Family Short Story – The Delicate Decision
Photo credit: ecerroni from morguefile.com
Mira thought about this new development in her life now. Her parents had called her at office and were expecting her to see yet another eligible man to get possibly like him and get married to. They wanted to know whether she was willing to meet the person this Saturday.
Mira was almost 30 years old, MBA qualified and happily working in a multinational and enjoying her professional life. She did not want to get married at all. She was happy living with her parents, her father was retired from government service and mother was a housewife. They were both very open and caring parents and she was happy with them. But Mira also understood their concern that they would want to see her married and settled. Mira’s younger brother was an engineer and also doing well with a consultancy firm.
Mira shook herself up and slowly forced herself to dial her parents at home and say that she was willing to see the young man that they wanted her to. The week went by at office and Saturday morning she woke up with a heavy heart knowing that she was going to meet another guy and possibly say “No” yet again to another man.
This had now been going on for almost the last three years; she had met a few eligible bachelors and not liked any one of them. She had a few married friends who were unhappy and were always complaining about their inlaws and the husband always taking sides with their mother. Having been brought up in a happy secure family, not getting along with a husband and his parents scared Mira more than anything else. This was one of the main reasons she did not want to get married, for she knew that her parents would never be able to handle it, if she was ever to go through a divorce. But to keep peace, she agreed to stay positive and meet Rahul, the prospective guy with an open mind. After all, she could always say that she did not like the guy and not get married. Had this not been what she had been doing for the past few years?
Finally, came the evening and she got dressed to meet Rahul. He was to pick her up and they were to sit some place to have coffee and talk. It is funny how Indian arranged marriages are supposed to work. You meet a guy once or twice and then decide whether you trust him enough to get married for the rest of your life. And somewhere along the path, if you do not get along, well, too bad, you still unhappily married since the society frowns upon a divorcee. Well, tough luck.
When the doorbell rang at exactly 5 pm that evening, Mira’s heart also did a double take and all her secret hopes that Rahul may not turn up, were dashed. Her parents meet Rahul and made small talk with him till Mira’s heart stabilized and then she put on a brave smile and walked into the drawing room. Rahul was an extremely good looking guy and wore smart clothes and had the most peaceful and calm face that Mira had ever seen. After a few minutes of polite conversation, Rahul offered to take Mira out and talk to her and they both left. Mira could see the knowing and hopeful look in the eyes of her parents and felt the guilt tag at her heart. She knew how desperately her parents wanted to see her settled.
Rahul drove Mira to a nice quaint coffee shop and once the coffee had been ordered, they got down to talking about their own professional lives and what they expected out of a marriage and somehow time just flew and Mira didn’t realize how easily she could share her thoughts with Rahul, something she had not been able to do with a guy before. Soon it was two hours that they had been talking and Rahul said it was getting late and her parents must be waiting and he should drop her home. Rahul shyly told Mira that he would like to meet her again the next day since on Monday he was flying back to Mumbai where he was based. Mira reluctantly agreed knowing that her parents would see her meeting the guy again as a sign of hope.
Just like the previous day, Rahul was bang on time and this time spent a little more time talking to her parents and then took her out for a drive. Today, he shared about his family, his elder brother and sister and how his government servant father had brought up the three kids with his meagre salary. He also shared that his only request of his spouse would be to treat his parents with respect and be good to them.
They had gone through some very tough times and were old and had not found happiness and warmth from their elder daughter in law. Mira found her courage to say that she was scared of not getting along with in laws and that was the reason that she did not want to get married since most sons would always side with their parents and the new bride was always left alone and would then be expected to lead an emotionally lonely life. She also told Rahul that she did not believe in dowry and her father was also a retired government servant and thus could not afford to fulfill the huge demands of prospective in laws.
Rahul comforted her by saying that he neither expected and nor would be let his parents ever make demands or expect dowry. Soon both Rahul and Mira realized that they had common upbringing and thought process and they were comfortable with each other. Mira told Rahul how even as a kid she dreamt of having a job in a big company and how she did not want her spouse to undermine that and let her work. She had worked very hard to get her MBA and then become a manager in her multinational company. They spoke at length about their dreams and soon realized that they had been together for almost four hours and somehow time had just flown by. Rahul sheepishly told Mira that he would wait to hear from her and that she would be in his thoughts when he left for Mumbai the next morning. They promised to keep in touch and bade each other farewell.
