The 29th

“Appa I am not yet ready for it “said Vidya
“They will be here sharp 11, and I don’t want any kind of drama this time” said Narayanan.

This was the 28th guy she was supposed to meet in the past 2 years. Either she will not like the guy or the guy will not like her. This became a habitual routine for her. Every weekend either the guy or his relative would come to see her. But this time it became a huge hue and cry. Sri chechi was telling that the guy is very old and limps while walking.

This is it! I am not going to get married to him Amma. So what he belongs to the royal family, so what he earns good money? He is a 5th failed for god’s sake! Have you guys lost it? I don’t want to marry an uneducated guy Amma. Please do something no?

Molu, this is the 28th guy. I have been counting days and guys since 2 years. Appa is fed up with these things too. We can’t just keep you at home like this forever no? What about Raju and Janaki then? You have hit 29 last month. People have started talking rubbish. Your dad can’t take it and above all I can’t take this crap anymore. This is it; you have no choice honey, you will have to marry this guy. Period!

“Hi, myself is Jairam and I works with a reputed sari shop.” Vidya looked at him with awe and couldn’t stop smiling. “I works” it seems. Look at him, he looks even older than Appa, I mean how on earth will I spend my whole life with him?

“Why don’t we leave these guys alone, let them have a chit chat “ said Radha chechi, Jairam’s sister. They all went out to see Narayanan’s pepper farm, leaving these fellows all alone in the room.

"So, what is your hobbies?" asked Jairam. Vidya looked at him and thought all I want now is to kill you. But being a sensible person she ignored her fiery thoughts and replied “ Reading”.

"Oh I too love reading. Have you heard of Milks and Boons? Its my all time favourite because it is full of romance and love. I am a gentleman but I am very much into romantics"

Its Mills & Boons and I don’t like such novels. I am into thrillers and fictions.

“Why? You don’t like romantics? “ asked Jairam and held her hand tightly. “I think I am getting romantic and in love with you Vidya” said Jairam and hugged her.

Vidya, not knowing what is happening around, suddenly tried pushing him away. But Jairam kept murmuring “ I never hugged any woman like this. It feels like Milks & Boons story only."

Next we see is Vidya sitting on Jairam’s belly with a sharp knife ( almost like a butcher knife). She was hitting him and shouting at him, threatening him that he is going to get killed by her right there right now.


“You shouldn’t have done that molu. People will start talking about it all the more. “ said Amma.

“All you are worried about is your reputation no? Have you ever thought how embarrassing and humiliating this whole episode was for me? Have you even thought the challenges I will have to face after this whole verdict?

All this talking will not ignore the fact that you have 2 younger sisters waiting for you to get married. If I focus only on your miseries I will not be doing justice to my other daughters. Being a mother I have to ensure that I am not favoring any of my children.

The conversation was going nowhere and it was best for both the parties to keep quiet and wait for the next groom. Villagers started passing comments on Vidya and it was getting difficult for her to go to the office. Even her Dad was facing plenty of problems in his school.

Days passed by and the day came when Vidya had to see the 29th groom. She heard from Sri chechi that this 29th groom is coming from North India.

So what he is working in North India? He is a graduate, with a government job. Infact his whole family is in North India. Wouldn’t that be great?

But Amma how can I leave Kerala? I mean how can I leave my roots and go to a place where I have never been to?

Enough Vidya, I see you want to argue on every single thing. This time make sure you don’t create any fuss or over react. Please for the sake of Janaki and Raju just keep quiet will you?


Siddarth Menon, you can call me Sid. I am working with Vijaya Bank in Agra. I have come for 10 days leave and keen to get married this year as I am already 32 and being pressurized by my folks to marry someone this year itself.

Same here. I see guys every weekend and this is getting frustrating for me. You know you are the 29th!

Ha ha ha. Bingo! You are the 29th too! This is my 29th visit to Kerala since past 2 years.

Anyways, Siddarth I need to ask you few questions. Do you have any bad habits?

Like?

Like do you drink or smoke?

Why? Are you going to order something now?

Very funny! But I am serious!

Yeh I am serious too. I mean, I would not mind drinking 1-2 pegs.

Oh lord! So you are a drunkard?

Come on Vidya! Drinking 1-2 pegs doesn’t mean I am a drunkard. See it is a kind of lifestyle. You stay away from your family, you have a good friend circle and on weekends you have no one to roam around with, so all you do is spend time with friends have 1-2 pegs, smile , laugh and prepare your self for the next Monday.

