My first kiss

I had a brimful of tears in my not-so-water proof-kajal-primped-eyes, as I turned back to wave my dad at my bidayee. My mom spilled a bucketful and my sister drained a tank-full of tears already. My dad waved his sturdy little pink palms as cheerfully as he could muster. I adjusted my ghoonghat, biting my lower lip doing my best, not to cry. I have promised someone special that I wouldn’t ever cry. so I dwelled upon my happy memories to keep that million-dollar-smile alive. Particularly the memory of my first kiss veiled my eyes, when I actually made him a  promise that I would enter his life as a bride with the best-pearly-smile-ever.

Few days ago:

I held my breath and closed my eyes tightly anticipating my first kiss. I've always wondered how my first kiss would be. so, finally this is how it is!!! I had a very bad urge to break in to a fit of laughter. At the same time I'm tensed as hell. I had never been this close to a guy in the whole of my 28 year-ed spinster life.   My heart thumped in my throat convulsively.  'Don’t be crazy. you aren't a juvenile deliquescent sneaking out of bed at the dread of the night' I told myself to calm my nerves.  'He is your fiancée and you are his future wife. This is how it is meant to be '

"so are you ready?" he asked huskily.

"No" I said half truthfully, butterflies tussling in my tummy. Sridevi's hit number "Mere  haataoin mein nau nau choodiyaa hai. Thoda teharo sajan majbooriyaa hai…" blared from the speakers of my music system serving as a perfect BGM (back ground music).

'MUAAAHHHHH' I heard him kissing me. My ear tickled and tingled. My nerves hit a frenzy of ecstasy. The mobile which I held between my ear and shoulder, as I hugged my pillow with mehandi- laden-arms, slipped and landed on a pile of cushions on my bed.  The laughter that is suppressed in the pit of my stomach exploded in to a hurricane. I'm no longer watchful of how I sounded. Shrill? Tilling? soprano? Girlish? Maniac? I laughed until my sides are in stitches.

"Damn you girl. whatz so funny?" he cried, his voice laced with irritation. I broke in to yet another fit of laughter.

"I'm telling you, don’t mess with me. you will pay dearly for this ridicule" he warned trying to sound malicious. But the fact is he sounded even more sexy. I activated the hands free mode and propped myself on my elbows lying on my tummy.

 "Aha" I enticed him.

"If I could fly 'THERE' right now, I would have kissed you until you are literally gasping for breath " he said in a very-very corny tone.

"where?" I said wondering whether he really meant to fly all the way from Delhi to Banglore 1 week ahead of the schedule.

"ummmm….Depends….on what I want to tell you and what I want you to realize" he said amorously. It took a few seconds to comprehend what he meant. I rolled over on my bed.

"Did you really mean kissing at each place has its own sub-textual meaning to be deciphered?" I asked thoughtfully  like an obedient student.

"of course" he said  proudly like a professor of non-verbal communication.

"Accha! Then tell me more about it. what does a kiss on the…..errrr…forehead mean?" I asked with genuine enthusiasm.

"A forehead kiss is a farewell kiss" he said without pausing to think. I pictured him leaving me behind in the airport, all set to get back to Delhi, where he worked.  He continued in a velvety voice "I would take a step closer to you. Place a hand gently on your mangalsutr bhara neck and brush my lips against your sindhoor bhara forehead. It  says ….ki….I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR YOU. No matter where you are! No matter where I am!"

"That’s …that’s ….really really sweet of you" I said head over heels in love with my future husband.

"And when I want to tell you that…'YOU ARE CUTE' and as bitable as a chocolate, I would scoop one of your chubby cheeks in my hand, tilt your head to a side and kiss on the other cheek" he said mocking me in a false-baby-gibberish-tone. I giggled shamelessly at this.

"And" I asked tantalizing him to tell me more.

"AND…when I hug u from behind, brush away the hair caressing your neck and plant a soft kiss at the nape of your neck…." he continued in a silky voice.

" Mohith! That’s enough baba!" I urged him to stop as the hair standing erect on the nape of my neck signed with anticipation.

"It means that I WANT YOU. your body….your soul. Now  and forever " he nevertheless continued as if he was never interrupted.

"okay…but…." I said hesitantly wetting my parched lips. He paused to draw a short breath and continued " AND when I step dangerously closer , giving you a bears hug, sealing your lips with mine…." he paused again as my heart skipped a few beats "it means that I LOVE YOU and that I can't live without you". He sounded rough in an attempt to camouflage the suppressed emotion that normally chokes ones throat. I knew he meant each one of those words.

"I love you too Mohith" I declared tears sliding down my cheeks.

"Are you crying?" he asked not at all expecting that I would break in to tears so easily.

"No. why would I cry?" I lied moping my leaking nose on the sleeve of my expensive kurthi.

"ha ha haaaaaa" it was his turn to laugh like a lunatic. "Accha listen! I'll make a new interpretation. whenever you cry  I'll take it as an invitation to kiss you" he said cheesily.

"what rubbish?" I said waving him off.  "If I cry when we fight, would you think I'm inviting you to kiss me?" I asked him a tongue-in-cheek question.

"Ha ha . kyon nahi" he replied instantly. "If u want to fight me fair and square, fight your tears" he added.

" Oh. is it? would u kiss me when I tear while chopping onions?"  I extended my imagination a little farther.

"ummmm. Delicious. Thoda sa namkeen. Thodha sa spicy"  he replied.

"YUCK! Lets say I'm crying  in the funeral of your great grand mother. would you still kiss me there in the crowd?" I questioned laughing playfully.

"yes! ofcourse. How can I deny your request? Aakhir apni Mardaangi ka sawaal hai" he said buffing up a little chauvinism.

"zyaada kush hone ki zaroorat nahi hai. I promise you I'll never spill a drop of tear when I'm with you" I said suavely.

"I'll try my luck and wait for your call" he said crossing his heart.

My eyes filled with tears of bliss as I realized how lucky I am.

At my Bidaayee:

The memory of my first kiss…..(well technically he did not physically kiss me yet….but….according to me the phone wala kiss is my first kiss ever)……..brought tears of bliss in to my already not-so-empty eyes.

"5….4….3….2…" he started counting in my ears. I gave him a quizzical look.

"Almost there…..You can do it. common. Baas ek  jhalak palkoin ka" he said expectantly.

I smiled inevitably blinking my lashes. A huge pearl of a tear set itself on a voyage down the pears of my cheeks.

"That’s it" he declared,  his towering stature leaning down closer to my face which is now locked between the steal of his palms. He kissed my lashes as gently as he can. I heard my sister gasp. My mother clasped her astounded mouth shut with the pallu of her saree. His mother cried "Hai ram! yeh ladka badmash hota jaaraha hai". His dad winked at my dad with twinkling eyes and Dad broke in to a particularly mischievous smile. 

I could neither break myself free nor did I wish to. I spilled more tears. He kisses both my eyes with more devotion and passion. I heard more gasps. The video wallah is recording the whole drama with jubilation.  when I emptied my quota of tears I stepped back. His lips are charred with the kajal smudged from my lashes as a tell-a-tale-sign.

"But that’s unfair. They were tears of bliss" I complained smiling his favorite smile.

"when did I say that I'll not kiss your tears of bliss?" he mocked.  I rolled my eyes while he mopped the kajal on his lips on my dhupatta.

'Now….should I call this my first kiss ever or the one over the telephone?' I wondered again as I got in to the car decorated with lilies and orchids.