Sorry, I'm Taken

by Achuth Mohandas

  ‘Money is not the answer for everything. If they want, I can pay your university fees.’

  ‘Don’t underestimate my parents. My dad’s current bank balance would be more than thirty crores in Indian rupees. He doesn’t want you to pay his daughter’s university fees.’ – She said, feeling insulted.

  ‘Oh, that’s great. But there’s another problem.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You will come back and join a college in Trivandrum. Later, when you introduce me to your parents, won’t they think that you intentionally made up stories to come back for spending time with me?’ – I asked.

  ‘I’m not coming back then.’ – She said, in a hurry.

  ‘Don’t say that. At least, I would be happy if you are here.’

  ‘That’s not everything. I have to make everyone happy.’

  ‘Then there is only one way to solve this.’

  ‘What?’

  I kept some moments of silence and said – ‘Introduce me to your family first and then tell them about the college issue after a couple of weeks.’

  ‘No… Never.’ – She screamed.

  ‘Okay then. To suffer in that college with those bullshit people around might be in your fate.’

  ‘Arjun, I told you a lot of times that my parents won’t be happy if they come to know that I am in a relationship.’

  ‘This is not a matter which can be kept under cover for ages. One day or other, we will have to tell them or they will find out. So it’s always better to tell them about this now.’ – I tried my best to explain.

  ‘But, how?’ – She wondered.

  ‘It’s all up to you. Think that it’s your life and open up. Nothing bad is going to happen.’ – I switched myself to the “confidence factory mode”.

  ‘Should I tell them about this over the phone?’

  ‘No. In person would be better.’

  ‘Oops! I forgot to tell you something.’ – She said, excited.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I’m coming home next Friday.’

  ‘Is it?’ – I asked, happily.

  ‘Yes. My annual university exams will be over by next Friday. My uncle in Chennai will arrange the flight tickets and he will pick me up from my hostel.’

  ‘Okay. Consider this as your “Agni Pareeksha” failing which you will be sent to the forest and I will be burnt into ashes like Lanka. Your thirty crore rupees worth dad can do it.’ – I warned her.

  ‘Fingers crossed.’

  ‘Wish you a final comeback.’ – I said.

  That night, her thirty crore rupees worth dad ruined my sleep. Middle-class people like me always believed that a person who has hundred crore rupees in the bank will be having another hundred crore rupees as unaccounted money. If that’s true, Namratha’s dad must be having another thirty crore rupees as unaccounted money and other fixed assets.

  ‘How many zeroes do thirty crores have?’ – I slept off counting the zeroes.

  Meet the Parent

  A WEEK LATER: MY OFFICE

  I was on air with my evening prime time show. I played a song after finishing an instalment of talk on air and pressed the red button, which was continuously blinking, indicating that a caller was waiting on line. I attended the call for the next talk, but I never knew that the red light was an alert signal to my future.

  To know about the caller before going live, I pressed the button on the console attending that call and asked – ‘Hi, Welcome to the show. Who’s this?’

  ‘Hey, it’s me Namratha. Why didn’t you attend my call? I called a lot of times to your mobile phone.’ – She said in a husky voice.

  ‘We are not allowed to bring mobile phones into the live studio. What happened?’ – I asked.

  ‘I told my mom about you. There is something very important.’ – She breathed so fast.

  ‘What’s the matter? Tell me in detail.’ – I said, tensed.

  ‘My mom will call you anytime from now. Get your mobile phone in your hand.’

  ‘Tell her to call me after eight in the night. I’m on my live show right now.’ – I explained.

  ‘I’m calling you by hiding from her eyes and should I tell her that I have called and informed you about the recent events?’ – She asked, in anger.

  I couldn’t say anything in return. She disconnected the call and left without saying even a goodbye. I decided not to attend any call at that time. I was ready to face whatever happens, but I was not ready to violate the professional rules.

