if everything went according to our will, life wouldn't be as exciting or as frustrating as it is! that's what the confused & annoyed aishwarya tells herself as she was hounded by a herd of her cousins and beautician aunty who were struggling to mak...
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Amit stared at his parents laughing and talking to the other family like they had known each other for ages only to be lost in some mela and thanks to this alliance they finally found each other again. He didn't understand the concept of 'meeting' at all. They have no idea how awkward these first meetings with your prospective other can be when they are surrounded by over-enthusiastic family members, do they?
Yep, they don't. Despite it being the 21st century and the world has transformed into the artistic vision that one saw just a couple of years ago, the mindset of some people remained the same. Deeply rooted in their customs and culture. Amit had no qualms with the way of their life. Though his family was slightly conservative, they had also taken a step towards broadening their vision every once in a while. How grateful was he for that!
But.. lo and behold, they are still stuck in the bygone era when it comes to sensitive situations, like meeting your prospective bride for the first time. After all, once upon a time, they had gone through the same, stomach-churning, heart-knifing, breath-itching and painstakingly-abnormal fiasco! Because they experience such horrid moments, they force their kids to go through it as well! Why only they have all the fun, right?
Nervously, he sat cross-legged and grabbed one samosa for himself. And then a thought came into his mind. Can men sit like that? Wait.. why are those ladies smiling at me like I just gave them some ladoo? Wait.. do I look like a girl? Shut up! There is no harm in sitting the way you feel comfortable...
His Samosa almost fell off his hand when he saw that those ladies were whispering and giggling while checking him out. His brother Madan who was sitting across, patted on his knees asking him to 'loosen up'.
Placing the Samosa back on the tray, he met the eyes of the ladies again, they looked like he stole food from their plates! Irritated and anxious, he took back the oily, greasy samosa and forcefully stuffed it in his mouth.
He was expecting the entire fiasco to go as an interactive session or was it an interview? Questions will be thrown at him, he has to answer 'maturely' like he was going to earn and feed the 'bride' for the rest of his life without a hiccup! That's exactly how it was done in the olden days and was expected of him too. But the situation in front of him was slightly different.
Questions were asked, of course! To him, yes. But the answers were given by his parents and occasionally by his brother, Madan and his sister-in-law, Swati. Nobody cared to know of his opinion or the fact that he had a perfectly working mouth. He still didn't know why his mother kept saying, "My Amit is just shy. He gets really reserved in a crowd like this."
Amit didn't know by being so truthful, that whether he was the right 'man' for the 'bride' would work in their favour. I mean, who wants a guy who's reserved and shy and can't speak for himself? Not that Amit couldn't. Frankly, he was actually waiting to 'talk' and make an impression that he wasn't some front-bench-straight-A student. He was the notorious back-bencher with a mix of introverted personality and a pinch of extrovert vibes. Now, these terms are so relatable to the current generation, but how to convey it to the generation that believes, falling in love is a crime and love can only happen with husband and wife after marriage?
Correction: Love has to happen only between husband and wife.
"So Amit, after marriage you are going to stay in Bangalore, only no?" Venkat asked, who was the father of the bride. Before his parents said anything according to what they thought was right, Amit spoke, "No uncle, I will be moving to Mumbai."
Pin-drop silence fell in the room. A confused and fearful Amit looked over to his brother asking if he had committed a grave crime by telling them of his career plans. Pushing the spectacles up his nose, Madan spoke before the situation spiralled out of control, "Actually, he got this amazing offer from the company in Mumbai. They are going to pay him, around 35 lacs per annum, in hand"
Amit looked at all the faces in the room. It was as if they all had won a lottery. "Also, our distant relative has a modest 2BHK in a very good residential society close to his office premises. Amit can live there after his wedding with his wife peacefully. Now, how can he say no to such an amazing offer Uncle?"
"But.. Mumbai.. Is so far.. We never sent our daughter so far.." Venkat said perplexed. He knew he was lying. He did send his daughter to Ahmadabad for her so-called careerand has been regretting it for the last three months.
"Nor did we." Roopa, Amit's mother said. "He has been going on business-related trips, working occasionally at different client locations for the projects, but we too didn't send him far away ever to live all by himself. This would be the first time." She threw a stink eye at her son for speaking about something that they still hadn't yet discussed completely.
"Since he is at the peak of his career, we don't want to hold him back. He will return to Bangalore in 3-5 years! This is where he is going to live eventually. Where will he go leaving behind his family? Right, Ami?" Dhanraj said looking over to his son. Amit nodded nervously.
When he told his parents he would be going to Mumbai for at least 5 years, they had created a huge ruckus. They cried and created so much drama that he was being an insensitive son. Mainly because they didn't like Mumbai. According to them, that city is filled with drugs, smugglers, dons and terrorists planning to bomb every building. The news channels that often turn a bump into a mountain are to be blamed. Ever since the Taj attack incident, his parents had deemed Mumbai wasn't safe and it wasn't easy to change that opinion until they had some concrete to believe in. Not that Bangalore was less. But you know parents? Less logic, more rules. Hearing them boasting of his very plan they dissed not very long ago, made him slightly happy. And you thought this whole thing was a slip of the tongue? Ha! If parents can throw tantrums and drama, the kids, learn from the best, no?
"That's good I guess." Venkat seemed finally convinced. That kind of gave the green signal for all of the relatives to gush that such a high-salary groom would be marrying their innocent and extremely cultured bride.
"I think it's time we saw your daughter..." Roopa spoke in embarrassment. Amit snickered at his mom who was not afraid to point out wardrobe malfunctions even in front of an audience of thousands of people, is shy to request seeing the bride she originally came here to see for? Wow!
Who in today's time would do this? Apart from showing him her picture, even his so-called 'modern' family hadn't bothered to let him have a 'talk' with her. Forget seeing her, at least a phone call conversation would have been great! But of course, when it came to marriage, even his family followed the same old rules and regulations.
For years they have been obsessed about his marriage! They weren't even as excited and cautious when Madan got married 10 years ago (arranged marriage of course, what were you thinking?).
"Sit properly and stop hogging!" His mother managed to chide him while plastering a giggly look and a listening ear to some elderly lady inquiring about Amit's childhood. As he followed his mother's words, she chided him again, "Try not to embarrass us, mingle and look excited. It's your bride we came to see here for God's sake!"
Amit rolled his eyes and whispered back, "Oh really! I had no idea, Amma!"
