FINDING THE ELIXIR

QUEST FOR THE GROOM

Vignesh's narration :

My most awaited sunday morning started with a phone call. I struggled hard to reach out the mobile beside my bed. " ASH " calling was displayed on the mobile screen.
"Are you still sleeping ?" I was questioned.
" Ha....no I mean, got up just now" I answered controlling my yawn.
" Wake up man ! It's already 7. You must be here by 10 without fail. Got it ?" I got the order.
" Yeah. I know" I assured opening my half shut eyes.
" Wear any formal shirt of neutral color. Keep it simple and descent. Call me before you start" the call ended.
I rolled out of the bed and forced myself to get ready and started the ride.
Reached my destination and parked my bike outside an attractive duplex house flaunting with a small and clean garden. I went inside the house, pressed the calling bell. Within few seconds a middle aged women came and opened the door and asked "Vignesh ?"
"Yes aunty ! " I replied. Ash came and stood behind her.
I was welcomed and stepped in their house and  followed  them.
" Hey ! How is my shirt ? " I whispered in Ash's ear walking behind her mom.
"Perfect " she whispered.
She looked beautiful in the lemon yellow and white chudidar.
" You look awesome " I didn't stop from complementing her.
She didn't respond and this made me look at her to know what made her stay silent. There I  noticed her father looking at us while he came down climbing the stairs. He is a sturdy man dressed in white shirt and black pants with grey hair, wearing glasses and displaying a fiery look.
We stopped walking and stood there till he came near us.
Ash introduced me to him and I was offered to sit in a sofa.
I was left all alone with her dad.
" So you and Ashwini work in the same company I suppose " he started the conversation.
" Yes uncle " I answered.
" Andhra lo ekkada untaru meeru ( where do you live in andhra ?)" he spoke in telugu.
" I was born and brought up in Nellore uncle. Came to Chennai for higher studies  " I replied.
" I heard that you were her classmate in mba " he said sipping the coffee which Ashwini's mom brought.
"Yes uncle " I said.

Of course, it's the place where everything started. This is the first time, I got to meet my girlfriend's parents. Although she and her family were settled in Chennai, they originally belong to Andhra Pradesh.
I have known her since my mba days and with time our love for each other also grew.
Both of us come from same caste, community and we had confidence that our families would say yes to our marriage. And today my interaction with her dad was nothing short of an interview. He grilled me with questions one after the other.
" What are your future plans ?" he asked.
" Right now, I'm planning to buy an appartment after that .....wanted to get married, have kids and take care of them " I replied.
" That's it !?" he questioned with a little amusement.
What else should I be doing at this 29 years of age ? Got the job I wanted and the next thing left to do is getting married. I didn't know what all expectations this man  had for his son in law !
" Yeah uncle " I got mixed up.
"Dad ! don't scare him with your interrogation" came Ashwini with a plate of biscuits.
"We are discussing few things, there is nothing like interrogation " inspite of all the queries her dad replied in a casual way.
Her mother was interacting pretty friendly which reduced the ongoing discomfort I had been experiencing till then. Her father kept on looking at his watch and  realized that it's time for me to leave.
********
If I think about the meeting, her father wasn't really impressed with me. I didn't get her call since afternoon and this made me  little anxious. Finally at last I received a call in the late night from Ashwini.
I was nowhere on the ground after she told me that both her parents agreed and gave a no objection for our marriage.

The following weekend I decide to  leave for my hometown ( Nellore )   to do my part of work - that is to convince my khandaan ( family ).

********
" Amma ! Amma ! Mommy ! Mataji "I screamed as soon as I entered my house latching the gate. My busy mom came out of kitchen,
" Oh you came ?!"  she said with no element of surprise.
" Yeah ! What specials are you cooking for me ? " I asked with lot of excitement while removing my sock.
" Dal, bittergaurd " she replied.
" What ?! You must be making either prawns biryani, chicken curry or fish fry. What's with this bittergaurd ! " I moaned.
" It's not like you have landed from moon or other planet. You visit almost  every weekend and I have no patience left to make all those dishes you ask" she sighed and sat on the chair.
" Ok ! Ok.  I have an important matter  to tell you " my excitement went up.
" Have bath, we can talk later " she compelled and I had to follow.

