Originally posted by: evaviego
The Checklist.
By Sanjh
1. Has to be polite.
2. Social.
3. Well educated.
4. Well dressed.
5. Should treat my parents as his own.
6. Should be clean.
7. Should...
"Yeh kya hai?" Mom snatched the paper from my hand.
"Checklist."
"Woh to dikh raha hai, par kis cheez ka?" She asked while adjusting her glasses on her nose.
"Woh..."
"Oh my God, beta don't tell me, tune yeh list banayi hai...for..." And her laughter erupted, echoing down the corridor, causing Papa to appear at the door of my room.
"Kya hua bhai...kis baat pe itni hansi aa rahi hai ? Koi humein bhi batao." He plopped down on the bed beside me.
"Aapki beti checklist bana rahi hai...Matlab ab humein ladko ko yeh list dikhani padegi agar match hota hai to baat aage badegi, agar nahin to..."
"Hmm. Fair enough. Yehi hoga." He smiled. "Chalo ab taiyaar ho jao woh log aate hi honge."
*
*
*
"Yaad rakhna, he should not prick his nose"
"Clothes. Zyada flashy ho to strictly No No, show off se shaadi nahin karni, aur agar zyada LS ho tab bhi No No. Are bhai bande mein class to hona chahiye. Aisa na ho kuch bhi uthake pehen liya."
"Shoes, juton se pata chalta hai aadmi kaisa hai."
"Oh haan khaane se pehele wait karna, dekhna tere liye wait karta hai yaa phir toot padhta hai. Always remember never marry a bhukkad."
"Yeh bhi dekhna, zyada hi friendly ho raha hai uncle aunty k sath ya ignore kar raha hai, if he behaves like either of one sidhaaa reject kar dena..."
I sighed while applying the lip gloss, remembering the advices of my friends.
"Suman beta niche aaja...woh log aa gaye." Maa knocked. I sighed again, cursing the person who actually invented this marriage thing, the culprit who ruined many lives.
*
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*
"Are aao beta, yahan baitho..." The mother, smiled at me too sweetly.
Haan abhi hans hans k bakri phasao then halal karo.
"Ji aunty..." I gave her my best smile ever.
"Woh mera beta pahunch nahin paya, abhi aa jayega. Tab tak hum baatein karte hai."
Bolo ladki dekhne aa nahin paya ab tak, itna hi important kaam tha to na aata. Hmm. Irresponsible.
"Haan log shaadi k baad derse ate hai, mera beta pehele hi. He will be a good husband then." The father laughed, and of course Papa joined.
"It's not like that, kahin phans gaya hoga. Warna mera beta bahut punctual hai" she assured me.
As if I care!
"Toh beta...aur batao..." She continued.
*
*
*
A loud honk, and aunty proudly announced the arrival of his only son. Until then I had been informed about his education, his work, his nature. In short how my life would change if he would agree to marry me.
"I am so sorry for being late." A booming voice said.
Then there he stood in all his glory. A brown check shirt, a pair of old ripped jeans and of course those shoes. Looked like he had walked around the world in those. And cherry on the icing, muds. All over him.
Sigh!
Yeh ladki dekhne aaya hai! Nonsense.
I was so disgusted that I didn't even look at his face.
"Wow food, thank God, you have no idea how hungry I am." He sat there, laughing.
"Haan beta lo na, tumhare liye hi hai." Of course Maa was overtly happy, she had always liked these type of people, who actually wouldn't think twice before opening their mouth.
Bhukkad.
*
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*
"Beta tum dono akele kuch baatein karna chahte ho to..." His mother was all into this plan of making us talk and then get married immediately.
"No. We are okay here." Huh! I was too clever for that. I would never ever marry a person who had come to see a girl like this.
"I would like to talk." If I wasn't this pissed, I would have complimented him for his voice.
"Haan beta jao na... Suman beta show him our garden, ab it's late but still it's good outside."
*
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"You seem angry." His voice was soft.
"Not really."
