Kalyana Ponnu!! (Last Part)

(Kalyana Ponnu roughly translates into "Search for a girl for marriage". It is a simple story of a next-door boy, who is stuck in his past and present, in search for his soul mate.

Click HERE to read the first part.

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“Long time no see”, spoke Madhavi.

I took a few seconds to recover from the impact of seeing Madhavi after a long time. She had not changed at all. The beautiful round face, coupled with her rosy lips and a frameless spectacles that adorned her eyes still attracted my attention.

Suddenly a guy came running up to us. Damn!!

“This is my cousin brother, Ashwin” she introduced, as I inadvertently let out a sigh of relief. In the commotion following Madhavi’s appearance I had almost forgotten Manju.

“This is Manju, my friend” I introduced her to Madhavi. Manju gave me a hot glare clearing showing her displeasure at my introduction.

“I had called you yesterday”, Madhavi continued unflustered by Manju’s stare.

“Actually.. my mobile had run out of battery and I had immediately called you from Ajay’s mobile” I replied.

“I was on my way from Bangalore. I must have lost out on signal” she replied. Signal issues? Wasn’t it a switched off message..

“Ok. I got to go now. Catch ya later” Madhavi signed off waving a quick good bye to us.

“She is my childhood friend”, I explained to Manju who was just a touch suspicious.

Manju again extended the red rose and as I took the red rose from her, I led her in to the Café Coffee Day.

My brain was going for a toss. I had met the person whom I had wanted to meet in my entire life but fate had made sure that we just exchanged pleasantries.

Manju and I quickly settled into a corner of the busy shop and ordered an Italian coffee each.

“So what did you have for breakfast?” spoke Manju.

I had not so long ago teased one my friend on his expectation of his life partner. He had wanted to discuss the Indian Economy with her. Perhaps I would take that option rather than discussing about the breakfast.

Stay cool…

“Dosas...” I replied.

“With chutney?” she questioned again.

I let out a small sigh. This was a sign of some wavelength mismatch. “With Sambar” I replied and then diverted the topic to movies.

The common ground of moving picture helped us bond over our cup of coffee. All through my discussion, my mind couldn’t stop thinking about Madhavi. How much I missed her conversations.

I took a quick glance at my watch. It was nearly 8 PM. Manju and I had been chatting for an hour.

We bade a quick good bye with Manju letting me know in unequivocal actions that she liked me a lot.

Any person would be the happiest person to know that a drop dead gorgeous girl liked him. But I was confused.

As I dropped Manju at the nearest bus stop and returned home, I found three missed calls from Madhavi. I had a quick dinner and walked up to the terrace. My terrace had been my second home and I loved the peaceful night walks.

The full moon shone majestically. It was exactly on a full moon that I had promised a girl that I would be there for her forever. But everything had changed…

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I took a last look at the tennis ball in my hand and revved it up in the air. Vishnu was the best batsman in the opposite team. The equation had boiled down to two runs from the last ball. I set my eyes on the off-stump and was all ready to bowl the ball. I pitched the ball outside the leg stump and the ball spun sharply to crash onto the off stump. I raised my hands in the air and all my team mates came running in to hug me. One look at Vishnu told me that something strange had happened to him. I looked at the direction at which he was staring and I could see a very beautiful girl standing on the boundary watching the match. She had won us the game.

It was the tenth standard holidays and cricket matches had become our favorite pastime in colony. Strangely after that match, Vishnu never turned up to play.

“Where is Vishnu macha?” I spoke to Ajay curious to know what had happened.

He smiled and shook his head. “The whole flat knows that he is behind that new girl from the “G” block”

“The girl who comes to watch matches?” I questioned him.

He shook his head affirmatively. “I don’t think she is that beautiful. Is she?” he spoke.

“I have never seen her closely” I replied.

Perhaps as fate would have it, the batsmen from the other team kept hitting the ball towards Madhavi and I had the opportunity to see her from close quarters. Contrary to what Ajay had spoken, Madhavi was extremely beautiful with her wheatish round face and rosy lips adding to her attraction. By the tenth time I reached near her to pick the ball, I had wished her good morning.

The private park in our colony was our heavenly solace and we all would study in there in the evening. My studies were frequently interrupted as Vishnu tried to get close with Madhavi.

Damn!! My pangs of jealously were flashing now.

“Why does Vishnu keep disturbing her?” I whispered to Ajay.

Ajay looked at me very surprised for he had buried his head in the Pythagoras theorem. “Why are you getting disturbed?” he shot back.

I shook my head and spoke, “I don’t know macha.. I think I like her”

“Dude, I would say, drop the plan?” he replied. Ajay’s words shocked me a little.

“Why?” I questioned him further.

“She is one girl who thinks too much of herself. Vishnu proposed to her yesterday and it seems she scolded him like anything”, he answered.