But if you don’t like it and if you would insist I will definitely think of quitting it

Vidya smiles

By the way your paintings are lovely. I actually thought you have bought it from Ramada paintings.

Oh thanks but this one is not my painting. I bought it from Ramada, just that I painted the frame with silver color. You wana see my paintings? Come I will show them to you.

Wow they are just wonderful!

Vidya, I think I kind of like you. Would you mind painting my life with your colors?

Vidya smiles, Amma smiles.............
And the whole family celebrates the final nod of approval coming from Vidya.

Jab They Met...

Now when you have come here I do not want to disappoint you by writing some more fictions. Life is all about drama.We all play different roles at different levels.What matters is how you face the situation and how you deal with people.I would like to recite the most important phase of my life....My love story.....and there is no other way to write it better than a Bollywood shtyle....So Here is the bollywood version of my love story-Jab We Met[I am sure it wont turn out to be real shahid kareena story;)]

She was the most powerful lady in the advertising industry. She was a vivacious personality with a great sense of humor. Yeh she was all the things I just mentioned but only in her Dream life... lol.
A true piscean who always lived in a fantasy world. She wanted to rule the world but in reality her stupid emotional intelligence was ruling her.

He on the other hand was more of logical fellow. An aspiring business tycoon , a true workaholic and a voracious reader! Give him a book or a face I bet he could read either of them thoroughly.

She always wanted to marry in a typical filmy shtyle. For her, life was one or the other way a Bollywood film where every marriage has to have a happy ending. But with her busy schedule she never got time to think about her personal life. And as you know life in Mumbai is a fast paced monotonous life with no time for extra activities. Just do it is the punchline that most of the people follow there. She always tried finding out what her existence was, specially, when she used to travel to the office. Guess that's the best time when everyone is thinking about another day ahead...planning for the day, how to meet the deadlines and so on. You will find everyone dreaming about something with a very blank face which says- somehow this bloody day should pass!

It was a typical Monday and as usual she somehow managed to get up and got ready to go to the office. On her way she saw lots of couples walking by and she was wondering what was the cause. She reached the bus stop bought newspaper while waiting for her bus. Suddenly she sees the headline " The day to show your love has arrived-Happy Valentines". The moment she saw she knew why the sun was so bright that day:P
On the way to the office she decided to do something about her single status. After all she spent her bloody 26 years being alone( and not to forget, being virgin) and now it was the time for her to find that "exact match"! Something came up in her mind and she thought of finding her groom online. You see she was the queen of internet and online advertising was her profession. As soon as she reached the office she found lots of mails in her inbox. For a change she ignored all of them and started searching for the best matrimonial site and she finds shaadi.com the best!

Oh sorry i was so focused to talk about the girl that i almost forgot about the guy. Like the girl, the Guy already had a decent profile on shaadi.com and was searching online for a bride.
Fortunately or unfortunately it was a Sunday when both of them caught each other online.They found each other very interesting and"my type" kind. Like in a movie it rained that day......for her it was a true sign of good omen.....
they spoke over the phone once.....and then over n over again......For him......the bell rang and that was a good omen for him ( it was the Airtel phone bill ) :P

the day arrived when both of them decided to meet....

Coincidence or what but when they met first, it rained again! Love was in the air and they both met and hugged and kissed as if they had been in love for years.

What goes around, comes around…

"Amma tell him that I would never want to see his face again!” I yelled and cut the phone. That night and the following three weeks I did not talk to anyone. I locked my self in my room, no calls and no sms, the only thing I used to do was weeping and cursing my dad. Yes, I cursed him for whatever he did to my life. I lost my love; Sahar and I believe he was solely responsible for the mishap. All my dreams, my aspirations everything shattered and I did not want anything anymore.

After my fourth semester exams, I got a call from Ani that Dad is serious. Believe me or not it was hilarious to hear that. You took my life Dad, now see how god punishes you, I said to myself. Ani told that Dad wants to talk to me but I cut the phone. After a weeks time, again, Amma called up and asked me to come back. I retorted and told her that I did not want to spoil my career and life for someone and I would never come to see him. Yes, I had become brutal but what else you can expect from a broken heart whose Love life was ruthlessly killed by his own Dad.I am not a god, I am a human being and I don’t believe in forgiving merciless people.

On the Christmas day, Ani called and told that Amma got admitted and wanted to see me. I was shocked. Ani, my sister and Amma were the only people I was living for. Fortunately my exams were over and I packed my bags to go back to India. I went straight way to hospital to see Amma.

