In India, there are two situations while searching for a girl for marriage. First, either your relatives or their relatives or their relatives suggest a girl for you, or you suggest to your parents that you have found the girl. If both the cases fail, then comes to rescue the matrimonial sites.
At matrimonial sites, there are two kinds of subscriptions. First, you use a free subscription in which you send a request to the girl’s side, and if they accept you can discuss further the candidature. But if luck had been so good for boys that a girl would have accepted their request on firsthand, they would have not created profile on these matrimonial sites. So, you buy a subscription plan and start looking for a match that helps you look at their contacts and other details for further communication.
I had also brought such a subscription plan when I was a bachelor looking for a match. After a few days, I found one match with girls’ profiles suitable as per requirements. Her family belonged to Bihar and were living in Delhi. The Girl after completing some professional education was working in a software profile in NCR. After initial talks with her family, her family asked to meet me which I obliged. The place we decided was the nearest mall in Gurgaon.
By 3 P.M I reached there. I was wearing jeans, shirt tucked, full sleeves of the shirt closed, loafers along with the watch. So, this getup I always found suitable for such meetings. After waiting for 10-15 minutes, the girl’s family came. They were her father, mother, aunt, uncle, and three kids. Two kids were of age 9-10 and one mostly in his 18’s.
We moved to Haldirams on the first floor of the mall. Once settled and cold water was served then came the time for snacks. Most of the people went for Raj kachori. Then started the critical phase, the face to face interview. I was alone and while having the Raj Kachori 7*2 eyes were frequently moving on and off from me. Once the eyes settled on their own Raj Kachori I completed mine. In between, I was listening to stories from girls’ father about her education, job, and other details. And was also answering their queries.
Then one of the children who was the youngest asked me what is my Hobby? During my job interview days, I had specifically prepared an answer to this question as “Reading”. So, I mentioned “Reading”. He countered reading what? I mentioned reading anything. By now that kiddo was ready with all his guns. He countered but reading is your part-time, no? What is your hobby? I was in the middle of this interrogation and everyone around was listening to this conversation.
Thank God to the waiter who started serving sponge sweets and I ignored looking at that Kiddo and having the sweets. But he was not letting me go easily. He again asks me to tell me what my hobby is? Girl’s mother was looking at this conversation and she came to my rescue and tells kiddo – Son, it is the same which uncle mentioned earlier. Then only he started focusing on his sweet sponge.
Girl’s family discussed my seriousness to get married for which I assured them and gave them my parent’s contact and other family details for further communication. They asked me if I drink and all for which I responded negatively. At that time I used to be an occasional drinker and I nowhere mentioned in front of the girl’s family that four stores from Haldirams there is one Pub where I had visited a couple of times with my friends and for office outings. Both girls’ families and I were satisfied that things concluded on a positive note. After having formal goodbyes and charan sparsh (Feet touching in our tradition done to show respect and seek blessings of elderly) I left from there.
While coming to parking in the basement my tucked shirt and full sleeves had started irritating because of humid. I untucked my shirt, unfolded for my shirt’s sleeves, and had my helmet. Then the top button of the shirt felt uneasy, so I unbuttoned it too. Now I was on my black Pulsar and left the mall exit gate at full speed. I do not know whether it was the release from the awkwardness of the meeting or my agitation from the formality I was having, that I left in rush.
Unfortunately, only after five minutes of meeting with the girl’s family, the whole family saw me leaving the mall this way. They were waiting at the exit for their vehicle and noticed my face from inside my helmet. When I was leaving again all 7*2 eyes were noticing me, my changed get up and my bike which was running at full speed. I was seeing in their eyes that the boy who entered and was having sponge with them was Rohit (Hritik Roshan from Kaho na Pyar Hai) and the one exiting the mall is Aryan (Hritik from Dhoom movie), and somewhere in that moment, I felt that this Raj of real life is going to be rejected same way audience rejected Raj Khanna (Hrithik from Mujhse Dosti Karogey).
They never called again, and my search continued.
शुभं भवतु !! Gaurav Raj !!