The other day I was penning down my details in Tanishq
membership form. My mother was busy at the billing counter as she bought me a nice pearl necklace as my
wedding present. I'm stuck up at a
particularly spooky question. Single? Married? wot do I tick? I am neither
single nor married...I'm engaged to be married. I hung up my pen midair pensive
in thought...a dreamy expression clouding my face, a gentle smile playing over
my lips.
I felt thankful to all those guys who rejected my alliance
and felt sorry about those whom I had to reject. My partner search had been a
roller coaster ride. Nevertheless I enjoyed it. Many a times I had to meet
guys, their parents, grandparents, siblings, their neighbours and their-their
neighbours. CRAP. It was such a dumb
charade. I go thru it with a rather water-droplet-on-a-lotus-petal agility.
So wen i saw Nagesh's picture I thought "Handsome....but..."
The big day arrived and I wore a simple cotton saree and
'NO' jewellery. I expected a horde of relatives
and a charade as usual. But wen i saw him in casuals , accompanied
only by his brother, I thought "COOL". Dad took his brother on a walk (The idea is
to provide us some privacy) but mom wouldn't take the cue. She spoke about
Jagan And YSRCP of all things. I rolled my eyes in a kind of 'God-save-us'
expression. He caught my eye and gave me an all-understanding-smile. My
maternal aunt, bless her, called just in time and engaged my mom for a good
quarter hour.
"Tell me about yourself" he said breathing in the
air of liberty.
"I am a paediatrician working as asst prof at a renowned
med college. I have plans to run a personal clinic at some point of my life..."
i went on with my well rehearsed spiel with a monotonous tone.
"That's not wot I meant. Ur profile told me all of that
stuff. Tell me about YOURSELF" he cleared.
"ummm" I
smiled. I could appreciate his efforts to make me feel at ease. "I'm a jack of all traits, master of
none. I enjoy music, blogging and painting"
"So U R an artist" he said eyeing my paintings
hung over the textured wall.
"I'm just an amateur...but yes! Painting is my
passion" I confessed.
"I love travelling" he doled out.
"Oh really! where have you been to?" I asked
chirpily abandoning the 'Speak-as-little-as-u-can' of the brides.
"All over the south. you name the place" he said
suavely.
"I had been to Hampi. Did u?"
"yes"
"Mahabalipuram?"
"yes"
"Hoganakkal?"
"Oh yes!! Its such a beauty. Infact we have been to all
the exotic places in and around banglore." And the conversation is wheeled gently to all
areneas and I was told all that i need
to know. I could make out that he is a
fun loving and adventurous person. He has one of those ever-smiling faces I have
seen. He is a open book. He made no effort to hide his feelings for
me.
Finally I asked the inevitable question. "why
me?"
"I always wished to get married to a confident and
independent woman. Till date I met brides-to-be who adopted wot we call a mould
behaviour. wearing pattu sarees, flowers and jewels, speaking scantily, smiling
scarcely. Ha ha haaa... You are definitely not one of them. I liked you for
being wot u R! "
I made him a cup of green tea thinking
"He is good but...". Wen the dates were fixed and alliance
finalized I thought "Is this happening really? or Am I picturing it in my
head?"
I was in a sort of
suspended animation wen we exchanged rings and vows. I looked at him with wild disbelieving eyes
at the bethoral eve. "This is how arranged marriages are meant to be...you
will fall in love...slowly...but surely" my friends enlightened me.
Well! My friends have been true to their words. There are no more BUT's butting in. I'm having
my share of blushes and flushes, Skipped beats and butterflies in my tummy.
Life has never been better. Infact off late
wen somebody enquires if it is an arranged marriage or love marriage, I
reply "Arranged with love"
"Day dreaming?" My mothers mockery brought me back
to the task of form filling. I smiled and ticked married in the application
form with a happy and content heart.
Well! That's how I met my future husband and we started our
voyage of marriage.
