I was supposed to meet Kalpi at the Station road today. I had a box of condoms in my bag. Every now and then, I was looking at the watch. It was getting late.
Kalpi Sahni was a 25 years old lively girl from Delhi. She recently completed her MBA and started working at an MNC run by her father. There is nothing much to know about me. I am Armaan Verma, a 30 year old man who works at a private company. I earned enough money to support my parents and I was content with my life.
With the first sip of tea I saw Kalpi in a white suit at the corner of the road. Things were going as per the plan except when Kalpi came and burst the bubble.
"Dad, didn't agree. I can't marry you. I am sorry."
I wanted to ask myself that even after having everything in my life why do I feel like I’m not content? How can I be satisfied with my life?
Actually it's not us who makes our lives miserable, it's the society that forces us to lead a miserable life. It has become a daily routine of my parents to bother me about my marriage the day I touched 30 and a man of 30 should be accomplished and completed by a woman. On top of that the middle aged women who did nothing but follow traditions blindly, married at a young age, had sex only to make children and not for pleasure and gave birth to kids until their family is satisfied, asks me about when will I settle. As if you cannot be considered a man, to be exact an established man, if you don't marry.
After a long pause, I enquired with a small hope, "What did your mother say?"
She replied reluctantly, "You know right that my father's decision is the ultimate."
I cupped her rosy cheeks with my chapped hands, "Kal, what do you want?"
She, without paying much attention to the surroundings, kissed my lips.
She paused to take a breath and said, "I don't want to get married actually. I just want to adopt two kids and enjoy my work."
Without further arguments, I turned on the ignition of my Maruti 800 and put it in reverse gear while adjusting my rear view mirror. I could see Kalpi standing there. I told her to hop in and drove her to my apartment.
I had moved to Delhi from Pune a fortnight back and was a bit disappointed to be here. I had planned to rent an apartment with Kalpi but everything went in vain.
No sooner than I unlocked my room, I somehow lost my control and pushed Kalpi against the wall and started to undress her. She participated in the act. My bedroom was just ten feet away from the main door but we bumped at least 5 to 6 times going there.
Her thick layer of cosmetics was all over my bed sheet and we laughed it off.
It was two in the afternoon when my phone rang for a call. It was my mother who was concerned that I might get bewitched by Kalpi.
I picked up the call but all my attention was at Kalpi who was adjusting her breasts inside her pink bra. She was beautiful.
"Mama, I have to leave for office now. Can I call you back at night?" I said it like a kid who literally doesn't want to do anything but just lie down with Kalpi.
"Office? Now? But today is Saturday. Don't you have an off?" Mom asked suspiciously.
"There is a presentation today and I have to reach the office by 3:00 p.m." I said and hung up the phone in a jiffy.
I asked Kalpi, "Do you want me to drop you somewhere?"
Kalpi replied immediately, "You go ahead, your office is in a totally opposite direction from where I will go. I will take an auto."
"I have called up a cab for you." I answered her while walking towards the door and looking out to confirm that the cab had arrived.
I rolled down the driver's window for some air and pressed the cassette into the recorder. By the time I left the main gate of my apartment, Pink Floyd had started belting out Wish You Were Here.
I got lost in my mind again. I love her and I believe she loves me too. Until then I had no thought of getting married or having a family. Although I have accepted the fact that she will not marry me but still somewhere there is a little hope that maybe, maybe someday she will rethink her decision. For me, the feeling of love is more precious than being with the person under the same roof. The ultimate goal of being in love is to love each other immensely irrespective of the odds, not just get married and procreate. Love is beyond marriage or any other 'named' relationships. Although society is not against love, the concept of relationship between two unmarried and unbiological people is somewhat not appropriate for society. Especially for middle aged women who literally didn't do much in their young age, tends to oppose young people from doing certain things. They are not capable enough to oppose the old traditions of the society and when someone tries to change it they oppose it as if the young generation does not have the ability to make decisions for any work. They believe that spoon feeding the young generation with their old beliefs can only make the society ideal.
Suddenly I came out from my contemplation, with a loud honking sound of a car behind me.
It was Kalpi. A strout man was sitting beside her, in a black suit. He had a cigar in his mouth. It was a Bentley.
Kalpi came out of the car. She didn't look surprised or anything. She hugged me and introduced me to her 'fiancé' Avinash.
I was stunned.
We decided to have a fancy dinner at an Italian restaurant. After dinner, I somehow gathered enough courage to initiate the dreaded conversation. Even though I thought it was quite bizarre to ask Kalpi how they met and why she called him her fiance, I could not think of a better way to bring up the subject. Kalpi, understanding my uneasiness, started a random conversation about the recipe of white sauce. It was an awkward situation as both me and Avinash could not relate to what she was saying and even could not participate in that conversation. I was fidgeting with the fork and trying to pick up pasta from the slippery sauce which Kalpi called white sauce.
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Bijeta De Mukherjee
Student of Masters of British English and an Entrepreneur
Content Writer at N-Clicks Studio