The joke wasn't even particularly funny, but I was laughing my head off. And Chandru was laughing too. He knew it wasn't so funny either. But something about being stuck in the office at 7 pm, after getting a heavy lashing from my manager, and the rain pouring outside and not letting me leave, made the joke funnier than it actually was.
That, and the expectant look on Chandru's face after delivering punch line, his eyes twinkling, but also full of hope.
Chandru wasn't the most handsome looking guy in the office. He wasn't even the smartest, but he was the most gentlemanly of all. It wasn't that I had a crush on him. But when the other older guys acted like entitled male chauvinists, Chandru's diffidence made me take notice of him. His self-depracating sense-of-humour was like a breath of fresh air.
And that evening, in the office, waiting for the rain to stop, there was something in the air. Most of the others had left. I realized that Chandru was cracking these jokes to make me feel less conscious of the almost empty office. I knew he had looked at me often when he thought I wasn't looking, but when the chance to say something childish and supposedly romantic to me came up, he did not take it, and somehow that made me respect him further. He walked me to the auto-stand and waited up till it turned the corner.
I was all of 22 then and Chandru, I came to know later, was just 20. But we got to talking often - usually in lunch groups. We ended up talking only to each other even then, but going in a group helped in maintaining the facade that this was nothing more than casual friendship.
After a month, I knew I really didn't care about what people thought and asked him out for lunch. I could see that he was elated. If I had left it all to him, he could have gone on in the same manner for the next 10 years and pining inside. I was the one who declared my love to him. He simply said 'Me too', the first time.
The heady feeling of being in love affected him more than me. He was forever giving me gifts and cheesy cards. He thanked me many times when I agreed to let him hold my hand - he had asked for my permission. I found it cute, when he summoned up courage to ask me out for a movie. It was the noon-show of some romantic Hindi movie. He held my hand and when the hall was dark enough, slowly lifted it. I was trying to suppress my giggle. This guy was really cute! The screen lit up with some song and the hand went down. In another 10 minutes, the screen went dark and this time Chandru quickly lifted my hand and planted a kiss. I was looking at him and he kept looking at the screen. It was more funny than romantic. But that kiss had increased his courage - he lifted his hand to my lips and held it there. I bit into it and the poor guy looked wounded (and was actually wounded, because I had bitten hard).
Those days seem straight out of a romantic film. We were making excuses at home to stay back longer at work. At the office excursion to Mahabalipuram, we hung back to enjoy each others' company and even took solitary walks to get away from the other boring people. When others tried to join us during lunch, we gave out subtle and sometimes not so subtle hints, to leave us alone.
I introduced him to my parents, who treated him like they would treat any of my friends. And he introduced me to his parents, during their housewarming ceremony - it was a tiny house, compared to mine. Only, he introduced me along with the others from office. I think his mother suspected something, but I wasn't completely sure. After marriage, if things didn't work out with her, we could always move out, I thought.
A few months later, my mother broached the subject of marriage. There were some good proposals they had received, she said. I didn't answer immediately.
"I like someone else ma. You know him too." I said.
"Who?"
"Chandru. Remember? I introduced him to you the other day."
"But he is younger than you, isn't he? You told me so yourself. He looks younger than you too! He will look like your younger brother! Besides isn't he shorter than you?"
"How does it matter ma? We love each other!"
"But he is not from our community either! If there was just one problem I can fight for it. But here everything seems to be a problem! Is he rich at least? That can cover a lot of things."
"No, he is from a middle class family - just like me, in case you forgot".
"Lakshmi, you are not a child anymore. I may sound like a villain to you now. But a parent wants only the best for her child and will always look out for her. You will know when you have children. This marriage is not happening"
"But why? Because he is not rich? Or because he is from another community? Or is it the age?"
"It is all the above, but most importantly the age. You don't know about men. They tire of their wives' looks very soon. Add to it the fact that women age faster than men and you know what kind of foolishness you are talking about".
"Ever heard of love ma?"
"Love can happen after marriage my dear. It is a safer time to fall in love - fewer chances of heartbreak and lesser risk of the a commitment-phobic partner"
"What would you know about love ma?"
"You don't need to know what I know. So no, I am not letting this happen".
I fought, argued, begged, but Ma remained firm.
I made a decision. The next day, I walked up to Chandru's desk and told him I had something to tell him.
"My parents are looking for an alliance. I told them about you. But they refused flat out. Let's get married at the registrar's office. Are you ready?"
"But we are too young for marriage", he said.
"You weren't young for love? My parents think I am at the right age. What should I tell them?"
"Why did they refuse?" he asked, trying to buy some time.
"They say you are younger than me - that you aren't rich enough - that you aren't from our community".
"They are right though. You have lived the life of a princess. I have just started working. I wouldn't want you to suffer for my sake."
"What? So when were you planning to say all this Chandru? Whenever I raised the question of marriage? If it is about the size of your house, I will ask my father to give us his Adyar flat. You and I can move there."
"It's not like that Lakshmi. You know I love you dearly. I am only thinking of your good".
"Why is it that everybody is thinking of my good, but not my happiness?"
