They both sat opposite as if they were old warring countries;
not ready to relent, one bit. They didn’t smile, budge or even smirk. It was a
contest to see who would blink first. And, then they cleared their throat at
the same time.
Everyone started laughing and Khan Sahib, the mamaji
by emotions and not by blood said Baat kariye. An anglophile who was somewhat
lost between the beauty and romance of the English writers and the old age
romance and seductive hold of Urdu. He was a bachelor, a behind the scenes
mamaji but someone who had every say in whatever was happening in the house
hold. He seemed to materialize whenever anything important was going to happen;
it was as if he had extra honing radar!
Lovely and Nitu looked at each other, and then he
asked her what were her interests? He sounded like a duh even to his own ears
but what should he ask this sadu ladki who looked as if she had beaten and made
to sit here in someone’s 1960 vintage clothes. She gave a one word answer, reading.
That was the end. She thought how could she escape and
then Bhaiya said, why don’t you take her for a drive? We will have tea when you
come back.
OMG, this was worse than any C grade movie, it was so
blatant and in the face.
He got up and said, Chalo . She got up and gave such a
dirty look to Bhaiya and mamaji and started walking out wondering how she was
going to escape him and his mooch.
The understated navy blue BMW was cool, she thought. And
when he opened the door for her, he scored a point.
Then they started for their drive and there was silence.
It was so quiet in the car, she could sense the silence. She wondered if she
should give in to this arranged marriage and then discover love or a lifetime
of misery. Should she assert her feminism and wait for love to open the door
for her? Should she wait for some lawyer who would match her skills but would
be a complete no –no?
Lovely wondered whether he should settle for her, this
sadu, depressing brown spectacled woman who sat defiantly but was sitting like
a mouse clothed in a tiger’s clothing!
What did kismet have in store for them?
No comments:
Post a Comment