Waiting for Green Button - I am Online

“Hi”

“Hello, do I know you?”

“My name is Tiger”

“Is that your real name?”

“If it is Jackie Shroff’s son, you wouldn’t ask him this question. Why are you asking me?”

“But you are not Tiger Shroff”

“Maybe I am”

“Oh come on…. But seriously, what is your real name?”

“I told you, my name is Tiger”

“OK… I give up. So Tiger, what do you do?”

                I bet everyone today of my generation can relate to the above lines.  We like to fantasize and live in a virtual world rather than our real world. Reema is also from the same cult, so what’s the big deal?

                Reema is a beautiful name with a beautiful face. So, it is quite natural her online profile gets so many likes, comments and friendship requests. Even if she posts that she has flu on her page, she gets thousands of likes and comments and prayers for her speedy recovery.

                Anurag, Vasu and Rajesh are as usual at their favorite cafe near their college. Results of fifth semester were out today. Rajesh is gloating at his 8 points as always and our five-point-someone; Anurag is again worried about what his father would say.  Our easy going chap Vasu is cool with his 6 or maybe 7 points. They are waiting for Suma and Devika. They join them after some time. Devika, Vasu and Anurag were friends from their school days. Rajesh and Suma had joined their gang when they had started college. Nevertheless, these five were buddies. They take a selfie and post the pic with the status “Fifth Sem Results Out – Mixed Feelings”.  Within ten minutes, 56 likes come with 25 comments. World is moving really fast, isn’t it?

                On the way home, Devika notices that Vasu is not talking much today. He is listening to her chit chats but he seems distant. These two stay nearby and usually come and go together to and from college. Devika asks him why he is silent today, his results were okay. Vasu shrugs off and tells her she is imagining things.

                When Devika reaches home, she immediately sends a text message to Suma to come online. Suma and Devika discuss about Vasu’s behavior and decide to call Anurag and Rajesh. Anurag, Rajesh, Suma and Devika all start chatting online and come to a conclusion that they should talk to Vasu together the next day. Anurag suddenly remembers that Vasu had told him about some girl with whom he is chatting nowadays and might have fallen for her. How could he keep secrets from the Gang? So the gang decides to confront Vasu the next day for sure.

             Next day at the cafeteria after the 4 PM lecture, the three guys are waiting for the girls to join them. They order Samosa for the three of them. They know the girls would rather die than eat the fattening samosas. The girls arrive with an announcement that they are going to bunk classes the next day as Salman Khan’s movie is releasing. Rajesh and Anurag jumps with joy as Friday is already here, and they also agree to come along. Rajesh tells, “Hey, we can go to the multiplex theatre near my place, I will buy 5 tickets for the 11 AM show and you guys please be on time. OK?” Everyone agrees, but after a few minutes, Vasu says, “Hey guys, I just remembered that I have some pending work tomorrow. So, you guys carry on. I will join you guys some other time.” Hearing that, everyone else looks at him squarely and confronts Vasu about his pending work. Vasu feels like he is a lone prisoner of war at that point of time. Devika, Rajesh and Suma, asks him together, “we got to know that you are hiding something from us. So, who is this girl you are chatting with nowadays?” Vasu stares hard at Anurag, but Anurag looks away. Devika asks him more forcefully, “tell us who is this girl, you are going out with”. Vasu says, “Guys, it’s just the initial days. I have been chatting with her from sometime”. Anurag asks, “So when did you guys meet?” Vasu gives him one harder look this time, but replies, “we met on Facebook five months ago“. To that everyone shouts in unison and accusation, “Five Months? And, you didn’t tell us”. Vasu answers them sheepishly, “I was going to”.  Suma asks, “What’s her name?” Vasu looks forlorn but knows that his friends were not going to let him go unless he gives them all the information they need. He replies, “Her name is Reema”.

“When will you introduce her with us? Show us her Facebook profile. We would like to meet her.” 

“I haven’t met her yet in person.”

“So you have never gone on a date.”

“No.”

“What is her mobile number?”

“I don’t know. She has not yet shared hers. Guys, maybe she needs more time.”

“What about you?”

“I have been hit hard guys. It’s real for me.”

A hooting sound in unison and Vasu becomes all red faced.

“Ok, ok, show us her Facebook profile.”

“Guys, this is Reema.”

               Devika and Suma approves of Reema’s profile, “Wow, such a pretty girl”. Rajesh agrees but Anurag looks a little doubtful, “her face looks familiar”. Suma scolds him, “Yeah Fatso, you know all the girls”. Hearing that, Anurag makes faces at her. The friends then depart for their respective places with the promise to meet at the theatre tomorrow.  

At the theatre the next day, four friends meet. It was a Salman Khan movie, so huge crowd had gathered and it seemed everyone had bunked classes from their colleges. After the movie, all four of them decided to go for lunch at the nearby Kabab center. Anurag again points out that Reema’s face seem familiar to him. Devika, Suma and Rajesh ignore him and concentrate on their chicken biryani. But Anurag again try to hold their attention, “Guys, you are not paying attention, that profile pic Vasu showed us yesterday seem unreal”. To that, Suma asks him, “So you mean to say, Vasu is lying”.  Anurag replies, “No, I don’t mean that. But I guess that girl is fake“.  The other three stop eating and stares at him as if he has gone mad. “Seriously guys, I mean it. The profile looks fake to me”. Rajesh asks him, “How can you say that”? Anurag replies, “I checked her profile last night, apart from a display pic, she doesn’t have any pictures, like of her family, friends, etc.  She has more than 1000 friends in her profile“. “So what, many people do not like to post their pics online and it doesn’t mean you cannot have more friends. And she is such a pretty girl, she might be getting many friend requests”. “Exactly, my point. If she doesn’t like to post pictures why has she put her picture in the display profile when she knows people will send her friend requests looking at her pic”? Devika and Rajesh look cautious now but Suma still is unconvinced, “Anu, I think you are imagining things”. Anurag replies, “My gut feeling is telling me that the girl is not real and if that is the case, we need to save our friend before he is too deep in that shit”.  Everyone look so torn now with conflicting emotions that the fun about the movie is all forgotten.  