He stood there in the cafeteria, with tears in his eyes.
"What were you thinking Chandru? Why didn't you think of all this in the beginning - when I proposed to you? What would you rather have me do?"
And yet, he said nothing. And I walked away, with my heart broken, by well-meaning people who were only looking out for me.
My wedding was like that of many Indian girls- NRI groom, dating on skype, photographs before the actual ceremony to apply for a green card etc. etc. I didn't invite Chandru.
Raghu turned out to be everything Chandru wasn't - tall, striking, well-read and rich. I was lucky that he was also a good person. Love didn't happen immediately. I can't remember the exact moment it happened - maybe it was when 10 days after marriage, Raghu sat me down next to him and said "Lakshmi, all of us have a past. I am not going to ask you about it, nor am I going to tell you anything about mine. The human mind is untrustworthy and so I don't know what my mind would do with that kind of knowledge about you. But here, this moment, we are together. We can be good friends, and good companions. No matter how we were before this, we will be honest with each other from this minute, and respect each other as equals" - it sounded better than the mantras the priest recited during our marriage.
Maybe it was when he insisted that I should continue my education and enrolled me for graduate school. Or when he cooked a dinner with all my favourite dishes on the last day of my exams - maybe it was when he had tears in his eyes when I was crying out in labour pains - or when one morning I found him asleep on his rocking chair next to the crib, with Sanju on his shoulder. I can't remember the exact moment - but somewhere it looks like love did happen.
That day, we were in Lifestyle. We had come on our annual trip to Chennai and I was looking at some t-shirts, when I felt someone watching me. It was good old Chandru - with a tiny paunch and a little less hair on his head - but otherwise pretty much the same as he looked before. And from the looks of it, he was trying to hide from me. It was really funny. I was inquiring into his well-being when Sanju and the younger one Sia walked in arguing over something. Soon a gorgeous looking woman walked out of the dressing room. She introduced herself to me but seemed to have sensed something. Looks like Chandru had done well for himself! An older woman - Chandru's mother! - walked right behind them. She seemed to have recognized me almost immediately. Her expression changed from surprise to worry to fake-happiness in a matter of seconds and she quickly averted her gaze and turned to the kids.
I quickly took leave from there to save them all further embarrassment. I hoped to feel something after the sudden meeting - some kind of nostalgia or sadness. But it felt like everything that had happened with Chandru, had happened to someone else - a young, foolish and headstrong girl. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I had even thought of him.
"Sia, you are not getting that gun. It is dangerous." I yelled at Sia.
"You always do that! You hate me!!" said a wailing Sia.
It's true - what Ma said then - parents have to look out for the kids.
That, and the expectant look on Chandru's face after delivering punch line, his eyes twinkling, but also full of hope.
Chandru wasn't the most handsome looking guy in the office. He wasn't even the smartest, but he was the most gentlemanly of all. It wasn't that I had a crush on him. But when the other older guys acted like entitled male chauvinists, Chandru's diffidence made me take notice of him. His self-depracating sense-of-humour was like a breath of fresh air.
And that evening, in the office, waiting for the rain to stop, there was something in the air. Most of the others had left. I realized that Chandru was cracking these jokes to make me feel less conscious of the almost empty office. I knew he had looked at me often when he thought I wasn't looking, but when the chance to say something childish and supposedly romantic to me came up, he did not take it, and somehow that made me respect him further. He walked me to the auto-stand and waited up till it turned the corner.
I was all of 22 then and Chandru, I came to know later, was just 20. But we got to talking often - usually in lunch groups. We ended up talking only to each other even then, but going in a group helped in maintaining the facade that this was nothing more than casual friendship.
After a month, I knew I really didn't care about what people thought and asked him out for lunch. I could see that he was elated. If I had left it all to him, he could have gone on in the same manner for the next 10 years and pining inside. I was the one who declared my love to him. He simply said 'Me too', the first time.
The heady feeling of being in love affected him more than me. He was forever giving me gifts and cheesy cards. He thanked me many times when I agreed to let him hold my hand - he had asked for my permission. I found it cute, when he summoned up courage to ask me out for a movie. It was the noon-show of some romantic Hindi movie. He held my hand and when the hall was dark enough, slowly lifted it. I was trying to suppress my giggle. This guy was really cute! The screen lit up with some song and the hand went down. In another 10 minutes, the screen went dark and this time Chandru quickly lifted my hand and planted a kiss. I was looking at him and he kept looking at the screen. It was more funny than romantic. But that kiss had increased his courage - he lifted his hand to my lips and held it there. I bit into it and the poor guy looked wounded (and was actually wounded, because I had bitten hard).
Those days seem straight out of a romantic film. We were making excuses at home to stay back longer at work. At the office excursion to Mahabalipuram, we hung back to enjoy each others' company and even took solitary walks to get away from the other boring people. When others tried to join us during lunch, we gave out subtle and sometimes not so subtle hints, to leave us alone.
I introduced him to my parents, who treated him like they would treat any of my friends. And he introduced me to his parents, during their housewarming ceremony - it was a tiny house, compared to mine. Only, he introduced me along with the others from office. I think his mother suspected something, but I wasn't completely sure. After marriage, if things didn't work out with her, we could always move out, I thought.
