I do...

I Do...

It was a very horrible day for my mother to fix a meeting to meet a guy for an arrange marriage proposal. As I was looking outside my window pane and cursing the heavy rains, my mother entered the room with a big lot of Indian wear. “You better select a good dress and look like Madhuri Dixit, family oriented guys love her. Please don’t wear your torn jeans and act like that party girl Deepeeka Padukone.” I laughed at my mother’s innocence and the way she elaborated on “Deepeeka”. I was in a very confused and dull state. Arrange marriage for me was like the last resort because I thought it was meant for people who had no hope of falling in love. This meeting was more like a blind date. I had never met this Kabir guy and I so knew that the better the name the lousier the person would be. The better he sounds on the phone the more idiotic he would look. Looks were never criteria for me but a person should be smart and decent enough to carry himself.

I picked up a dress randomly and got dressed. As I was applying kajal I was trying to create and imaginary Kabir. In today’s technological world we had not whatsapped each other our pictures. I had tried searching for him on facebook and there were 10 people with a similar name, 6 of which I wished that he wasn’t. According to my mother Kabir wanted to just keep his identity a secret and wanted me to spot him sporting a white shirt and blue jeans. It was a common combination but I somehow liked guys donning that look. A beautiful fragrance got me back to the present where my mother was showering my Elizabeth Arden perfume-Little door on me. I moved away from her and stared at my shoe collection. There were a good 35 pairs of shoes and I wondered if Kabir would be happy to see me spend a little. I selected the silver heels that matched the silver lining of my dress. It was annoying to dress up like this in the rain. After I got ready my mother gave me a few pointers, ‘Do not smile too much or talk a lot, Nod and agree to whatever he says. Tell him you make lovely chicken biryani.’ I sheepishly rolled my eyes gave her a hug and left for a meeting at the JW Mariott in Juhu.

I sat in the car and messaged Kabir- “Left from home. If there is no traffic then I’ll reach in an hour.” I thought a lot and send the text without adding “Cya soon” because it sounded too desperate to me. While in the car I kept thinking about Kabir and the nervousness that I was going through. This was the first time I was meeting a guy for an arrange marriage purpose because my mother knew I would be too lazy and busy with my work that I would never get time to fall in love. She was right I was too involved in my life to pay attention to marriage or love. I just never gave it a thought. As long as I was enjoying attending people’s marriages and eating yummy food that they never get to eat, I was happy.

I had reached in no time. Maybe I was buried in deep thoughts for a long time. I nervously walked towards the Lotus café. I tried searching for a guy dressed up in a white shirt and spotted 3. If only they would get up to show me their jeans to make this day easier for me. I unlocked my phone and saw a text from him which read- I left as well. ‘Will be there in an hour. Cya there!’ The Cya there was so much better than me thinking of ‘Cya soon’. I looked around to play a detective in my head of spotting the right guy. A tall, good looking guy wearing a light pinkish shirt was walking towards me. I ignored him because, firstly he wasn’t wearing white and secondly he was too good looking for the image built up in my head. “Hey! Kiara right? I am Kabir.” My expressions changed to the surprised bbm emoticon. I just nodded in agreement and extended my hand for a formal handshake. He looked at me smiled and gave me a firm handshake in return. The handshake made me feel welcomed and positive. He was a tall guy with sharp looks, straight nose and well styled hair. His eyes were intense and his USP was his smile with a slight dimple.

He escorted me to the table and pulled the chair for me. While being a gentleman he said, “I know you were busy searching for a guy wearing a white shirt but there were a few last minute changes. To be really very honest, a bird pooped on my shirt and wished me luck for this meeting.” I smiled at his honesty.

I was starving and wanted to hog onto anything and everything on the menu. While looking into the menu I kept asking him for suggestions and every time I would think of something good he would come up with a better dish. I didn’t let my greed order food for me and told Kabir to order for me. After ordering he started talking again, ‘We already know each other the matrimonial way, how about getting to know each other like two normal individuals having lunch together? For starters? I am Kabir Oberoi and my friends call me K.O.' I sarcastically laughed at him. 'I am meeting you because my mother told me you are a beautiful individual and because she I couldn't get time to fall in love. Had a lot of crushes, tried dating a few but in vain.’ I looked at him animatedly opening up all secrets of his life. ‘I am not going to lie to you but yes I dated 2 girls and broke up with the first in 4 days and the other in a week’s time. Not that I was using them but I was never in love with them. To be very honest I don’t know how you feel about me right now but I fell for you a week back.’ I was nearly going to choke on the iced tea I was sipping on and just surprisingly looked at him. ‘We both have a lot of friends in common. So if you want to know how I fell for your strong bound with life ask Shefali. If you want to know how I fell for the times you danced in the rain and had roadside panipuri getting down of your Audi, ask Nicole. If you want to know how I fell for your cranky, lazy PMS phase ask your Shefali again and if you want to know how I fell for your mother’s Madhuri+Deepeeka combo ask your mother.

He had met my friends my family and already known me well enough. That lunch was good enough for me to realise that Arrange Marriages were not for losers. That lunch was good enough for me to realise that I would want to get to know him more. That lunch was good enough for me to realise that I would love to wake up next to him daily to see him sleep cutely with his mouth open. He also made it a point that I ate at my own wedding. He also makes it a point  to love me more each day…

-Samanah.Rizvi

15th July 2013

15:14 p.m