For her parents she was just a 21 year old kid. But the rest of the world saw her as a 21 year old woman. She has just finished college and is looking forward to the glorious new era of her life-The work era. She's all excited about moving to new metros far from home ,earning her living , blasting with friends and so on. She had jotted down a long list of dreams in her diary that ranged from "scuba diving " to "winning Booker prize". Within a few months she will join the MNC where she had been placed and soon the adventurous life that she dreams about would begin.Well , her life has always been adventurous in every sense for she was one of those girls who was not scared of the cynics.
That was just a humble beginning. More "arranged" proposals followed . Her parents rejected them all at first , but slowly a fear creep-ed in..."She's 21 after all".
What confused Sreedevi the most was the fact that these Uncle's and Aunts who came up with the proposals barely knew her. They knew her name ,age ,what she looked like ,her caste etc. But Sreedevi is more than just these meaningless materialistic details.
Weeks later one day, her dad came home with a photograph. A highly Photoshop-ed photo of an engineer working in a Dubai oil company , 11 lakhs per annum salary and his parents stay in the same neighborhood where Sreedevi's family lives. "Horoscope's match perfectly " he said " The groom and his family will visit us on 19th September "
The dawn of 19th September was a beautiful one. But Sreedevi had neither the time nor the mood to watch the beauty of the sky as she walked towards the temple. She was happy and confused at the same time. Happy because she is gonna meet a man who might turn out to be her life partner. Confused because it sounds so strange .Two people ,who barely know each other despite being natives of the same city , is gonna meet today to decide whether they wanna spend the rest of their lives together.
As she walked towards the temple, she noticed a man at the entrance of the temple. A tall man with a medium build clad in white mundu and blue shirt engaged in the task of removing his sandals. Well that wasn't an unusual site in front of the temples , sandals were not allowed inside temples. What was unusual was that the man seemed very familiar, but she failed to recognize who he was. In the next second, his eyes fell upon her. He looked surprised at first and then smiled. And then Sreedevi realized that this was the man in that photo , this was her would-be groom. His complexion looked much more fair and hair more tidy in the photograph. He looked cute in real life too,but well in the photo he was 10 times cuter ."Photoshop should banned " she said to herself.
He walked upto her and said "Hi ..err...its a pleasant surprise to meet you here. "
Sreedevi did not speak , she simply stared at him for a few seconds and then looked around.
He spoke again to get rid of the silence "So ..hmm..do you come here everyday ..i mean to the temple "..
"No "replied Sreedevi...and the silence continued.
"Don't you have anything to say " he asked "Were you planning to keep quiet when i come to see you "
" Well you look very different from the photo" Sreedevi replied .
He frowned and replied "Well yes , the photo was edited a bit ".. Wait , he deserve a name doesnt ,he ??..hmm .."Shasi" would suit him well ...Okay so here is the rest of the conversation between "Shasi" and "Sreedevi".
Shasi : "Well the photo was edited a bit"
Sreedevi: "Not just a bit "
Shasi :"Oh well , is that a big problem for you. I know that I'm not a Hrithik Roshan"
Sreedevi: "Well I'm not an Aiswarya Rai either. Your cute enough for me"
Shasi(smiling) : "Thanks for the compliment"
Sreedevi :" It wasn't a compliment , just a fact. I dont judge men by looks."
Shasi: " Yeah a man's job is to secure the life of his beloved and I can do that physically and financially. "
Sreedevi: "I believe my dad was looking for a husband for me , not a bodyguard"
Shasi: " What i meant was, I have 10 lahks per annum salary and you won't have any financial problems. I will buy you anything you want. You don't have to go for work or anything"
Sreedevi: "I wanna work. And i am not scared of problems be it financial or anything else "
Shasi: "All right. Well for a jobless girl like you a guy with 10 lakhs per annum salary is a really lucky thing"
Sreedevi: " I thought you knew that I'm placed at an MNC."
Shasi: " But that MNC probably doesnt have a branch at Dubai "
Sreedevi : " What do you mean ?"
