Raghav
Calls with More News
When I got up on Monday
morning, my thoughts were still in a tangle. Thankfully, I was too busy all day
to have much time to think. The last couple of months, I had got used to
working on my narrow part of the project: now that I was working with and
leading a team, I had to deal with frequent discussions and constantly being on
my toes, often literally, as I flitted about from desk to desk… I loved the
excitement, but the effort left me exhausted by the end of the day.
It was only when I was in
the cab that was taking me home that Miki and Mandakini piped up again.
“Good thing you haven’t
had time to think all day,” observed Miki. “It’s not going to be pleasant
thinking about last night.”
“Oh, god,” said Mandakini.
“What am I going to do?”
Mandakini articulated the
thought that had been at the back of my mind for hours, even as I had focused
on work: “Vikram didn’t come over to see me. He didn’t even send me a chat
message.”
“Nor did I,” said Miki.
“He doesn’t have to be the one who speaks to me first.”
“Aren’t you disappointed
he didn’t?” Mandakini pointed out.
“He was so gentle last
night. I can’t quite believe…”
“Well, of course he was
gentle when he was getting what he wanted!”
“I don’t want to think of
it that way. It’s not true. He’s such a nice guy.”
“Is he?”
“I don’t know. I thought
so, but yet … Maybe I should have listened to you last night.”
Mandakini had nothing to
say to that.
“But it’s only been one day,”
said Miki. “And it’s not even over yet. Maybe he’ll call me.”
A cab companion said
something to me then, and I had to smile and answer.
Vikram didn’t call. He
didn’t come over to talk to me. He didn’t SMS. He didn’t send me an instant
message in office. I didn’t hear from him at all.
I waited. More than once I
opened a chat window with his name on it, only to close it without typing
anything. Once I typed ‘Hi’, and Paras came by with a question, and I closed it
without hitting ‘Send’. The week passed
by with not a word between us.
“He hates me,” cried
Mandakini on Friday after I got home and sat on a ledge on the terrace with a
cup of tea.
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Why would he not want to
talk to me?”
“I… don’t know. Maybe it
scared him, what we were going to do? Maybe he couldn’t face it? Maybe he’s
afraid that talking about what happened will make what’s between us more of a
‘relationship’?”
“What was I to him then? A
distraction? An amusement?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he
began like me, with hope. But he didn’t want to continue.”
“So it ended before it
began.”
“I suppose so. If he’s not
mature enough to handle this…”
“He could at least have
spoken to me. Is he trying to pretend nothing happened?”
“Never mind,” I said
aloud, with a wry smile. “At least I’m not in love with him.”
And then Raghav called to
tell me when he was getting married.
“What? When?”
“Fourteenth March.”
“What? That’s two months
away! That’s crazy!”
“Too late, you think?” He
laughed. “That’s the most auspicious date, apparently. And after that there are
none till September. So we decided, March it is!”
“But are you sure you’ll
be ready?”
“Oh yeah. My parents have
started on the preparations already. And Sonali’s parents – they had actually
suggested we have the wedding in February! My parents felt that wouldn’t give
us enough time to prepare.”
“That wasn’t quite what I
meant by being ready,” said Miki.
Then I said it
aloud.”That’s not exactly what I meant, Rags. Are you sure you’re ready to get
married? You’ve only been with her a few weeks, and you haven’t spent much time
with her. Are you sure it’s not too soon?”
“Why? Are you afraid I’ll
change my mind?” he demanded laughingly.
“No! Yes… It’s just that…
This is the most important decision of your life, Raghav. Don’t make it in a
hurry. What’s wrong in being engaged for a year or so before you get married?
That will give you both time to know each other better.”
“I’ve known Sonali since
college, Miki. I don’t think we need more time to know each other…”
“That’s different,” I
interrupted. “You haven’t known her as your girlfriend. You don’t know enough
of what she’ll be like in that role.”
“I think I know her well
enough,” Raghav laughed. “Besides, her
parents don’t want to wait, and…”
“Don’t bother about her
parents,” I interrupted again. “Do what feels right for you. For a few moments,
Raghav, forget about everyone else and just think about what you want. Do you
want to marry Sonali in two months?”
“Yes,” he said without
hesitation.
“How can he be
sure?” cried Miki. “Why doesn’t he give it a little more time?”
