An Arranged Love Marriage; Part 2

"Abhi",his mother called out to him from the kitchen

"Yes mom",Abhi answered even as he pulled up his socks and stood up stamping his feet to better adjust his shoes.

"What time will you be home dear?"

Abhi sighed.He knew why she was asking that question.Must be another proposal from "a relative who knows them well".She had been trying to get him married off for the past seven or eight months.But much to her chagrin,Abhi continously evaded all her efforts and always managed to find some or the other fault with the girl or her family.The issue was quite simple and straightforward according to Abhi.He wanted to have a love marriage and simply was not going to settle for a arranged one.His mother kept on getting one proposal after another and he kept on rejecting them.And he had not found any girl.

"Shall be a bit late mom",he said stepping into the kitchen.The delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee tickled his senses.

"Do try to come by 6.00.There is this girl whom I want you to meet."

Abhi sighed theatrically and slumped his shoulders,"" Mom,you know I.."

His protests trailed off as his mother stuffed a toast in his mouth.

"No excuses from you young man",she said,"She is from a good family."

"They always are.What's her name?"

Her answer was drowned out in the sound of a low flying jet and Abhi did not bother too ask her again.

"Ok.Shall try to be back on time."

He got into his car and backed out into the quiet street.The neighbourhood was not exactly swanky but was occupied by people who knew the meaning of old money.The family had moved into this place a year back after Abhi's father had passed away.Five years on the payroll of an MNC and the money that came with the upward climb in a corporate world had allowed Abhi the luxury of a house in that locality.Five years.Five years since he had heard from Meg.He had been way too busy in his job and hardly had any time to get in touch with her.Contacts had slowly died down purely to lack of time and then because of sheer laziness to pick up the phone or write a small e-mail.Four years of engineering seemed like a dream.A place of memories that Abhi visited often as he leafed through the photo albums.Every snap had some or the other memory attached to it.He like the ones that had been clicked in Shimla.He remembered Meg falling seriously ill because of the cold.He had sat at her bedside the whole night.He missed her.As much for her vivacity as for her practical take on life.He wondered where she was now,whether she had settled in happy matrimony or was still single.Lost in these thoughts he reached his office.

Work kept him busy till mid afternoon.The topic of marriage came up amongst the people as they crowded around the coffee machine and Abhi was suddenly reminded of the promise to his mother.Excusing himself from the conversation he went back to his office and wrapped up whatever was left and left.On the way he started thinking of excuses of not marrying the girl.Most of them he had used already and wanted something that looked genuine.He pulled into the driveway and parked his car.As he entered his house he caught the faint fragrance of jasmine.His mother's favourite perfume.She must be really looking forward to it he thought as he showered,shaved and put on a fresh change of clothes.His mother kept up a animated stream of gossip as he drove to the address she gave him.He responded to her questions with alternate affirmatives and negations hardly paying attention to the question being asked.A tweny minute drive found him parked outside a wrought iron gate that held behind it a two storey bunglow facing the sea.He honked twice and a servant opened the gate.

"Are you sure this is the address?",he asked his mother as his eyes took in the architecture.It had obviously been done by a professional who knew his way around the cement and mortar.He knocked on the door and was ushered in by a maid who said Mrs.- would be out in a moment.She asked them to be seated in the living room.Five minutes passed.Abhi kept himself engrossed in the numerous paintings that adorned the walls.The choice showed a fine refinement in the taste.Even the furniture looked as if it had been carefully chosen.

"Shyamal!So sorry to keep you waiting like this"

Abhi looked sharply towards the entrance as a well dressed lady of about fifty entered the room.He did not recognise her and was surprised when she called his mother by her first name.His mother got up and shook hands with her.

"Abhi.meet Mrs.-.And dont be surprised by the first name basis.Me and Ashwini go back years.Busy schedule kept us from regular contact.But we have gotten in touch a month or so back."

Abhi groaned inwardly.A month of contact with a very old friend for a marriage proposal?!This was going to be very difficult to beat.

"Tea or coffee Abhi?",Mrs- was asking him.

"Coffee please."

Abhi was sipping the coffee when Mrs.- next words took the floor from beneath his feet and made him freeze in mid-sip,"There she is.Come Meghna.Come and sit here."

To Be continued....

An Arranged Love Marriage; Part 1

"Meg,wake up!",Abhi hissed beneath his breath and kicked her lightly in the ankle.

"Abhi,cant you see I am sleeping?I was busy the night before",Meg replied without even bothering to open her eyes.

"Busy?Her highness was busy!Doing what precisely?"

