July 2015:
We have all gathered for a
community conference of 600 delegates to talk about the current business
scenario among our nagarathar people. Hardly did I know I would find my Meena
there, after all these years of wandering. After all, everybody who wanders in the dark isn’t lost; some get lucky like I did that day...and there she was!
Little did I know then,
someone who I noticed randomly in the middle of a crowd would end up being
Meena.
August 2015:
The proposal comes; we
start enquiring here, there, everywhere, trying to know about them as much as
we could. I surf the internet; try to find out every little detail there is to know about Meena. A mental image of Meena slowly takes shape. I am convinced
she is more beautiful than the Meena I had imagined for so many years. I say
yes...I say “a 100 times yes”.
An uneasy week to ten days
goes by being made to wait for our horoscopes to match. I knew, as per our
family process, that is the final step; if that is through, Meena would be
mine. So the anxiety for THE call to arrive builds on, on and on.
September 2015
September, the 11th:
5 pm
My sister makes appa and
me coffee. The aroma of the coffee fills the room. They both had started to
get anxious about the call too by then. We sit chatting wondering when the call
would come...
5.30 pm:
Appa’s phone rang and I
was beaming like never before. The news came and the wait, not just for the
call but for my perfect girl, was finally over. Meena had well and truly arrived, into our
lives to change it once and forever.
September, the 17th:
3 pm
For those unfamiliar with
Tamil culture – this is called ‘the ponnu paakura event’ (meeting the bride
event). I am supposed to meet her and her extended family with mine and get
introduced to each other formally.
Of course for me though
that day was all about meeting her. It was scheduled for 4.30 pm at a temple
near Karaikudi called Koviloor! Oh yes, that day was Ganesh Chathurthi day
too...
I finish lunch, dress up
to the best possible and am all ready by 3.30 pm. It takes one hour from my
native village of pudupatti to there. I sit in the car all anxious, a little
nervous and very restless.
Pon.Pudupatti – Nerkuppai
– Thirupattur – Pillayarpatti – Kunnakudi – and huh...finally Koviloor
comes...those 40 kms and 55 mins were the hardest ever.
4.30 pm:
We are greeted by my
in-laws to-be into the temple. They all seem to be simple and nice people on
first impression. They give us juice and her younger brother and cousin get
talking to me. Sorry, I don’t remember what I was talking to them about...it is
all a blur now.
So somewhere in the middle
of my conversation with them, I catch Meena, in the corner of my eye, coming in from nowhere to talk to my sister sitting opposite to us by about 40 feet.
I ended up being too shy
to see and take note of her then. Too many people around, doesn’t help. And
that is when her mama comes and takes me to have a word with her...I am not
sure if I managed to hide a blush in that moment. Maybe I didn’t.
So Meena and I are taken
by mama to a corner in the temple. Hmm, true...slowly after showing “eeee” for a
bit, yes, we get chatting...with a lot of pauses and silences in between...all
adding to the beauty of the moment and her.
We are made to finish our
conversation even just as we started it...only to leave us wanting for more and
more...these elders know how to play the love game well, don’t they?
So everything is good and
we who came as two families go as one to offer prayers and archanas. Boy, don’t
I love these kutti kutti procedures which add so much meaning and value to the beauty
of the whole scene.
We finish and we move to
the madapam outside the temple. We exchange pleasantries, coffee and much more.
Suddenly as I began to eat
the snack offered to me, my mami signalled me not to start yet, sitting right across
in the ladies side. The gesture meant I had to put on the bracelet on Meena
that we got for her!
I knew this was on the
agenda...but was thrilled that it was finally time for that! Amma brought Meena
and the bracelet to me. We were standing in the centre with 40 odd people
around watching us with glee! I had never felt more embarrassed before...haha!
So I did then put on the
bracelet on Meena’s right hand...I whispered, “amma and appa got this for you;
hope you like it”, as I wore it. I hope
she heard that because I was too shy and feeble understandably. That moment could
never be described well enough. So I'll
quietly pass on to the next...
Both families, my new and
native, were then discussing on a suitable marriage date and I had to be
content with talking to her mamas, periappa, brother and cousins. We finished and
it was 6 o cl. We had to take the discussions to another time and bid bye to
their family and started home.
Back in the car on the
road back, I was more relaxed, felt the need to be more responsible and blah
and blah...Soon we reached back home and went for a treat at my grandmother’s.
There, they wouldn’t stop telling me how lucky I am. The day couldn’t have
ended anymore perfectly than to know everybody in my family liked Meena and her
people.
September, the 19th:
I was back in Chennai by
that morning. Even in the morning, I got edgy and wanted to start texting her.
I feebly sent her a ‘Hi’ on FB. And from then on, I can’t tell you people much.
Sorry!
To dear Alamu with
lots of love,
Viggy!
Post Script:
This blog is something I
wanted to write to help us treasure this amazingly beautiful feeling and not
let time erode it. I hope I have said enough to serve that purpose! I wish you all for such beautiful
moments with your girl/man. Believe me, love is a very fine feeling and it is only going to be a matter of time
before all this happens to you (even if it already hasn’t); and the wait, I
promise, will truly be worth it!!!
