Monday 26 September 2016

Best to worst in seconds

With all the recent incidents I was still recovering from a heartbreak. I gave strict instructions to my family not to play the marriage card until I finish my MBA. I decided to not to go home for a while so that I can concentrate on my MBA applications. One day mom had asked to me come home for  Ganesh Chaturthi. Though initially reluctant, considering my parents would be celebrating the festival unaccompanied, I unenthusiastically said yes. But when I reached home, to my surprise both dad's and uncle's houses were packed with relatives and family friends. After the customary puja followed by lunch,  all the youngsters in the house planned to watch a movie in a local theatre. Since the next show was not earlier than an hour, we  decided to go to a nearby park to pass time. 

We were thirteen people I guess. Once we got to the park, I noticed a new face in our group. For a moment all I could see was her beautiful face. When I asked my cousin who  she was, he clarified that she is my brother-in-law's cousin and had come to our town to visit her grandparents. Since my shyness follows wherever I go, I didn't even dare to introduce myself. While my brother was showing the park to the others who were new to the town, I wanted to spend time alone and so, went for a walk. All I could think as I walked was about her. Where was she all these days? Where did she study? Is she working? What does she like? Is she single? Is she married? Will she accept if I propose to her? My thoughts went in all stupid tangential directions. I myself found it very silly and weird as it had been a while I thought about a girl in a long time.

While I was walking with my head down, I suddenly saw two beautiful feet with peach coloured nail polish in the wet grass. When I raised my head, I saw her in front of me smiling and stretching her hand for a handshake. Considering my aukaat and past experiences, I looked around to check if she was looking for someone else. But after hearing a chuckling sound, I realised  that the extended hand was for me to shake. I rubbed my hands on my jeans to clean them before shaking hands and introduced myself. We started talking and in no time we found ourselves strolling around the park. To maintain confidentiality, let's say her name is Meera. Suddenly my boring vacation became interesting. As we got know each other, I slowly started liking her... her peculiar interests, her interesting habits, the way she talked, her sweet voice, everything! Even she seemed to have had a great time talking to me. One hour passed by very quickly and my cousins were calling us to gather to start to the movie theatre. With a big smile on her face, she said bye and walked towards her car. 

As we reached the theatre, my cousin gave me ticket with seat no C 11 on it. We were last to arrive and the movie had already started. As I approached my seat, I found Meera in C 12. Filled with happiness, I looked up and gave a kiss to the guy sitting in the clouds. To my surprise, she was not surprised to find me sitting next to her. As the first song played we continued from where we left in the park. To be frank I don't remember the complete story of the movie at all. May be because I didn't follow it. After some time she gently held my hand close to her and continued watching the movie. For the first time in my life I found my story more happening than the story on the screen. Even in that DTS sound I could hear my own heartbeat. I didn't wish for it to happen so soon but I fell for a girl... again. Those were few of the sweetest moments of life.

Soon the movie got over and we started back home. She said "see you at dinner" and left. During dinner, I finally made a move from side and somehow managed to land a seat beside her at the table. As I was discussing about my new role at work with my brother, my spoon slipped away from my hand. As I managed to bend down to pick it up, I found her trying to do the same. As I reached my spoon she suddenly kissed me on my cheek. I immediately looked around to check if anyone had seen before completely releasing what exactly happened. As we got back to our normal positions, she looked at me and gave a coy smile. I found myself grinning foolishly though rest of the dinner. Somehow life had started to treat me well again. After  dinner, she said bye and went to  her parents sitting in another bedroom. 

Still not believing what was happening I sat in the hall thinking about her. My mom and aunt sat beside me and started smiling mysteriously. After a moment my aunt asked "How is she?" Though I was staggered by her question, I tried to be naive and asked "what are you talking about?". Then my mom explained their master plan. Meera was a prospective match for me. Even after knowing about my recent breakup she was interested to meet me. Knowing that I will openly reject if I come to know anything about the match, she suggested that she would first meet me as a family friend. I was about to yell at my mom for allowing this scheme. But before I could say anything further, she  declared that Meera had told her parents that she is willing to marry me. That very next second I flew to cloud 9, met the big guy, gave him a big hug and flew immediately back. From a dull day, the day turned out to be the most exciting day of my life. After a minute of silence, I decided  to see her at once  to say yes! That moment reminded me a dialogue from the movie “The Pursuit of  Happiness”,"This part of my life, this tiny part of my life is called happiness". 

At that very  moment, I heard a door open behind me. With my head full of thoughts and anticipation, I blissfully ignored it. As my mom was calling for her, I  eagerly looked towards her room. This time I sensed someone was walking towards me from behind. I still ignored as I didn't want to miss even a single second of that moment. As I was still waiting, someone tapped my back while frantically calling my name. I said "One sec please" but the voice repeated again. This time I could listen to the words LOUD AND CLEAR. 






"Duuuuuuuuude...... wake up it is 5.30 PM already". That was my afternoon nap and the voice from behind was my room-mate's. And that's how I realised the best day of my life is a dream.