M&G: Mr Iyer & Mrs Khurana - CLOSED - Page 3

Adhi was none other than Omana kutti's Aunt's son and Maan's batch mate too. Well Omana Kutti is what Maan's entire batch had nicknamed the then 18 yr old hot and arrogant daughter of Vasu sir, whom he would never imagine was arrogant or wanted to come across hot to his fellow students.

"Adhi...except for that Machax part, please tell me you have grown up. You are getting married soon, at least for your fiance's...who I quote "Does not know what she is getting into" -  sake stop using that word" Adjusting his plaid shirt he turned around to face Adhi, who had a wide grin greeting him.

"Dude I am your Machan (brother-in-law)..." His hand parted in surprise "like it or not, at least right after you tie the mangalsutra around her neck...I'm her aunt's son, if you have forgotten" He moved closer to help Maan with the tie knot and added "which seems quite apparent from all the brain damage from that nuclear junk of a place you work at"

The loopy conversation, which they were quite good at, sort of a trademark of their gang to say, had made Maan forget his initial question, which Adhi now called his attention to.

"This is all really payback time for the one semester that she cost Nikhil?" Adhi prodded as he helped Maan with his blazer to which Maan nodded in response, quickly turning to meet his eyes in agreement.

"And you don't think this had anything to do with Sahasrabuddhi at all?" He asked once again seeking to reconfirm his decision.

"Dude she is a woman who knows the power she yields on other men, especially in a place like our campus where the ratio of women to men is quite negligible. It's unforgivable and she was a killjoy that summer"

"I agree. Actually forget that I said that..." He grimaced at his big mouth.

"Given I'm her cousin and all, don't ever let her know that I was a part of this. I have my doubts that she is reincarnation on Hitler himself. And..." He turned to pat Maan's shoulder "on that note, I'm not sure if I should celebrate or set up a wake for you" Adhi said faking a sad look and cry for his best mate.

Maan broke into a guffaw and tapped him back on the shoulder.

"Dude...I'm sure as hell she is quite a bundle...If this is a rite of passage and if all women are difficult puzzles, then she is at least a familiar one and most important the one I want to try" He wondered as he picked up a bunch of pens from the nearby table and smiled as he turned to get out for a ball of a night.

                                                            ****

She didn't know what to expect that day. Dressed in a turquoise green jaded sari, her small movements, as she came down the narrow stairs that lead to the picnic area inside the campus, made her look nothing less than a fine china doll. She had dressed to kill; well she actually hoped she could, that one person who she was to spend the evening with...Oops life with.

She was in true south attire; a mass of fragrant white jasmine had adorned her long plait that ended with hair embellishments. She had ignored the forehead jewelry and wore a thin strand of white stone necklace and jhumkas. Her tiny world of cousins and uncles and aunts were waiting downstairs already when she came out of the building and proceeded to the clearance. Spotting Gaurav uncle in the crowd, she traced her look to the person next to him who appeared to be a woman in sixties and was now approaching her with a gleeful smile.

"Kitni soni kudi hain...You are prettier than Gaurav had described" Daadima held her chin up as Geet lowered her gaze and bent down to take her blessings instantly. If her life was merely executing well decided fate, then who could fight it; she had concluded. And so she had given up her resistance just like that, right that afternoon as the climax drew closer. 

"I can't keep you waiting here. I heard this is your first time meeting Maan" She said with a teasing smile "We thought you people should talk first before the big day...so...there" She pointed to two chairs that was lined up away from the maddening crowd that were busy munching on bondas and evening snacks. What use was it if she found out that her fianc - who latched onto her life without so much as a notice - had been a womanizer or that he actually smoked and was a lifetime member of alcoholic anonymous, the day before the marriage? Her father's resolve was so firm and sure that she would be married to Maan even if he were on the most-wanted list.

Her gaze had followed Daadima's hand gesture and saw that the said "person" was not there yet. She had let out a coy smile as Adhi's fiancee Meera led her to the not-so isolated ground. If this is what they called privacy, then she questioned what Daadima had meant by "talk". There was a small crowd of her cousins on one side of the chair and another group in Patiala's and a few turbans were there too by the other chair.

An hour had passed and Maan had not showed up to the venue that let the hosts to scatter and chatter in anxiety. Just then Adhi arrived and whispered something into her father's ears. To which he smiled and called upon her cousins and aunts to start the music festivities. Her family had been so good with impromptu stage performances, that in a matter of minutes, there was a lengthy charpoy on the empty ground with shruthi boxes and tamburas

She could hear Daadima ask her father if she could sing and to which her father had immediately gestured her to join the troupe of singers that were assembling. Settling in the front, she picked up the tambura, when the rest of the crowd came to settle by the low lying branches and some on the chairs.

 A hum emanated from the shruthi box, when her sweet melodious voice filled the souls who watched her mesmerized, bringing life to even the dead air that lingered there which now called upon the one person that had kept her waiting.

                                                            ****

Automatically his lips curved into a smile as the late evening breeze brought her whispers to him. He stood by the large tree, quite far from where the event arena and watched her in a semi-hypnotic state. Though far, he could notice her slight movements as she brought her lips together and apart while singing, her jhumkas dancing to her hums and tunes as she shook her head in tiny shifts when she reached a high note. While he did a mental map of her face and her expressions, his gaze moved to the smooth creamy neck that swallowed almost involuntarily and as he moved his sight to her profile, as if by some cosmic connection that ran between them she had adjusted her pallu reflexively, which made him look away in guilt with a sheepish smile.

