Three msgs one after one forced me to open my eyes …, the clock on the wall of the hotel room trying to convey me with most polite form “stupid, wake up .., its already 9 AM”
1st msg – R u ready…?
2nd msg–Wear the Denim jeans and the white “v neck” T shirt
3rd msg – All the Best.!!
I was still feeling sleepy …,the 8 hrs long journey in bus made my body completely tired , managed to sleep only for 2 hrs.I text her back saying
“I am almost ready Mam,but I think formal will be better than jeans”.
Well, me never knew people say it “texting” …for me it was always sms or msg , I learned the word “text” from my Mam only…,may be it sounds cool to say “text” .
I did not get any reply for next 5 mins…,and with my experience I know by now ,what does it mean …,I have to wear what my Mam ordered . We already had a big argument at least for 2 hrs last night in the bus on the stupid topic of what to wear for the D day. I tried my best to make myself presentable and waited for her call or text .It was 9:45 am and I received the 4th text of the morning “come soon”.
I took an auto to her place . Well.., I can say my nervousness was threefold of what I felt when the cyber center guy hit enter key to see my engineering entrance rank .My heart was skipping beats. It took me 10 mins to reach her place .My six sense already warned me twice “Be careful” …, and to make my condition “worse” , “Jipsy” was waiting to welcome me. My close friends know it well, how much I am scared of dogs or in better words how much dogs love me. As expected Mr Jipsy welcomed me with his sweet voice and the whole family came to know about my presence. As I have seen the pics earlier, it was not hard for me to identify who is who including Jipsy . Her Bro help me cross the border by keeping Jipsy away from me.
Though I practiced a lot,forgot how to greet her family members,should I touch their feet , or say “Namaste” or shake hand ….??, my seventh sense quickly prompted me to create the first impression by touching their feet .., for bro in law.., just a “hi” . Never thought what’s coming next will be tougher than what I went through …her mom went into the kitchen …, bro busy with Jipsy …, two gentlemen sitting on the hall …, the elder one watching some south Indian news channel and the younger one scanning the whole house to get a glimpse of his dream gal .Its already 10 mins …, neither I heard a single word from her Dad .., not I was able to find my beautiful in the whole house. The fan in the hall was wise enough to understand my condition .., so was trying to help me by making the bed room door curtain dance …,I could only see the dress she was wearing last night hanging near the bed and the dressing table..nothing else .First the pressure cooker whistle and then her mom’s sweet voice broke the silence. She asked both the gentlemen to wash hands as the breakfast was ready. First out of courtesy and second as I was not having any clue of the way to wash basin …,I waited for her Dad to move first …, and he did so, me followed him.
Me, her dad and bro were already settled in the dining table. Mom shouted at daughter, something in their regional language.., I assumed she was asking her to come soon.. Finally the goddess made her presence in the dining table and my heart choked for few seconds. “Beautiful” would be an understatement to describe her. Let me skip describing my angel’s beauty, that will be a book of its own. Now I was facing her Dad, bro–sis facing each other .How can things go smooth with me …, the most important family member made his presence and he choose his seat beside me …, yeah Jipsy ..and I started dancing in and around the dining table. Both bro and sis enjoying my dance and god knows what dad was thinking seeing me dance like a fool. I was praying for “The sweet Mom’s help” and she did. On mom’s order, Mr bro put Jipsy outside and closed the door. I knew Jipsy might be cursing me, but I too do the same, as he is the only lucky one in the world to get “kisses” and “hugs” from my Mam.
I was expecting someone in the family will initiate the conversation .., I prepared myself well for few expected questions from her parents .., but there was nothing happening as per my plans and the silence was killing me …at last the bro broke the silence by asking about the bike rally in Key west and Miami .I hardly have any interest in bikes (I mean I can drive a bike, own a Bajaj Pulsar 180 CC ) , but anything above that is greek and latin for me ,but I thought lets bluff something to impress my bro in law . Before I opened my mouth to impress Mr Bro, her mom started shouting at him from the kitchen for wasting 1.5 lakh rupees on a bike. And Miss Sis too join Mom and blasted Bro . Dad was silent .I wanted to support my bro in law, but was clueless. Pointing at bro in law , Dad opened his mouth for the first time …,” Look at your jeans …,you looking like a beggar with those holes in it …” immediately I realized what I was wearing and started counting holes in my own jeans., somehow I adjusted my place to hide my jeans from his father’s eyes . Both me and my Mam’s eyes met and I was trying to tell her (through my eyes) that “formal was a better idea ...”