Mira was now faced with anxious parents who wanted to know how she felt about Rahul. They told her that they found him to be an articulate and a well brought up middle class boy and liked him. Mira was non-committal, how could she say anything when she had only met the guy twice. What would happen if his parents didn’t like her and worse still if Rahul later decided that she should not work but stay at home with his parents. Mira was not sure whether she wanted to move to Mumbai and leave her parents behind. She had never lived without her parents in all her 30 years and suddenly she was expected to move out and start a new life with a person she had just met for a few hours.
Soon Mira got busy with her work again and since her work involved travel, she soon forgot all about her meeting with Rahul. After a few days, she was deep in thought in the office when she suddenly got a call from Rahul. She was shocked and did not know what to say but Rahul just about spoke about pleasantries and did not press her for an answer or even hint of marriage. Soon Mira relaxed and spoke to him about her work and travel. Rahul again called her the next week and again they chatted for a few minutes.
Mira slowly began to realize that she was secretly pleased when Rahul called and she had begun to actually await his calls. She found it easy to relate and talk to him; he was always so open and full of ideas. But she also realized that soon he would want a response on whether they would just be phone friends or would like to take it to the next level and speak about marriage. Both sides of parents were also beginning to talk about their meeting other people for matrimonial purposes. It was all up to Mira since Rahul had asked her not to be under any pressure to say yes to marriage. She respected Rahul immensely for that and he had even asked her parents to not pressurize her into a hasty decision.
A few months went by and now Mira had got used to the weekly long calls with Rahul and when one day when he mentioned that he was coming to Delhi again for a week for some official work and that his parents had also listed a few girls for him to meet. Mira found she felt angry and jealous of those unknown young women he was going to meet but at the same time was not ready to commit to marriage. She promised herself to think about this and have an answer before Rahul came in the next week.
What worried her was whether she loved Rahul or was she just comfortable with him? Would he treat her well or would he after marriage treat her like a doormat, the way some of her friends felt after they had been married. How would she know how Rahul would treat her when their views differed or when she wanted something different from she wanted? Did marriages like these based on a couple of weekly calls last a lifetime?
Suddenly the phone rang at her desk and pulled her out of reverie. Mira couldn’t believe her ears, it was Piyush, her longtime boyfriend of 8 years who had suddenly dumped her and vanished with a French lady. He was calling to say that he was on his way from France to Mumbai and would like to meet her in Delhi. He said he was sorry about the way he had treated her and wanted to marry her.
Mira was speechless, she was in love with Piyush since college and even her parents liked him but then suddenly one day he had admitted to having an affair with a French lady in his office and when she left for France, he had accompanied her. But he told Mira that he had never been able to get her out of his mind and had always loved her. Now he was on his way back to claim her and was hoping she was unmarried and would agree to marry her. Mira just put the phone down and was in shock.
After almost 8 years and after having cheated on her, Piyush just expected her to fall at his feet and become his bride. He didn’t know that his dumping her and running away with his French girlfriend had caused her so much embarrassment and more than anything else people had said mean things to her parents. She had held out hope for a phone call, a letter or some message from Piyush for the first couple of months and when no news came, she just gave up and devoted herself completely to her job. She never admitted it to anyone, not even herself that this was one of the reasons that she did not want to trust anyone again. She was too emotionally scarred to trust a man again. And now, there was Rahul. What would she say to him?
The next week came too soon and Mira was still undecided. She owed some decency to Rahul for he was always fair to her and she did not want to hurt me, but then there was Piyush, her only friend and a guy she was planning to get married to. But what could she say to Rahul, would he understand? What were her feelings today after eight years for Piyush; did she want him now, after what he had done? Mira had no answers and consoled herself by saying that she would Piyush once and then decide. In the meantime, what would she say to Rahul?