Now this he had not prepared for. How could he have forgotten the power of the spell that she always put him under? A fire smoldered in the pit of his belly as he ran through the scenes from moments ago and some from what seemed eons away. The more as the day drew to a close, the more he was leading himself to believe it was all a dream. How on earth can anyone explain some 8 year old crush and attraction to her, take life and threaten to turn into a lifetime bonding between them? He couldn't quite decide if it had been good luck or some fateful treacherous play in his life.

Well it was that time and so he called Adhi, who motioned to Meera to call out Geet. In the middle of the song chorus, Meera whispered the message to her, when she had shook her head in the negative, but had eventually given the tambura to her and now was walking towards the tree from where he had been watching her.

                                                   ****

How could this be true? Her face contorted in horror as she met his eyes. It was one thing to jokingly call out characteristics that she thought would make him and it was another to see a living image of a nightmare. He was everything he did not want her prince charming to be. His trousers were double his size that ran up well beyond his waist and his tightly wound belt seemed to have pleated the front of his pants. Suspenders in spite of the belt and a plaid shirt, with plaid tie and a dull lifeless grey jacket blazer set the size of his shoulder, which was quite disheartening. Oily hair, buck tooth, thick stubble and double walled glasses that made his eyes look ten times bigger than they actually were, only made her want to puke or faint or shriek at the sight of everything that stood for the word grotesque. Actually with time, she wanted to do all that at the same time, but somehow found the strength inside her to hold a calm shriveled look on her face as she tried to spot her father.

Vasudevan Iyer was not a handsome man himself and her looks came from the mother's side. If her mother could live a happy and peaceful life with him and when he had been nothing but a loving and devoted father to her, then why not? She thought. But a lifetime of this? Her mind questioned once again as her eyes caught sight of the array of pens that he had stuck in his shirt packet. Seriously? 5 pens? Who needed 5 pens unless they scribbled every thought that came to their mind? Was he OCD? Her endless questions in panic did not seem to cease and disquiet as she lowered her gaze and watched the parched ground filled with dry leaves and dirt. It seemed to mirror her in many ways now; for starters her life was starting to look like that.

"Hello Geet...Do you remember from any of the summers?" A squeaky voice interrupted the cold silence that had been building up a fortress inside her; for now she wanted to lock herself away from him.

"Hmm...No" she said not bothering to look at him and continued with a lowered head.

"Well...I would have been the next one Sasrabuddhi would have suspended" he giggled.

Do guys giggle? She wondered and marveled at how smartly he had brought up that particular summer's events in a quick flash.

"Oh!..." She thought it was safe to stick to monosyllables, all the while simply refusing to look at him.

Just then Meera came excusing and announcing her presence. She wanted them to join for the dinner and more of the masti that was to follow. Masti? Indeed, it's the night before they drove the cattle to the butcher's shop, she thought. But she wanted to make sure she was not in her life's most horrific dream. And so she followed Meera a few steps away and asked if Maan looked the way she was seeing him. She simply smiled and hit her forehead calling out "Asadu (Dumb)" and left the duo in privacy once again. He moved out of the shade and inched in closer.

"So how have you been the last 5 years?" He asked. She swore she heard a word or two in a husky tone somewhere, but it had still ended in a shrill tone.

"I'm fine...You?" She could not help but plead the gods if the guy knew what being fair in life meant? How much more blind can a person be, when he thought that he could marry her? Her? Even though she did not believe she was gorgeous, she knew she was not hideous either.

As time passed in quiet between them, she had some doubts that crept into her mind about the clothes he had been wearing. They seemed familiar and looked similar to the ones Gaurav uncle used to wear. Well his taste had changed for the better now, but what do you know? As such the IIT'ians can turn out to be weirdoes who perhaps did not even have a place in Alice's wonderland.

"Tomorrow is the big day...you nervous?" he asked trying to chat her up.

Really dude? He had the guts to ask her when he was barging into her life. Was she nervous? She wanted to jump off from their Comp Sci library. On second thoughts, she thought that electric train to nowhere still seemed liked a good idea. She held onto her silence as she fidgeted with her pallu in her hands. Noticing her unease, Maan went on "Don't worry that we didn't have any time to get to know each other...Daadima says...shaadi ke baad sab teek ho jaata hain"

Daadima ki chamcha...Didn't he have anything original? She tortured her brain.

Just then some Punjabi beats began and she turned to see Gaurav uncle and Daadima join the bangda that was starting.

"Do you want to dance?" That was the last straw and so she knew the right response at that.

"Actually I have a headache...I have to go" She said and sharply turned to disappear into the crowd first and then paced towards their quarter's stairs. As Adhi saw Geet run into the house, he came to meet Maan with a samosa plate. Maan quickly grabbed the tissue from his hand and started blotting the oil in his hair, leading the pair to break into streams of laughter.

"I have my doubts that she might even run away...watch out" Maan said as a blushing Meera joined Adhi's side, not before she dropped a look at her fianc from the corner of her eye.

"Thanks" Maan held her hand as she came forth.

"Gosh Maan...that really was too much...She is going to have one hellava night" She squealed with laughter.