I was lying on the cosy bed of the 6th floor orthopedic ward in Ram Manohar hospital. Under the bandage on my nose and right leg, an uncomfortable itching sensation was coming frequently. Somehow I controlled myself. The orthopedic surgeon, Doctor Dayanand mentioned that I had a broken nose and leg.
It was very early in the morning. I saw my wife Anjali, sleeping on the coat for bystanders. Almost all the day she was crying, though I told her that I am okay. Despite my words, she kept on sobbing and weeping frequently. At 9.00 in the morning, doctor Dayanand came to the room during rounds.
“How are you Aadarsh? How is the pain?”
“I am fine doctor. Only slight pain is there” I said
“Yaa..I think you are much much better than you were few days back. In a day or two you can go home. In the meantime, if you have any discomfort, please let me know”
After some time, few of Anjali’s friends came to see me. Few minutes later, she went out of the room with them. I stretched my hands and tried to relax a bit. That moment my dearest uncle Sachdev entered the room. He looked very disturbed.
“beta Aadarsh…so sad to see you like this. How are you? I came to know of this yesterday night only. How did it happen beta?”
I tried to smile. My nose pained a bit. As my uncle sat near me, sad and anxious to know what happened, I tried to recall all the incidents and then narrated it to him.
“You remember uncle.. me and Anjali got married last year November. Our wedding anniversary was approaching. We wanted to throw a nice party to our friends and relatives. We made meticulous planning, including the list of invitees, detailed menus, and also the possible venue for the event. The rooftop restaurant of Hotel Sunshine, was the most preferred venue for both of us. Before finally deciding to book it, we thought of going there once and checking the ambiance, food and service quality by ourselves. Hence, on last Friday evening, we decided to have dinner there.
Just like we heard, the ambiance of the hotel was superb. We chose to sit near the edge of the terrace from where we could get a nice view of the starlit sky and the enchanting view of the city, gleaming with differently coloured lights. Our table had an umbrella like cover and a candle light on the middle of the table. Far in a corner, a live music band was entertaining the customers with favourite dance numbers from Bollywood films. Totally the ambiance impressed us a lot.
“Waah… it’s a perfect place Aadarsh”. Said Anjali with excitement.
We started discussing about our plans for the anniversary function. Suddenly my cell phone rang. My cousin Vinayak was on the other side. He called me to inform about his family’s decision, to go ahead with a marriage proposal he got. When I finished the conversation, Anjali asked;
“Who was that Aadarsh?”
“Ohh….it was Vinayak. Finally he is going ahead with his marriage proposal. Poor fellow….this is his eleventh proposal. He is saying that this girl is like the girl in his dreams” . I said with a smile.
“Great…Finally it is happening. You know…he was so choosy. That’s the reason the earlier proposals didn’t materialize. One has to do some compromise in such things. One cannot wait for the perfect partner. There is nothing like a perfect partner. That’s what I believe. Anyway, he is lucky this time that he got the girl he wanted.” Anjali said .
As we talked about Vinayak, suddenly Anjali got excited and asked me.
“Aadarsh…you didn’t tell me about all the proposals you got. Every time I ask, you would start telling…but then you will drift into something else. Please tell me this time…I am sure ..it would be fun to hear all those things…correct na??
She kept on insisting me to share all those experience.
Before I could start, the service boy brought our drinks and starters. I had ordered for a beer and Anjali was happy with a lemon juice. The boy opened the beer bottle and filled up my glass.
“Thanks a lot my friend”. I said
“You are welcome sir. Please enjoy the food mam”. He said to us and disappeared .
“C’mon Aadarsh.. now start telling the story “. Anjali said with a naughty smile on her face.
“Hmmm…well… let me recollect. It all happened more than a year ago. I don’t even remember their names. There were five proposals in total. One was through mummy’s friend and the rest came through an agency, where mummy and dad had registered my name.
