Chapter 1: The First Meet

Being Again

The First Meet

A new day, I prayed for some patience… Ma was humming merrily while cutting veggies and supervising the cook fry various snacks in kitchen…dad was busy making the workers clean the house spotless even though we’ve done that recently… And bhai did whatever dad told him,  every now and then he kissed my head affectionately while passing by. It was his way of telling me he was by my side no matter what. I gave him a gentle smile saying how much I appreciated it. 

While everyone else was celebrating it like it was huge deal…well atleast trying to…for me it was a chore. It was for the fifth time I was going through all this. Fifth time people will come to see me. Fifth time I will have to get dressed up act alright… And this would be the 5th time that I have to brace myself for rejection…

Truth to be told I was okay with it..it wasn’t like my hopes were getting crushed..it was simply that I no longer hoped. But mom was hell bent on  proving that I could have a better future…its not the end..she says.

I don’t disagree but I also don't think that marriage is the ultimate goal for having a good future.

 Dad kept calling me his pretty  daughter… yes I was not bad looking, people always keep on mentioning that. I have always been pretty; but its the good gene, nothing that I have done to be proud of.

And haven’t I already paid the price of beauty?? I saw my reflection in the mirror dressed in lovely yellow and orange salwar kameez, the one I wore when the first guy came to see me. I was full sleeved for well obvious reasons, looking flawless…if only it was true.  I quickly averted my gaze, seeing the mirror brought back nothing but horrid memories. 

Please let me go.

Leave me…Help

….hurts...

Maa

Noo…

“Choti”  I jumped in shock and shook my head to remove those memories from my head. My brother knocked at the door peeking in “They are here.” he said. I sighed

“I’ll be there bhai” It was hard to see their hopes getting crushed every time..  I could see how  this was going to be. I would go serve snacks, mom would praise my cooking skills although I haven’t helped at all…we will talk, the guy’s mom will praise his job and go on and on about his business or salary. They would say that they couldn’t be more happy to see me in their family…  

Time for the truth!

 Their reaction would depend…the intolerable ones gets angry for even considering this  marriage and will walk out with few harsh words..the civil ones will make a uncomfortable face  showing some sympathy and leave after small talks. Non the less the final word would be the same  “No”

It wasn’t surprising actually…who would like to marry me? I shook my head…I wish I was at office, working. Or working out.

————

I never thought arrange marriage would be my way of choosing a partner, the concept of marrying a stranger sounded alien. Yet I find myself here  sitting with my mom, on this plush cream couch, Waiting for the girl to arrive. This process felt highly awkward.

“Maan beta…you are not eating anything. Here try these samosa’s and kachori’s” my maybe future father-in-law said and thrusted a plate in my hands..

I smiled “Thank you aunty” and purposely took a Large bite to satisfy him. 

 Soon the elders were engrossed in their talks and he was left free to take a proper look around.. These people were clearly  wealthy.. and why not? Mr Malik owned a chain of successful restaurants. 

“Geet will be here soon” A good looking man who looked close to his age entered the hall smiling. I stood up and he gave me a firm handshake.

“Maan Khurana” I introduced

‘Tej Malik” oh.. the elder sibling

“So I hear, you are an engineer?”  Tej offered a small opening to start a conversation..I caught on that immediately grateful for saving me from the awkwardness . 

Tej was  easy to talk to…I could see us being good friends.

We all chatted for some time, I was so into the conversation that for a moment I forgot the purpose of  this visit “Well yeah I used to play football in my college days but I sucked at it…I was always more into cricket,  but …” I lifted my eyes up involuntarily and gasped…I couldn’t remember when was the last time my eyes landed upon such beauty. Sure I have dated beautiful women but he couldn’t help himself being captivated. she looked like a doll. Beautiful…delicate.

 She hadn’t noticed me staring yet…  After few seconds I felt something was strange in her posture, like she was contemplating whether or not to join them. She lifted her leg but hesitated to move forward 

Was she worried?  or shy?…maybe she was as new to all this as I was.