Shasi :" You'll have to come to Dubai with me after marriage and as long as they dont have a branch there , you cant work. I am all alone there , I cant handle the housework and job alone...its hard to get good servants there .. "
Sreedevi :"You were looking for a wife so that you dont have to pay a servant "
Shasi: " I didn't mean that ...well a women's job is to take care of their husband..kids ..home ...even if she's working....but when she has a rich husband why must she work ...she'll have more time to spend inside the house "
Sreedevi : " You think work is just for money don't you"
Shasi : "What do you mean?"
Sreedevi : " What I meant is you dont have to waste your time visiting my house today. Goodbye..I hope we never meet again"
She walked into the temple.The air was filled with the sound of the holy rhymes. Sreedevi was devastated , not because she broke a relation even before it started , but because she realized a fact. The fact that one can't really get to know a person while following such traditions.Yeah nowadays there are many ways to communicate,but usually all these communications starts only after the wedding is fixed. Ones its fixed it ain't easy to change the decisions as there are many other people involved. Its not like breaking up with a lover. The lucky ones get the right spouse . But the unlucky ones might end up giving up their dreams and making adjustments. She closed her eyes and wished she would be a lucky enough to get the right spouse. She didn't want to give up her dreams .Work was not just about money for her. She wished that her spouse , whoever he might be , would understand her dreams.He should support her to raise the family instead of having predefined views on "how a women should be" and "how a man should be ". And then she kept of wishing for a long while and weeping in between. The more she thought , the more scared she got about marrying the wrong guy.
"You've been here for too long ,child " said the temple priest. She opened her eyes and saw the thin old man in white dhoti who has been serving at the temple ever since she was a child.
" I am praying " she replied.
" You seem confused and sad " he said " Praying alone won't help you. Only actions can make wishes come true . Now go home and do what you have to do. Do your best and God will take care of the rest"
She went home and found her dad angry. Shasi had phoned her parents. After Sree explained what happened her dad asked raising his voice "So you want us to get you married to whoever you fall in love with or are you planning to run away with someone? "
"I wanna marry a guy we both like, dad " she replied "If i meet someone i like , i'll tell you or if someone proposes to me , i'll tell you. You can make the final decisions. I wont run away. Nor will i term anyone "my boyfriend" before i get your permission . The choice is yours. I'm just 21 .Life doesn't end at 21"
"You are making me confused " said her dad .
"Will you be happy if i give up my dreams and lead a sad life adjusting to someone else wish? Or will you be happy if I make my dreams come true and live with a man who loves me for what i truly am? " asked the daughter.
And that marked the beginning of a very long complicated conversation....
What confused Sreedevi the most was the fact that these Uncle's and Aunts who came up with the proposals barely knew her. They knew her name ,age ,what she looked like ,her caste etc. But Sreedevi is more than just these meaningless materialistic details.
Weeks later one day, her dad came home with a photograph. A highly Photoshop-ed photo of an engineer working in a Dubai oil company , 11 lakhs per annum salary and his parents stay in the same neighborhood where Sreedevi's family lives. "Horoscope's match perfectly " he said " The groom and his family will visit us on 19th September "
The dawn of 19th September was a beautiful one. But Sreedevi had neither the time nor the mood to watch the beauty of the sky as she walked towards the temple. She was happy and confused at the same time. Happy because she is gonna meet a man who might turn out to be her life partner. Confused because it sounds so strange .Two people ,who barely know each other despite being natives of the same city , is gonna meet today to decide whether they wanna spend the rest of their lives together.
As she walked towards the temple, she noticed a man at the entrance of the temple. A tall man with a medium build clad in white mundu and blue shirt engaged in the task of removing his sandals. Well that wasn't an unusual site in front of the temples , sandals were not allowed inside temples. What was unusual was that the man seemed very familiar, but she failed to recognize who he was. In the next second, his eyes fell upon her. He looked surprised at first and then smiled. And then Sreedevi realized that this was the man in that photo , this was her would-be groom. His complexion looked much more fair and hair more tidy in the photograph. He looked cute in real life too,but well in the photo he was 10 times cuter ."Photoshop should banned " she said to herself.
He walked upto her and said "Hi ..err...its a pleasant surprise to meet you here. "
Sreedevi did not speak , she simply stared at him for a few seconds and then looked around.
He spoke again to get rid of the silence "So ..hmm..do you come here everyday ..i mean to the temple "..
