…as I was standing in front of the dressing mirror and adjusting my trousers to look superior and formal, my sister intruded my lone privacy with the mirror and started untangling her hair. Of course she knew that the situation actually demanded me to look smarter than her, but still, who can question the ladies while ‘dressing’. As it had been proved that gentlemen normally take 1/3 rd of the time to dress as compared to ladies, but still ironically they (men) are cursed before anyone else are. At around peak afternoon, all of us (me, mom, dad, sister and tauji) were looking smart and were ready to struggle to fit into our small and cute Maruti Zen (believe me, once you get into this car you wouldn’t regret struggling for it). As dad was driving the car to our destination and passing by many vehicles and pedestrians on road, I was trying to occupy myself with thoughts other than what I should be thinking of. "how the bicycle is crossing the lane"… "why the bus-wala is standing in the middle of the road"…"it’s the hottest day of my life"…etc. The environment inside the car was quite and contemplative. I am sure everyone must be thinking about the next 1-2 hours that we were going to spend with new unknown people. "What are we going to talk"…"how we would do the talking"…"what all things should we look for"…"what sort of things should we clarify at the moment"…etc. Not talking about others, but I was nervous…!!!
As we reached our destination, we took off from our car and everyone started giving final touches to the makeup we all had done. The gatekeeper at the entrance greeted us with smile hidden behind his dense, cloudy moustache. Inside the hall, the reception was deserted with very few people. This is the normal scene in hot place like Jaipur where active working hours are less than the rest time. In the middle of the hall we were welcomed by a broad shouldered man along with a person who was thin but good in height. I had no knowledge about any one of them, but one thing was sure that atleast one of them holds a special respect from me. We were shown the way to the dining hall where we could see two big sofas and 5 different chairs with two serving tables separating them. I positioned myself comfortably between dad and tauji on one side and sister and mom on the other side. The best relief for me was the mirror that was mounted on the pillar right in front of me. Atleast I had the chance to escape other’s view by looking at the mirror and asking the question, "Am I looking good"…or "am I still looking good". Thank GOD for that. After few minutes later three more people enter the hall and all eyes darted on to one lady who was leading the team of three. She was……
Did I forget to mention that the situation described above happened in Jaipur in the month of June? The lady that I had mentioned above is my ‘wife’, Divya and the occasion described above is the one when we had first met along with our parents. I still remember that day when I had felt like totally unexpressive, immature and nervous. Traditionally men are supposed to take charge of these kinds of situations but hell with these theories.
Anyways, coming back to her team, ironically she looked like leading the team of three (her brother along with her mother and herself) because she was looking tall (unlike the height mentioned in her ‘bio-data’- technical name of ‘resume’ in matrimonial terms. And I think the high heels footwear had really helped her). Her mother was very calm, quite and formal as she greeted us with a smile almost as similar as Divya’s (please excuse me for associating every good thing to my wife...!). Her brother looked like an IITian who had been stressed out with last-minute examinations. Later, I found out that he was no where related to engineering, forget about IIT (lucky champ). But just like true brother, he was quick on his toes to arrange everything for this event. Then we were served the drinks ("soft drinks for me, please". I was supposed to be a ‘nice’ boy). As we gulped our drinks, I couldn’t resist looking at the beer mugs filled with ultimate divine liquid, adorning the hands holding them. These hands were that of the three lucky gentlemen present in our group. Before I could clear my throat and reply something to someone, she was charged up the energy that had left me gaped. She was interacting with his brother more than her guests and I couldn’t help smiling at her. My mother asked her some very obvious questions and she replied back in almost jocular way (direct talk between probable ‘saas’ and probable ‘bahu’ was very rare even at that time too..!). After some time, we were allowed to have a ‘free casual chat’ (my sister and her brother were still involved in this ‘free casual chat’) in their personal room upstairs. We started talking like we were very old, forgotten friends meeting after long time and had no common agenda for the talks. We talked like we already knew each other and this meeting was just a formality. After some minutes we were left alone to discuss some serious ‘issue’ that could trouble us. Actually we had discussed all those issues that could hamper our future life instead of those things that could benefit our lives. This is very natural but true. In short span of time, we couldn’t share the good things and neglect discussing all the risks that could come in our future age. This is called ‘defensive’ approach and is very common. During the sensible conversation I had innumerable thoughts running down in my mind…"does she looked good in this dress"…"is her way of talking appropriate in my family"…"does she normally wear such high heels"…"is she formal enough or pretending to be one"…"is she talking like extreme professional and career oriented"…"could she really understand my complex maze in just few minutes"…"should I compare her with my previous experiences with ladies"…"could I do enough justice to her by fulfilling her dreams"…"how could she be so down-to-earth while working in MNC like Citigroup and living in metropolitan city Mumbai"…"will mom approve her of her charming behavior"…"God..! I had missed that beer in the dining hall"…"will she be able to sail through my already troubled life" etc.
As I said ‘short span of time’, I really meant that. After few minutes, we were called back for the lunch…that means the public appearance, again. We left our discussions (issues) on hold and went for satisfy our appetite. I was feeling like joker sitting there and having food when most of the things were still to be discussed. Anyways, the ‘dal’ was good and ‘paneer’ could be classified as average. And that was the first moment when I ate less than my appetite like a professional dietician. Two big ‘naan’s and no instantaneous burping, hard to resist but I had to maintain my dignity at that moment. During the talks, I was still thanking GOD for the mirror placed in front of me that reminded me of same questions as I had mentioned above. Also it had helped me a lot escaping other’s glances at me when I had nothing to speak or comment about. Infact it looked like cursing me for wasting my time at it foolishly and not talking to Divya.
