Expectations

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She briefly took the phone wire from her mouth and greeted the receptionist. Then fixed it back again and continued speaking into it.

“Come on, Shyam, Do you expect me to believe such nonsense?”

She pulled out a chair from an unoccupied table and sat down. She was slim and tall, around 5’8”. Her bright red lips matched her red and black tops.

Even Salman who was threatening the waiter with a

 ‘if you had just told me I would have showed the lot of you to make an omelette the right way,’  turned around to see what others were looking at.

And naturally the waiter had to see why Salman had stopped so suddenly.

A small white rabbit peeped out of her right pocket. The girl stroked its head and throat gently and then thrust it inside, all the while continuing on the phone.

“Okay, Shyam, it may be an ordinary matter for you. But it doesn’t suit me one bit, understand?

“What?  

“YES, I agree that I’m traditional in my values, very traditional. In fact I’m surprised you didn’t notice it till now. So let me get it clear once and for all. Its goodbye forever and I don’t want to hear your voice or see your face anymore, got it?”

She pulled the earphones off and buried her face in her hands. The whole place was silent as if to share her loss. “A glass of apple juice first please,” she said to the waiting waiter, uncovering her face briefly.

“You serve this dish to that lady there,” Salman continued in a whisper “and see what happens. Your chef will be fired in ten minutes.”

“Excuse me, Sir, but that lady was so pleased with yesterday’s pudding  that she gave me a 500 rupee note tip.”

“Nonsense! You think I’ll believe that?” Salman said, thumping the table so forcefully that the young girl sitting at the opposite table let out an involuntary cry.

Her big eyes were fixed on the door. She huddled herself like a mouse on hearing a cat’s approaching meows.

“Relax, Rita, they’re not going to search for you here now,” the elderly lady by her side said. “My brother has cleverly diverted them to the north. In fifteen minutes we’ll be travelling south. You must spend the night at Ravi’s house. In the morning he’ll take you to the registrar’s office. Shankar will be waiting there. Just sign the register, pose for a photo and you’ll come out as a married woman, understand? Now show me how you’ll hold Shankar’s arm tomorrow: Ah! That blush will do. Now finish your coffee and let’s go.”

But Rita kept staring at another couple who were happily sharing a drink using two straws. Their eyes were half closed, half admiring as they looked up from their drink to smile at each other now and then.

 Shankar and she never enjoyed such a peaceful moment together. Would things suddenly change after tomorrow?

She stretched out her hands to hold the table but her head was spinning rapidly and she found herself moving closer to the floor…

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How They Met ...and Married

Jessie pulled her sari tjghter about her in an involuntary gesture of self protection. Something about the man in turban sitting opposite her in the train compartment disturbed her. The newspaper he held was all a pretence. She was sure of that. Now and then he was casting furtive glances at her with a sly smile on his lips.

She was a teacher at a reputed school and was going back home for her quarterly holidays. Her father would be waiting for her at the station. This Christmas would be special for her. She would be allowed to wear a new necklace that they had got her. And that beautiful pink silk sari.

 A veterinary doctor had come to 'see' her some ten days back. The family seemed pleased enough with whatever they had seen and heard of her.The doctor himself seemed to be a skinny guy. She couldn't catch a glimpse of him properly as he was far away and girls were not supposed to stare. So they might fix the engagement in the holidays and then the marriage between Christmas and New Year. That was the time the church would be fully decorated and everybody would be in a festive mood.

The train slowed down at her station and she got up to pull her suitcase out from the shelf above. The man opposite her immediately got it for her.She felt like telling him to mind his own business but just pulled it from him with a rough 'thank you' and turned away. Her brother had also come to the station. She showed him the man and said, "looks like he's been following me." The brother immediately turned his cycle and went after the man.

"You'd better leave my sister alone."he warned.
."I don't think that's possible, brother-in-law," the man replied, pulling off his turban and false beard."I wanted to have a closer look at my bride, you know, and now hurry and start the wedding preparations."

The bride was my maternal aunt and that was how I got my fun loving uncle.


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Satish was a handsome and enterprising engineer working abroad. So the next natural step was to search for a suitable bride for him. An elderly well wisher had found just the right bride for him. Well educated, wise, patient and caring, the  well wisher  was fully sure that the bride's temperament would be ideal for the modern, impatient engineer. Satish contacted the girl via the net and found her to be indeed the ideal match for him.In the meantime  he found a new company with better opportunities and decided to switch jobs.

The date for the wedding had been fixed but the new company was in no mood to release their new employee even to attend his own wedding  at India. Cards were printed and the guests were invited.
But no one knew when the bridegroom would actually arrive. As the possibility of his arriving for his wedding grew dim, he began assuring his bride that even if he couldn't arrive in person at the appointed time, they'd complete the rituals via the net and be declared Man and wife at the appointed time.

Yet Mala, the bride still hoped. Eleven hours before the wedding the company gave the groom permission to leave and five hours before the wedding he arrived to find his decked up bride sleeping out of sheer exhaustion. He whisked her into a car at midnight and took her to the beach only to be threatened by the police who suspected some foul behaviour. Luckily some relatives came to his rescue and he and his bride had a chance to meet each other before their wedding.

This young couple are my house owners and are blessed with two beautiful children.

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A freedom fighter who had been in jail for a long time was shown the door by the fathers of all the prospective brides.

 In those days relatives competed  with one another in booking bridegrooms for their daughters. So this fatherless bridegroom was very downcast. He confided this to a friend who promised to get him a good bride. The friend went to his sister's hostel, lied to her and the staff that their father was ill and brought the poor unsuspecting girl out. Took her straight to a registrar's office and made her sign the marriage register.
The girl's  mother-in- law was a warm and broadminded person. She immediately welcomed  the bride and did everything to make her feel at home.The student- suddenly- turned bride found herself  to be the head of a long line of brothers and sisters-in-law. Yet she too soon fit into her role.

This (her adjustment) happens to be good for me because the bride turned out to be my mother-in-law.