Oh my.. I decided that I would never ever speak with the girl again. But as the winds of time change so do all relationships. As I entered my college a new found energy crept inside me and soon I gathered enough courage to talk with Madhavi and eventually entered her friend circle even helping her in Mathematics subject. Contrary to what I had heard, she was a very pleasant and intelligent girl.

It was a valentine’s day that I decided to open my feelings for her. As I held the greeting and a red rose under my shirt, my heart starting thumping for I could see her slowly walking towards me.

Com’on.. I gathered all my courage and sat next to her. I slowly took out the greeting card and rose and placed on the park bench between us.

I had rehearsed this many times, but the words wouldn’t just come out. “I .. I wanted to give you this” I spoke handing the card and rose to her.

A cold stare followed as she took the card and read it “Seven reasons why I love you”.

“Aadhya, we are the best of friends. Let us remain like that”, she spoke after reading through the entire card.

I let out a sigh of disappointment. “Madhavi..” the words were stuck in my throat.

“I want to marry you probably ten years down the line and lead my entire life with you. You are the one in my life.” I replied. Oh man.. what have I spoken?

She looked surprised by what I had told her. She shook her head and placed the greeting card back in my hands and started walking away.

Patience and persistence are the virtues of a true lover!!

It took me six months to convince her to change her mind and for another six months we had the best of time. Suddenly her twelfth board exams disturbed the great time we had together.

It was a dark Friday night and I had come home early after my exams and slept off. As I opened my eyes, everything was literally dark. Mom must have gone to the temple and switched off all the lights. I got up and washed my face and searched the kitchen for any left over food.

Suddenly the phone rang. I picked it and heard the familiar sound of Madhavi’s best friend, Lakhsmi.

“Hey Lakhsmi, how are you doing?” I greeted her.

Lakhsmi’s voice was very low and it was as if somebody was holding her at gun point. “Aadhya, I want to tell you something”.

“Oh com’on Lakhsmi, please don’t propose to me. I am already engaged” I laughed.

“Aadhya..” her voice trailed off again.

Realizing that something serious was coming my way I spoke, “What is it?”

“Madhavi.. doesn’t like you anymore”. Those words crashed on to me like a Tsunami.

“She.. She likes somebody else” continued Lakshmi.

Tears streamed through my eyes and rolled over my cheeks. My hands went numb and my brain was partially fading out.

“Aadhya, you there?” questioned Lakshmi.

I just put down the phone receiver and slid down on the floor. I wanted to curse myself for letting somebody come into her life. Oh Madhavi, why did you leave me?

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My mobile buzzed disturbing my thoughts. It was her number. Madhavi..

My finger slipped to disconnect the call and somehow pressed the talk button. Perhaps it was following instructions from my heart. Perhaps she was a part of my heart..

“Hi Aadhya” she spoke.

I hated her voice. I had left her forever. but still..

“Hey hi” I replied.

“How are you doing?” she spoke.

“I am fine. How about you?” I replied.

“I am good too. Hey, how about catching up tomorrow? Been a long time”, she spoke.

“No yaar, I have some work” I lied.

“Just half an hour” she pleaded.

“No Madhavi. I have some important work” I stood steadfastly for I didn’t want to be dragged on an emotional roller coaster ride.

“Listen Aadhya. I know you are angry with me. I understand I have made a mistake. If you never give me a chance, I can never explain what I went through” she replied.

And what about my struggle.. I took a deep breadth. “We will meet for one last time” I spoke as I cut the call.

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I had been drinking more and more coffees ever since I landed in Chennai. The steaming hot chocolate separated an angry me and my beautiful Madhavi.

“Aadhya, I want to say sorry”, she began.

“No use of it, Madhavi. I have had enough of all this crap” I spoke harshly.

“What do you expect me to say then?” she shot back. “I have travelled from Bangalore to meet you and you don’t even want to talk to me”

“We talked a lot, Madhavi. Till now, I remember you in every second of my life” I replied.

Her gaze softened and she bent down and sipped her coffee. “I am truly sorry Aadhya. I know I should not have left you but I have my own reasons”

I just shook my head and looked out of the window. The traffic outside was picking up pace as the sun slowly slipped along the horizon.

“I had told you right from the beginning that I wanted to see the world. I wanted the best person to stay with. Like you had felt that I was the one for you, I had never felt it with you” she continued.

“So now why are we talking then?” I spoke angrily.

“Because somewhere down the line, I just missed you a lot. Suddenly I realized that .. that..” she couldn’t complete the sentence.

“That I would be the stupid person waiting for you always. Right?” I literally shouted.

Tears streamed from her eyes. I could see that she was totally confused. All through my life, I had wanted to live with her and here she was, pleading with me.

