Skip to main content

But I am only 25

The whole week passed, and it was Friday once again. I was late already. My evenings always involved taking IT lectures at NIIT or hanging around at my favourite cyber-cafe. My mum gave me a call, "Dinner bahar karoge kya?" (Will you be eating outside).

"No Mum, I will be home in 10 minutes". I said.

On the dinner table everyone sounded very different today. Was it all in my head?

After the dinner, Papa would often retire to his bedroom and Didi and I would often have a banter about something. It was the good days when she was with us. She has now been happily married for nearly a decade. The rare few days in the year when she would be with us would be pure gold. She after all, if you remember, is like my second mother.

Didi walked to my room and said, "Aaj Manika ghar aayee thee" (Today Manika came home).

Whaaaaat? I spoke as my eyes almost popped out.

And my Didi said, "She just dropped by."

"But Didi, no one has dropped by our home in last 100 years! Whyyyyyyyy? What's happening?" I was amazed.

"Yes she came. And we chatted the entire afternoon. She talked, talked, and talked about her plans of marriage and how she didn't like the various prospects she has."

"Di, I think this girl is in great demand." I muttered.

"I think both of you should meet. If you like her she will for sure marry you. I think she likes you." said Di with a firmness in her voice.

"But I am only 25 year old Di." I retorted.

Popular posts from this blog

No

T his was a wild accusation - both bizarre and preposterous. How can a sleeping man locked in his house be present at another location at the same time?  Everyone was visibly upset. When I told this to my only bestie of that time, he asked me "Beta, baba too nahi ban gaya - bahut meditation karta hai?" (Dude. I hope you haven't become a mystic with magical powers. You meditate too much.) And then came the decision. No, we shouldn't get into this .  Even before we have had any relationship we are being accused of bizarre things. The decision was taken. There was anguish all around. My Mum called Manika's mum and informed her, "We have decided to postpone our boy's marriage. We don't have a problem if you want to marry Manika with someone else." After the call she was very unnerved. I felt sad for my Mum.  I know that when she says things that she knows would trouble someone she would be deeply hurt inside. I told her, "Mum, its okay, after a...

Do anjane ajnabi

 Do anjane ajnabi (Two strangers) This was the year when the Bollywood film Vivah was released. In our good old days we had the ritual of going to watch family movies. And how could we miss Vivah from the Barjatya's. I grew up in a household where Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (HAHK) was a reflection of the relationships between family members and Vivah was a part of the franchise from the house of Barjatyas, the iconic production house in Bollywood. My mum was crying all along the second half of the movie and I too shed a few tears. When we were driving home, my Mum asked me, "would it not be great to have someone who became family?" I said, "Yes Ma, we can adopt someone. Ha, Ha, Ha" Clearly, she was not amused. She said, "I understand that you are averse to the idea of getting married. But all girls are not like the one who dumped you. There are some girls who would build a family and go to any length to protect the family. You have to look beyond your bad experie...

The secret diary

--------- <email one> To: Me From: Neha Subject: Your diary Hey! I found a diary that has a lot of your personal information and notes. It is very interesting. I found your email id on the first page. I would want to return it to you. Take care ---------- I was not sure if I had lost a diary. Or I even had one. I was way too cool (in my opinion, of course) to have a diary. I had a Casio Digital Diary :) ---------- I was a bit worried though after receiving an email from a complete stranger. This was the first time a stranger had written a fictional email to me. And this definitely was not the last. I shared this with my Mum. And while didn't yet have an email of her own, she told me, "don't fret on it, someone is trying to pull a prank." ----------- <email two> To: Me From: Neha Subject: You didn't reply? Hey Doc. You didn't reply? I was waiting for your response. How have you been? Please let me know when and where should we meet to give your priz...