I was excited & hardly slept that night! Ankit was just the ideal guy every girl wished for, he was caring & compassionate. At 4:00 am in the morning, his mother had asked me to meet her as she wanted to say a few verses remembering the Indian gods before I started to wear my bridal attire, she said it was necessary. I and my parents on the other hand were chilled out people and believed more in karma, but had to take Ankit’s family in account too. It was 3:30 am and I couldn’t wait any longer, Ankit told me his mom was an early riser and always got up at 3 am. I thought I’ll meet her early. “Your love affair is already bringing shame to our family, Ankit! She and her parents are way too modern to be even called Indians. All our relatives are laughing at our family. They said that a girl who has travelled so much must have had so many men in her life & you are the one who she has seduced because of your innocence. She always talks about her job! I don’t think she will ever take care of your house in Canada and definitely will never take care of us”, his mother was hysterically screaming as I concealed myself behind the door. I was deeply offended by her comments but at the same time was astounded to hear her say all this because she never had said anything of this sort in front of me or my parents till now. I knew Ankit was there inside and I believed that he would take a stand to clear her regressive view, “Mom, don’t worry! Her madness for her career won’t last long and I am anyway coming back to Hyderabad from Canada in a year or maybe even early if I don’t like my job there. After she’s my wife she will have to be with me and then she will have to do what is expected out of her. She will eventually stay with us in Hyderabad and take care of our family but I can’t say it right now and I have to gently drop the fish into the pond, over a period “. My mind had gone numb after hearing Ankit and I swiftly ran back to my dressing room.
I was sitting blankly in front of the mirror, looking at myself. A girl who had bought nothing but laurels to her family was somehow a disgrace to them even before getting hitched to their son. I was contemplating the whole idea of Indian marriages, how were so many of my batchmates and even girls way younger to me, going for it? “Shivangi! open the door! It’s an emergency”, I hurried up to open the door & it was my father restlessly telling everyone that my mother had to be admitted in the hospital last night & now she had to be shifted to Delhi as her regular doctor was there. It was all the news I could take and I froze. “Shivangi! come, sweetheart, your mother is in a lot of pain”, I had bought all my luggage as I was moving to Canada directly. I packed a small bag and rushed outside. “Get all your things!”, he said. I followed what he said, my brain had stopped working. “Uncle! Let me come with you guys”, said Ankit. “Only two people can be in the hospital with her according to the rules, it’s a family matter, please. We’ll call you once things are fine”, my father held my hand firmly and walked me out while Ankit & his cousins pulled my huge trolley bags to help. My father called an auto-rickshaw and asked them to somehow adjust all my bags in it. “Okay, thank you Ankit, we will call you later, take care of your family”, said my father. Ankit came to me and said a few things but I had become deaf to his words and didn’t comprehend a thing. I and my father left the venue.
“Why do you have such huge bags all the time Shivangi? How many times have I told you that you need to pack light! At CVIT University, while going to Mumbai, when you went to Milan and all the other times you have travelled, you never have listened to me. Anyways, it’s okay, you’ll learn”, he said. I was startled to hear him speak so casually. “What happened to mom?”, I was extremely worried. “You remember the day you had called us from Bengaluru and told us about Ankit? That day you also told us the conversation you had at work”, he said. I recalled the events that had happened when I had met Mr. Vedant that day.
I had gone to greet him in his cabin, “Hey! Shivangi, come on in I have great news! We are sending you to Paris! We now have an array of top clients in Europe and want you to join the consultants there “. I was rendered speechless as soon as I heard him say Paris.” Your visa is in the process, you’ll have to leave during the last week of this month”. “How long is this project sir?”. “It’s not a project! We want you to shift there and work with the consultants catering to our European clients”, he had laughed. My childhood dream was right in front of me, working & staying in Paris was my ultimate desire. “Why aren’t you replying? All fine?” I had then told him about my situation. “Shivangi, I can arrange it for you in this case but to be honest the project in Canada won’t do justice to your expertise. Paris is the one for you! Anyways your visa is already in process and will be done by next week. I can give you time till the last week of this month after that I’ll have to look for someone else for Paris and you’ll have to head to Canada. Think wisely”, he had smiled.
“Yes! I remember everything, but what happened to mom?”, I was panicking now. “She is at the airport waiting for us. She has our passports & tickets, she told me to get you. The day you told us about the conversation you had with your boss, we were skeptical of what was the right thing for you but we wanted to be prepared, so we arranged our tourist visas as well just in case we felt the need to help you run away. We noticed you during the festivities & felt that your heart was somewhere else. Shivangi! Paris was your childhood dream, we saw you sketching the Eiffel Tower somewhere in every art you had ever created. We have raised you differently so that you can live the way you want to. Remember that you never have to deal with anything you don’t like, you are way past all that. Just think of how you earn the things which makes you feel accomplished, the same way you are our greatest gold medal”, I hugged him and with every tear, I realized how well my parents knew what I really wanted to do - my career had always been our greatest dream. This drive felt the same as the one to St. Stephens, which had changed my life forever. We finished all the check-in & immigration procedures and headed to the lounge. I spoke to Mr. Vedant and he congratulated me for my decision. There we were, the three of us realizing yet another ambition of ours, as we continued to draw our lives with our own stencil.
About the Author
Shivangi Ruperee is everything she is perceived to be, but sure gets better
Yes! she was a high school nerd, but also was a radio jockey
Yes! she has forever been called a realist, but also is a romantic
Yes! she is a technologist, but also an artist
Through Lemons & Peaches Page 11