After few more talks and chats we decided to take a leave. The idea gave me enough fresh air to breathe and time to introspect and contemplate about her. As we gradually walked towards the car we shook hands in belief that we may meet again. We again struggled to fit in Zen (this time it was difficult after the lunch) and drove back home. The air in the car was the same as before and thoughts prevailed like the same. The only difference was that all of us had common topic in our mind to think upon.
This was my first and by the grace of GOD, the last formal meeting with a girl who was unknown to me. Few days from now, she is going to get into new phase of life popularly known as ‘Marriage’. And I feel lucky to have such a nice experience that made me to write a blog before ‘our’ marriage.
As we reached our destination, we took off from our car and everyone started giving final touches to the makeup we all had done. The gatekeeper at the entrance greeted us with smile hidden behind his dense, cloudy moustache. Inside the hall, the reception was deserted with very few people. This is the normal scene in hot place like Jaipur where active working hours are less than the rest time. In the middle of the hall we were welcomed by a broad shouldered man along with a person who was thin but good in height. I had no knowledge about any one of them, but one thing was sure that atleast one of them holds a special respect from me. We were shown the way to the dining hall where we could see two big sofas and 5 different chairs with two serving tables separating them. I positioned myself comfortably between dad and tauji on one side and sister and mom on the other side. The best relief for me was the mirror that was mounted on the pillar right in front of me. Atleast I had the chance to escape other’s view by looking at the mirror and asking the question, "Am I looking good"…or "am I still looking good". Thank GOD for that. After few minutes later three more people enter the hall and all eyes darted on to one lady who was leading the team of three. She was……
Did I forget to mention that the situation described above happened in Jaipur in the month of June? The lady that I had mentioned above is my ‘wife’, Divya and the occasion described above is the one when we had first met along with our parents. I still remember that day when I had felt like totally unexpressive, immature and nervous. Traditionally men are supposed to take charge of these kinds of situations but hell with these theories.
Anyways, coming back to her team, ironically she looked like leading the team of three (her brother along with her mother and herself) because she was looking tall (unlike the height mentioned in her ‘bio-data’- technical name of ‘resume’ in matrimonial terms. And I think the high heels footwear had really helped her). Her mother was very calm, quite and formal as she greeted us with a smile almost as similar as Divya’s (please excuse me for associating every good thing to my wife...!). Her brother looked like an IITian who had been stressed out with last-minute examinations. Later, I found out that he was no where related to engineering, forget about IIT (lucky champ). But just like true brother, he was quick on his toes to arrange everything for this event. Then we were served the drinks ("soft drinks for me, please". I was supposed to be a ‘nice’ boy). As we gulped our drinks, I couldn’t resist looking at the beer mugs filled with ultimate divine liquid, adorning the hands holding them. These hands were that of the three lucky gentlemen present in our group. Before I could clear my throat and reply something to someone, she was charged up the energy that had left me gaped. She was interacting with his brother more than her guests and I couldn’t help smiling at her. My mother asked her some very obvious questions and she replied back in almost jocular way (direct talk between probable ‘saas’ and probable ‘bahu’ was very rare even at that time too..!). After some time, we were allowed to have a ‘free casual chat’ (my sister and her brother were still involved in this ‘free casual chat’) in their personal room upstairs. We started talking like we were very old, forgotten friends meeting after long time and had no common agenda for the talks. We talked like we already knew each other and this meeting was just a formality. After some minutes we were left alone to discuss some serious ‘issue’ that could trouble us. Actually we had discussed all those issues that could hamper our future life instead of those things that could benefit our lives. This is very natural but true. In short span of time, we couldn’t share the good things and neglect discussing all the risks that could come in our future age. This is called ‘defensive’ approach and is very common. During the sensible conversation I had innumerable thoughts running down in my mind…"does she looked good in this dress"…"is her way of talking appropriate in my family"…"does she normally wear such high heels"…"is she formal enough or pretending to be one"…"is she talking like extreme professional and career oriented"…"could she really understand my complex maze in just few minutes"…"should I compare her with my previous experiences with ladies"…"could I do enough justice to her by fulfilling her dreams"…"how could she be so down-to-earth while working in MNC like Citigroup and living in metropolitan city Mumbai"…"will mom approve her of her charming behavior"…"God..! I had missed that beer in the dining hall"…"will she be able to sail through my already troubled life" etc.
As I said ‘short span of time’, I really meant that. After few minutes, we were called back for the lunch…that means the public appearance, again. We left our discussions (issues) on hold and went for satisfy our appetite. I was feeling like joker sitting there and having food when most of the things were still to be discussed. Anyways, the ‘dal’ was good and ‘paneer’ could be classified as average. And that was the first moment when I ate less than my appetite like a professional dietician. Two big ‘naan’s and no instantaneous burping, hard to resist but I had to maintain my dignity at that moment. During the talks, I was still thanking GOD for the mirror placed in front of me that reminded me of same questions as I had mentioned above. Also it had helped me a lot escaping other’s glances at me when I had nothing to speak or comment about. Infact it looked like cursing me for wasting my time at it foolishly and not talking to Divya.
After few more talks and chats we decided to take a leave. The idea gave me enough fresh air to breathe and time to introspect and contemplate about her. As we gradually walked towards the car we shook hands in belief that we may meet again. We again struggled to fit in Zen (this time it was difficult after the lunch) and drove back home. The air in the car was the same as before and thoughts prevailed like the same. The only difference was that all of us had common topic in our mind to think upon.
This was my first and by the grace of GOD, the last formal meeting with a girl who was unknown to me. Few days from now, she is going to get into new phase of life popularly known as ‘Marriage’. And I feel lucky to have such a nice experience that made me to write a blog before ‘our’ marriage.
2 comments:
Its a year to "Jab we Met"...what a eventful year..Happy Anniversary...Luv u
Yup...what a day that was...!!!
Happy Annv to u too..!!!
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