Mr Jipsy made his presence again .., need to blame the maid who let the front door open .., now I need to hide my holes in the jeans while dancing with the music of Mr Jipsy . Silently I bribed Jipsy (whispered in his hear – “you have the permission to get kisses and hugs from my angel after marriage too” ) . And not a big surprise, Jipsy became my friend .., who can afford to say “no” to a kiss from my angel . Now breakfast was ready on the dining table .Her mom served the breakfast .Idly, sambar,chutney and some unique Vada and a type of south Indian sweet(I forgot the name).Everyone started eating …,but I was in the process of searching for spoon .My mam signaled me to eat …and I responded asking for spoon . She went to kitchen and brought two spoons for me.
Mom was multi tasking, managing things both at kitchen and dining place. Let me tell you, Mom was looking equally beautiful as the daughter. While eating, for a second my eyes met with her mom’s, she was smiling …, I thought it was just a normal smile …, soon after the smile was converted to laugh .., slowly not only Mom but the dad and bro too started laughing …,while my mam was staring at me with full anger on her face , after sometime my tube light brain realized that they were laughing at me. Except for Jipsy , rest all were laughing (My mam too joined her family ) …, Jipsy was supporting me only because of the bribe I gave him …, well I was completely unaware of the reason for the laugh though . My face became red and I stopped eating .., seeing me feeling embraced .., her mom ordered everyone to stop laughing …, how come anyone can dare to disobey the home minister. It was complete silent for 30 seconds..but after few moments I could hear her mom laughing loudly at kitchen and soon after others joined her . Thank God …, at last I came to know the reason for their laughter .., It was the way I was eating idly made her mom laugh so loud.
Well, I can argue, there was nothing wrong the way I was eating .., with help of both the spoons, I was taking a piece of Idly ,put that in my mouth …, and then use one of the spoon to take a little chutney to mix it in my mouth itself and after that was trying to sip a little sambar (not to mention the piece of idly already settled down in my stomach when the spoon with sambar touched my tongue).I dint know my way of eating will bring a smile even in her Dad’s face.For a while felt proud too to make the angry young man smile with my stupidity. Soon after Dad left the dining table . To make me feel comfortable,mom sat beside me and while having her breakfast shared the childhood stories of my angel …, mr bro adding masala to it .Very soon I felt comfortable with both, her Mom and Bro and started narrating about my family, my childhood stories,my US experience,etc etc. It’s like we (her mom ,bro and me ) became a gang and started pulling my Mam’s legs .My closeness with her Mom, made my Mam feel jealous and she moved to hall to get his dad’s support . At last his dad broke silence after a while and asked me to join him in the hall.
This was the sentence “ I have to ask you few questions …” .., I started sweating like anything …my angel left hall leaving me alone and joined her bro in bed room . It was him and me alone in the hall. And to make my condition worse, Mr Jipsy took revenge for “me pulling my angel’s legs” …, started biting my jeans and I was trying to get rid of him …,It was like he had decided to show her Dad that even I too have at least 3-4 holes in my jeans.At that time I realized what a big blunder I did by pulling my angel’s legs . Neither my Mam or Bro in law were there to help me out .,mom was busy in kitchen. As things became out of control, I put some good amount of force to get rid of Jipsy …..,and what happened next ???
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When I opened my eyes I was out of my bed .., head banged in the wall .., pillow in my chest and water from the bottle making my body wet …,it was completely dark . When I got back proper sense, I was at my 10*10 bedroom, completely wet and having severe pain in my head.Thank god there was no sign of blood from my head.
It took me 30 mins to realize that it was just a dream ….the whole day I kept on smiling thinking about the dream .., felt sorry though that the conversation between her dad and myself did not happen. The conversation would have definitely helped me prepare for the real interview when I will meet her parents.
Dreams come True and it will its just that I need to learn quickly “how to eat Idly” (in south Indian style) to avoid any disaster and most importantly need to learn some better tricks to bribe Jipsy.
The End ?? No its not …Rest of the story in my next Dream
