You and I, plus 2 years of marriage!

CHASTE GANGES 

{9}

Nithyayuvani sat down on the courtyard of the temple and gazed at the gopuram of the Arulmigu Kapaleeshwarar temple. The ornate monumental tower always mesmerized her. She was dressed in a simple off white cotton churidhar against her mother’s wishes of draping a sari.

‘What is wrong in draping a sari? You are going to a temple!’ Devayani glared.

‘I would have draped a sari, if I were to go to the temple for God’s sake. Today I am going there to meet this guy you have chosen for me. Let him see me the way I am every day! He should not be under any false impression that I would be draping a sari on a daily routine,’ she said rolling her eyes.

She could not help smiling remembering the conversation with her mother. The argument could well have been avoided, yet she never let go of any opportunity which kept the two women in the house at loggerheads. Her heart was filled with a sudden tenderness thinking about Devayani.

I love you, amma…

There were only a handful of devotees in the temple and the priests were going about their routines prayers in the temple. The plan was to meet Arjun at 7am in that magnificent temple. Usually the man and woman to be married met each other in the woman’s house with the entourage of their families. But Ashok had made this arrangement only to pacify his daughter. He understood her discomfort in being paraded before strangers, no matter how traditional the practice was. Nithyayuvani entered the temple at 6.50am and chose a corner in the courtyard of the temple to wait for Arjun. She was mentally preparing herself to reject their marriage proposal with all the viable reasons for it. Somehow she hoped to not reveal anything about her relationship with Ronav. Last night, Ronav sounded really tired over the phone and she chose not to tell him anything about Arjun. Sitting alone, her mind was disturbed and anxious.

I should have told Ron… I would have felt better if I had spoken to him. Now I feel all alone. Shall I call him?

She checked her phone. It was 7.13am and she was certain that he would still be sleeping. With a heavy sigh, she decided against disturbing him.

‘Ehh… Nithyayuvani?’

A hesitant voice surprised her. She looked up and found a handsome man standing before her. He was dressed in an olive green linen shirt with his sleeves rolled up. Her eyes almost popped out when she saw that a cotton veshti was draped around his waist. His eyebrows knitted into a frown when he got no reply from her.

‘You are Nithyayuvani, right? Devayani aunty’s daughter.’

He asked in a half-unsure voice. She came back to her senses and stood up nodding her head.

‘Hi Arjun,’ she said with a warm smile. He smiled in relief and shook her hand. She noticed that it was a firm handshake and he made excellent eye contact with her. They both sat down on the courtyard of the temple and he angled himself so as to face her. She smiled at him awkwardly.

‘I guess you already know about my education and career. I graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Madras and joined Bosch. Now I work as a Manager for the Design and Manufacturing division,’ he said enthusiastically.

‘I am a journalist and I work for the New Times,’ she said briefly without elaborating. She was not there for any job interview to prattle about her resume. He nodded his head a little amused.

‘Honestly speaking, I was quite impressed when I learnt that you were a journalist. I looked through your profile on Facebook and also read some of your articles. Your writing is very empathetic and they are really good pieces of work,’ he appreciated whole-heartedly. It was indeed a genuine compliment with no hint at flattery.

‘Thank you. I am surprised that you put in so much efforts to get to know me.’

He laughed lightly.

‘Well, I think that marriage is a big decision to make. There is no point in letting our parents make the decision and later blame them if it goes wrong. We should put in efforts from the beginning.’

She smiled and nodded in agreement.

‘Arjun… I appreciate your straight-forward talk and it has indeed made me comfortable to discuss things in the open. Journalism is not just my profession, it has been my passion since childhood. I had to face staunch opposition in my own home, to be able to make it as a journalist. My parents are not very happy with my choice of career but my brother stood by me. I have won my own battles to have come this far. Now, I don’t want to just throw away my years of hard-work for the sake of marriage,’ she said firmly.

His face grew grim and the smile was wiped clean from his face. After a moment of awkward silence he shook his head.

‘I am sorry but I really cannot understand one point. Why do you have to throw away everything for the sake of marriage?’

Nithyayuvani looked at him perplexed.

‘Because I would have to give up my career as a journalist after marriage. My nature of work is not something which is acceptable for family life. I have seen men laying down the condition that I should quit being a journo,’ she said as a matter of fact.

‘Did I ask you to quit? I agreed for this meeting with full knowledge of your profession. I don’t see any valid reason as to why you should give up on your goals. Marriage is not for killing dreams!’

Arjun’s tone was sincere and touching. He meant every single word that he had spoken.

‘Excuse me! Are you serious?’ she asked disbelievingly. He had to stifle a laugh seeing the expression on her face.

‘Of course I am, Nithyayuvani.’

She was indeed bowled over by his attitude. He was just too perfect to reject. He slightly leaned forward and held her gaze.

‘I am not going to make any false promises that your life won’t change after marriage. It will certainly change for both of us. We will have to live under the same roof and spend every single day together. I am under no illusion that it is going to be easy. But I can assure you that you will not lose your identity.’

His words left a lasting impact on her. She was nothing less than dumbfounded.