"As if that is any of your concern"

Abhi's reply died on his tongue as the prof's searchlight of a gaze fell on him.Of the thirty people in the class,you have to look at me,haven't you,Abhi fumed silently and sat still like a rabbit caught in the tiger's eye.He waited patiently for the blow to fall.Either it was the prof's good mood or maybe Meg decided to change the arm she was sleeping on,whatever be the case,Abhi could feel the gaze sliding from him onto his neighbour and dear friend,Meg.The tiger however lost his battle with his new prey even before it had started.How do you fight with a prey that chooses to ignore you and goes to sleep right under your nose?His shoulders slumped because he knew there was no point in waking up Meg.Irrespective of whether she slept in class or not,Meg would emerge trumps in his tests.He went back to his teaching and preaching to the poor souls who had to listen to his monotonous sermon because they either had no option or were too scared to wander off into Dreamland like Meg.Abhi let out a sigh of relief.Ten minutes later the class ended and the class let out a collective sigh of relief.

"The class has come to an end.Will her Highness please get up and bless her subjects with her undivided attention"

"Umm..Good morning..What time is it?"

"Time to get up and get your royal self to the canteen for some chow",said Abhi as Meg stretched like a cat and flexed her fingers.

Both picked up their bags and started walking towards the canteen.

Meg and Abhi.Or Meghna and Abhishek as their parents had christened them twenty years back were engineering students in their second year.A chance meeting in the college canteed some two years back had blossomed into a beautiful friendship that showed all the signs of developing like wine-the older it gets the better it tastes.Initially both had been wary of each other.Abhi was a the model specimen of a geek who believed that hard work gets one to the top while Meg was the exact opposite who believed that taking life easy is the only way to the top.While Abhi hacked and chopped away at the course work Meg preferred to waltz her way through it.Both emerged very quickly as tough contenders for the top spot and a healthy competition brewed between them.And instead of driving them apart from each other it pulled them towards each other.Hearts and minds go where they are appreciated and both of them found intellectual and emotional appreciation in each other's company.It amused the profs to see the contenders to be always together arguing about something or the other.Abhi would invariably throw his hands up in the air and raise his hands to the heavens when the realisation that his logic was utterly useless against Meg's combination of feminine instinct combined with her sharp wit.They argued on almost everything and anything.And the latest one under scrutiny was the question of a love marriage and a arranged marriage.Abhi vehemently held on the view that love marriages work best while Meg took the diagonally opposite stand and held on to the view that arranged marriages work best.

"How can you let your parents decide your life partner?!"

"Because they are more experienced and know what is best for their children",said Meg picking up a spring roll and inspecting it closely.

"Who is getting married?You or your parents?Dont you want to have the choice to deicde whom you want to come home to?",asked Abhi as he drove his fork into the plate of noodles.

"Love marriages make up for the major chunk of failed marriages.Look around and you will realize."

"That's because people fail to realize that being in love and being in holy matrimony because of the love are two different things.The relationship still needs the care and understanding that it needed some time back because now it's in a totally different context-of a husband a wife not two love struck individuals.They just assume things will work ."

"Thank god there are no such assumptions in arranged marriages.Here it's a fact that both have to work hard for the bond to stay."

"Tell me please,"asked Abhi keeping his fork down with a great show of pateince," because it escapes my sense of understaing that how can you marry a person you have known for a couple of weeks?Dont you want to understand your future life partner better?"

""And love marriage helps the situation?You might be in love with a girl and not know everything about her.For all you know she might be a total nutcase",said Meg over the rim of her orange juice.

"The same can happen in a arrange marriage.Might be worse too"

The duo argued endlessly over this and neither was ready to give up.They never came to any conclusion.

Two years of engineering flew past on the fast wings of time.Their frindship blossomed into a relationship that went beyond the boundaries of "just good friends".Neither however made a formal proposal.

And too soon it was time to bid adieu to each other.Abhi had landed a heavy package with a MNC while Meg had decided to go for higher education abroad.The call letter for Abhi and the acceptance letter for Meg arrived for the same time.Two months of hectic preperation followed.

The night before Meg was supposed to leave,Abhi was sitting in his room going through four years of frozen memories.The good times tinged by the lows, the dissapointments shadowed by jubilations.They had shared everything;except for one thing that Abhi had never come to face with.He felt a stinging feeling behind his eyes and snapped the album shut.Switching off his table lamp he fell into a deep sleep.

Half the town away Meg too was going through the same roller coaster ride of emotions.She kept wondering if there was something Abhi had not told her.And she kept on wondering if she should have him what was on her mind.

D-day dawned on two individuals who wished that they had just one more day.Just one more day to ask and say something.The ride to the airport was uneventful as both maintained an oddly self imposed silence.The security check and immigration check went off smoothly.

Just as she was about to go in,Meg turned towards Abhi and asked him,"One question.Will you give me a frank answer?"

"Actually I too have something to say to you",said Abhi.

"What?"

"Ladies first."

Meg decided not to argue on this one.

"Abhi,tell me very frankly,did you ever think of me as somebody more than a friend?"

Abhi raised his eyebrows pretending not to understand.

"Oh come on!Dont act so naive..You know what I mean..Did you?"

Abhi smiled,"How does it matter now?Anyways you dont belive in love marriages.For you,you want to settle in holy matrimony with the boy chosen by your parents".