She embraced me and cried. She said she is fine now but she wanted me to see dad at least for once. Dad was in the ICU.I asked Ani to come with me.Ani said she needed to have a talk with Dad's Doctor. I still did not want to see him anyhow I entered the room. I couldn't recognize dad and I thought that I entered the wrong room. It was Dad. He lost his hair, looked pale and skinny. I am sure if I had seen him anywhere else I would have never recognized him.

I could not hold my self, burst out with tears. That day evening dad expired. Amma said he was waiting to feel my presence. I felt the pain but it was not so strong and anyways I did not want to kill my self by thinking about the past. I always believed, life has to move on. I had my responsibilities, Amma, Ani, Dad's factory, home, everything. So, no looking back.

Days passed by and life became much easier to live. I was happy because I had my family. After Ani's marriage Amma wanted me to get settled. I was always against marriage but the moment I met this girl I fallen in love. Soumya, she was a gem of a person and I could not find a single reason for not marrying her. Everything was going perfect and I found myself to be the most fortunate person in the world without much worries in life. I had everything that I dreamt of. Love, money, happiness and peace, my life had all the ingredients.

Life is all about ups and downs, so even I wasn’t spared. Some serious issues came up in the factory. Work pressure and tensions in the factory became so intense that it started affecting my relations with Soumya. She became obnoxious for every little thing and our relationship started becoming an obligation. I started staying late in the office which made her more agitated. But before the situation got worst, Soumya got pregnant. Everyone including me thought that everything will be at the place and with the birth of Ria my relation with Soumya will be rejuvenated.

But I was wrong, I lost the love for my wife and gradually I was going away from her. And then our relationship reached a stage where we had to get separated. Before separation she told that she did not want to keep Ria with her. It was a blessing in disguise. I was obliged to her for not taking my life from me. I know I couldn’t survive without Ria.

The day after Soumya left, Amma came crying to me. She gave me a letter, which she found in Ria's room. The letter said that I was the reason for us to get separated and that I was so brutal to my wife, which made her to leave us. I was speechless. I rushed to her room and begged her to come out but she did not. I knocked the door little harder but she said “Get lost Dad I hate you! She then yelled and said,"Amma tell him that I would never want to see his face again"!

How could she even tell this to her Dad? How could she? She doesn’t have the faintest idea of what she means to her Dad. It was so harsh; I could not take those words. I was helpless I couldn’t stand my baby crying and cursing me for the sin I have not done…

While I was crying,Amma came to me and said"Atleast now you understood how it feels when your own child hates you for something you are not responsible for"!I literally felt like telling her to leave me alone.But I couldn't because I know she was right.And today I am feeling the same pain Dad has gone through.

I know its too late but forgive me Dad...

"True Neighbour"

Unlike others who usually start their first write-up dedicating to their family or friends. Well, I would like to dedicate my first write-up solely to my neighbours!!
Yeah ladies and gentlemen I am talking about none other than our very own people, who can break or make our life.

Neighbours can come in all sizes, packages, and varieties. There can be jealous types who would burn with fumes by looking at your new car. There can be furious types who can go haywire because you threw tennis ball in their compound. And hey, how can you forget the intrusive types, who love to interfere in each and every moment of your life. Come on, it’s their apparent right to be the vital part of you silly life isn't it?

I wonder how I have always been lucky to have intrusive types in my life. This type is my all time favorite (can be the other way round) and I consider they are the only angels in my life. Be it Gupta Aunty who never stopped thinking about my personal life or be it Gopal ji who always been worried about my brother more than my parents.


Often People start their work with the name of Lord Ganesha, I start it with Durga. Yeah, because that’s her name, Durga and she is not just our neighbour, She is the only well-wisher,in our life. Without her I think we would have done nothing (or at least something). She knows about my entire family more than I do. She knows which is the perfect age for me to get married, she knows which is the best hair color for my hair- type (no she is not a beauty specialist, certainly not!).To her opinion I should not wear shorts as I am grown up now (oh yeah?), my mum should cut her hair short (because its IN), my bro should not have invested in mutual funds and the best part is that you don't need to see news channels when she is around. Are you waiting to hear what she has to suggest my dad? You bet,She won't dare to!!


See, isn't she the vital part of my life? Wasn’t she worth enough to talk about? Do you think I am being sarcastic? Bitchy? No, not at all! I want to tell the whole world how lucky I am to have a neighbour like her. In this era where no one has time for each other, it’s hard to find people who care about you unconditionally and who always are there for you even if you are not in a need! Now that's what you call a "True neighbour".Durga aunty, I am glad you are the substantial part of my life,hats off to you!!