Success in Love is... Part 6

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5  

All through the 2 hours of the function, my parents were deeply in chats with her family. They even stood up to clap when she went on stage to receive the medal for being the topper in her class. After the convocation, I went to take the group photo with my classmates and Professors. When I came back, I saw my parents taking snaps with her and her dad was taking it in many angles. Mom called me and introduced them to me and me to them. She was having a wide smile now and her parents were in shock but managed to smile.

“Do you know her? She is such a nice kid. Took real care of me” my mom was holding her hand and praising her.
“Yes. She is the first girl to take so many sarees so fast.” My dad said and her dad smiled.
“Uncle! I took just 3 hours to select 6 sarees. Mom and aunty took 3 hours to select just one” she said in the familiar childlike tone and everyone smiled.
I couldn’t concentrate on any conversation that was happening and only thing I could hear clearly was what she said at last, “We have to leave now. I have so many things to arrange. There is just a week for the marriage.”

I was bewildered hearing that and as if that wasn’t enough she came near me with a wide smile. She gave an invitation card to me saying, “This is my invitation. Please come.” I took the invitation that had a picture of her favorite god getting married to a Tribal girl. A weak smile spread on my face looking at the irony. I looked up as the taxi moved; she was waving her hand to my mom. I didn’t have time to think about anything then, I put the card in my bag and we left to visit a few relatives.

Mom and Dad left by the 9.30 bus and for the first time I was reaching 100s in the car’s speedometer. Every moment we spent together came to my mind. I switched on the stereo to divert my thoughts but before pressing the power button I thought “Darn! This one is full of love songs.” But I didn’t have any option, so switched it on and maestro’s tunes filled the car. But I couldn’t drive after a few songs; I stopped the car and listened in silence. He is indeed a genius; whatever mood I am in, there is a collection from him that has the same feel. I opened the window so as to get some air and the Boomerang ice cream parlor was just in front of me. The first meeting we had here was fresh in thoughts. I came out, splashed water on my face and stood there watching the scenes from past. After few more songs, I was determined to face life as it comes. I started driving fast and reached the Tea shop of the lovely couple to have a small chat before I head to my busy life.

The shop was closed, but there wasn’t any lock and no one was inside. I was worried for them. Something edged me to take the left turn to their village. Almost every inch of the road was cracked and I had to drive as slow as possible. I reached the Village by 6 AM and parked the car outside the village.
“Brother. Do you know where the tea shop master and his wife are?”
“Oh! The army guy’s parents”
“Yes”
“Go to the last house in this street”
I couldn’t make out if the village has finally accepted them or if the villager is leading me to some trouble. I walked towards the last house which had a panthal or a temporary shade built with coconut leaves. But I still couldn’t make out anything as we have this arrangement for any function from marriage to death. I reached the house and everyone seemed happy, which was a temporary relief. Someone was getting married. I asked the person sitting first in the panthal about the tea master, who asked the lady standing near the door to fetch them. He asked me to sit near him and offered a cup of tea. He started asking about my whereabouts and then started telling about his relationship with the groom and his importance in this function.

The old man and his wife came out smiling. They had got dressed up for the function.
“Thanks for coming son.” He said holding my hand and taking me inside a hut nearby.
“What happened?” I was very curious to know.
“Yesterday, everyone from village came to us and apologized for all that had happened. I couldn’t make out what changed them all of a sudden until I saw the morning papers. My son is selected for the Vir Chakra for his bravery and everyone here started identifying their relationship with him. The Collector had called the Panchayath Chairperson/Sarpanch for congratulating us, but was upset when he learnt that we are not here. Later a call has come from the local TV channel which wanted to air our interview in their news. The Sarpanch called for an immediate meeting with everyone and the whole village wanted us to come back to the village. Everyone here was part of the interview and introduced themselves as my son's relatives” he completed with a smile.
There was wide smile in my face which he could read easily.

“What’s there son? We are back in our soil. Isn’t that enough for us? Today is the marriage of her brother’s son and we are treated as chief guests. How many days have we longed to take part in any one function happening here.” He wiped away his tear.
“Now every relative we have are trying to marry their girl to our son, but I have told them that the final decision will be taken by him alone.” The lady said with a wide smile.

I stayed back in the village for the marriage and started from there by 2PM. For the first time I have seen patriotism and fame breaking a barrier. I could witness the change in people for a micro second appearance in TV and the great souls who had forgiven the people who ill-treated them for life and shared the glory with them. I was filled with unexplainable emotions as I drove back to my research lab.

I found a note struck on the door as I opened it. My dhobi had asked me to keep the clothes for washing and that he will collect it tonight. I opened the travel bag to take the used clothes and along with them found the invitation that she gave. I took it out and opened it after making myself calm enough to face whatever is going to come. It was not what I had expected. It was a marriage nevertheless, but it wasn’t her marriage. It was the Shashti Poorthi (a function called as the 60th marriage of the Couple which marks the 60th Birthday of the husband and their anniversary) of her parents which she is organizing. There was a big sense of relief. I fell on my bed with the invitation in hand, laughing at my stupidity and was thinking about all that happened yesterday.

After a few hours of peaceful sleep, I woke to the sounds of my ringtone.
“Hi! You are coming to Erode right?”
My mom was full of enthusiasm and I was a bit upset to hear this from someone, whose first word all these years was “How are you?”
“What?”
“Hey! They are very good people. They became so close in one day. We never expected that sharing a small trip to the temple can make us this close. And their daughter was so sweet. Please come, they will be very happy”I was relieved that her dad is a not close friend of my Dad, and that they are just acquaintances who had common plans and stuck together. “I can’t come. But why are you getting excited. I don’t think they will be in touch after knowing you are my parents” I said the last part in a feeble voice.
“What? What did you say? They called your dad this morning and wanted us to come a day early”
I didn’t understand what was happening. I took a deep breath and told my mom about all that happened in college. I didn’t want them to visit their house without knowing all this.
“Hmmm. Now it’s your decision mom. Go if you still want to”
“No. You are more important to us than anyone. You should say if we can go or not.”
“I don’t know mom. People change but I am not sure about them.” The scenes in the village came to my thoughts. “You can visit them but remember what I said.”
“I would love to ask her for you. She is perfect”
“Mom! Don’t do anything like that. Just attend the function, don’t get involved”
“Ok. Take care. I am proud of you”

I didn’t understand why she said the last line. I took the invitation lying nearby and threw it up to catch. As I fumbled the catch, a paper fell from the cover. I took the paper wondering if it’s the route to the marriage hall and opened it. It was her handwriting, “Who are you to decide the course of my life?” was first line. I jumped up from the bed and switched on the light to read the letter clearly.