  Hours went like minutes. I broadcasted my last instalment of that day’s talk on my show and played the last song. When I took my mobile phone from my cupboard, I could see six missed calls and four of them were from known numbers. Only one number seemed suspicious and two calls had come from that number, that too back to back. I almost concluded that it was a call from Namratha’s mother. I called back to that number leaving all the missed calls from the known numbers behind. After a few rings, the call was picked up.

  ‘Hello. I got two missed calls from this number. May I know who this is?’ – I asked politely.

  ‘This is Namratha’s mother.’ – A very rough female voice said.

  ‘Hi, mom. How are you? Where is she? Is everything okay?’ – I asked as if I didn’t know anything.

  ‘You don’t have to bother about her.’ – She said.

  ‘Sorry!’ – I said in an interrogative tone.

  ‘She has her parents, siblings and other relatives. She doesn’t need a boyfriend to bother about her.’

  ‘Mom, we are not going to be like boyfriend-girlfriend forever. We have plans to get married, with your permission.’ – I tried to give my side of explanation.

  ‘Listen Arjun, We can’t accept you as our son-in-law or something. I called you just to tell you to stay out of her life.’

  ‘That would be so tough for me.’ – I said.

  ‘We are not getting her married before she turns 27. No girl in our family got married before that.’

  ‘I can wait till she turns 27.’ – I said.

  ‘Never bother to keep in touch with her. This is all I have to say.’ – She tried to end the conversation.

  ‘I am coming to your home in a couple of days with my parents to talk about this.’ – I took courage from within and said.

  She kept silence for some time and I waited for her reply.

  ‘Can’t you understand what I am saying? Namratha’s dad is a heart patient. He can’t handle such stressful situations anymore. Please don’t make problems in our family.’ – She said fiercely.

  ‘Mom.’ – I called.

  She didn’t say anything. I understood that I have to continue the conversation than letting her speak. – ‘I’m not trying to create any problem, but I need her to be in my life. I’ll take good care of her; I promise.’

  ‘I was listening to you till now. You called me Mom a number of times and if you give some value to that word, please spare our lives. Please don’t ever try to contact her.’ – She said in a trembling voice and disconnected the call.

  I was out of clues of the next step to be done.

  ‘You heard it right. I called you Mom and only because I give a great value to that word, I am not going to leave your daughter or her life. One day or another, she will be mine.’ – I said to her, but in my mind.

  ●

  THE SAME NIGHT: MY HOME

  ‘I’m in a relationship.’ – I said, to my family.

  My dad, mom, sister and I were sitting around the dining table, having dinner. With my statement, a few moments of silence existed in the dining room and a few seconds later, dad broke the silence – ‘Who’s that girl?’

  ‘Her name is Namratha. She just completed her first-year architecture degree. Four more years to complete the course.’ – I said.

  ‘Her age?’ – Mom interfered.

  ‘19’

  ‘Thank god. She is at least, a year elder to me.’ – My sister said, laughing.

  I looked at her m
aking a face and then into mom’s face asking to show some sympathy and then to dad’s face to see what expressions were flashing on his face.

  ‘What about her family?’ – Dad asked.

  ‘Her dad is a businessman and mom is a school teacher. Her younger sister just finished her 12th level in school.’ – I said but hid their bank balance of thirty crores rupees.

  ‘Do they know about this?’ – Mom interfered as always.

  ‘Her mom knows and she is against this relationship.’

  ‘Do you think a normal mom would accept these kinds of relationships?’ – My mom seemed to be supporting her mom.

  ‘But you accepted it, right? Aren’t you normal?’ – I asked, giggling.

  ‘How do you know that we accepted?’ – She asked, looking at everyone.

  ‘Don’t look at me. I don’t have a problem with his relationship.’ – Dad said.

  ‘Then what problem do I have? I too accepted our future daughter-in-law.’ – Mom said.