‘Won’t you say anything? I want to know what is on your mind,’ he said gently. Nithyayuvani was in a fix.

How do you reject a man, who has every quality for being accepted? Arjun is smart, educated and a compassionate person. He would make the perfect husband and a wonderful son-in-law in the eyes of my parents. Our marriage would be celebrated by both the families making everyone happy. No struggle, no arguments, no compromises, no pain, no tears…

She let out a long drawn breath and looked into his eyes.

‘I am impressed with you, Arjun. But I am sorry. I don’t want to marry you,’ she said with determination. Disappointment and shock was writ large on his face.

‘May I know why?’ he asked in a lifeless tone.

‘I am in love with someone else.’

Revealing the truth was the only way to reject him. Nithyayuvani did not want to hurt a nice guy in any other way. She owed him at least the truth. Arjun smiled at her wryly.

‘I wish you had told this to me initially. I had almost made up my mind to marry you.’

‘I am very sorry,’ she said earnestly.

‘Don’t be, Nithyayuvani. But tell me one thing, is your man better than me?’

Although his question caught her off guard, she replied without any second thoughts.

‘He is the best for me. There is something about love which makes every other thing seem trivial before it. Ronav is the love of my life and I would always choose him over any other man,’ she said intensely.

Arjun reluctantly stood up along with her. He let out a sigh and shook her hand.

‘Good luck with Ronav. Independent women are a rare breed. I was lucky to have found one, yet not so lucky… I wish you a happy life.’

‘Thank you, Arjun. It was nice meeting you,’ she said with a smile. He bid her farewell and walked towards the exit of the temple. He turned around to look at her for a moment.

Those eyes owned me the moment you looked up…

***

‘How did you smuggle this into the house?’ asked Nihal taking the beer tin from her.

‘Who is ever going to check my bag while entering the house?’ smirked Nithyayuvani opening the lid of the breezer bottle.

‘Cheers to your marriage proposal break-up!’ he said raising the tin. She clanked the bottle to his tin and grinned.

‘But I really liked this Arjun guy. He was the best proposal you received till date.’

‘I won’t deny that, anna. He is a nice guy but I want only Ronav,’ she said shrugging. Nihal smiled at her reply. They both had surreptitiously met on the terrace to celebrate Arjun rejecting Nithyayuvani. Their parents were aghast hearing it but the siblings were more than happy. She had bought her brother beer with one more important agenda on her mind. Once they were half-way through their drinks, she decided to speak about it.

‘I am going to Mumbai,’ she said casually. He did not see anything amiss.

‘For how many days?’

‘Err… I am not going to there for an assignment.’

He looked at her baffled.

‘Are you going to meet Ronav? That’s alright. Just tell me for how many days you will be gone?’

She swallowed hard and hesitated for a minute.

‘I am getting a transfer to Mumbai. I am going to live there for a long time, anna.’

Nihal’s jaw dropped but he managed not to drop the half-empty tin of beer.

‘What bullshit! This is ridiculous! The last time Krish talked me into agreeing to send you, but it certainly won’t happen now. I agreed only because it was an assignment for a month. Now you are talking of shifting to Mumbai altogether. I am not going to let it happen!’

He had to try really hard to not raise his voice. Nithyayuvani let out a tired sigh.

‘Please try to understand. Ronav and I don’t want this to be a long distance relationship. We are finding it really hard to stay away from each other.’

‘Then let him come to Chennai. Why do you have to go there?’

‘He went back to Mumbai only recently after getting a transfer. He cannot once again get a transfer to Chennai anytime soon. Be practical, bro.’

Nihal gulped some more beer and stood up.

‘You have been in a relationship for only a couple of months. It is too early to make such a big decision. Are you even aware of the risks involved?’ he said intensely.

‘Didn’t Krish shift here in the very first month of your relationship? You get to spend weekends with your boyfriend and I shouldn’t even move into the city where mine is staying. This is so unfair!’ she complained standing up to him.

‘How can you even compare my boyfriend with yours?!! It is not the same!’ he said throwing up his hands.

‘Love is love, no matter who does it. Please help me convince appa and amma. My transfer has been confirmed.’

‘No way, Nithya. Just forget it,’ he said firmly and finished his beer.

‘Thanks for the beer, sis.’

He was about to leave when Nithyayuvani decided to play her cards.

‘Alright then, I will go and tell amma that you will never bring home a daughter-in-law to accompany her to the temple every Friday. Instead her son-in-law will take her to a brew pub every Friday evening,’ she said crossing her arms. Nihal glared at her.

‘You are not going to say anything about this to amma,’ he hissed with anger.

‘You bet! Of course, I will. You know me.’

Nihal shut his eyes and shook his head in frustration.

‘This is blackmail! You are blackmailing your own brother.’

‘You gave me no choice, anna. You support me to go to Mumbai and I will not reveal anything about your boyfriend. Deal?’ she asked like a cut-throat businesswoman. He hated being cornered by his sister.

Cluck!

They both turned around when they heard something fall down and found a torch on the terrace. They froze! Nilanjali was gawking at them with a scandalized look on her face.

Crap! We are doomed…

                                 To be continued...