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)

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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