Yes, they always wanted me to marry the girl they select for me. Ofcourse, that was how my parents got married and their parents and their grand parents. I doubt that in the earlier generations whether the bride and groom saw each other even on the day of the marriage!! This is the Indian way of getting married!! OK, let me explain the whole process for those who are not familiar with the customs followed in India. The parents will invite matches for their boy when he reaches the right age. They will 'hunt' for girls in marriage functions, in their neighbor's family circle and in every kind of functions or get-togethers that you can imagine. Then comes the turn for matching the planetary positions with the so called astrologers. I still dont understand how the planets and stars which have been part of the universe even before man kind came into existance can influence our lives? After all these, the deal is signed and they prepare for the marriage. I still can't understand how the elders can make a selection and decide for the bride and groom, with whom they will spend the rest of their lives with. Strange are the ways, ain't it?
But the tides have changed! A lot! Now my parents reached a point of open mindedness where they will accept any girl with whom I am in love with. I know, its a privilege to have such an irresistible offer from one's parents because I live in a country where cases of honour killing are still reported all the year round. But guess what, with the advise I recieved from my early childhood, I made only good friends with the people around me, I never fell in love or entered into a serious relationship. Yeah...i see the rising eye brows, but folks, this thing called love cannot be one sided right? :-) I bid adew to my last serious relationship 3 years ago and after that, I never had time for 'emotional baggage' since!!
Through out my long and illustrious educational tenure I met a lot of people who were into relationships, who wanted to be in a relationship very badly and I have also seen a third crowd who wanted to get rid of the relationships they are in to .
To day let me share my experiences with close friends of mine who have been in relationships. The first guy - lets call him Tom. Tom became really close with a girl in our class and reached a point where they could not keep away from their cell phones and talking to each other even for a single day. Guys, I'm talking about hours of Airtime here...HOURS!! Yes, they spent endless hours on the phone, chatting about topics unknown to us. I always wondered, what do they have to talk about so much? May be, they are discussing about the different types of tooth pastes available in the market, how one is superior in effectiveness when compared to another... or may be hibiscus shampoo or even why Al Gore never made it to the white house!! It was only later that I realized, we, the room mates, class mates and all the people around were all discussed about, evaluated, scrutinized, stripped naked and discussed to the most minute detail. By the end of the year I knew it solidly in my mind that she knew even what brand of underwear that I use!! Gross!! I still remember the day he broke news to two of us, that he was in love with that girl. He told sadly, " Her father is a Hitler!! He'll never let us get married!!".
I thought to myself, "Gimme a break, pal!! You are in a half mind to enter into a relationship and you are thinking about marriage?? If you are in a relationship" I knew it deep in my mind, they had gone much deeper than that, deeper than my peanut sized brain can ever imagine. I asked him bluntly, "how many kids does she say she can have?" In a moment of stupidity, he said, "We are planning for 2!".
Jesus. H. Christ!!
Anyway, as good friends we inspired him to enter into that relation and they lived happily ever after....Nah Nah nah, my friends, they were in that relation till the end of college days. Dont know what happened, they went in separate ways after college. Tom called me for his engagement party (ofcourse, with a different girl) and all, which I happily promised to attend and as usual failed to turn in.
Our second character of the day, Dick as we can call him, used to fall in love with every girl he met. I met him as a part of meeting a friend's friend's friend or so, as it happens often when you work in a far away city from home with no relatives to keep an eye on you. But the frequencies were getting along very well and we used to sit, chat and part once in a while even though both of us had hectic schedules back then. After all, nothing beats a real conversation face to face. An absolute fitness freak from his teenage, he had the looks of a Bollywood Hero, with 17 inch biceps and a chiseled body to match with. And guess what our favorite past time when he was around? Getting him drunk and making him cry with all his love stories!! We used to record all these conversations and listen to them when our senses came back to normal. It was as funny as watching the bear in the circus ring do cycling... Flexing all the muscles in his body to sob and wipe tears!! Looking back, I feel bad about using him for our entertainment..., well, we still tease him to the core telling all those stories!! Gee...!!
I have heard a theory about Men. There are two types of men in the world - One kind of crowd that men envy at and the other that women envy. I guess Dick belonged to the 1st category, All of us guys used to envy him for his looks but women never really liked him!!
And that leaves us with Harry. Harry is the coolest dude of the lot. He has got the style, well read and well dressed at all times. Girls loved the way he maintained his mustache, the way he talked and the way in which he could discuss about current affairs for hours together without getting a single fact wrong!! Harry was my room mate for 3 years in college and his thoughts and views without any doubt influenced me a lot.
I had soft corner to a lot of girls in my college and i used to discuss with Harry - "Ain't she looking cute, dude?" He used to give me that silly look and say - "you think she is cute? She is the ugliest piece of crap I have ever seen. Look at her, I feel like slapping her with all my four limbs!!"
"Yeah, He is right. She is not that pretty", I used to think and continue with my day to day life.
Years passed, All of us graduated and entered the rat race for survival. One fine morning, Harry called me up and told me, "I am in love. I think I've found the ONE!.
I nearly fainted with shock. In the entire 3 years we spent together, I have never heard Harry say something good about a girl. An now, he claimed he was in love. I sat silently for a minute and then I couldn't stop my laughter for the next 10 minutes. And guess what, I shared the good news with few of my friends and I was laughed at and mocked terribly!! I won't blame anybody, that was Harry and his voyage from being the woman eater to the womanizer!! It so happened that Harry managed to convince both the families and they are getting married in a week. And now, this time I got no excuses. I am attending this marriage and as I booked my tickets today, i couldn't help remember those good old days and smile silently.
In my highschool, I had 120 classmates. I was friends with them once, but I can't say that all of them are still my friends. I spend 12 years sitting with them in the same classroom and shared many a meal, sweat, gossip and event together, but despite the 12 years, apart from a very few, I don't think none are my friends today. Acquaintances, that is the best I can label them.
Almost every one of them might have got married, but I dont remember attending any of their marriages. I don't remember because, I have never been to any of those marriages. Same with my 100 classmates in graduation. I dont remember most of the names even though its been just a few years after college. I think I have attended 1 marriage, since it happened soon after college.
Neverthless, I stayed single, not getting into any relation as my parents had wished. Thanks to Harry and his view points and opinions. Any way, as my parents are busy looking for matches, I am still enjoying whats left of my bachelor life as a free spirit, flying high and free like a kite without string, Living it king size.
No comments:
Post a Comment