  ‘Congrats. You should get me some chocolates. An advertisement on TV says that you should start with sweets before doing good things.’ – Said, my sister; taking advantage of the situation.

  ●

  THE SAME NIGHT: MY BEDROOM

  It was almost eleven in the night and I was typing an article to publish in an online magazine. I was sitting on my bed doing the work and heard someone knocking on the door.

  ‘Did you sleep?’ – Dad’s voice came in with the knocks.

  ‘No dad. Come in.’ – I said, loudly.

  Dad came in and sat near me on my bed. I didn’t look at him and continued typing.

  ‘How long have you been in his relationship?’ – He asked.

  ‘One year.’ – I answered without shifting my eyes from the computer screen.

  ‘Are you sure that it’s a two-sided relationship?

  ‘Dad!’ – I called in a warning note, looking at him and stopped typing.

  ‘Just asked. When do we have to go to their place taking this relationship?’

  ‘Not now. Her mother said that her dad has some serious problems with his heart and we should not ever go to their place taking this relationship.’

  ‘Can we, after he gets cured?’

  ‘She said, never.’ – I said, stressing that “never” in her reply.

  ‘Then how is this supposed to work?’

  ‘I don’t know dad. I need time to think.’

  ‘Okay. It’s your life. Take your own time and decide.’ – He said and left, wishing me goodnight.

  The Airport

  2 MONTHS LATER: JULY 2012

  I reached the airport by six in the evening as Namratha was leaving for Chennai by 7:30PM. Her reporting time was 6:30 and she had asked me to be at the airport so that we can see each other, at least.

  ‘What kind of parents are they? She is not feeling good at that college and they are sending her back there. Such parents should be jailed for that reason. As per the information I got from her, her dad is not aware of our relationship. So, this might all be her mother’s plan to keep her away from me by sacrificing Namratha’s happiness.’ – I thought of the circumstances that lead to Namratha’s return to Chennai and waited for them.

  I saw a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, specifically the latest edition arriving in the driveway of the airport and I saw Namratha stepping out of the car. I sensed that her eyes were searching for me and I walked through the driveway to get noticed by her. My effort did find its result and she saw me. I smiled at her, but she didn’t return one as she was with her family, but seeing her was more than enough for me.

  Her dad, mom, sister and a boy of fifteen or sixteen years of age were there with her. That little boy smiled at me, but I didn’t care to return one. I walked to the small gate near departure and watched their activities. I selected the departure gate to be the waiting spot because that would be the last point until where her parents can accompany her. Beyond that, they were not allowed to enter without a valid ticket.

  I stayed there for almost 5 minutes watching them taking the luggage out of their car. As I was looking at them without taking eyes off them, the guard at the gate was also not taking his eyes off me. Realizing that, I went to him and asked – ‘When is the next flight to Chennai?’ as if I was asking about the next bus to go home.

  ‘There is a screen in front of the airport and everything is displayed on it.’ – He said in a rough voice, pointing towards a large LED screen placed there.

  ‘Okay, sir. I’ll check it and come.’ – I said and walked towards the LED screen, feeling disappointed that I had to change my position from the departure gate.

  I walked towards the LED screen and read all the flight information, which was displayed on it. Standing near the LED screen, I could see Namratha crossing the departure gate and waving hands at everyone who accompanied her. Her family left the airport immediately after Namratha entered the airport and I again shifted my position from the LED screen point to the departure gate. Almost ten minutes later, I felt someone poking me on my shoulder. I turned around and saw that security guard with his machine gun.

  ‘I checked that full list. The next flight to Chennai is at 7:30PM and the estimated time of arrival is 9PM.’ – I said in reflex.

  ‘Look inside.’ – He said, pointing towards the glass wall of the airport and there I could see Namratha waving her hands at me.

  I looked at the guard, wondering and he said – ‘I knew it from the beginning.’

  ‘Thank you, sir.’ – I said and flew to her without wasting even a second.

