To Marry or Not to Marry.....

Since childhood, I don't know due to what particular reason, I favoured bachelorhood over marriage. It may have been just a whimsical prejudice of my mind, but after I saw both my maternal uncle as well as my elder cousin opting for bachelorhood and deciding to remain single throughout their lives, this prejudice of mind became a concrete realization and belief. They were stern men and kept up their promises. I wanted to be one of them.

I however, after a lot of coaxing and begging by my parents, instigation by my friends and humiliating reprimands by uncles and aunties, agreed to do what I hadn't visualized myself doing: marry. I decided to tie the nuptial knot, thereby ending my highly cherished bachelorhood of 31 years.

Well how stupid I was to have changed my decision. it was as if I had slept at Goa and woken up at Pakistan. I was like a bird with clipped wings soon after marriage. Late night movies, bar outings, long biking trips with friends had suddenly become things of the past. Like with a slight turn of the kaleidoscope, the picture had changed completely. I had ceased to fit into the company of my old bachelor friends who had given me up as lost cause and now jeered at me behind my back.

The true picture, however emerged when my wife left to me visit her parents for a month. Keeping up with regular household chores like laundry, paying bills, buying groceries and supervising home maids was no joke. Meals had to be prepared or just skipped. The house wore an abandoned look all around.

The fragrances of her talcum and perfume were missing. And so were the feminine taunts and giggles. I longed for these moments and wandered from shop to shop in markets, searching for that matching set of bangles, which i would toy with while she snored softly lying with her hand across my chest.

A Cup of Coffee

Over a cup of coffee Mr. Kumar had just begin to relax.....

The rhythmic pattering of the rain drops felt good to his ears and the weather seemed very romantic to him. This was the rainy season in Mumbai, his favourite and he would give up his fortune to sit like this – feet up on an easy chair having coffee, listening to the raindrops and thinking about his special friend.

Mr. Kumar, 24, an I.T professional lived with his parents in Andheri West. Today was a Saturday and having spent the entire morning in seeing off his parents at the airport and the entire afternoon at the Pizza Hut with his ‘friend’, he was now enjoying this lone evening at home.

As he brought the coffee near his face to take a second sip, his smile faded away from his lips. A fly was floating in the coffee and had made it unsuitable to drink. Stupid fly, Mr. Kumar thought, this was the only place it had gotten for itself. Now, however there was no option but to make another cup for himself. Going towards the kitchen it dawned to him that there was no coffee powder left and that he would have to go to the grocery shop in the locality if he wished to have some.

Therefore taking his umbrella with him, he stepped on the street only to find himself standing in knee deep water. His determination got the better of his fear and the rapidly developing frustration; thus forcing him to wade through the water. He had gone a fair distance when suddenly he felt the ground under him give away and he stumbled into a pit. Putting in all his resources he somehow managed to come out of the hole now wet upto the chest. The rain was battering on his face now and he suddenly realized that he didn’t have his umbrella any more. He searched frantically near him for some moments but it was nowhere to be seen. Feeling as miserable as ever he dragged himself ahead.

Mr. Kumar was still abusing the BSNL guys about the pit when he reached the shop. A lightening struck him when the shopkeeper told him that he had no coffee left. With an aching heart and aching legs he somehow limped back to his door.

As soon as he returned home he rushed to the bathroom to clean himself up. It was there that he realized that in his misadventure, he had subjected his N-95 mobile to water while he was carrying it in his pocket. Also his wallet and its contents had met with a similar fate.

Now out of the bathroom feeling more morose and crestfallen than ever. Mr. Kumar’s eyes fell on the cup of coffee with the fly in it. He grabbed it, picked the fly out of it, reheated it and had made himself comfortable again- sitting feet up in his easy chair. Sipping the coffee which tasted much better to him now, he was beginning to relax and feel comfortable again; except that he was hardly able to think about his ‘friend’ now and the weather didn’t seem to be at all romantic to him.