“See Madhavi. I loved you a lot” I spoke as she looked up gazing deep into my eyes. “I still love you but I don’t know how I can forget everything that has happened to me. There is a girl waiting for me. I believe that we both should move on”

“Won’t you give me one last chance” she pleaded. Those were the exact words I had spoken before she had agreed to my proposal.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. This discussion was going no where. “So what do you want me to do?”

“People make mistakes and I made the biggest one of my life. I have slowly understood that life is not what I dreamt off. It is more about adjustments that we have to make in our lives. I had heard from my mom regarding your marriage and felt that if you would give me one chance..” her voice trailed off.

I stared deep into her dark brown eyes. Was she saying the truth?

“We have the best time together. I have never felt such care from anybody else. Perhaps I wanted to fly too high and slipped badly.”

A sense of pity seemed to hound me. The ice-breaker!!

I tried to open my mouth to say something but the words were just stuck in my throat. I had waited for this opportunity but somehow my heart was unable to make a decision.

“I actually didn’t want to disturb you and that’s why I switched off my phone after I had tried calling you. But I had just wanted to ask you one last time in person. Could we be together again?” her eyes pleaded for a positive answer.

I took a deep breath. I shook my head and spoke slowly, “I really don’t know”.

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I closed my eyes as the winds of the sea brushed against my hair. I badly required some peaceful time for there were just too many things happening to me now.

“So what have you decided?” spoke my best friend Ashok.

“I don’t know dude” I replied.

“You have to make a choice now” he reminded me.

I nodded my headed and closed my eyes to feel the cold air brushing past my ears.

“I have loved Madhavi all through my life, even when she left me” I finally spoke breaking the silence.

“What about Manjula then?” Ashok questioned.

“She is a very sweet girl. But somehow I am not able to connect with her” I replied.

“The pure unadulterated love stories come up only in movies and books dude” he spoke.

“What about you and Sandhya? Aren’t you the best of couples?” I questioned.

Ashok bent closer to my ears, “Let me tell you a secret dude. Marriage is just an arrangement of convenience. Lovers or unknown people can be very happy together if they adjust forever”

I was more confused than ever.

“Even though you love Madhavi, what is the guarantee that she won’t leave you again?” Ashok questioned.

“What is the guarantee that Manjula will stay with me forever?” I shot back. This discussion was leading us no where.

“Ok. You make your decision for it’s your life. But always think about your future before you make a decision” Ashok replied. “So what is the plan for tomorrow? Movie?”

“Nopes. My aunt has set up another girl for me and I have no complaints eat free bajji’s” I smiled.

“I just hope you get married man!!” quipped Ashok as we dusted our jeans off the beach sand and started for our home.

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My confusion had reached a point of no return, not allowing me to sleep for the better part of the night. A sense of dizziness started to cloud my head.

“Please eat something” spoke the girl’s mother.

I looked at the array of sweets and snacks kept at the table. I gently shook my head for I wanted to sleep and not eat.

“Perhaps he wants to speak with the girl alone” spoke my aunt wanting to speed up the process.

As the girl and I reached a small dingy room, I could hear whispered noises from all the relatives gathered in the front hall.

“Listen, I actually want to tell you something”, I started.

“I love my boy friend, Sathish and I am only going to marry him” she dropped a bombshell.

“What the..” I hissed.

“Could you please tell my dad that you don’t like me” she spoke. ‘He won’t listen to me.”

I quickly walked up to the main hall where nearly thirty people had gathered. “The girl loves somebody else. Please get her married to a person of her choice” I stormed out of the house. I could hear my parent’s voices urging me to come back.

Suddenly everything became clear. I knew whom I wanted to marry.

I quickly reached for my mobile and called Manjula’s number.

“Hey Manju, Can I meet you today?” I spoke.

“How about 3:30 PM at City Center?” she replied.

“Done” I replied and the quickly dialed Madhavi’s number.

“Can we meet at 3PM?” I spoke. She was only too happy to oblige and I called for an auto and rushed towards City Center for it was already 2:35 PM.

The Autorickshaw dropped me on the other side of the City Center and with a steady stream of traffic; I soon gave up my hope of dodging the traffic and waited patiently for the red signal.

I could see Madhavi standing at the other end of the signal waving out to me. Suddenly from no where Manjula came running behind Madhavi.

I could feel the buzz of an text message. I quickly check my i-phone and it read, “Surpise.. surprise.. I saw you and came out to meet you – Manjula”

My life was literally at the crossroads.

I eventually had to tell both those girls what I thought about them. I turned around to find a flower vendor and bought a red rose.

I looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. As the signal turned red, I planted my left foot on the road and confidently walked towards the princess of my life, for I was going to sweep her off her feet and we were going to be married happily forever!!

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(THE END)