It
was a Friday and after half past four, Tanuja lifted her head from her desk.
She looked beyond her cubicle to find out most of her team mates have left for
the day. It was last day of the week after all. She got up from her chair and
decided to have a cup of coffee. She goes to the Pantry where she bumps into
two other ladies in mid-thirties. They were sitting at the only available
pantry table. They gave her a polite smile as soon as she entered the pantry
and started speaking in hushed tones.
Lady 1: You know
her? She is from that team who operate from C wing. She is more than thirty,
you know, but still not married.
Lady 2: Really?
But she is good looking, why is she not married yet? She looks healthy also. Maybe, she is that
independent types or a man hater?
Lady 1, Lady2:
Giggles, and more giggles
Not
that Tanuja did not overhear their hushed conversation, but she ignored them
with a sigh. She is used to these kind of gossips and she knows she cannot make
them disappear and she has to live with these. Her family, relatives, friends,
all her so called well-wishers are also no different.
She
reaches home around seven that day and when she is parking her car in the shed,
she notices the old red colored Maruti 800. She says to herself, I hope, Aruna
maasi has not come today with a new prospective groom”. Her hopes were
shattered in no time. As soon as she enters the hall, she hears her aunt’s
exaggerated speech. Aruna Maasi is speaking to Tanuja’s mom, “Didi, you won’t
believe, this guy stays in U.S.A but is so down to earth. Tanuja will like him,
he is a good match for her”. Tanuja asks to herself, “But would he like me?”
Tanuja greets her aunt with her extreme sugar coated voice, “Hello Maasi, how
are you? Seeing you after so long. Where have you been?” Her mom signals her to
behave. Aruna Maasi speaks, “But I had met you, two weeks back. I had brought
the profile of that doctor for you. I know that guy did not suit you. But, not
to worry, today I have brought a new profile of an engineer who is settled in
US, he is into same profession as yours and I am sure you will like him”.
Tanuja says, “You got another profile so soon. Maasi, you are working too
much”. Her aunt was not at all embarrassed, “But we are running out of time.
All girls, your age have got two kids by now. And, it is so difficult to get a
good guy for your age now”. And, so the talk about why this new person is such
a good match for Tanuja goes on.
Tanuja
excuses herself to go to her room for freshening up. Once she is inside her
room, she heaves a heavy sigh. It was a very tiring day today in office. She
rushes to the wash room and splashes cold water on her face, she feels the fumes
coming out of her face. She stares into the wash basin mirror and the events of
her last meeting with the doctor flashes into her memory.
It
was on a Saturday afternoon, two weeks back, she had gone to meet Dr.Vivek
Munsi, in a cafeteria near Marine Drive. As usual, Aruna maasi had set up the
meeting and was all praises for this doctor who could be a prospective groom
for Tanu. Dr. Vivek was late to this appointment. And, when he reached her
table, he had apologized blaming his patients. Tanu had stood up to shake his
hands. He had shaken hands with her but it was obvious he had not liked it,
because he had not smiled, there was a crease between his eye brows and he was
looking at her with narrowed eyes. He sat on his chair and leaned back, heaved
a sigh and asked her, “So, what do you do?” Tanuja had looked directly into his
eyes and had answered with a straight face, “I had assumed, you had acquired
that information before coming to meet me.” PAUSE. “Well, I am an engineer
working in IT industry”.
Dr.Vivek
spoke, “No that I know. But what do you do in that job of yours?” Tanuja had assumed
that he was asking the question out of his curiosity, for that she had happily
replied, “I work in so-and-so department where my team is involved in so-and-so
Product development where I am currently leading a project for a client in
Australia and we are building so-and-so solution for him”. To that, he
responded, “Oh, you people do coding and all that.” Tanuja understood he knew
nothing about this industry but smiled. Next, he had asked the bombshell
question, “So, why have you not married yet?” Tanuja had replied, “I have not
yet found the lucky guy. What about you?” He was taken aback by this question
and his eyes became larger behind his spectacles and he looked at her as if she
was a fool to ask that question, “I was busy building my career of course”.
Tanuja had laughed out loud at his reply and had responded, “Oh really? So, is
it very difficult to understand that I was also building mine?”
After
that he started looking at the menu, completely ignoring her. When she asked
him, what would he like to have, he did not even lift his eyes from the menu
but asked her to order lemon iced tea. She saw him looking at her with narrowed
eyes when she was placing their order with the waiter. Then he started looking
at the décor of the café and when she asked if he liked the place, he had
replied, “Yes, it is refreshing”. After their drinks arrived, she had smiled
her thanks to the waiter. Vivek had been observing her from a long time with
narrowed eyes behind his glasses, and she was extremely irritated by now, when
he had spoken again, “So, you like to be always organized and are used to arranging
all the things around you.” To that Tanuja had asked, “Is this a compliment or
an accusation?” Vivek had completely ignored her question and had continued
with his observations, “I believe, you are an independent career-oriented type of
woman. You people are very different than others”. Tanuja had asked him, “What
do you mean by different people? Don’t you value your own career?” Vivek had
continued, “It is definitely different. Look at you, you are good looking and
still at this age you are not married. You built a career, went to overseas
alone without a husband, you have become a self-sufficient woman. I wonder how
your parents allowed that. Aren’t they worried about your future? What will
happen to you when you grow old, without husband, without kids?” Tanuja had
asked him sarcastically, “Which era do you belong to, Sir?”