"No "replied Sreedevi...and the silence continued.
"Don't you have anything to say " he asked "Were you planning to keep quiet when i come to see you "
" Well you look very different from the photo" Sreedevi replied .
He frowned and replied "Well yes , the photo was edited a bit ".. Wait , he deserve a name doesnt ,he ??..hmm .."Shasi" would suit him well ...Okay so here is the rest of the conversation between "Shasi" and "Sreedevi".
Shasi : "Well the photo was edited a bit"
Sreedevi: "Not just a bit "
Shasi :"Oh well , is that a big problem for you. I know that I'm not a Hrithik Roshan"
Sreedevi: "Well I'm not an Aiswarya Rai either. Your cute enough for me"
Shasi(smiling) : "Thanks for the compliment"
Sreedevi :" It wasn't a compliment , just a fact. I dont judge men by looks."
Shasi: " Yeah a man's job is to secure the life of his beloved and I can do that physically and financially. "
Sreedevi: "I believe my dad was looking for a husband for me , not a bodyguard"
Shasi: " What i meant was, I have 10 lahks per annum salary and you won't have any financial problems. I will buy you anything you want. You don't have to go for work or anything"
Sreedevi: "I wanna work. And i am not scared of problems be it financial or anything else "
Shasi: "All right. Well for a jobless girl like you a guy with 10 lakhs per annum salary is a really lucky thing"
Sreedevi: " I thought you knew that I'm placed at an MNC."
Shasi: " But that MNC probably doesnt have a branch at Dubai "
Sreedevi : " What do you mean ?"
Shasi :" You'll have to come to Dubai with me after marriage and as long as they dont have a branch there , you cant work. I am all alone there , I cant handle the housework and job alone...its hard to get good servants there .. "
Sreedevi :"You were looking for a wife so that you dont have to pay a servant "
Shasi: " I didn't mean that ...well a women's job is to take care of their husband..kids ..home ...even if she's working....but when she has a rich husband why must she work ...she'll have more time to spend inside the house "
Sreedevi : " You think work is just for money don't you"
Shasi : "What do you mean?"
Sreedevi : " What I meant is you dont have to waste your time visiting my house today. Goodbye..I hope we never meet again"
She walked into the temple.The air was filled with the sound of the holy rhymes. Sreedevi was devastated , not because she broke a relation even before it started , but because she realized a fact. The fact that one can't really get to know a person while following such traditions.Yeah nowadays there are many ways to communicate,but usually all these communications starts only after the wedding is fixed. Ones its fixed it ain't easy to change the decisions as there are many other people involved. Its not like breaking up with a lover. The lucky ones get the right spouse . But the unlucky ones might end up giving up their dreams and making adjustments. She closed her eyes and wished she would be a lucky enough to get the right spouse. She didn't want to give up her dreams .Work was not just about money for her. She wished that her spouse , whoever he might be , would understand her dreams.He should support her to raise the family instead of having predefined views on "how a women should be" and "how a man should be ". And then she kept of wishing for a long while and weeping in between. The more she thought , the more scared she got about marrying the wrong guy.
"You've been here for too long ,child " said the temple priest. She opened her eyes and saw the thin old man in white dhoti who has been serving at the temple ever since she was a child.
" I am praying " she replied.
" You seem confused and sad " he said " Praying alone won't help you. Only actions can make wishes come true . Now go home and do what you have to do. Do your best and God will take care of the rest"
She went home and found her dad angry. Shasi had phoned her parents. After Sree explained what happened her dad asked raising his voice "So you want us to get you married to whoever you fall in love with or are you planning to run away with someone? "
"I wanna marry a guy we both like, dad " she replied "If i meet someone i like , i'll tell you or if someone proposes to me , i'll tell you. You can make the final decisions. I wont run away. Nor will i term anyone "my boyfriend" before i get your permission . The choice is yours. I'm just 21 .Life doesn't end at 21"
"You are making me confused " said her dad .
"Will you be happy if i give up my dreams and lead a sad life adjusting to someone else wish? Or will you be happy if I make my dreams come true and live with a man who loves me for what i truly am? " asked the daughter.
And that marked the beginning of a very long complicated conversation....
