Shreya in darkness for marriage

  ‘Are u willing to marry Shreya?’

Deol went blank hearing this question from his relative uncle which felt an arrow targeted towards the imaginary bulls eye of his soul.

He was sitting in the hall with a bunch of old and young people sitting in his hall.

He neither affirmed with yes nor said no….but reacted in between with a fake smile.

 Although Deol was a decent young graduate guy in his early 30’s ready for marriage………...he instinctively couldn’t accept the proposal of Shreya as a life partner…for no specific reason.

Actually, he had developed strong preference for his soulmate from teenage….which he couldn’t sense in Shreya.

On the other hand….Shreya was an ambitious, bold, beautiful, fat MBA lass sitting in front of him….with good decisive powers…which was lacking in Deol.

Meanwhile Deol’s relative mis-interpreted that Deol was feeling shy to say ok… to her….so one of them who was also Deol’s uncle smiled at him before leaving and said ..”Take your own time ….and confirm it ….after a weeks time.

Deol felt a sigh of a relief watching his relatives walk away and leaving him with inner peace.

As soon as he saw his relative wearing chappal….saying bye……he immediately locked the door from inside…..went straight into the kitchen to drink almost a potful of water to quench his thirsty and agitated emotional body.

All through his life Deol was bitten by a fatal personality disorder of indecision …which would mean washing away his responsibility… momentarily.

He never knew the extent of disaster that it would create because his actions.

But, guilt planted it’s roots strongly in him.

He went to bed.. tried to close his eyes as firmly as possible……but that question asked by his uncle would keep lingering his head and he was nowhere close to dozing.

Deol was entrapped in this dilemma because if he said yes to the marriage then, his fantasy world of a perfect partner will be ruined …and if he said no.. to Shreya who was his far off relative…..then his family members would torture him to change his decision.

Days passed by, but Deol couldn’t sleep anyday before midnight as he was always pre occupied with thoughts of marriage proposal.

Exactly after 8 days the most anticipated call came from Deol’s uncle came.

Deol was bewildered like a Corona infected man trying to hide himself behind a mask.

Even after several times of ringing he never lay even his eyes towards his I phone.

He cautiously switched off the phone after that.

Something strange was happening in his stomach….although he had eaten full plate of chicken biriyani which he ordered through ZOMATO .

 After that his stomach was constantly contracting and relaxing as if in fear,.. uncontrollably.

He started to press his abdomen with both hands with maximum force to stop the movement of the stomach.

Unable to bear the undiagnosed anxiety…. he locked his house and went for a long walk without any destination.

Strolling in NH4 ….. so far that he almost felt that he had reached the next city……

….then checked for the surroundings which was totally unusual ….later made a U turn back to his home.

After reaching home he had a sigh of relief …. as if some heavy stone had been lifted from his  heart.

He went straight into the sofa …and fell asleep even without a pillow.

Next morning he got up to see if any missed calls from his uncle.

Oh my God…. Nothing…..he spoke to himself with joy and started to laugh uncontrollably with no one around him.

He blocked his uncle’s number ……and gave a temporary solution to himself.

Days passed by…..and no news about the after effects of marriage proposal from the other side.

One fine morning he got a call from his mom saying…’.now you don’t have to answer anyone…and sleep in peace.’

What are you saying, mom? I am not able to understand anything.

She started with the breaking  news’ ..Shreya is getting married next week in Vijaya shesha mahal….the biggest choultry in Bangalore.

Oh yeah… really…wow… I am so happy for her…he exclaimed.

‘I know how much you are happy…’.his mom laughed sarcastically ….knowing the fact that Deol was waiting for something like this to happen as he could escape from tying the knot to her without being blamed.

By the way who is the lucky….guy? Deol asked with curiosity.

‘Someone much more luckier than you’…..mom replied

‘Who mom….please tell na…..i am curious’..

‘He is a software developer working in a reputed company in NEW JERSEY’….mom replied

‘Wonderful’

Ok…..i’ll call you later…mom…I am already late for the office…… and kept the phone …immediately.

He worked with full energy for the rest of the week…..and a strange sense of happiness was flowing through his mind.

On the day of Shreya‘s supposed marriage …he got up early….went to the nearby Venkateshawara temple and did the costliest Pooja for Shreya’s marriage.

After that he left to the office….completed his task very efficiently.

Later that evening he went to the terrace to enjoy the beauty of the moon in darkness.

He was admiring the lunar effect very closely…that the phone rang

Without even looking at the phone he picked the call.

‘She was cursing you with fury…..and she was so angry that you ruined her life….if he had said YES for her proposed marriage she wouldn’t have fallen prey to USA guy ’ the familiar voice in a rage of anger was his uncle.

‘What …are you talking uncle… please tell me what happened what are you talking about….and how was the marriage? deol was eager.

Don’t act as if nothing happened…uncle got furious.

‘What is it…tell uncle….or else my head will break.

‘Shreya’s marriage was stalled….uncle bursted.

‘What……..Om my god…and how…’Deol was confused.

‘U know the so called Mr..New jersey is a big fraud….just a housekeeper over there in USA…..who is already married to some Linda…from Germany with 2 kids…

And when Linda came to know about this illegal marriage …she sent all the proof of marriage through whatsapp…to Shreya…Uncle exclaimed.

‘But ….why did he want to marry Shreya… then?’deol questioned.

‘I’ll send you that frauds number ….clarify it yourself.’ uncle replied teasingly.

Guilt started building in Deol’s heart ….and he couldn’t control himself and fell flat on the terrace.

He ran to his house….stood in front of his favourite Lakshmi Goddess …and apologised wholeheartedly… Please… maaa… i… I know it is my fault…. Kindly give a chance to rectify it…I’ll offer 2000 Rs to your Hundi.

After that a few months passed by….and he didn’t look back at Shreya.

And one fine morning he came to know that she got married to some Mr. Arun….a small town businessman but from a decent family.

Hearing this…deol cried in happiness and offered Rs 2000 to Lakshmi’s Hundi….which he promised her.

And finally …towards midnight  he texted a message to some childhood friend.

‘Thank you so much for keeping it a SECRET that you are my school buddy and accepting Shreya as it is…knowing the whole story about her…you are the saviour of her life…u never disclosed to her that it was me who convinced you to marry her and I feared that ….if she knew that u were sent by me…then she would have definitely cancelled the marriage on the day one itself….once again.. thanks for your immaculate help…Mr.Arun.

Deol felt a great relief and his Guilt…..started to melt away….but the secret was still building strongly.