"Abhi,thats not the answer......",started Meg as Abhi propelled her towards the gate.Meg turned back as the glass doors hissed closed.Abhi was backing away.His shoulders squared and hands dug deep into his jacket.Meg had found the answer to her question and the question Abhi wanted to ask.She raised her hand to wave a goodbye.

TO BE CONTINUED.......

The Bucket List

It was a Sunday afternoon and the lab was looking like a graveyard.People were off enjoying their Sunday and what was i doing in lab?Well...downloading a movie..Come on! It was a Sunday for goddaske!..There was this movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson called "The Bucket List".The movie is about a wish list which is made by two terminally ill cancer patients played by Freeman and Nicholson.They go on to fulfill all the wishes before cancer gets them.The movie got me thinking...Hmm...Should I make a "bucket list" too...Not that I am dying of any disease or anything like that(you can keep those tissue rolls down..assuming you had picked in the first place)..Just for the heck of it..To think of the ten things that i want to accomplish before I kick the bucket.So here goes...My "Bucket List":

1. Finish reading the books that are piling up on my humungously huge "MUST read these book"..like "Rise and fall of the Third Reich","War and Peace" to name a few.

2. Do something different from what I am doing just now.Dabble in english literature..I always wanted to take up law.

3. Learn a foreign language to enjoy literary classics from that language..to get a peek into the culture and enjoy the cultural difference.

4. Help the people in a place struck by a natural calamity not by signing on the cheque and forgetting about it but by ACTUALLY being there and getting my hands "dirty " in the relief work.

5.Do my bit for the environment..Make sure that the future generations dont blame our generation for giving them a raw deal.

6.Go around the world to see some of the most beautiful sights with the person who means the most to me.

7.Say the three magic words to a girl to start a very beautiful and meaningful relationship. And to hold her hand as I walk into the sunset.

8.Take out some time for the people who dont demand for my time but have every right to it..my parents..close friends..people for whom I haven't been able to spend much time thanks to some reason or the other.

9.See my name on a publication as the sole author in a high impact open access journal.

10.And last but by no means the least,write my name as Dr.Adwait A.Godbole ;PhD.

Well that my friends is my bucket list.Not in a order of importance.But some of the things that I want to finish.

Part5:Between friends...

27th December 2004;6.00 p.m.:
Five years back,hundred odd students had walked through the stone arches of one of the oldest institutes in the country known for its high quality of education.Eighty of the bright minds would walk with their heads held high with a degree that was going to throw open the doors of the best paid jobs anywhere in the world.The valedictorian was nearing the end of his speech.He was a bright student and had won the honour by the virtue of his academic track record.Eighty black robes rose as one,cheering and applauding the speaker.Flat topped hats were flung in the air as the batch of '98 celebrated its passing out.Nilima got up from her seat and gazed at Mac beside her.Both of them grinned sheepishly.They had made it through one hurdle and were determined to get through the rest of them together.The day before,Mac had proposed to her.And she had accepted.For a moment she thought what Adi would think of it.She wondered if he knew.Relations had soured between Adi and Mac to an extent where neither could stand the mere presence of the other.Adi and Nilima had become total strangers to each other.Once-upon-a-time best friends had turned their faces and minds away from each other.Adi was politely clapping along.The past three years had taken their toll on him physically and mentally.Academically he had emerged trumps.A wildcard entry that had proven itself.On the personal front however he had nothing worth envying.Enstrangement from Nilima had robbed him of his laughter and capacity to look at life with rose tinted glasses.Mac had stoked his insecurity.Sometimes he thought that the fault was his own.These thoughts hardly mattered now.Wish as hard as he could,nothing sort of magic was going to revert the status quo.Nilima had walked out of his life and he was left wondering whom to blame.She had asked him countless times what was the problem.He kept brushing off her questions because he would have to tell exactly how he felt about her.and for some reason he did not want to.Now he wished he had.Things would have been different.His distancing himself from Nilima had brought Mac closer to her.He had delivered the coup de grace three years back.Memories of that evening still made his eyes watery.To top the situation he was not a social animal and preferred spending his time either alone or with Nilima.With Nilima gone,he found it hard to socialise.Two years had already passed by and his batchmates had found people who shared similar tastes.In a sea of people who had drifted towards each other he was a misfit and suddenly found himself alone.He plunged headlong into his work and allowed it to occupy all his waking hours.Slowly but painfully,memories of the good times with Nilima faded away.News of Mac's proposal had reached his ears.He had frozen for a moment clenching and unclenching his jaw,his hands balled into fists.As the catatonia passed,five years of sweet and sour memories flooded his mind space.They were still running through his mind like a bad print of a movie as he made his way through the stone arch for the last time.Nilima watched the gaunt frame of Adi as it went into the setting sun framed by the imposing arch.Tears ran down her cheeks as she watched the straight back of her friend for the last time...
The End.