The incessant rain washed out a cricket match, rendered
people homeless and caused countless hardships to everyone. But amidst all these
distress, there was a couple who were thrilled to see the raindrops. Her
outstretched soft hands accumulated water from the pouring rain and threw it at
the creature standing next to her. That creature holding the umbrella for the
both of them was excited by this Water splashing game and did the honor of
splashing back the water caught with his rough hands. A smiling Sandy, looked
into his eyes with a deluge of love in her own eyes in the form of tears and
said, “I would want to die this moment!”
Aravind put his arms around her and squeezed her shoulder, a
squeeze that conveyed his ability to protect her, to be with her, to love her
and most of all how much he cared for her, “I
cannot live without you! Never could I imagine a day without holding you in my
arms!”
Sandy wiped the tears and wrapped her hands around his
waist. “We should marry soon”, she
exclaimed. “And we shouldn’t stop with
one kid. Two should make life interesting. After that,” She paused and said
“We should adopt a child. You’re ready
for adoption, isn’t?”
“Of course, why would
I say no!”
Sandy has a dream. Well, a plurality to the noun would be
good. Yes, she has dreams but they change intermittently. Some grownups never
wish to grow, thinking that childhood gives them the right to remain stupid.
Sandy was no different from that bunch that never grew in their head. Even if
they did, they never wanted to show it outside. She always had an innocent face
and in her own words a child’s heart.
But they never realize that children are the most abused in this world. Now, keeping
aside her innocuous mentality, it’s wise to plunge into her world of dreams. It
ranges from becoming a pilot to becoming a writer one day, going up the
corporate ladder to becoming an educational activist the next day, becoming an
entrepreneur to becoming a musician the day after that. The latest addition to
that illustrious list is adoption. None of the other dreams got any importance
from her and the latest addition will be no different. The good thing about a
dream is it never bothers about conversion rate (how many dreams came to
fruition).
They would’ve walked a few feet when she turned to him with
a concerned look on her face, “Will your mother like me? She might think that
I’m no match for you!”
“Why would she think like that! She’ll like you. Never worry
about that.”
This is the answer for which Aravind has to lie from the
bottom of his heart. Of course his mother will never like Sandy. Even if his
mother likes, his sister will ensure that the validity of the above statement
is protected. But Aravind knows very well that liking and accepting are two
different things. Only concern will be his sister belittling his choice of
women. He mentally pictured his sister showing a grotesque face with those
magical words, “So, this is the girl huh!
I expected something better!” But these worries can be parked for a
different day. He didn’t want to waste this glorious day thinking about things
that are outside his circle of influence.
“My parents will definitely like you. I’m not sure about my
father but my mother will!” said she suddenly with a bright face. “She’ll adore
you”, she continued “And if they ask
whether you believe in god, please say yes and don’t open your mouth about
Marx, Engels etc. They neither understand communism nor approve atheism.”
He nodded with a stern face.
And the conversation continued for few more feet with the
downpour not showing any sign of slowing down like Sandy’s rhetoric. She
exclaimed, “I’ve a plan” and outlined
the plan for taking forward their marriage related discussion.
Finally before bidding good bye, she kissed him on the cheek
and said “Tell this to your parents and bring
them to my house!”
……
The round table discussion resembled a G-8 summit but the
participants weren’t discussing the trivial matters like world economy plunging
into chaos, recent terrorist attacks in Peshawar or the tragic death of Phil
Hughes. They were into more serious things like marriage, love and a
combination of both that youngsters love to explore but the elders dread in
this part of the world.
“So, what do you say?”
said Aravind breaking the silence that had engulfed all of them, right from the
moment he started talking about Sandy.
His parents were too shocked to open their mouth. So his
lovely sister paraphrased it for the benefit of all the four of them.
“You’re in love with a girl named Sandy, originally named
Sandhya, 6 months younger to you, a class mate of yours in college, someone you
never knew existed then but fell head over heels with her these past 6 months.”
She looked around for an acknowledgement but received none.
