Arranged Love: Part 2 - YES and NO

“Have you EVER loved someone madly?” the weight of words was obvious from the heaviness of her voice. An eerie silence followed in the room. More than a question about me, it was a statement about her.

“Madness is my thing, I always did the things to an extreme only. But Love, I don’t think so. It requires a different kind of madness. “Somehow I was discovering myself too.

 She went into her room to change.

 The cloud started to hover and within moments the rain started with thunder.

“May I smoke in your balcony?” yeah.

 I was sitting in the hall. From which I entered in her room, whose exit was the entrance of the balcony.

“Would you like to take a puff?” I asked politely.

“Okay! But I use a different brand.” She brought her own cigarettes.

 Since Jan 1971, there is a complete ban on cigarette advertisements in India, but still, people are more particular about its brand than clothes.

“So what’s your story?” I brought her to the topic again.

“I am afraid it might bore you, but trust me it's real. Every word of it is an emotion which is still livid.”

 “As promised I will write a story on that and the readers will decide that. You start.”

 Once upon a time, there was a happy, bubbly, fun-loving girl busy in her own world. She has dreams, friends, family, work and many lovers who never got the opportunity. Everything was possible and life appeared to be fair.

 One day I found myself trapped in the balloon of marriage. This was the first time when my marriage was discussed in my home. I would be lying if I say I was not excited. The feeling was like a roller coaster ride, sometimes it was scary and sometimes it was a dream. Unlike other families, it was discussed in details, and they allowed me to talk to the guys first before involving families. They trusted me I would never cross the line.

 And then I met a guy. He disrupted all the routines in my life. His energy was mystically hypnotizing. He destroyed all the hidden dark corners inside me. I am a very difficult person to deal with, but he always had those exact words that can control me. Looks wise, he was a very normal guy, little chubby, 5’7” height, geek type power glasses.

 Formal phone calls converted into long video calls. For me, No information was personal anymore. It was time to introduce him to my family. My family agreed to meet him and his family. It was a two-day meeting. I along with my father flew to his city, Mumbai.

 He came to receive us at the airport. It was the first time we were meeting in real. I put out my hand for a handshake, but he chose to give a casual friendly hug. He drove us to the hotel. During the journey, he told us about the places we passed through. He stayed in the reception while we went to our room to change.

“He is a nice decent guy.” These words cracked my jackpot of happiness. I was trying hard to hide my emotions. We dressed up and head towards a restaurant where his parents and younger brother were waiting for us.

 It was a small cabin restaurant. In a meeting like this, thoughts we hide are more important than the one we speak. In that cabin, everyone was aware of this rule. I caught some gesture conversation between his mother, and him. In the gesture language, I asked him if she liked me. To which he texted me, “Talk to her more”. The conversations lasted for around 2 hours. It was decided that I and Alok (It was his name.) should spend some time together.

 He dropped my father to the hotel and took me to Starbucks. I was shy at first, avoiding eye contact. He told me that it’s a yes from his family side. In fact, they like her from the moment I entered the restaurant.

 A yes from his family also means ‘No’ to another guy, Shrey. I was talking to him over a month. I was not interested in him, but my family liked him very much. He was like those ideal cultured guys who never does anything wrong. He never even had any female friend. I could sense he was very much in love with me. I used to ignore him mostly, but due to my family, I used to reply to him once in a day. But that day sitting in that Starbucks, I texted him.

“Sorry, Shrey! It’s a no from my side. My marriage is already fixed at some other place.”