It’s the 29th of June, 2020 and I’m sitting by the window in my Mumbai apartment, half my mind occupied with the stress of work assignments, and the other half wanting to break free and float away into a world of no worries, very much like the clouds I see gliding past. As I take a sip of water from the Bisleri bottle next to me, the one that I have almost preserved and am unwilling to let go of, my mind wanders back 2 years ago.
2018 had started in the most precarious way possible. I was about to appear for my final two semester of post graduation, I had just lost a few good friends to petty, silly nonsense, I missed my best friend and the one I considered to be the love of my life, I had screwed things up with my people here and there, and I was having trouble with calming my mind down. In short, I had burned down way too many bridges for my comfort. They say that the secret to a happy life is to being in control of your emotions, and I was failing miserably and big time at that. The year went on as months passed by. I got my Masters degree (wow, right?!), left behind hostel life, moved onto a new job, my first real job, almost instantly, and was busy adjusting to the busy, adult life.
This is when my parents, read my mum, decided to surprise me, or rather shock me, by asking something that every 23-year-old Indian girl expects and fears, “Chhele dekhbo tor jonyo?” (Should I look for a suitable guy for you?) And given my experience with dating, I really didn’t have a reason to say no. Or more so, I was hopeful that I’d be rejecting guys left and right and dragging the whole process on for a few years. But little did I know about the guy who was going to sweep me off my feet (pardon the ‘filmy’ me). So we did what every Indian parent looking for match for their child does- open an account on the Bharat Matrimony site. I kept saying “he’s too this” and “he’s too that” and managed to hold off the thing for a few months. But my parents (again, read my mum) being the over-enthusiastic and overtly determined people that they are, decided to meet a guy’s parents, while I was determined to deliberately screw it up.
So, we met his parents and they seemed like nice people (although I didn’t admit it in front of mum, because ego, duh!). They said that their son resided in Vadodara and that they’d be visiting him in a week and then we’d be connecting over a video call. And we did, God bless the digital age.
This is when all my ideas about everything shifted. I saw the guy and heard him talk, he saw me and heard me talk. And before I knew it, it was a month later and he was in my home, wearing a white shirt. We met the following day too, and had our first date. From the way he talked with the waiters, I could see how amazingly soft-spoken he was. Following that, we talked over video calls every day, and every night. His parents and family visited us often and I talked to his parents while returning from work everyday. It almost seemed impossible, unreal even. And with the luck that I’ve had, I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. Five months passed by and we got married. He was the first guy that I had talked to and the only guy that I had met. And when I saw him on our wedding day, I didn’t care about the heartbreaks anymore. Nothing seemed scary anymore. The fact that I’d never again have a first date didn’t matter anymore. Because that was it. He was the one, my one great love.
You know how they say that you need someone very special to forget someone very special? Well, they are right. It is extremely important for us to find and know ourselves, but every once in a while, one person comes along, holds your hands and does the searching with you. It is not often that life blesses you with a miracle, so when you find your miracle, hold onto him or her, and to yourself. Because no matter how bad things are, and how hopeless everything seems to be, there is a time when you turn a corner and find your happy ending.
Sitasri_author02111994 