“But if he thinks he’s
sure, there’s no point pushing it,” Mandakini pointed out.
“Okay, Raghav,” I said
aloud. “If you’re sure, go on. I just want to be sure you’ll be happy.”
“I will, Miki,” he said,
surprised. “Don’t worry, I’m quite sure of that.”
“What about Sonali?” I
asked. “Is she okay with this?”
“Of course! She’s very
excited. She’s making shopping plans and working out her leave already.”
“Have you spoken to her,
asked her if she wants more time?”
“Hey, she was the one who
refused to wait till September. She’s very eager.”
“Okay, then. Good for you
two… So are you going to visit again soon?”
“No. The parents wanted an
engagement but I told them I couldn’t come again so soon. So they’ve decided to
just have the engagement a day or two before the wedding.”
“That makes sense!”
“I’m thinking I’ll come
down a week before the wedding. I’m hoping to take a month off, then we’ll have
enough time for a honeymoon.”
“He doesn’t even get my
sarcasm any more!” cried Miki. “He’s changing already!”
“I haven’t told them at
office yet, you know,” he continued. “In fact, I haven’t told anyone.”
I realised I hadn’t been
appreciative enough. “I should congratulate you,” I said hesitantly.
“Thanks,” he laughed
again.
“It’s difficult to
believe, somehow, that you’re getting married in a few weeks…”
“I know!”
He chatted on for some
more time about how excited he was and what Sonali had said and what
preparations his parents had already started on.
Later that night, I forced
myself to send Sonali a congratulatory SMS. Within seconds, I got a reply:
“Thank u! Im so excitd!”
13 comments:
Sorry for posting so late. As you can see, I've been busy! What do you think of the new template?
hey, u kept me waiting the whole day! nice change of template; is that snap borrowed? n btw, aren't miki n mandakini taking on each other's personality in this episode?
yeah, i checked in the morning and there was no post.my sunday didnt quite feel right until now when i decided to check again. And hey presto, the nxt chapter's here! :D
Love love love what's happening now. I so dread myself in the role of Miki having to be all happy and congratulatory to the Raghav in my life. I hope I get to tie the knot before him, but then again, I'd like to wait to make sure that he doesnt really wants to get tied down with me and would prefer another girl.Why r men so dense?
Obelix: You know, I struggled quite a bit with this chapter, trying to make Miki and Mandakini's voices distinct and true. And I thought I'd achieved it, somewhat - Mandakini is whiny and shocked at what she considers her (or rather, Miki's) inappropriate behaviour, while Miki is more pragmatic and not ashamed at all.
With Raghav, it's always Miki who feels more betrayed - Mandakini expects boys to be a little faithless anyway.
But given your comment, maybe I didn't do so well here.
kay: Thanks for commenting.
Sometimes you do have to be happy and congratulating, and have to believe that if he doesn't get it, or isn't interested, that he wasn't right for you anyway.
Wow...thanks for the chapter..but no-wow..please dont get Raghav married to that Sonali! Like Miki said..they dont even know them too well!
- Where are we heading????
- Don't care much for Vikram's absence...Don't know why :)
- But Raghav...I sense a return ;)
- New template fine...u clicked that?
Obelix: I replied to you in three pragraphs and forgot to answer your first question. That picture was taken on the banks of the Brahmaputra some years ago (by me or the Guy, don't remember which).
R's Mom and Gayatri: Well... I'm not giving spoilers away. But I'm glad you're so in sympathy with Miki.
Also, Gayatri: As I say above - "That picture was taken on the banks of the Brahmaputra some years ago (by me or the Guy, don't remember which)."
Tres dramatique! And such suspense!!!!Next Sunday seems very far away!
Why is Sonali so one-dimensional... it is almost unbelievable that Raghav, someone that Miki connected with for years, would suddenly become dense and silly, and fall for someone like Sonali, at least the way she is portrayed... Not feeling it
Empowerment Engineer: That's a good question. Give me some time to answer it?
I know a Raghav who fell for a Sonali and went through with the marriage. I pity his life.
Pallu: That's one answer to Engineer-- it does happen, though we may not like or understand it!
i am impressed with your writing ability -havent read all parts of Miki's life but hope to catch up sometime soon.
love the new header-isnt that Ugratora?
the sun setting on the mighty brahmaputra- ah...its always breathtaking.
Post a Comment