  Namratha and I stood looking each other. A huge glass wall was separating us and only our actions were being conveyed, but not voice.

  ‘Why are you going back?’ – I asked through gestures.

  ‘I can’t hear.’ – She conveyed gesticulating in return.

  ‘Can I call you on your mobile phone?’ – Actions again from me.

  ‘It has no SIM card in it. Mom took it.’ – Her actions were understandable.

  I looked around. I saw a coin-operated telephone near her inside the glass wall.

  ‘Call me from that phone.’ – I said, pointing the telephone; accompanied by actions.

  She opened her purse and checked for coins. She took out some thousand-rupee notes from her purse and made it upside down. Nothing fell down from it and I understood that she had no coins in her purse. I checked my wallet and found four coins of one rupee each, but I had no way to give those coins to her.

  I looked around her again and I found an elderly lady crossing the security gate at the departure point. I ran to her. I talked to her for almost two minutes and she agreed to give those coins to Namratha. That lady went inside with the coins and I ran again to the glass wall. The lady went near Namratha and gave her those coins.

  ‘Thanks.’ – I said and took a bow to convey it.

  She said something to Namratha and went back to the airport desk inside. As she left, Namratha called me from the coin-operated phone. Since there were only four coins, we knew that we had only four minutes to talk.

  ‘Hello, sweetheart.’ – I said, attending her call.

  ‘Hi, darling.’ – She said.

  ‘That kills me when you call me like that. But we have only four minutes.’

  ‘Actually, we have only 3 minutes and 48 seconds.’ – She said looking at the telephone’s display.

  ‘What did that lady tell you?

  ‘She said not to fall into your trap because you are so good at convincing.’

  ‘Great. I shall try my hand in marketing too.’

  ‘Better. I have a lot to tell you.’ – She said, breathing heavily.

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Not now. I will get a new SIM card once I reach Chennai. I can call you from Anushka’s phone till then.’

  ‘Is there anything wrong?’ – I asked, tensed.

  ‘Ask me if there is anything right.’ – This response from her was enough to keep me tensed until the en
d.

  ‘Who was that little boy? He was staring at me all the time.’ – A doubt popped up.

  ‘It’s my cousin. My mom told my sister about you and she told him about you.’

  ‘Now, half of the family knows about our relationship. Fantastic.’ – I said, giggling.

  ‘Hey, I have to go. I’m getting late.’

  ‘Shall I kiss you?’ – I asked, in a romantic way.

  ‘Now?’ – She asked, shocked.

  ‘If not now, when?’ – In a husky voice, I asked.

  ‘Don’t do it. There are people looking at us.’

  ‘Okay.’ – Saying this, I kept my right palm on the glass wall of the airport.

  I felt sweat in between my palm and the glass wall. She placed her palm exactly on mine, but on the other side of the glass wall, and she winked. Our palms were together for almost 15 seconds and the call got disconnected with continuous beep sounds.

  The Chennai Saga - 2

  A WEEK LATER: AUGUST 2012

  ‘What can I do?’ – Namratha asked me over the phone while making drawings for her assignment.

  ‘Means what? Do you want to stop this relationship like your mom said?’ – I asked, in between reading the newspaper to her.

  ‘I didn’t mean that. But my mom is so much concerned about this.’

  ‘Like every other mom in the world.’

  ‘I don’t know about that. The only thing I know is that my mom doesn’t like you at all.’

  ‘There could be a reason for every like and dislike. What’s the reason here?’

  ‘Your profession.’ – She said in a rough voice.

  ‘Could you be more specific?’ – I asked in doubt.

  ‘My family is a well-known business family and they don’t want a guy with an entertainment industry background to enter their family. They need some highly qualified management professional or a bureaucrat or an architect to marry me.’ – She explained.

  ‘Okay, I understand. I’m a bit under-qualified for you and your family. I made everything clear to you before starting this relationship.’ – My inferiority complex started to pop up.