Kalyana Ponnu!! (First 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.)

Damn! It’s so cold!

I shook my body a little, allowing the sprinkles of snow, to fall off my back and onto the ground.

As I slid the key into the socket, my heart skipped a beat for I was stuck between the devil and deep sea.

I could not stay out as it was so cold but neither could I venture into my home. The hot air, puffing from my nose and mouth left me with no other option.

I pushed the door and sneaked my head inside to see where she was sitting. She lay at the edge of the sofa all curled up with a book in her hand. The usual ploy!!

As I gently closed the door behind me, I tried studying any signs of anger on her face. Strange!! She has given up or so I thought.

I quickly changed into my shorts and went up to the kitchen to have a quick bite. I opened the fridge, which is usually filled up to the brim, but weirdly found not a morsel of food. Everything had been wiped off cleanly. She is still angry with me.

I looked up through the huge space in the kitchen-living room wall, wanting to give a quick stare at my sweetheart but she seemed all too busy in her book. All is well!! I patted on my t-shirt over my heart and quickly went up to my bag and got two apples. I always had a back-up strategy.

With the remaining milk, I quickly made a milk shake and poured it into two glasses and sat on the sofa next to my sweetheart, placing one glass right in front of her. As I picked up a newspaper dated six months earlier, I tried to peer through that looking for any signs of trouble.

Madhavi, my wife, had been fighting tooth and nail for a car for herself. With an ever-growing house expense combined with a home loan of ever increasing loan rate and a baby to join us soon, I didn’t see it as a good option. After all, I was her unofficial chauffeur, dropping and picking her up from her office every day. A small argument had snow-balled into a trouble of magnified proportions. She had used every trick known to women namely shouting, threatening, emotional black-mail and had even specified that she would mix poison in my food (hope she was just joking there). But I had stood my ground, for I did not want my house budget to resemble the US government.

Suddenly my I-Phone rang with its usual tenor. I quickly walked to my bedroom to pick it up. It was my friend Dinesh calling me. Damn!! I forgot our Friday meeting.

“Hey buddy”, I spoke as I picked up the call.

“What are your choicest words of scolding that you want to receive?” he snarled.

“Dude, where are you guys now?” I replied trying to deviate him.

“Where else.. at the theatre.. waiting for a stupid friend to join us for the Friday movie” he replied back.

I gently parted the windscreens across the bedroom window and looked out. The snow storm had not abated and it would be sheer stupidity to venture out now. An idea suddenly flashed through my mind. I went up to the bedroom door and silently opened it.

“Sophia, please understand my position” I shouted as hard as I could making sure the words reached the right person. I could hear the sofa creak a little.

Dinesh and my friends were giggling at the other end. He had obviously put the phone in speaker mode.

“You don’t have to come dude. We can manage” he laughed.

“Help me out guys”, I whispered.

“Sure. But won’t you ever stop fighting with your wife?” he replied.

“It’s a long story. I will tell you on Monday about it. Just hold on the line for now”, I whispered again.

“Listen Sophia, I cannot come now” I shouted again. “You have to finish it by yourself”

I listened intently between the pauses as more creaks of the sofa followed. Suddenly I could hear her footsteps nearing the bedroom.

“Ok”, I spoke again, “I will be there in office in twenty minutes. It’s just for you sweetheart”, I spoke as I drilled those last few words right into my wife’s heart. The giggles continued on the other end as I quietly bade good bye to my friends.

I took out my folded clothes from the almirah and started to put them on. I could see from the corner of my eyes a battle weary figure emerging. Madhavi stood at the entrance of the bedroom with her hands on her hips.

“Where are you going?” she demanded. I avoided her gaze as I slipped by shirt on and slid my belt on to my pants.

“I asked you a question”, her voice boomed through the silent home. The game was reaching its crescendo. On receiving no reply, she quickly grabbed my I-Phone lying on the top of the pillow and ploughed through the caller list.

I snatched it away from her and gave her a cold stare. She snatched it back and started looking into the call details. I watched her face turn shades from her angry-self into the usual smiling doll. A smile had parted through her lips for the first time in two weeks.

Her face hardened once again as she shot me another cold stare. Oh com’on! What more now?

As she turned back to leave to leave the bedroom, I caught her hand and hugged her by force. She wriggled like a petal under the strong force of a gale. I was not letting go of my sweetheart this time.

“Aadhya” she squeaked under my strong arms. “I love you” I squeaked back mocking her. I knew that she was only too happy but the adamant girl in her was not going to accept defeat so easily.