"Are you sure? And yes, when I am talking to you please look at me." He sighed, clearly frustrated.
"Hmm tell me." I turned towards him.
Isn't he too fair! And tall too. His eyes are too brown. Too straight nose, even his lips are too pink for a man. See how odd looking he is. And his hair, he seriously needs a haircut.
"Are you sure you are not angry?" Then only I realised I was looking at him that too for a long time.
"Yes I am. But I have a question for you."
I had to ask him. How could he be so oblivious?! He had come like this?! Like really like this?!
"Sure, now you are talking." He folded his hand on his chest, I noticed, his muscles were ready to pop up the shirt he was wearing.
Show off!
"Why have you come here like this?" I neglected his breathtaking smile which broke through hearing this.
See what am I saying, too beautiful for a man. I already hate him.
"Hmmm, you know na what I do?" I paused looking at him. Sure his mother told me everything, but I actually didn't listen carefully.
"Mmm...sorry...I didn't..."
"Hmmm. I had to go to a slum area. There a little girl accidentally drank phenyl. She was critical, but you know these people, even if they are dying they won't go to hospital."
The way he was talking, he seemed very much obsessed with his work.
"So this mud I got from there."
A tight slap on my face.
"But these shoes I mean..." Slipped out of my mouth before I could even think.
"These are not mine."
"Not yours?"
"I had to give mine to someone."
"I don't understand... I mean..."
"Let's not get into that. Bass that's not mine." He stated.
What he had not said, I understood, he actually gave his shoes to someone more needy.
Then I looked at him, he actually was handsome. And as they say handsome is what handsome does. He actually proved that.
Intrigued I asked more about his job, his studies, his friends, he was one of those people who never cared about his surroundings. A man of this stature would have been arrogant, rude, but he was not. His eyes sparkled, his lips carved, he was truly handsome.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes...I am...am sorry..."
"Sorry for what?"
"I thought you are... actually sab aise...your attire...your behavior...I mean..." How stupid I was. But somehow I needed to tell him.
"Hahahaha.."
"You are laughing!"
"No it's just... funny. See Suman, main bahut siddha sadha aadmi hoon. Mujhe yeh sab nahin aata. But yes, if you agree to marry me, I can promise one thing, I'll make sure you get everything you ever wanted in life. I'll make sure this smile of yours will always be on your face. I'll make sure..."
"Shravan...main..."
"Suman isse pehele tum kuch kaho I have to say something."
"Okay."
"Suman, ek ladka tha, jo chhup chhup k ek ladki ko dekha karta tha. Jabhi bhi school jaane k liye nikalti thi, woh ladka apne gate pe aake khada hota tha. Ladki jab high school jaane lagi, aur woh ladka college, tab bhi she was the only one he saw, she was the only he has loved. Ladka London chala gaya, bass ek darr k sath mein, ki wapas aye to woh ladki use nahin mili to? Phir pata chala us ladki k parents uske liye ladka dekh rahe hai. Ladka bahut khush hua, chalo koi aur nahin le gaya. Ladka apne parents baat ki, aur ladki k ghar rishta bheja. Aur ladki gusse mein almost use reject karne hi wali thi, jab uske Maa ne baat karne ko kaha."
"Yeh to..."
"I have always loved you Suman. Always."
*
*
*
"Kitni der tak baat karoge tum log? Andar aao."
"So kya decide kiya?" His mother asked knowingly.
"Hum zara humari beti se baat karke..." Papa always knew how adamant I was.
"I'll marry him."
"What!"
"I'll marry him." I smiled.
Papa hugged me, "are you sure?"
"Haan Papa, sure hoon. Shayad isse pehele itna sure kabhi nahin thi."
Don't we girls go for the good looks, we always tend to love those well dressed, well mannered ones. And here when I was looking for my knight in shining armor, I actually got one who didn't care how he looked even when he could have.
As they say, Face is nothing but a few tissues and bones put together... Love the soul and only then will you find your soul mate in him.
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