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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The first time Amit had seen Aishwarya was on the train, around 10 months ago. It had been a last-minute trip and to his utter bad luck, his flight had got cancelled. One of his friends had somehow gotten him a Tatkal ticket on the train. It was going to be a 30-hour journey to Ahmadabad from Bengaluru.
An hour into the journey, two old ladies had started creating a scene saying he was sitting in their seats. When he inspected the seat numbers, to his horror he had the same number as theirs. When he confronted his friend over the away from angry ladies, he confessed that he got him the ticket through some contact in the railway office. Read: black ticket. In simple terms, the ticket was not obtained through legal means or the right channels.
The matter soon escalated the ladies claiming that he must be a pervert and whatnot. Just as he thought, he would make the headlines tomorrow as the world-class-pervert-stealing-old-ladies seats, Aishwarya showed up to his side along with the TT (ticket examiner). Even before the TT could say or do anything, Aishwarya began to create a fuss about the railway's incompetence, completely changing the perspective of what the old ladies were claiming. She even began fighting with TT, thwarting all his attempts to subdue the situation. Finally, she took the snap of the tickets, though slightly blurry, and along with the name of the train and TT officer, she was all set to send the tweet. Afraid that the matter would catch unnecessary negative comments online, the TT promised to give Amit a seat.
Amit watched her in astonishment and to his surprise there was an empty berth right next to Aishwarya's and the TT wasted no time in issuing a new ticket to him. This way, the old ladies had no more qualms, the tweet was not sent and Amit managed to get a proper ticket and a good side berth for the rest of his journey. Added bonus, his berth was right above Aishwarya's.
Once the chaos had settled down, Amit was bewitched. He couldn't take his eyes off her until she spoke, "Please tell me, I didn't fight for an actual pervert!"
A horrified Amit looked at her stammering to form coherent words. When she laughed at his clumsiness, Amit smiled sucking his cheeks and adjusting his spectacles. He had fallen for the little pailwan. Yep, that's how she had fought for him amidst the train compartment full of people (the majority of them being ladies). He was just a stranger to her who was easily misunderstood as a pervert for simply sitting in the seat that he had paid for. Though his friend got the ticket through questionable ways, he didn't utter a word about to anyone.
"Erm.. Hi, I am Amit." he hesitantly introduced me after a few seconds of silence. "Aishwarya." She beamed.
The rest of the journey was history. That day, they didn't just exchange names, they exchanged their hearts. Oh and weirdly enough, when they reached their destination, Aishwarya was adamant about exchanging their tickets too. He didn't know why. But just to remember the day by, he kept that ticket safely with him. Even to this date, that ticket remains hiding securely behind Lord Ganesha's picture in his wallet.
✺
"I love you, Immy," Aishwarya whispered very softly as she slid the ring into his finger. "I love you more, Chinnu." He whispered back as he slid the ring on her finger.
Aishwarya had named him Immy the moment they had started dating. She wanted to call him something special that no one else did. To this day she thanks her stars for that. Her parents, when they found out, they only knew the boy's name was Immy and she met him in Ahmadabad. They weren't even ready to listen to a word about him. Even the slightest effort was not made to see if he belonged to the same community or their horoscopes matched, according to whatever their customs were. That hurt her so bad that she had decided she would simply run away. All she wanted was for them to meet him, know him and do whatever the astronomical calculations they wanted to. Because she knew, they were meant for each other! She always knew it.
However, none of that happened. They took away her mobile, didn't let her go back to Ahmadabad, got her to resign from her intern position and made her wait while they found a 'suitable boy' for her. Today, she feels that it was a blessing in disguise. Her family was so against this love marriage concept that every good thing about Amit would have turned into a bad omen. This was indeed for the best!
"Great choice." Her grandmother, Arundhati whispered against her ears when she took her in for a hug. Giving her the blessings, Arundathi sat next to her.
3 months ago, when no one helped her, it was her grandmother, the oldest lady in her house, who came forward giving Aishwarya her cell phone in secret. Thankfully Aishwarya wasn't one of those people who couldn't even remember the important numbers and depended on smartphones to save it for her. She hadn't wasted a moment in dialling Amit and then the plan was made. Initially, she had begged him to join her so they could run away. But he insisted on doing it the right way and soon Madan was brought in. His brother had single-handedly taken care of everything.
Arundhati became Aishwarya's lifeline as Madan got hold of a marriage broker to bring Amit's proposal to Aishwarya's house. Things fell into place, even though a lot of efforts were made from behind. Starting from paying enough money to all the marriage brokers in keeping all other profiles away. Making sure the Purohit Ji also helped them. Arundathi should take the credit for that part. Purohit Ji respected and adored the old lady like his own mother so he didn't hesitate to abide by her request.
Even though the horoscopes were not a perfect match, the priest performed all the rituals to make it perfect. Amit and Aishwarya had performed every pooja and ceremony, keeping it a secret from their respective families to make sure everything worked out in the end.
Maybe, after some years when their families understood they were made for each other, perhaps then they would break the news to them. Maybe then Aishwarya can tell them, she isn't too young to make choices. In fact, her choice was the best one ever!
Amit and Aishwarya had to hide their chuckle, when both their families gushed about how lucky and made for each other they were to tie a knot. Even Arundathi's giggles had to be suppressed.
"Thank you," Aishwarya whispered back. "Thank you Ajji." Amit chimed in too side-hugging the old lady. She laughed, "Aw. Naughty fellas! All I want is for you both to have a life filled with lots of excitement, maybe a little frustration and loads of love."
As they smiled for the cameras with her grandmother sitting in between, Amit and Aishwarya held hands with each other behind Arundathi's back.
