I stalked you that day from the market-place, thrilled to bits when I saw you entering your home – the home of family friends! I knew then, that our match was pre-ordained! After that day, I often hung around your place, near enough to see you but still too wary to come closer. Things took their own course when my family started nudging me to get married, suggesting various suitable matches. I rejected all until I came to the inevitable choice from a well-known family…..you my darling girl!
You blushed when I asked if you liked
street-food, on our first official date. I knew exactly what you loved, the
spicy ‘chaat’, the sizzling ‘aloo-tikis’, the succulent ‘jalebis’ and of course
the ice ‘golas’! We went to all your favorite haunts and I simply gazed at you
while you devoured the treats like no one was watching, whispering jokes about the
pot-bellied gentleman next to us with a poker-straight face and egging me on to
try out the super-hot ‘mirchi bhajias’! My tummy cringed at all this
street-food but the glee on your face seeing my tongue and ears on fire made it
a trivial fare to pay. That little bit of food on the tip of your pert nose bothered
me and before I could do something rational about it, I found myself bending
down to kiss it away…little realizing how I must have shocked you.
“Sweetheart, I am
leaving now, I’ve whipped up a little quickie lunch for you and Ansh, sorry no
pizza….too much junk happening! Taran is almost done with breakfast, ready to
be shipped….so bye love, I have to rush.” She absently ruffled Vivek’s hair and
with a quick peck on his head bent over the morning papers, she was off. The
taxi was her regular - Mishraji patiently waiting inside with his toothy, “Namaste Mayddumji.” Diya smiled to
herself as she got into the taxi.
From
the corner of my eye, I saw you ogling
me. You were different from the other guys in your group. Tall,
good-looking...yes, but with that silent, brooding demeanor that I found
so attractive. I
pretended not to notice you and laughed louder than usual, flashing my
cheeriest best that day. I remembered seeing you at a family gathering
some
years ago and I felt safe in the knowledge that you were from a family
known to
mine. I was conscious of your unwavering gaze, but I don’t think I let
you know
that. I ensured I walked back home slowly enough, when I realized you
were following
me….you big oaf, you never were light on your feet, were you?
I was not terribly surprised but
super-excited when our families got together to discuss our alliance. I
day-dreamed about you quite a bit and a couple of times I even thought I saw
you near my house but soon dismissed it as a figment of my imagination and
wishful-thinking! I was glad our first official date was to be un-chaperoned,
something unheard of in those days but complied with nevertheless, thanks to
your modern-thinking and foreign-returned status. I was secretly thrilled and
proud to know that you had decided to forsake the US of A after completing your
studies there, preferring instead to find your fortunes back home.
On our first official date, when you asked me if I liked
street-food, I blushed recollecting the last time I had been gorging on it; with you my dear as the silent observer. I felt at ease with you, not at all overwhelmed
and soon I slipped into my usual non-stop banter….of course later I worried, had
I been over-boisterous?
At the chaat-stall, when I saw your
head swooping down towards me, I couldn’t believe that you were going to kiss
me in public…that too on the very first day we’d met! I nearly panicked but
then I realized, that you silly boy were on the harmless errand to redeem my
nose of the bit of food stuck on it! You still do it sometimes, how some things never
change!
How embarrassed you looked after that,
I think that’s when I fell in love with you! Or maybe it was earlier when I saw
you boldly trying all that junk I was egging you to try, smiling through your streaming
eyes and nose!Disclaimer: All the characters in the Love in Frames series are fictional, any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional.
Copyright © 2016 KALA RAVI