While my mom was seriously watching her Tv serial :

" You know Ashwini right " I sat beside her and  started the  conversation.
" Yeah, your girlfriend" she said without moving her eyes from  the Tv.
" Maa, actually last week I went ....." she stopped in the middle by saying,
" Hey, don't disturb me. I'll miss the serial. "
     I lost my patience by this time. "Tokkalo serial ( waste serial )" I said and  turned off the television set.
      My mom gave an angry look and I wasn't  feared at all. "Listen ! I met Ashwini's parents last week and they agreed for our marriage and wanted to meet you people in person and fix a date, for which  they'll visit our home next week and now - you and dad make arrangements "  I finished my statement without a pause.
       " Why didn't you inform  me that you met her parents ? And without even asking us  how can you tell them to come to our house ? Go and marry her as you wish " my mom  widened her eyes.
      " It was unexpected and i didn't want to discuss these things on phone. You already like her, it's just we need to convince dad " I said.
   " Look ! Marraige is no joke.  There are a  lot of things which need to be carefully looked into. I only met her twice and your dad still doesn't know anything. As elders we have other responsibilities as well. How can you blatantly disregard us and go on all by yourself ? " she fumed even more. 
I'm wrong in a way that I had no time to discuss these things with my parents.No wonder, she is angry with me.
" Ashwini's dad will meet and there you elders can have formal talks. Also today when dad comes back  from Grandma's house I will confront him" i tried my best to calm her down,
" You think he'll say yes ?" she gave a sarcastic smile.
" Why not ? Dad won't oppose love marraige. He openly supported Ramesh uncle's daughter who married a guy from a lower caste. Now how can he object a girl who is from our  caste ? Don't worry, everything will be fine " I  said.
    She didn't look convinced and posed a question, " your sister is not yet married. How can you get married before her ?"
            " Why not ?  She just finished her first year of post graduation. I'll marry this year and  Sahithi gets married next year. " I replied.
         " In our family the girl  has to get married first no matter what. I don't think your dad will be fine with it " she said.
         " Leave it to me. I'll deal" I assured her.
     After a while my dad came. I gathered a lot of courage and told him about all the things happened so far. He didn't object much and the moment I thought that everything was done he had the same doubts  regarding  my sister's marriage. I told him my plan of getting her married the  next year, which  he straight away rejected.
         " Why don't you marry next year? It's my responsibility to marry my daughter first " he was headstrong.
                " Did you find any boy for her then ? " I asked.
  " I haven't started. We will plan once she comes for holidays next month" he said.
       I was bewildered and didn't know what to do after my dad's response. They want my sister to get married  but didn't even start searching for a suitable guy. Instead they keep pushing my marraige after all the efforts I invested to convince my girlfriend's parents.
That night I called Ashwini and told her everything. " Vignesh ! I'm already 28 and can't make my parents wait for one more year. They wanted me to marry an NRI but somehow I persuaded them. Now don't spoil anything giving excuses " said Ashwini.
    " I understand. Just request your dad to wait for 6 months. I'll find a way " I said to which she ended  the call suddenly without answering.
               **********
My sister should get married as soon as possible so that my path will be cleared.
It  became my headache to find my brother in law  in this short period of time, who should also be a specialist doctor.
I  instigated my mom to hurry up their search for the groom citing all the problems of late marraiges.
"Why are you so worried all of a sudden ?" she asked.
" What else is left for me to do now except for becoming marraige broker ? I wanted to get married " I said in a dejected tone. 
I succeeded in convincing my mom and later called my sissy to talk about her marriage.
That girl didn't pick up the call. " She might be busy in night shift" my mom said. " With her busy schedule she'll  not have time to look into all these things.  We'll handle the account for some time. I will not upload the pictures, will give only my mobile number and communicate the same with you people if anybody is interested  " I suggested  my mom to open an account in the matrimonial site.
           She agreed and the next day I took her to a priest where she took some advise related to  the horoscopes. Back home once again, I called my sister, who sent a message that she was in the operation theatre.
     We created a profile on the matrimonial site without wasting time to hear from my sister.
The quest for the groom has just begun and  hope to end it very soon.

I went back to chennai to do  the next task -  pleading my girlfriend to postpone our  marraige.