“Leave me” she squeaked again. I relaxed my grip and caught hold of her arms and gazed into the beautiful dark eyes. They were all soaked up with her tears. My gaze shifted from hers on her beautiful rosy lips and I bent closer to have a feel of them. She pushed me back.

I closed in on her lips.. the kiss of love..

“Can you please push up your seat sir?” requested the air-hostess. I blinked my eyes as I tried to get used to dimly lighted place. Where was I?

I looked around to find my co-passenger throw curious looks at me. I quickly pushed up my seat and looked out. The city was completely lit up.

“We would be touching down in a few minutes” boomed the captain’s voice on the speaker.

The broken dream along with me being woken up in my sleep caused a sense of bitterness to envelope me. Why did you leave me Madhavi? Where will I find you now?


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The gentle sea-side evening breeze blew right across my face ruffling my hair. I pulled the hair off my face and into its shape but the breeze ruffled it back again.

“You should have applied gel like me”, spoke my friend.

I smiled and shook my head. Ashok had been my friend since our undergraduate days. He was the first in our batch to get married to his college sweetheart.

“I spoke to your mom some days back to ask her when you were coming to Chennai”, he started the conversation. “And she told me that they were looking out for a girl for you”. I gently nodded not knowing what to say.

“What kind of girl are you looking out for?” he questioned.

“Simple, loving girl” I replied dumbly. I really didn’t know what I was looking out for. I sorely missed Madhavi. Some teenage memories never vanish!!

“Dude, just think before you answer” replied my good friend.

I took a deep breath. “I just wish I could..”, before I finished my sentence, a person suddenly lunged at Ashok from the back.

As I got up and braced myself for a fight with some lacal gangster, I could see Ashok hugging his attacker. “Long time” exclaimed both of them as they bear hugged once more. Ashok introduced me a few minutes later to his friend Pachaimuthu and soon all three of us were in a heated conversation.

“Girls”, spoke Pachai, “are just stupid creatures”. I wished my sister had heard that for she would have torn him to pieces.

“You give them what they want”, he spoke audaciously.

“And how do you know what they want?” I questioned him.

“Nobody knows that”, he winked at me. I knew that he was trying to confuse me.

“Dude, get a girl. Take the girl out to movies and buy her some expensive gifts and she will give you what you want” he spoke with his words laced with more meaning than one.

Suddenly Pachai’s phone buzzed. “Sorry fellas. Gotto run”. He vanished in a few minutes.

“That must be his 19th girl friend” exclaimed Ashok.

Just give what girls want and they will give you what you want. Those words buzzed in my head. I gave Madhavi everything she wanted but she still left me.

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I took a deep breath and entered the huge living room that was richly decorated. The bronze and silver statues and mementos shone majestically on the carved wooden showcases.

“Hi, I am Karunakaran”, strode an energetic man along with his wife. I shook his hand and settled into the expansive sofa. My mom’s sister had been active advocate of getting me married to a rich girl for I had completed an MBA from US. As a person from an average middle class family, I had never enjoyed or wished to enjoy the pleasure or riches. I shuffled nervously and gave scathing glances to my mother. She stared back helplessly for it was my mom’s sister who called the shots in her family as well as mine.

Karunakaran was one smart person as he tried to diffuse the situation and called upon his daughter to come see us. Clad in simple pyjamas, a chubby girl entered the living room and sat next to her dad. I cursed my mom’s sister for making me wear a formal dress in the sweltering Chennai heat.

‘We are seeing a girl for you’, she had explained. ‘You got to be looking smart’. Smart.. my foot.

The cold orange juice served by the house maid cooled my anger. Karunakaran gave a lecture on his huge ancestral wealth and his three factories. “Everything belongs to my daughter” he concluded with pride. My aunt lapped each one of the words for only one thing mattered to her: money.

“I want to speak with the boy” spoke the girl finally.

We both entered a brightly lit room filled with pink colored articles all around me. My anger gave way to a sense of astonishment. One could find anything and everything in that room, right from ten pairs of slippers to every cosmetic product known to girls. As I turned around to face the girl, she looked at me curiously.

“How many girl friends do you have?” she questioned.

“What?” I blurted out.

“I meant how many girl friends you had?” she re-framed her question.

“How many did you have?” I questioned her back.

“Four. Rohit left me for Anita a month back” she replied nonchalantly.

I smiled at her. A kid on the block.

“Why?” I questioned her with a serious face trying to mask my laughter.

“He says I wear too much pink and that I have not grown up” she replied innocently.

I let out a deep sigh of approval and spoke, “Do you want to ask me anything?”