 There was this strange need to go and comfort her 

Her eyes snapped up and she caught me red handed staring shamelessly…her thin brows furrowed and within a  blink of eye her demeanor changed, her shoulders which were slightly hunched  now squared…her face if showed discomfort now was devoid of any emotions. The way she looked into my eyes made me feel strangely guilty for staring.

 Questions raised in my head. Weren’t we here to see and talk to each other?…was I doing it wrong??? does seeing doesn’t actually means seeing??  I wished that I didn’t offend her.

Tej by now must have noticed that his words were falling on deaf ears…he followed my gaze

“Geet!” he walked up to her held her hand, bringing her along with him.

“Namaste..” She folded her hands with a kind smile…which looked forced. Was she this shy?? This seeing-a-girl thing was clearly not a good idea…

My mom got up smiling “Namaste beta!..” ” such a pretty girl!!” she said moving  her fingers in typical Punjabi style around Geet’s head and the cracking them on  “nazar na lage”   making me roll my eyes..

“Geet..come sit” Geet’s mother patted besides her. She was sitting  right in front of me. It was like she was looking everywhere but me..and when her eyes caught mine. She scooted back slightly shrinking… Did I looked that bad???  I even shaved today. Ohh Man!! Am I loosing my charm??!

“Geet beta meet my son Maan” 

 Geet offered a namaste again…and before she could blink I joined my hands…smiling my best warm smile. Her eyes widened before she smiled unsure.

“You have a beautiful house” I directed towards her so she had to pay me attention.

It really did hurt my ego a tiny bit that this girl found me so revolting that she wouldn’t even look at me. So once I had her attention I didn’t wanted to loose it so quick.  It was like being offered a finger and you grab the hand. 

Unluckily it was not her soft voice which answered..her mom did “Geet redesigned it a year back, otherwise it was a pretty boring place” her mom said proudly

“Then you must be very good at it” truly it was a beautiful house

“Thank you” Geet nodded kindly… again…

“Yes! She is very good at it! always the topper in her batch” her mom’s voice rang with pride…

Geet  sighed and I did she just rolled her eyes????…I bit back a chuckle. I know how annoying mom’s bragging can get…mine was a wonderful example after all.

” why don’t you show him the house Geet!”  Her mom sounded excited…I saw Geet sending daggers at her. Her face clearly said that she would rather not..

“No aunty I don’t want to trouble” I started looking at Geet

“Rubbish..beta give him a tour” her mom said dismissively..She looked at her brother for help..who nodded at her urging her to go forward..I didn’t miss this silent exchange.  what was going on?

She stood up and looked at me…that would be a first. That would be my clue to follow her so I got up and we started climbing the stairs. 

We walked at a respective distance and if this was a time to know each other and talk freely we were clearly not doing so.  

Bhai’s room…kitchen..study.. was all she said

I tried to make small conversations by asking about the university she studied in, about her job…her answers were in monosyllabic never asking the questions back…After some time I gave up trying to keep the conversation.

“This painting is beautiful” The words spilled out of my mouth the moment I saw it..and if he recalled then there were various other hand drawn paintings and portraits in the house, but this was the best of all… 

A girl sitting near a well with a pot in her hand..her eyes closed. The part that made the picture best was the serenity on the girls face.  Its beauty lay in its simplicity

“Yes it is” 

I slowly turned my head towards her to notice the small sad smile on her face.

“whose room is that?” I said the first thing that  came into my mind as I pointed towards a door with a huge handwritten funky Do Not Disturb sign on it…

“Mine” Geet said looking kind of embarrassed and well I found that highly amusing…what are you Miss Malik???…

“Won’t you show me? that sign kind of raised my curiosity” I asked eagerly… she didn’t looked very sure about it. My first instinct was to make a excuse and tell her its alright to make her comfortable but I suppressed it; now the ball was in her court…

If she wasn’t really interested, if somehow I unintentionally managed to tick her off then there was no point fooling around.  I waited for her to reach a conclusion.

He saw a series of emotions passing through her face as she looked at the floor with unfocussed eyes. Whatever it was about I wanted to know …but I gave her the time to process whatever she was considering.

After about a minute she took  a deep breathe and for the first time looked at me without turning her gaze. Before nodding and leading me towards her sanctuary.