A few months later, my mother broached the subject of marriage. There were some good proposals they had received, she said. I didn't answer immediately.
"I like someone else ma. You know him too." I said.
"Who?"
"Chandru. Remember? I introduced him to you the other day."
"But he is younger than you, isn't he? You told me so yourself. He looks younger than you too! He will look like your younger brother! Besides isn't he shorter than you?"
"How does it matter ma? We love each other!"
"But he is not from our community either! If there was just one problem I can fight for it. But here everything seems to be a problem! Is he rich at least? That can cover a lot of things."
"No, he is from a middle class family - just like me, in case you forgot".
"Lakshmi, you are not a child anymore. I may sound like a villain to you now. But a parent wants only the best for her child and will always look out for her. You will know when you have children. This marriage is not happening"
"But why? Because he is not rich? Or because he is from another community? Or is it the age?"
"It is all the above, but most importantly the age. You don't know about men. They tire of their wives' looks very soon. Add to it the fact that women age faster than men and you know what kind of foolishness you are talking about".
"Ever heard of love ma?"
"Love can happen after marriage my dear. It is a safer time to fall in love - fewer chances of heartbreak and lesser risk of the a commitment-phobic partner"
"What would you know about love ma?"
"You don't need to know what I know. So no, I am not letting this happen".
I fought, argued, begged, but Ma remained firm.
I made a decision. The next day, I walked up to Chandru's desk and told him I had something to tell him.
"My parents are looking for an alliance. I told them about you. But they refused flat out. Let's get married at the registrar's office. Are you ready?"
"But we are too young for marriage", he said.
"You weren't young for love? My parents think I am at the right age. What should I tell them?"
"Why did they refuse?" he asked, trying to buy some time.
"They say you are younger than me - that you aren't rich enough - that you aren't from our community".
"They are right though. You have lived the life of a princess. I have just started working. I wouldn't want you to suffer for my sake."
"What? So when were you planning to say all this Chandru? Whenever I raised the question of marriage? If it is about the size of your house, I will ask my father to give us his Adyar flat. You and I can move there."
"It's not like that Lakshmi. You know I love you dearly. I am only thinking of your good".
"Why is it that everybody is thinking of my good, but not my happiness?"
He stood there in the cafeteria, with tears in his eyes.
"What were you thinking Chandru? Why didn't you think of all this in the beginning - when I proposed to you? What would you rather have me do?"
And yet, he said nothing. And I walked away, with my heart broken, by well-meaning people who were only looking out for me.
My wedding was like that of many Indian girls- NRI groom, dating on skype, photographs before the actual ceremony to apply for a green card etc. etc. I didn't invite Chandru.
Raghu turned out to be everything Chandru wasn't - tall, striking, well-read and rich. I was lucky that he was also a good person. Love didn't happen immediately. I can't remember the exact moment it happened - maybe it was when 10 days after marriage, Raghu sat me down next to him and said "Lakshmi, all of us have a past. I am not going to ask you about it, nor am I going to tell you anything about mine. The human mind is untrustworthy and so I don't know what my mind would do with that kind of knowledge about you. But here, this moment, we are together. We can be good friends, and good companions. No matter how we were before this, we will be honest with each other from this minute, and respect each other as equals" - it sounded better than the mantras the priest recited during our marriage.
Maybe it was when he insisted that I should continue my education and enrolled me for graduate school. Or when he cooked a dinner with all my favourite dishes on the last day of my exams - maybe it was when he had tears in his eyes when I was crying out in labour pains - or when one morning I found him asleep on his rocking chair next to the crib, with Sanju on his shoulder. I can't remember the exact moment - but somewhere it looks like love did happen.
That day, we were in Lifestyle. We had come on our annual trip to Chennai and I was looking at some t-shirts, when I felt someone watching me. It was good old Chandru - with a tiny paunch and a little less hair on his head - but otherwise pretty much the same as he looked before. And from the looks of it, he was trying to hide from me. It was really funny. I was inquiring into his well-being when Sanju and the younger one Sia walked in arguing over something. Soon a gorgeous looking woman walked out of the dressing room. She introduced herself to me but seemed to have sensed something. Looks like Chandru had done well for himself! An older woman - Chandru's mother! - walked right behind them. She seemed to have recognized me almost immediately. Her expression changed from surprise to worry to fake-happiness in a matter of seconds and she quickly averted her gaze and turned to the kids.
I quickly took leave from there to save them all further embarrassment. I hoped to feel something after the sudden meeting - some kind of nostalgia or sadness. But it felt like everything that had happened with Chandru, had happened to someone else - a young, foolish and headstrong girl. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time I had even thought of him.
"Sia, you are not getting that gun. It is dangerous." I yelled at Sia.
"You always do that! You hate me!!" said a wailing Sia.
It's true - what Ma said then - parents have to look out for the kids.
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شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض بالجبيل
شركة تسليك مجاري بالجبيل
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالجبيل
شركة تنظيف مجالس بالخبر
فديو
فديو
فديو
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