“Now you’re ready to
marry her and you want Ma & Pa to meet her parents, talk about your
marriage” she paused, “But”, again a
pause, “she’ll act as if she doesn’t know anything about this relationship? Did
I get that part correct?”
“Yes” responded
Aravind with clenched teeth.
The facial reactions of both his parents were absolutely
stoical. He was unable to comprehend what exactly was going on inside them. Perhaps
he should’ve thought something better than this idiotic plan. He knew very well
that his parents will never heed to this, which he guessed will result in some
embarrassing moments for all of them. But this seemed the most plausible way to
show to Sandy’s parents that their child did not fall in love with a guy but a
guy who likes her wants to marry her. This seemed like a good plan then since
it involved Sandy keeping her mouth shut. But not anymore when he thought the
ordeal his parents have to go through.
“Since I know you well enough, I’m sure you’re not capable
of such dumb ideas. Was this her idea?” said his sister without any hint of
mockery in her voice.
“Yes”. This
affirmative reply embarrassed him. He shouldn’t have said that this dumb plan was hers. After all he must defend her!
“I don’t see this happening without embarrassment for all of
us” - This was his sister to their parents.
The time had come for the tacit parents to express their
opinion and put a formal full stop to the affair. Both his’ and his sister’s
eyes were on their parents expecting their verdict.
It was his father who said it first. It was a surprise to
everyone, “No Problem!” he smiled, “We’ll meet them and talk”.
…….
Sandy never expected this process to go smooth. One of the
reasons, in fact the only reason, is her father – He simply didn’t trust her. Now everything was happening how she
wanted it to happen. She was sitting in front of Aravind’s parents with
butterflies circling her stomach. She was waiting for Aravind’s father to open
the conversation. And he did.
“What kind of a parent
are you?”
Now this was not in the script. What is he talking?
“Perhaps, you should’ve brought her up in a
better way!”
That was the moment when she experienced a bomb blast within
her. All she could hear was the static keen sound and not the sound of words
flowing from Aravind’s dad. She couldn’t bring herself to look at her parents.
Her hands began the nervous shake at that moment. She didn’t want to believe
that the time for nervousness was over and things have gone to an incorrigible
level.
Did Aravind know
everything? Is that why he didn’t accompany them? No, never! He wouldn’t have
allowed them to talk like this. But was he stupid to allow them here alone to
talk? Didn’t he think of this possibility? What sort of a child is he, if he
cannot anticipate his parents’?
Ah! She questions his
anticipatory skills! Could she have done it perfectly? If so, knowing her
parents, she shouldn’t have got into this relationship in the first place. The
truth is she didn’t know how her parents would react to it just like Aravind
wouldn’t have expected this tirade from his father. But what she had was an
apprehension towards her father, which pushed her towards this stupid plan. Had
she opened it, it could’ve ended with a slap. But now that day was well and truly
over. What remains to be seen is how much damage it is going to cause!
What’s next for her?
The smooth sailing days are over and she could sense a new winter settling on
their relationship. This cold was developing inside her too. Perhaps she should
wait till she explains everything to Aravind! But will it help? No way. He
might suggest eloping. But her dumbstruck parents shouldn’t suffer more. The
apprehension for her father was slowly getting replaced by melancholy. Did she
notice the tears in his eyes? What else should he go through for her? This is
enough!
To stop the thoughts and the irritation it was causing, she
slapped herself hard enough that forced everyone to look at her.
With eyes full of tears, not from love, but out of sympathy
for herself, her family and the guy whom she loved, the guy who might or might
not get to know what happened here, she looked at Aravind’s parents and said “That’s the way you entered the house”, with
her index finger pointing the door, “and Please never come…..!”
Her voice trailed off. None disturbed her for a while, not
her father, definitely not her mother, surprisingly not even her mobile phone.
She was desperate for someone to wake her from this limbo and thunder obliged
first followed by heavy showers. She looked at the rain and all the
unforgettable nostalgia associated with the rain. She felt like strangling it
for creating some beautiful memories for her through a relationship and for
reminding her, the destruction of that same relationship.