Piyush hadn’t aged a year, he still looked the same devilishly handsome guy of her college. He hugged Mira the moment he set his eyes on her and told her how much he missed her. He dragged her to their favourite coffee joint and told her how he had been lured by his French colleague and had accompanied her to France. He has picked up a job and made a lot of money and then soon got into drinking and gambling and lived life in the fast lane. He soon married his girlfriend and he moved into her house and they were happy.
One day he discovered that his girlfriend was cheating on him and when he questioned her, she threw him out on the streets. He had gambled his money away and had nowhere to go, so after a few months of trying to settle and find a job, he gave up and decided to come back. He said he was happy that she was doing well and once they were married, he said he would soon find a job.
Mira was shocked that Piyush was taking it for granted that she would marry and support him till he found himself something worthwhile to do. Mira was so caught up in hearing Piyush’s tale that she did not notice Rahul, his brother and his parents walk into the coffee shop. On spotting Mira, Rahul walked across with his parents to her table and said hello. It didn’t take Rahul more than a moment to figure out that Mira was in a difficult discussion with this guy on her table and that his parents were waiting for an explanation on who this guy was.
Piyush found just that moment to treat her like his property and put his arms around her and Mira turned red in her face. She meekly wished Rahul’s parents and before she could say something, Rahul told his parents that Mira had told him that she was meeting a very close friend she hadn’t seen in years and that they should try and leave them alone. Mira just looked at Rahul gratefully and her eyes thanked him. Rahul took his parents away to another table and Mira could feel his eyes on her. Mira hurriedly finished the conversation with Piyush and told him that she had to get home in a hurry and left.
On seeing Mira leave, Rahul asked his brother to take them home and said he would join them later at home. Rahul was just in time to see Mira staring blankly into space sitting in her car and fumbling in her handbag for the money for the parking guy. Rahul paid the parking and asked Mira to move to the passenger seat and offered to drive her home. He didn’t ask Mira anything but slowly started to speak with her.
On getting a response from her and seeing that she was still shaken after her meeting with the guy she was with, he kept on talking to calm her down. He said that he was willing to bet that the person she was with was a long lost friend who had suddenly made an appearance and confused her. On seeing Mira look at him, he said, he was happy for her if her happiness lay with someone else and he only hoped she would invite him for her wedding. He said that over the last few months, he had got into a habit of calling her and he loved to hear her talk passionately about her job and family and he often looked forward to these calls with her. He had also become fond of her and loved her but he would be happy if her answer to marriage with him was negative since what he wanted most for her was happiness.
Mira was surprised that Rahul didn’t ask her anything about Piyush, who he was, how did she know him, had she wanted to marry him but at the same time he had set her free and he only wanted her happiness. On the other hand, there was Piyush, who had dumped her for someone else and now had literally claimed her as his property without a care on what she must have gone through and just took it for granted that she would be his.
And there was Rahul, who was dropping her home in her car and would need to take an auto back to his own home and Piyush had not even asked her how she would get home. Was Rahul being selfless in his love and Piyush being selfish? Was Piyush worth being trusted just because she thought she loved him as a 20 year old and at 30 years of age, she wasn’t ready to trust Rahul?
Mira was confused and so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t realise that Rahul had also gone quiet and was just intent on driving her home. When she broke from her reverie, she realized that they were almost home and she hadn’t spoken a word. She looked up at Rahul who gave her an understanding smile and said he wanted only happiness for her and only she had a right to choose whom to would spend the rest of her life with. He would always be her friend and always love her.
It was at that moment that Mira broke down and saw the selfless Rahul and though her tears told Rahul the story of Piyush. Rahul held her hand while she sobbed and asked her to calm down and take her time to decide. Mira told him how she had felt a stab of jealously when he told her that he was meeting with few other girls and Rahul just smiled and said that he had told his parents that he would not meet anyone else till he had heard your answer and for that he was willing to wait a lifetime. It was as if a big burden was off her shoulders and deep inside her heart Mira knew that this was love and maybe Rahul had enough love for both of them. She just smiled and asked Rahul to propose to her right there and hugged him.
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