You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

CHASTE GANGES 

{3}

Ronav jogged along the length of the beach. His tired legs were protesting against the new experience. But he did not give up. The cool breeze lovingly caressed his face. The sun had just risen and its orange glow started colouring the sky. After 30 minutes of jogging he reached his destination. He stood there breathing heavily and gazed at her. She was sitting on the beach and watching the sun. Her wavy locks were tied up into a ponytail and a few strands were sticking to her face. Sweat trickled down her forehead, along her neck. Her face was crimson red and had a radiant glow. She did not acknowledge his presence and continued to stare at the horizon. He sat down beside her but made no sound. After a couple of minutes she instantly turned towards him and her jaw dropped in surprise.

‘Hey Ronav! When did you come?’

‘A few minutes ago. But you were so absorbed in your thoughts that I didn’t disturb you,’ he replied smiling. She frowned at him.

‘Since when did you start jogging?’

‘Who said that I am here for my morning exercise? I came only to meet you.’

Nithyayuvani raised her eyebrows at him.

‘Why?’

‘Because I cancelled your plan yesterday,’ he said coolly. She shook her head and a shadow of a smile crossed her face. Somehow she was grateful that he came because he was indeed her much needed respite.

‘What were you thinking?’ he asked drinking water from her water bottle. His question caught her off guard because she had been thinking about her brother Nihal.

‘Nothing to worry about…’ she said once again gazing into the horizon.

‘You were upset when you texted me yesterday. What is the matter?’

She knew that she could neither ignore his question nor tell him the truth about Nihal. Yet his reference to the previous day gave her a perfect opportunity to cover up the truth.

‘Well, as usual my parents have found a match for me. Apparently Mr. Wrong is not comfortable with me being a journalist. Early morning, I fought with mom and left home with an empty stomach.’

‘I guess hunger upset you more than your anger,’ he said winking at her. She could not help smiling at his words.

‘You are absolutely right!’

‘So what happened later?’

Nithyayuvani let out a long drawn breath.

‘I convinced my parents that I cannot agree to that proposal. It’s ridiculous! How can you judge a person based on profession? Moreover journalism is my dream and I have given a tough fight to reach where I am today. I really cannot throw away years of hard-work for some stranger who knows nothing about me!’

He admired the way her face flushed when she spoke so passionately. Every word she spoke was a poor representation of the fury raging in her heart. It was anger not only against some stupid stranger, but also her animosity towards the society which had double standards for women.

‘You don’t have to. I think being a journalist is really cool.’

‘Can I ask you something?’ she asked turning towards him.

‘Sure.’

‘What is it about independent and confident women that intimidates men?

‘I don’t know about other men but I am very much attracted to them,’ he said meeting her steely gaze. For a moment, his eyes and words left her enraptured. Out of the blue a thought struck her mind.

He is such a charming man… understands me so well. But… what if he is gay?

She veered away her gaze from him trying hard to wipe out that ridiculous question from her mind. Although somewhere deep down she fervently hoped that he was straight.

‘Yet we cannot deny the fact that sometimes even a woman rejects a man purely based on his profession. Each one of us is entitled to have our own opinion about our life partner but we should be careful in choosing the deciding factors. We should learn to value a person’s character more than anything else,’ he said as a matter of fact.

‘Very true…’

Nithyayuvani was tempted to discuss about Nihal with him. Ever since her brother disclosed his secret to her, she really wanted to share it with someone. Yet she did not want to breach the trust her brother had shown in her.

‘A far as you are concerned, you are amazing in every way. I don’t think a man would have any problem in marrying you just the way you are.’

He was cleverly flirting with her in a subtle way. Yet she did not miss the intention behind his words.

‘Are you gay?’ she blurted out. Ronav’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘Well, till this moment I have no doubt about my sexual orientation. For your kind information, I am straight. But I am curious to know what made you ask me such a question?’

‘Because had you been gay, it would have certainly broken my heart,’ she said winking at him. No doubt she was only flirting back with him but her words stormed his poor little heart with wild expectations. He let out a quiet sigh.

You really shouldn’t be playing with my heart…its cruel!

***

Nithyayuvani went into the restroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She took out her comb from the bag and briskly combed her hair. Quickly she plaited it into a loose braid which fell over her left shoulder. She darkened the kohl at the rim of her eyes. She looked beautiful in a lemon yellow salwar kameez. Taking a deep breath she took one final look at her appearance and stepped out. It was a high end restaurant which had private cubicles for the diners. Nihal had already reserved cubicle 12 for the evening. She had no trouble in locating the cubicle at the far end of the restaurant. The doors remained closed and only the waiters walked in and out of the cubicles to serve the diners. There were several questions running on her mind since the previous night. Honestly she was not prepared for this meeting. Deep in her heart she did not know what to do when she met her brother’s boyfriend.