“How is America? I have heard there are many beautiful places to see” she questioned.

We spoke for about twenty minutes as I tried to convey the picture of a beautiful pristine land filled with pink colored goodies.

“I had a great time talking with you” she exclaimed as we finished our conversation.

“So did I”, I replied.

“So will you marry me?” she just threw out the question.

I swallowed the saliva half locked inside my throat. I gently patted on her head and spoke, “You have to wait for a prince on the white horse to carry you”

“Does that mean a yes or a no?” she questioned again.

“You will understand that in a few years”, I replied as I walked out of the room and joined the rest of my clan outside.

(Three Hours Later)

“What is wrong with the girl Aadhya?” spoke my aunt.

“What is right with the girl?” I shot back tired of being convinced to marry that girl.

“Don’t you speak with your aunt like that” chided my mom.

I went over to my mom and hugged her and spoke gently, “She is a kid mom. She doesn’t know anything”

“No girl knows anything before she gets married”, quipped my aunt. “What did your mom learn before she married your father?”

“Those times were different”, I shot back.

I was on the verge of losing my patience and was looking for some support when my elder sister entered our home.

“How dare you leave me for the most important part of my brother’s life?” she shouted. My aunt and sister had been at loggerheads for a long time now and my enemy’s enemy was my friend now. I quickly stepped back to let the titans clash.

“My brother will never be forced to marry somebody”, she thundered.

“Thanks sis”, I muttered.

I quickly sensed the opportunity for escape and walked alone to a nearby garden that had been a place close to my heart. It was the place where my first love bloomed and also my place of solace during difficult times in my life.

I sat on the small bench and stretched myself. There were too many things going on for I never knew that searching for a girl to marry would be such a hard journey. My heart and mind had thought more about my unsuccessful love story after my mom had asked me to get married. I just wished Madhavi would come back.

Suddenly my phone started buzzing with a number I remember having seen somewhere. Damn!! It was Madhavi’s number.

As I pressed on the ‘talk’ button, the phone went dead. I stuck the phone twice on its head in a desperate attempt to make it work. Shit!! The phone had died without its charge. I immediately looked around and my luck shone as I found my childhood friend, Ajay, strolling in the park. I quickly went up to him and borrowed his mobile and rang Madhavi’s number.

Com’on.. Pick up..

“The number you have dialed has been switched off” spoke an automated voice. Oh no.. I had missed her once again.

“Anybody important dude?” spoke Ajay.

I shook my head as I fell back on the park bench. I had missed my last chance.

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As I combed my hair looking up at the mirror, I could feel a hand touch my left shoulder. I quickly jerked around to find my sister stand right behind me.

“What?” I spoke.

“I have a surprise for you” she spoke. The glitter in her eyes meant that she had a mischievous plan.

“Would you want to meet a drop dead gorgeous girl?” she questioned with a smirk on her face.

“Akka” I replied, “I am not in a mood for your pranks. I am going out with Ashok for a movie”

She handed me an envelope and asked me to see the photo inside. I gently opened the envelope and slid out the photo. It was a passport photo of a very beautiful girl.

“Who is this?” I questioned my sister.

“She is the daughter of my neighbor who has just finished her undergrad and is working at TCS” she replied.

I let out a deep sigh. “I think ..” my voice trailed off.

“You just meet her once”, my sister spoke, “If you don’t like her, I won’t ask you again”.

I thought about it and decided to give the meeting a good chance. I quickly messaged Ashok to let him know he had to go to the movie with his wife only.

I revved up my bike and sped to the Kodambakkam Café Coffee day center. As I parked my bike and turned around, I found myself totally amazed. It felt as if the whole environment around me had come to a screeching halt.

In just about ten yards, stood the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her crisply ironed dark green sari shone beautifully as the crimson rays of the evening sun shone upon her. Her braided hair, combined with her kohl lined eyes and thin rosy lips made her the object of all passerbies’ attention. As she floated through the ten yards separating us, I remained dumb stuck seeing such unparalleled beauty.

“Hi, I am Manjula” she spoke. Those words resonated in ears. Manjula..

“You can call me Manju if you want” she spoke. “Usually guys give girls some gift when they want to impress them”

Oh crap!! I hadn’t gotten anything for her..

“I want to reverse the process” she smiled as she stretched out a beautiful red rose. Perhaps this was the happiest I had ever been in a long time.

I stretched out my hand to take the rose from Manju. Suddenly I felt a hand tap me on my shoulders. I turned around to see the person and there she stood.. Madhavi.. the girl of my life…!!

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