The IIT Alum

Kids, after the queer encounter with the 'ex-army officer', I was pretty much disappointed and started to lose the whatsoever faith in the matrimonial site. I had shared the admin rights of my account on the web site with my friend too. For ease of reference, let’s name my friend "Lily". So she went back to my account and checked for any potential proposal(s) and voila. A proposal from an IIT alum was waiting for my attention. Not bad at all. Again the same process of sharing details, chatting and talking on phone. Everything deemed perfect by far. He disclosed that he will be traveling to Paris shortly and that he would like to meet me before his departure.

We scheduled a meeting on a comfortable weekend. He flew down to my city. It helped that his real sister was putting up in Delhi. The one-hour meeting unveiled that he possessed average height, athletic physique and was pretty contented with his life. Before leaving, he proposed me. Either he was stampeding or really succumbed to my charms. Nonetheless, it felt great. Isn’t it kinda weird to propose a girl on the very first date, you ask. But I believe it’s okay if the date is matrimonial. I bargained for some time.

He left for Paris and called me every time he called his mother. He would share his experiences and that how much missed his country, his people and sometimes me. HE mentioned that Paris is indeed the most romantic place and he will come back here with his loving wifey (indirectly referring to me). It was flattering but a bit immature too. More on that later.

A fortnight down the line, we met again when came back from his expedition and was on his way to his native place i.e. to see his parents. It was a b'ful morning of the Spring of 2006. I told him that I want him to take a step ahead and meet my family. The words brought a wide smile on his face which I had never witnessed before. Elated, he proposed to speak with his parents and arrange for a meeting between the two families. I was convinced that all along his way back home, he was seething with songs like “Pehli nazar mein kaisa jadoo kar diya".

Guess...stars had something else in store for me. Unfortunately, the same day, in the evening, my grandmother demised of cardiac failure. My family was grief-stricken. I informed him of the loss the next day when he called. Clearly, any progress was inconceivable for at least a fortnight.

Turned out while I was trying to recover and was busy taking care of my family, he was busy meeting with other potential candidates. And a week later, he intimated that he got engaged with a girl picked by his family. I was speechless.

Patience and understanding are the utmost required ingredients in the recipe of a relationship.