My Bride

And again Srinivasan checked the time; it had just been 5 mins since he had checked it last. Sleep eluded him. He was not willing to get up, nor did he want to sleep. He had always felt younger when the first digit of his age was a shiny 3, today it became an ugly 4.

The now 40 year old Srinivasan lived in a small flat in Mumbai. When he had lost his parents 13 years back, he had searched high and low to find a flat with a nice view to help him retain the positive spirit of life. Nowadays, he did not even open the windows. He was tired of the same old chairs, the color of the house, the same sheets, pillows, plates, glasses; everything just bored and irritated him.

He tried not to allow his heart rule his head; he forced his mind to think about all the people without food on the streets, hard-working labourers whose income was on a day-to-day basis. His life had all the required necessities and there was a monthly flow of constant income. This brought in him a temporary spur of energy which lasted for a huge duration of half an hour and then, the brooding was back.

He decided against going to work and settled in his favorite chair to watch the news. As soon as he switched the television on; the power went off. He waited for a couple of minutes and then for some more time and again for few more minutes before banging the remote onto the floor. Srinivasan moaned, groaned, and reluctantly got ready for work as he was quite sure that his head would explode with boredom when his friend lay powerless in front of the chair.

When he was totally convinced that no one he knew was around, he silently walked in.

“Srinivasan sir, happy birthday,” Alok shouted.

“How old today sir, at least get married now” rebuked Alok.

Srinivasan replied with a smile and walked away while his mind humorously played the image of a six-pack Srinivasan strangling Alok with his own tie.

Without his parents to look for a girl for him, Srinivasan felt he was too old to ask his relatives to search for a bride. Even though he was an introvert, he had tried approaching few girls, but unfortunately nothing had worked out and now a mix of black hair dye lying propped against the sink at home made things worse.

Oh! Was he glad when the day passed on quietly without anyone badgering him with wishes, it was almost time to go when cheery Anjali came hopping and told him to wait for some time for a small surprise. Thanking Anjali, Srinivasan excused himself and decided to settle in the washroom till his hyper-active colleagues left for the day.

After a couple of hours of self-induced pain caused by looking into profile pictures of friends on social networking sites, he finally sneaked out. It looked like everyone had left and the area was safe to move out. He picked up his bag to leave.

A girl in a green dress, No! Wait a minute, it’s not a dress, it’s a lehenga and she is a bride thought Srinivasan seeing the girl who was sitting on the lobby couch looking at the traffic outside.

“May I help you?” asked Srinivasan.

She turned to look at him and sweetly said. “No, thank you, I am waiting for a friend.”

Srinivasan somehow did not want to ask whether the “friend” was a guy or a girl, but blurted out asking.

“Is it your wedding today?”

“Oh no, I am a modeling for the bridal collection in a promotional event this week” she explained.

Srinivasan for no reason whatsoever felt relieved.

She looked like she was in her late twenties, fair, chubby, and those sparkling green eyes shone even brighter than the green lehenga she had worn. Srinivasan did not want to seem too desperate and so he told her to take care and left for the day. With the seed of opportunity already sprouting its branches in his mind Srinivasan went back home to a peaceful sleep which was due for a long time now.

The next morning, Srinivasan felt younger, fitter, and happier. Thanking the birds from his window for the chirpy duet, he went to work. The only thing important that day was to wait, along with few apologies here and there for having missed his own party the previous evening. He believed that if he met that girl again that day, then it was meant to be.

At the same exact time, he went to the lobby and there she was waving at him in the green bridal dress.

“Hi, I am sorry; I did not catch your name yesterday”

“I am Apsara, and you?”

“Srini” he said. Srinivasan seemed older.

And today, Srinivasan felt confident. He was convinced that his life had finally changed for the good. He even accomplished in stealing few giggles from her with some witty anecdotes. He spoke his mind and heart out. She patiently listened agreeing and dis-agreeing when required. He badly wanted to ask her number, but thought it was too early and once again ensuring that she would be safe, he left.

Srinivasan was running out of time, he decided to propose to Apsara and officially meet her family to talk about marriage the next day. He wanted to bring her into his life and had made a vow to take care of her forever. He just wanted a nice companion to lead a happy life.

On the third day, when things were about to change for Srinivasan, she was nowhere to be seen. He cursed himself for not taking the number. He kept consoling himself that she was just running late.

As he waited, he saw a dim light in the far end of a store room. He inched closer, his pace quickened when he saw his manager gently lift the green dupatta off her head.

Srinivasan flew into a rage, he threw his bag and ran towards his manager and started pouncing on him. The manager was shocked and kept shouting at Srinivasan to stop. Srinivasan just yelled at him asking repeatedly how he could do this to her.

Finally the manager caught hold of Srinivasan and roughly pushed him aside.

“I know you are a senior member here; it does not mean I will tolerate such madness. This is your first and last warning, the bridal season is over and the spring season is starting. You better get her changed quickly else I will fire you the first thing tomorrow morning” he stomped off cursing Srinivasan under his breath.

Tears of bewilderment flowed from his eyes. Srinivasan could not deduce what had just happened. It had all seemed real to him till that point. His limbs slowly regained their strength; He lovingly lifted his bride as the back of her neck read “Apsara life-like mannequin makers.”

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