After
that meeting, when she was driving home, she was annoyed at her Aruna maasi.
She was unable to understand how her aunt was expecting a possible alliance
between two completely mismatched personalities from altogether two different
worlds. She was getting frustrated of going to these blind dates just because
her family believes she has past her recommended to-get-hitched age and she
needs to get married to someone as soon as possible before her fertile cells
dry up. But Tanu was getting bored of her family and friends’ never ending
desperate and futile search for a suitable life partner for her, because
getting married and creating babies is the ultimate goal of any woman. She was
not even surprised when there had been no response from Dr.Vivek’s side since
last two weeks. She had faced these humiliations earlier also. And, two weeks
later, her aunt is again back with a new proposal and a new blind date ordeal
which she will have to suffer tomorrow.
It
was another Saturday afternoon, when she was driving again for an arranged
blind date to meet this superhero from USA. This time it was arranged that they
will meet for lunch in an elegant restaurant. She had visited this particular
restaurant earlier on many occasions and she had always liked the ambience and
the food here. She truly hopes today’s meeting is not going to spoil everything
good about this restaurant. Once she reaches the restaurant, she gets to know the
gentleman has not arrived yet. She occupies the place that was reserved for
them and waits for Mr. Mayank Jain.
After
half an hour or so, a lanky guy with receding hair line and branded backpack,
with the airline baggage tag still attached to it, appears at her side and
introduces himself shaking her hand, “Hi, I am Mayank (pause),
Mayank Jain. You must be Tanuja. I am sorry I had to keep you waiting. Actually,
I am here for a few days. So, my parents want me to meet girls so that
something can be finalized before I leave to New York again”. He continues with
a broad smile and a wink, “So, you see. I have meetings lined up from breakfast
to dinner”. It seems Mr. Jain is taking one interview after another and wanted
her to know there are many other candidates in the queue. Tanu gives him her
extra polite smile. And Mr. Nothing-can-stop-me continues, “So, Tanuja. Tell me
something about yourself”. She thinks she should have memorized her resume
before coming here. She says, “I believe, we should start with you. Why are you
looking for a bride from here?” She has understood, he does not need much
nudging if he is allowed to speak only about himself. Mayank replies, “Well, I
had always wanted my parents to pick a girl for me. If she is from our culture,
it will be easier for my parents to accept her. I know I can marry a girl who is
born in US but is Indian, but that is different. She would have been brought up
with different values and she would be more independent”. Tanu raises her brows
and asks, “So, you think, we would not be independent?” He laughs, “No, I did
not mean that. I am sure you know what I mean. They have a different mindset. Girls here are young and inexperienced. If I get married to a mature girl, she will have her own preferences and opinions. And, marrying a young girl means I can mould her". She asks, "Why did you agree to meet me?" He replies, "Hey, don't get offended. I was curious to know why you are not married yet. You are earning handsomely, you are good looking and all that. I presume you were in a relationship which failed". Tanu replies to his dismay, "No, sir. I was not in any failed relationship. I was busy building my career". Mr. Know-it-all continues his nonsense, "Why would you want to build a career? With your good looks, you could have married and gone abroad with your husband". Tanuja sighs and says sweetly, "OK, so this is the reason why we have gender inequality in our offices when there are so many young girls graduating from professional colleges every year in India".
When
she reached home that evening, she could hear happy sounds coming from the
hall. She had noticed her aunt’s car while parking hers in the shed and had
hoped she did not have to meet her somehow today of all days. She had noticed
some other cars also of her cousins, the married ones, and cars of some other
overbearing relatives as well. She controlled her composure to face them, and
as soon as she enters into the hall, every one shouts in unison,
“Congratulations, we hear some wedding bells soon”. She was wondering why would
Mayank want to marry her all of a sudden and even if he has sent some message
to her aunt, how her whole family managed to get the news so soon, even before
she reached home. She kept looking from one to another of the whole lot,
standing there clueless.
Aruna maasi
comes forward and rescues her confusing thoughts, “My dear little niece, we
hear wedding bells very soon for you. I got a call from Dr. Vivek, today
afternoon, and he said he will visit here tomorrow with his parents and other
elder members of his family. Isn’t that a good news?” Tanu was completely lost,
she raised her eyebrows and gave a non-committal smile to her aunt and her aunt
continued, “I knew it, he is such a genuine guy. When I had met him for the
first time, I had come to know he was such a gentle person and blah and blah
and blah”. Tanu looked directly into her mother’s eyes and asked, “Is that so?”
Her mother signaled her once again to keep her opinions to herself for now.
