My love story ...... chapter 1

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I didn't remember the date well , I was about to reach Praveen's home. I had been very excited all morning as I was going to see our gang of four after 3 years. After our engineering, this was the first time when all of us Sandeep , siddarth ,Praveen and I—were going to be together. During our first year in the hostel, praveen and I were in different rooms on the second floor of the Tower-A building. Being on the same floor, we were acquaintances but I never wanted to interact with him.

I didn’t think him to be ‘a good guy’ because of his fondness for fights and the red on his mark sheet. But unfortunately, I was late in getting back to the hostel at the beginning of the second year and almost all the rooms were already allotted by then. I was not left with any choice other than becoming praveen’s roommate and because life is weird, things changed dramatically and soon, we became the best of buddies. The day our reunion was scheduled, he had been working with TCS for two years .

After college, all of us were pretty much involved in our stereotypical lives. One day, we found out that Praveen was coming back from kolkata for two weeks. Everybody was game for a reunion. ‘Praveen’s place in Banglore, we decided. Finally, on the scheduled date, I was climbing the stairs to Praveen’s apartment two steps at a time. It was about 3 in the afternoon when I knocked on his door. His mom opened it and welcomed me in.

As I had often been there, she knew me well. For me, Praveen’s house never meant too many formalities. I was having some water when she told me that praveen was not at home and his cell was switched off. ‘Wow! And he asked me not to be late,’ I murmured to myself. A little later, there was another knock on the door. I got up from my chair to open it, as praveen’s mom was in the kitchen. I pulled it open to shouts of,

‘Oh … Burrraaaaahhhh … Dude … Yeah … Huhaaaaaaaaa … Ohaaaaaaaaaa!’No, it wasn’t Praveen. Siddarth and Sandeep had arrived. :( ...... Still waiting to see that bastard ....

For the next half hour , the three of us talked, laughed and made fun of each other while eating lunch made by Praveen’s mother. Yes, we started our meal without Praveen. A little later, there was another knock. praveen’s mom opened the door ...

‘praveen veeeeeeeer!’I shouted, getting up from the dining chair and hugged him :) ...

We all stood up to hug him and as soon as that was done, we continued our lunch. Praveen also joined us. The food that day was very tasty or maybe it was just because we were having lunch together after so long and that made it special . we moved to another flat which we used to stay while we are in college days for drinking and blahh blah ... :)

This was the first time Sandeep and Siddarth had come to the city, so we decided to explore the streets of banglore. Fortunately our host possessed two bikes—his own Pulsar and his younger brother’s Splendor. We got ready and pulled out the bikes from the garage. siddarth and I got on the Splendor, praveen and sandeep on the Pulsar. we reached cubbon park and palace , after some time We parked our bikes beside one of the trucks and walked through a small street to the right of the garage.

‘Shhh! They will wake up,’ said praveen with a finger on his lips. ‘Who?’ Sandeep whispered. ‘There are people sleeping on the ground ahead. Watch your step,’ praveen said. ‘People! Sleeping on the road?’ Sandeep slowed down. They are beggars , Some were sleeping and some were hung-over from home-made liquor .

Later on we went back to start our ride :) , this time sandeep can't stop his toilet so we decided to stop our bikes near to big stone . We climbed that stone in excitement and widely opened our arms , talking to each other. Schooling—done. Engineering—done. Getting a good job—done. Bank balance—in progress. What’s the next milestone?’

‘Ah! I know what you’re talking about,’ Praveen nodded. ‘Ask him,’ he said, pointing his already raised chin towards me. Everyone looked at me. ‘I don’t know what’s going on in your life and family, but my mom and dad are going crazy.

They’re after me like you wouldn’t believe. Don’t I make a good bachelor?’ I said. ‘The story is the same everywhere. We poor bachelors,’ sandeep said trying to be funny...

‘I am serious, Sandeep,’ siddarth said.
‘So, have you or your family fixed something?’ I asked him. ‘No. My story is just like yours. But the fact is that, one day, we’ll have to settle down with a life partner.
How long can we ignore our parents’ questions? They too have expectations, wishes and dreams for us.’

That night, on the big stone, the four of us discussed this issue seriously, for the first time. Maybe it was the first time we felt we were mature enough to talk about it. So many questions, ifs and buts were raised and answered between us. So many views were brought in and debated. None of us was against marriage but we wanted to evaluate its benefits. sandeep and I were quite convinced about the marriage thing. And this discussion made Praveen and Siddarth think about the matter quite seriously, even it didn’t convince them.

Which reminds me of a slogan I read on a T-shirt: If you can’t convince her, just confuse her!

‘But then, other things come into the picture. Love marriage or arranged marriage? Parents’ choice or ours?’ Praveen said.

‘Now, that’s a personal choice. But given that we are independent, I don’t think our parents will object to our decision,’ Sandeep said

‘How did you apply for your job at CTS?’ Sandeep asked, digressing from the topic. I answered, ‘Through some job website.’

‘And praveen, how did you transfer money from kolkata to your parents?’ ‘Through my Internet banking account. It’s quite fast,’ he answered.

‘See? The world is becoming Internet-savvy. And, given the fact that we all are IT graduates who are on the net almost everyday, why can’t we use this for the marriage thing too?’
‘Are you talking about matrimonial websites like Shaadi. com?’ Praveen asked.
‘Yes.’
‘Are they really useful? i raised a question ...
‘To know if a dish is sweet or salty, you have to taste it first. That’s the only way to know things for sure,’ Sandeep answered.

‘Or better yet, ask a person who has already tasted it. Why take a chance?’ Praveen said, trying to make us laugh.
we called to our dearest friend keerthan who is good in these kind of thins .. :)

‘So ,keerthan are you on any such website?’ I asked.

He explained, ‘The best thing about this service is that you can go through so many profiles without leaving your desk. The filters are good enough to provide you suitable matches. And you can interact with the persons who interest you … Everything is so systematic. Above all, you don’t need to worry about your physical location …’

‘Hmm … Well, I don’t know if this thing is going to work, but it is worth giving a try. Who knows …?’

we are so hungry and Our empty stomachs reminded our brains of their existence...

‘So who’s the first one?’ Sandeep asked while we all were dusting our clothes.
‘The first one to marry? Or first one to make his profile on the website?’ Praveen asked, laughing.
‘Both.’
‘I think this guy,’ Praveen pointed his finger at me, I don’t know why.

It was probably 4 a.m. by the time we had dinner and slept. And, after a long time, we enjoyed the kind of sleep we used to enjoy in our hostel. That day became one of the most memorable days in our lives.
That was the last night of the reunion trip.
All three of them came to drop me at Station and, once again, the four of us hugged .

‘Who’s going to cry first?’ Sandeep asked. But all of us laughed at that stupid and senti question.The train called me with its final whistle. I got into the carriage and stood at the door, waving to them all as the train left the platform.

That same morning, Sandeep and Siddarth boarded flights back to their respective places. Soon afterwards, Praveen also flew back to kolkata....

To be continued .....

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