The first girl…her name was Poornima. She was really glamorous and beautiful. She was looking like a Bollywood starlet. But when I spoke to her, she turned out to be very much career oriented and less family oriented. I felt like she wanted to be the CEO of the biggest company in the world. Since both of us understood our preferences, likes and dislikes, we decided not to go ahead with it. When we explained this to our parents, they also agreed.
Second one…I don’t remember her name. I didn’t meet her even. The agency people sent me the photographs and her profile. She was bit bulky and out of proportions here and there….you know what I meant...”
Anjali was listening to me, very amusingly.
“I know ..I know.. you like slim girls ..like me…” she said and passed a naught smile.
“Then came the third proposal. Mummy’s friend Sujatha aunty brought that one. The girl was slim, cute and beautiful. But when I met her, I found couple of things very annoying about her. She was very very short tempered and mostly immature in her talks. She had a horrible voice too. It was like the sound of scratching on …absolutely stark contrast to her looks. I requested Mummy to find some good reasons to scrap that proposal. No way she was a match for me.
The fourth one.. Rashmi…was an average looking girl. But my god…her parents were absolutely horrible. Her uncle, her brother.. everyone. All they wanted to know was.. how much is my salary? How much properties and family share I have in my name? How often I get increments? Do I party a lot?
It went to such nasty level, that they even asked whether my brother contributes financially anything to the family, as he and his wife are staying with us in the same ancestral house. I could guess their culture, attitude and their priorities in life from that conversation itself. I almost ran out of that house.
The fifth one....Ohhh God… frankly speaking.. she was horrible. .. I am sorry to say.. but she was much below average in looks. Not that fat, but not so slim too.. in between.. you know… but ….”
I paused for few seconds;
“But what?”. Asked Anjali with anxiety.
I looked straight into her eyes and said..
“But.. I decided to go ahead with that proposal and finally married her”
I was getting ready to burst out in laughter after seeing the expression on Anjali’s face. It might have taken a second or two for her to understand what I said. But she was not so slow when the rest of the things happened.
All I could remember was that she instantly went into a rage , grabbed the beer bottle and smashed it on my face. As a reflex action, I tried avoiding it, but in vain. While doing so, I lost my balance and fell off the chair. As I was seated near the parapet wall, I collided with the wall. A metallic pole kept near the wall fell over my legs. That moment itself I knew that by leg got broken. When I touched my nose, I could feel the oozing blood. I fainted on the spot . When I opened my eyes.. I was here uncle”
Uncle listened to me silently. He tried his best to console me. After spending some more time with me, he left the hospital . There were many more visitors that day. By around 10.00 PM , I slept, skipping dinner.
Next morning when I woke up, I saw Anjali sitting near me. She was gently massaging my forehead and moving her fingers through my hair. Her eyes were wet and a teardrop fell on my face.
“Hey.. Anju…why are you crying?” I asked.
She sobbed for few more seconds. Then said.
“You know what day it is today Aadarsh? It is our wedding anniversary. ..and we are in hospital. I am so sorry for my stupidity ..I am so sorry Aadarsh”
She kissed my forehead and cried a lot. The warmth of her lips I felt on my forehead, was hotter than the hot coffee I got.
“Anju…its okay yaar. Actually its my fault. I just wanted to pull your legs and provoke you. It was fun seeing you angry. So I meant it as a joke only when I said those stupid comments”
I paused for a while and said.
“You know… you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Beautiful not only outside.. from inside also . That’s why I chose you. But…. “
“But what ? “ .Anjali asked with a nervousness.
Instantly, I touched my nose for a second. As if in a reflex action, I looked for any heavy objects nearby. Ensuring that nothing dangerous is around us, I said
“But…please don’t be stupid like this again”
She looked into my eyes. Then with a naughty smile, hit me on my cheeks gently and gave a soft passionate kiss. Though my nose pained a bit, it was a soothing pain. It was like a nice and ‘unique’ wedding anniversary gift. Perhaps no other husbands would have got such a unique wedding anniversary gift
Jose
Nov 28 2010
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