to hide from you guys. What you saw today happened for the first time”, I said, but Mithun was not ready to accept it.

And I was very sure that Mithun would definitely reveal the incident to Kishore and he will not take it easy and light. So, I had to warn Mithun to shut his mouth and keep this incident to himself and we made our way towards the boy’s staircase.

So, to what extent did this first sight between Sri Vidya & Raghav take them into?

Wish to know more? Then please stay tuned until the next part rolls out!

A New Beginning!!!

Courtesy : Shutterstock.com

The ambulance was rushing madly on the busy street with the siren loud enough to clear the way. Blood was oozing ceaselessly covering up most part of the ambulance. The victim was in her mid-twenties and got hit by a SUV. With every minute passing by she was collapsing. The doctors in the ambulance were trying hard to stabilize her, but the condition didn’t seem to normalize at all.

Meanwhile far away, Rishak looked tense as he rode through the streets of the city. He stopped in by few stores, enquired hurriedly and moved over feeling let down everywhere. Right from dusk, he had been searching for his wife Pravalika, an IT employee working for an MNC at the electronic city, who has not turned home. Sita aunt who was passing by the street noticed Rishak tensed and hence she approached him quizzed.

“What is it Rishak, I could sense fear on your face. Is there something wrong?”

“Pravalika is not back home aunt. I tried reaching her mobile, spoke with couple of her friends and even searched the place she visited often. No sign of her anywhere”

“Don’t worry my son. She might be held up with some work. Check if she had left any message for you”

Actually aunt, this morning we had a small argument and out of my ego I just walked out of the house without saying a word. She was very upset then and I never tried speaking with her all through the day. My instinct says something worse could have happened. “No son, don’t give up your hope. She will be fine.” I suggest you better lodge a complaint with the police and they might trace her.

The ambulance had made it to the hospital meantime and Pravalika was being treated. Doctors moved in and out of the theater but her condition had not improved since. The viability of making through the operation was very thin, yet the doctors did their best. Meanwhile Rishak lodged a complaint with the local police and with the help of his friends he started looking out for his wife.

Away from all this commotion, a lady in her mid-thirties was trembling out of fear. She kept looking out for someone, still ignoring the tears rolling out of her eyes. From her attire to the decors on the wall, a sense of richness was felt everywhere. Within minutes a car rolled in and she almost stormed to the entrance. Shaking madly from head to toe, she hugged her husband and confessed of the accident that she caused this evening. Her husband understood the seriousness of the issue and took control of the situation still consoling his wife. He took the wheels straight to the hospital where the young lady was being treated. He dialed in few numbers and with his authority he made sure that the lady survived.

As the clock ticked away, Rishak’s fear kept building. The group had almost swept the city clean searching for Pravalika, but no traces of her. Leading hospitals were searched too including the Global hospital, where she was being treated. But when Rishak had described of her identity there, the hospital staffs declined any such patient being admitted under Pravalika's name. However she was treated there with a different name, since none of her ID was recovered from the site.  

It was midnight and still no signs of her. Rishak slowly started acting madly. He started blaming himself for her missing. All possible ways of pacifying Rishak went in vain. It took almost an hour for his friends to get him under control. So as they were trying to get him back on feet, a police vehicle came halting in front of them. The Inspector informed Rishak that they have found an accident victim matching his wife’s description and that he come with them to identify her.

Back at the hospital, the operation was a success and she was moved to the ICU. Closing in on her bed, Rishak almost lost his balance as he couldn’t see his wife in such a state. He was almost lost in words as he had caused too much pain to Pravalika. Only if he had let go of his ego that day, she would not have ended up here. Though many tried consoling him, he was defiant. He wanted to be by her side always and budged anyone trying to move him away from her. Hours rolled on and he still had his face close to hers, waiting for her eyes to open.

It was almost day break when one of his primary sense “Touch” sent electrical waves to the brain. He could slowly feel the wetness on his hand. He slowly lifted his head only to find Pravalika’s tear rolling down her cheek and splashing on to his hand. Rishak was dumbstruck looking at his beautiful wife in such a condition. His happiness knew no boundaries but at the same time felt sad on her injuries. She smiled weakly at his husband and asked him to come close.

“Did you panic when I didn’t make home sweetie?”, still struggling with words as she spoke.

“I almost died not able to trace you anywhere baby.” I am really sorry for all my evil acts. I should have called you and apologized. Pardon me sweets. I cannot look at you in this state. Please get well soon and come back to me; almost crying wildly.

“You still get a better chance of marrying another hot girl if I die, right!” smiling wickedly at him amidst all the wounds on her face.

“I love you the most my sweets”, caressing her hair gently. I will do anything for you but please don't ever think of leaving me alone.

“Ahaan, so what if I tell you to jump out of the train, will you do it for me?” asked Pravalika, remembering how Rishak used to follow her day and night, trying to lift her off her feet with his charm.

“I will not jump baby, smiling naughtily and kissing on her forehead” I wish to spend the rest of my life holding your hand.”

And that is how a new relationship blossomed. It’s always hard to realize the importance of a person when they are close by your side.