Love Actually

‘What is love actually?’ he asked as pondering in her blue green eyes. ‘I don’t know!’ She replied blushing and ran from the place with the speed of air. He was happy that finally she had consented, although implicit. She was happy as finally he had asked it. As she ran across the streets, people wondered if anyone was chasing her. Her marathon ended at the Krishna temple. She climbed up the steps of the temple entered the sanctum sanctorum. She joined her hands as Lord Krishna mischievously smiled at her. “You too...” She mumbled as she placed her palms on the aarti and then moved them through her lustrous black hair. As she swirled and turned back, she saw her own reflection in the mirror in the temple. She could see the pinkness on her cheek and the glow on her face. Yes it is rightly said that the sine qua non of true love is glow on your face, which is unmatched to that obtained by any fairness cream. 

 

She went home. Without speaking a single word to any one, she reached out for her room and locked herself. She lay on her back on the bed with eyes wide open. Pleasure and anxiety, attraction and guilt, curiosity and shame attacked her from all the sides. To be honest she never drooled for him. She never in her wildest of wild dreams had thought about him. But love is blind and you do the weirdest things when it blindfolds you. Her reverie was broken when she heard her mother squeal at the pitch of her voice pleading her to join the dinner.

 She quietly joined her family over the dinner. She played with food as she speared the chapatti in snippets as small as possible. Her mother’s admonition indicated by her brow raised was enough for her to understand she should stop her game and gulp whatever was served on her plate. She finished her food. Her parents gave her a puzzled look. Was she enchanted or under the spell of some magician they thought. She indifferent to their look, made her way back to the bedroom.

 

In the post dinner session, negative thoughts started cropping up. Will my conservative parents accept the fact that he is from other caste. What if her hyper tensed father’s blood pressure shot up on hearing that their only child was marrying to a person from the lower caste. But he is so good. He is educated. Is caste the only consideration and that too important than her will. She gently moved to the window from where the moon smiled at her beckoning her to keep her cool with his mildness. She smiled back at him thanking him for being besides her and showing her hope.

 

Her reverie was broken by the knock at the door. Her worried parents were at the door. “What is wrong with you?” asked her mother as she gently placed her hand on her back. She found a lump in her throat and words simply could not find way through her mouth. Her mother escorted her to her bed as both her parents sat beside her. She wept profusely. The sly tears managed to get an access but words from her mouth still struggled. 

“Any problem my love?” asked her father in his honey dew voice. A voice which was synonym with love and affection, trust and understanding. She always had been close to her father, whereas her mother had always been a stern teacher. “Papa I am in love.” Expression on the face of both her parents changed but both of them made their best efforts to stay calm and composed. “Not an issue my dear. All that we want is you to be happy. Why do not you call him tomorrow for tea.” said her mother. This was a pleasant surprise for her. “Oh mom!” She said as she snuggled her mother.

 

The next day her house took a facelift. All the haywire things in her house were arranged properly. The silky curtains kept for special occasions adorned the windows. Fresh flowers winked and smiled at her from the vase kept on the table at the centre. She took out the vase and placed it in the quiet corner. Her mother was too occupied in the kitchen as she prepared various dishes to welcome her would be son in law. The aroma of the delicacies filled her house and managed to get out of the house as well. Her mother turned on the exhaust fan and sat on the chair besides the dining table as she sighed a breath of relief.

 All of them stood up in unison as the door bell rung. Her father went ahead to greet the guest. Unfortunately it turned out to be a marketing person who had come to sell a detergent priced half the popular one available in the market and believed to be removing all sort of stains. Her parents were in no mood to disappointment any one. So they purchased a packet of the same. They left the door open as they wished to see the lucky man whom the apple of their eyes had chosen, the moment he entered their lane. But the only person who came in from the door was dusk followed by the darkness.

The bell did not ring thereafter. But her cell phone beeped. “Sorry dear. My parents would never accept daughter in law from another community’” read the sms. She may have lost her boyfriend, but she found new friends in her parents. She knew that she could share anything and everything with her parents. Such was the impact of her first love on her life.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.