Brother’s boyfriend…

Even after 19 hours she could not wrap her mind around those two words. She kept thinking about an excuse to avoid this meeting even at this moment. But her mind could not come up with any excuse which could possibly convince her brother. Moreover she did not want to disappoint him. There was nothing to fear yet the fear of the unknown gripped her heart. Hesitantly she lightly knocked on the door before stepping inside the private cubicle. It was a table for four and her brother was seated with another man on one side of the table.

‘Hi Nithya!’ beamed her brother. He smiled at his partner who looked nervous. Only after Nithyayuvani sat down on the comfortable chair she looked up at the two men before her.

‘Meet Krishna, my boyfriend. Krish, meet my pretty sister Nithyayuvani,’ said Nihal smiling at them. She out-stretched her hand and Krishna shook it gently. He gave her a half-hesitant smile. She politely smiled back at him without letting her jaw drop. He was handsome enough to compete with any top league model.

Why on earth are you two handsome men not interested in women???

‘I read your articles regularly Nithyayuvani. Your recent article on child abuse victims was quite impressive,’ complimented Krishna.

‘Thank you.’

‘We are very proud of you Nithyayuvani.’

She blushed uncomfortably at his words.

‘You can call me Nithya,’ she said humbly. Nihal gave her a warm smile and an assuring look to Krishna. Yet it did not put him at ease. He was cautiously gauging her reaction to his words. Krishna had worn a white shirt and sported a moustache but his face was clean shaven. Initially she was disappointed when she saw that he was not wearing any flashy colour. At the back of her mind she had a stereotyped imagination of gay men which was shattered the moment she saw them. Later Krishna told that he worked as a HR in a software company. She wondered whether anyone in his office were aware about his secret. Although it was quite unlikely because nobody would even imagine such a macho looking man could be gay.

You had no clue about your own brother!

Her inner voice sniggered at her. They ordered dinner and continued their conversation. After some time, Nithyayuvani found herself comfortably chatting with Krishna. He had a decent sense of humour and was quite interested in social issues like Nihal. At one point she was amused to see Nihal and Krishna share carefree laughter. They looked at each other and smiled a lot. The happiness in her brother’s eyes was hard to miss and she had rarely seen that twinkle in his eyes.

‘How many women have you rejected?’ she asked Krishna playfully.

‘Many. Although initially I dated a couple of them. But once I knew I was gay, I rejected every proposal.’

‘I am certain you have ruthlessly broken many hearts.’

Suddenly Krishna’s face turned grave.

‘Yes… but every time it equally hurts me too. It was cruel but I had no choice. Neither could I tell them the truth nor could I comfortably lie to them. The loneliness was nothing less than a death sentence. I have spent years waiting for the one I love…’

His words tugged at her heart and she glanced at Nihal. His face mirrored Krishna’s expression and she understood that he also had gone through similar agony. They both looked into each other’s eyes and that moment of silence spoke volumes about their pain. Suddenly the realization hit her mind.

They are indeed a couple! If this isn’t love, what else is it?

After dinner, Nihal ordered her favourite dessert – Gulab Jamun with ice-cream. Slowly Krishna picked up a parcel from under the table. He held it out to Nithyayuvani. She narrowed her eyes at Nihal.

‘I told him that you will be mad at me, but he insisted. I couldn’t rein him in,’ said Nihal winking at Krishna.

‘Please accept it. I really hope you like it, Nithya,’ said Krishna tenderly. His tone was dripping with affection and she found it impossible to refuse him. Opening the parcel she found a simple lavender cotton sari with minimal embroidery. It was simple yet exquisite.

‘Thank you very much, Krish. It is beautiful.’

‘Did you really like it?’ asked Krishna still unsure.

‘Of course, I like it,’ she said giving him a broad smile. Krishna let out a quiet sigh of relief and grinned at her. Nihal squeezed his hand gently. Nithyayuvani instantly bent down fiddling with her spoon. For a moment she was terrified that he might kiss him right there. She still found their PDA very awkward. Coming to terms with their truth was easy but seeing the confirmation was hard to digest. Yet she made up her mind to start working on accepting their relationship without any qualms. After settling the bill and giving a generous tip to the waiter they walked out to the parking lot. She had lied to her mother that she was going to dinner with her gang of friends and he had lied that he would be working overnight. Only now she understood her brother’s obsession with working overtime.

‘Nithya, thank you so much for approving of us. It really means a lot to me,’ said Krishna earnestly.

‘I am happy for both of you. No matter what, I am with you,’ she assured them and hugged Nihal.

‘Can I get a hug from you?’ she asked Krishna who looked taken aback. After a moment he smiled and hugged her warmly. Nihal’s eyes were moist looking at them. He had never expected that he would find acceptance in his own family. He no longer had to pretend with his sister and he believed that she would not hate him for who he was. Nithyayuvani welcomed Krishna into their family with open arms and it was something that he had not even dared to dream about. The spark of hope was slowly blossoming into a flame…

                              To be continued...