Born and brought up in a conservative household, I belonged to a family not very different from Simran’s family in DDLJ. And like in any such household, my parents used to shout bloody murder every single time they heard me utter the name of a boy around them. Amidst such an atmosphere, I still dared to fall for Aman, my classmate from school. We had started dating in grade ten and were in a relationship for eight years.
As I turned twenty-four, my parents started pressuring me to meet guys for an arranged marriage. As per my parents, arranged marriage was the only way people were supposed to get married. As for dating and love marriages, that was for the uncouth with no family values. Despite knowing their mindset, I finally decided to take the bold step of telling my parents about Aman. I mean I loved him and wanted to have my happily ever after with him, and only him.
So one Sunday afternoon, I sat them down and told them the whole story with some smart editing. On hearing the term ‘boyfriend’, my father furiously stormed off from the dining table. As for mom, she started crying and told me to forget about Aman, cut him off from my life and never ever mention his name in the house ever again, if my parents meant anything to me at all. After this overly dramatic scene and having witnessed my parents’ furious reaction, I knew it was time to give up on love, and so I did. Heartbroken and depressed, I severed all contact with Aman. I prepared myself to resign to my fate of an arranged marriage and decided to say yes to the first guy that I would meet.
I wore a simple yellow printed top with a pair of jeans and heels and got dressed to meet the first guy for an arranged marriage. Sushmit was a regular-looking Delhi guy, easy-going and very normal to speak to. So the overall meeting went just about alright, nothing extraordinary. The very next day my parents got a call from his family. They had liked me and so had he. I wondered to myself, what had he exactly said yes to? The morose plain looking girl that I was when I met him or the plain regular conversation we had? Thereafter, my parents asked me if I wanted to go out with him a couple of times to know him better before I took a decision. But I had resolved to say yes to the first guy I met, and so, I said yes after the first meeting itself.
Then the families met a few times to socialize and celebrate. After that Sushmit asked my father, if he could take me out for coffee and dinner one of those days. As unexcited as I was, I felt quite badass to be officially going on a date (even though it was during my courtship).
I wore a simple black dress, slipped on my heels and waited for him to arrive. At sharp 7pm, Sushmit was at my doorstep to pick me up. First, he took me for coffee to United Coffee House (he remembered me mentioning what a coffee addict I was). We spoke about our likes and dislikes, hobbies and the things that were close to our hearts. Some of the things that he said were so refreshing and compassionate that I was almost enjoying his company. Then post coffee, he took me out for Chinese dinner (again, my favourite). I made a mental note; this guy was thoughtful, if nothing else. Then we decided to go out for drinks to Monkey Bar, where I unexpectedly walked into Aman. After exchanging cold greetings, I took my seat opposite Sushmit. All the memories with Aman starting replaying in my mind and before I knew it, my eyes were teary. What happened next was the most unexpected. Sushmit got up, held my hand as I stood up and hugged me very tightly. As I cried uncontrollably, staining his shirt with my liner, he said, “I understand, you don’t need to say anything. I will be there with you, for you, always”. And at that precise moment, I felt that it was a blessing in disguise that I said yes to Sushmit. I had not known up until then, that a man could be so understanding and could make me feel so strong and safe. Had it been Aman, he would’ve gone green with jealousy and argued with me, just like he had in the past, whenever I become friends with any other guy. And here, my fiancé was consoling me and holding me tight as I mourned over a past break-up. Now, that’s the kind of guy every girl deserves to be with, and I was just plain lucky to have gotten him.
*Names changed to protect privacy.
Images: Shutterstock
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