The Perfect Wedding (part3)

I took the note from her and gave it a glance.
Dear mom & dad,
Please forgive me. I love Raj and I am going with him. We always intended to get married but i know how much you dislike him and his family. This was last resort. Hope you will forgive us and accept us back one day. Till then good bye
Priya

I immediately signaled mom, dad and the Kumars, and asked them to wait for me in the changing room. I explained the entire situation and asked them to calm down. Then I signaled the panditji, gave him a thousand rupee note and some instructions. 5 mins later accompanied by panditji, i addressed the crowd "ladies and gentleman, there has been a slight miscalculation. The rahus and ketus have changed the path and Panditji has adviced us to push the ceremony to a later date. Its rather unfortunate but who can change gods will". Panditji nodded his head in aknowledgement.

After seeing off the crowd I joined the parents. "So what should we do next, call the police?" Mr Kumar asked. "She couldn't have gone far with that rascal Raja. Always knew he was bad company", Mrs Kumar echoed in

"Mr and Mrs. Kumar, you understand she just followed her heart, right? They were in love and were meant to be together."


"So what will you do now?", mom asked
"I don't think I can stay here any lonter. I am a bit shaken. Thats why I resented the entire idea in the first place. I am going to Hong Kong, will chill out for a few days there and then return to work."

" It's all my fault. I should have never pushed you so hard. Go son, I wont stop you today. I know it must be so hard," mom replied.

"Don't you want to change before you leave. How will you even get a ticket so fast", Dad asked, still upset with everything that had been happening around us.

I gave a quick secretive glance towards my watch and replied "It's just fine, will manage somehow".

I hugged them and rushed to the airport. I could still make it on time.

"Sir your Tickets?", asked the flight attendant in the check-in counter. I opened my bag and produced the ticket.

SG IN 3 Dec/10 8AM SST 10AM IST
IN HK 3 Dec/10 3PM IST 10PM HKT
HK SG 6 Dec/10 4AM HKT 7AM SST

"Thanks Sir. Hope you have a great trip"
In a few metres away, a beautiful couple waved at me from the distance. I waved back at them, and with a great sense of satisfaction, I boarded the plane to HK.

It was a perfectly planned, picture perfect ending.

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The Perfect Wedding (part2)

The next 2 months were challenging but wonderful. We completed the project on time and it was a huge success. And Mom, as agreed, stayed true to her word.
And then, one fine Friday evening, i received a call that would change my entire life.
"Hi, this is Priya. We have never met before but you mom must have mentioned me to you. We are getting married in 2 weeks, and i thought it would be best to have a conversation with you, before its too late. I have something really important to tell you..."

The next 15 mins I listened to her, and i smiled and finally said, "ready when you are. Lets get it done".

A few days later, mom sent me the entire itinerary, first the engagement ceremony and a week later, the wedding.

A week later, I got down at the Chennai international airport at 7 am. The flight surprisingly reached on time. At the airport I was greeted by a small delegation from the bride's side. Sneha, my future sis in law was leading it.
"Hi jiju, welcome to india". Jiju refers to brother-in-law, and i just smiled and thanked everyone for the warm welcome.

We rushed our way to the 4 star hotel, where the ceremony was planned. I was greeted by mom and dad at the entrance, who were smiling gleefully with pride. Along with them stood Priya's mom and dad, the Kumars . As instructed earlier by mom, i touched their feet and asked for their blessings. Everything seemed so funny, out of a Hindi family drama but i decided to play along. I asked them where Priya was. They informed me, she was getting ready and I should also do the same before the mahurat (auspicious hour) was over.

My mom lead me to the changing room where a group of hair dressers and make up specialists were waiting for me. This was so cool, I thought.

15 mins later, dressed in a cream sherwani suit, i walked down to the ceremony hall, where a reasonable crowd had gathered. I waved to my nephews and nieces, and smiled back at the guests. The stage was set for the engagement but Priya was nowhere to be seen. I kept thinking what I would say her. I could begin with a "Hi, I am Ajay, great to meet you" Or how about, "damn, you look so pretty today, and god am I so lucky to spend the rest of my life with you"..

I was still thinking on those lines when I noticed the uneasiness on Mrs Kumar's face. She had gone to fetch Priya but she had returned alone.

I walked up to her and asked her, "whats the matter aunty, where is Priya? And why do you look so shaken. Please tell me whats the matter".

"Beta, i can't seem to find Priya anywhere. I found this note on her table"..

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The Perfect Wedding (part1)

"This is Priya. 5 '8, smart and pretty, holds an MBA in HR. I am sending her photo now. Tell me if you like her. Leave the rest to me".
"Oh mom!, I really don't have time for all this. How many times do I need to say that I have lot more things to worry about now, apart from stupid girls and marriage proposals. I am disconnecting Skype now, if you don't have anything else to talk about."

"Work!, work and work!. Don't you have anything else in life. Look at you. You are entering your 30s, already graying by each day. Who will marry you when you are bald. I am giving you an ultimatum now. If you don't get married withing this year, I am disowning you. Then don't come back saying Mom, I am sorry. Good night".
And mom disconnected the internet call, and peace returned back to my life.

Hi, I am Ajay, and like every smart, intelligent professional, I hate marriage. Marriage is a long term commitment, a risky investment with no guaranteed returns, and an instant end to all the freedom, adventure and excitement, that being single bestows upon the few lucky ones.

What I hate even more are kids. Those round, tiny, messy lot, always crying and wailing anywhere they go and never failing to embarrass their parents in public. Shucks, I hate them so much.

Like every middle class Indian, my parents wanted me to have a world class education and join a high paying MNC. After completing my bachelors, they wanted me to pursue an MBA, which I recently did. Now, finally they thought I was settled enough to start a family life. My mom, especially, had been pressuring me for a year or so, and I had dodged the topic, many a times now. This last warning seemed a bit more serious. Hmm, Priya, the name sounded ok. Qualifications seemed fine. She was a high achiever, an IIM HR grad, a classical dancer, who also loved playing the guitar, and enjoys to do charity work. Her bio-data was perfect. Soon, the picture attachment reached my inbox. I clicked on the file, and browsed through some of the pictures.
Picture seemed to have been shot by a pro, with the perfect light balance, saturation and color contours. C'mon, with a few photoshop tweaks, all the girls in this world would look like Aishwariya Rai. Anyways, Priya had above average looks.

Mrs Priya Ajay Subramanium, would sound just fine, I thought. I dropped a mail to mom saying I would consider and asked her to find out more.

The next evening, Mom called me with a surprise.
"Priya's Mom and Dad have agreed. The Marriage will be in December. They would wish to see you once before that. Can you make it next week? We can start the preparations immediately".

"What! Mom, when did I agree to all this. All I said was I would think and let you know. And anyways, I have only 4 holidays left this year. Sorry, cannot make it."

"Then how will I ever find a girl for you, If you yourself aren't interested."

"Ok, that's it. I have had enough of this. I have an important deliverable in Nobember, and I just have a couple of months left. How about this. Let us have a deal. You chose whichever girl you want me to marry. No questions asked, no forwarding me resumes, no photographs. I don't care how she looks like, what she does or what her favorite tv shows her. You promise not to bother me with any of this stuff till November end. December, I will take a week off for marriage and get married. Will that make you happy?"

"Deal. This is the happiest day of life. Love you", and mom smiled happily and dropped the call.
I knew I might have to regret this, all my life, but it would at least buy me enough time to concentrate on my work. Moreover, which girl would agree to get married with someone, without talking or meeting him in person. I am good, really good as I smiled to myself.

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