Next day, Vasu doesn’t come to college. So naturally his friends get more worried about him. They decide to visit his place on Sunday and decide that they would ask him to be cautious. They hope that Vasu doesn’t misunderstand them and their good intentions. They are sad for their friend. All four attend college and go home with a heavy heart that day.  

When they visit Vasu on Sunday at his place, they find him with puffy eyes as if he had flu or he had wept the whole night. Vasu’s mother informs them that he had not taken his food the whole of yesterday and he had been upset about something. She is happy that they have come for a visit today. Anyway she is going to prepare Chettinad Chicken curry, so she asks them to stay for lunch also. Vasu might also eat in their company. All four look at Vasu. Vasu shrugs and asks them to come to his room.

Once inside his room, Vasu is bombarded with questions. “Why didn’t you come to college yesterday”? “What has happened to you”? “Why haven’t you eaten anything”? “Why are you looking so pale and ill”?

“Guys, it’s over between me and Reema”. All four stare at Vasu and shouts in unison, “WHAT”? Vasu sniffs as if he is still weeping, and says, “Yeah, she said, she never loved me, and she had always considered me as her friend. All these months, I made a fool of myself”.  Vasu runs to the wash room saying, “Guys excuse me for a moment please”. Other four looked at each other with disbelief. All of them heave a sigh of relief and start smiling at each other. 

Breaking the Marriage Vows

Radha is watching the kids playing in the park near her apartment through her balcony. She is deep into her thoughts. She is agonizing over her broken marriage and trying hard to comprehend the enigma of her broken relationship.  Radha is unable to understand what went wrong. Theirs was a marriage which was solemnized with utmost care between two prominent Brahmin families. Their horoscopes were also matched and they were told that theirs was an excellent match as 32 out of 36 gunas were compatible. She bore him two children and had a marriage like any other couple of their age for the last nineteen years.

There were problems but she had always believed between Narayan and her, they would be able to manage. Narayan had mentioned he was not happy in their marriage, neither was she. But for the sake of her children, she had thought they would pull it through. She was hurt when Narayan had told her about his relationship with another woman. She had quarreled with him and had threatened him that she would take away his children from him. But she had understood that there was no point continuing a relationship when he had made up his mind.   So, when Narayan had announced his decision of getting a divorce and remarry, she had agreed. One year has passed by. Their divorce proceedings are going on.

It was not easy to make her daughters understand in the beginning. Nishi was only eleven and Vidhi was a difficult teenager, sixteen years old. They had gone abroad when Nishi was just one year old and Vidhi was six. They had come back to India two years back. Both girls were brought up in a foreign land with western influence and they were familiar with broken marriages, divorces, broken families, etc. But still anybody can understand that they were heartbroken. Their ideal family is also not perfect after all.

Nishi and Vidhi vehemently opposed their parents’ decision of getting a divorce. Both had become hostile.  Vidhi wanted to run away and Nishi had turned hysterical about the whole idea. Radha managed to bring equilibrium somehow with help from counsellors. Nishi and Vidhi finally came to terms with the whole situation but with reservations.  Radha knows that Vidhi still blames her for their broken family.

Narayan doesn’t want the custody of their daughters but would like to have visitation rights. His fiancée doesn’t want children but is okay with Nishi and Vidhi spending time with their father. So, Narayan has taken the girls to meet his fiancée today. Radha still doesn’t want to know her or call her name. She knows that she has to meet her sometime. Their divorce would be final by next month and Narayan would remarry by December. Radha has to find her composure by that time. She has to be there for her daughters.

Radha is unable to come to terms with her surroundings and her conservative relatives also who were blaming her for their failed marriage. She doesn’t understand why they were incapable of seeing that Narayan is involved in adultery not her.  Her mother-in-law had been unhappy with her as Narayan was her only son and Radha could not bear her a grandson. Then why is she okay with the idea that Narayan’s new fiancée doesn’t want to have children of her own? Her mother-in-law had blamed her for improper upbringing of her daughters when Vidhi had announced she has a boyfriend. But now she is ready to welcome her new daughter-in-law who is from a different caste and religion altogether.

What could Radha say about her own parents? Her parents and brother had asked her, “Why don’t you try to save your own marriage”? When she replied that she did whatever she could, she was blamed for not trying harder. They are still sulking.

Radha wished she could turn back the clock and could refuse getting married to Narayan. However, she loves Vidhi and Nishi and they are the best part of her marriage with Narayan, still she wants them to disappear. She wants to be free. But she knows that she would not be allowed to do so, she would be blamed for being selfish.

A loud cry jolts her back from her thoughts. She turns to find out that a boy has shoved a girl for not passing the ball to him. In a jiffy the girl gets up, hits him back and shouts, “Do not push me. You will get the ball when it’s your turn”. A smile touches Radha’s lips. She spots a lady scolding her daughter, “Tanu, share your cycle with your younger brother”, to which the girl replies, “I don’t want to and I won’t”.  Radha flinches at the blunt reply. She hears the giggles of a toddler playing with a puppy and heaves a deep sigh. The girls will be back for dinner, so it's time for her to head to the kitchen.