Be My Valentine <3

Be My Valentine <3 - Part 2C

12th Feb 2013

9:00 pm

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to have your attention please.” Mr. Dev Verma, my Dad said into the mike. Sneha and Ansh were standing on the stage along with him, to his right and left respectively.

I kinda knew what he was going to blabber into the mike, but I wished that he didn’t. Unfortunately I had no other choice than to listen to him because I knew that my opinion wasn’t of any value to anyone. Today might have been a very happy day for most (rather all) members of my family, but not for me.

“As you all know, my son Ansh is soon going to be a married man. But I am not here to talk about him, I am here to talk about the wonderful daughter that I am about to gain through this union.”

To anyone else, my Dad’s words would have seemed so sweet and endearing. But every word of his pinched me to the core, and to hear what he was saying was nothing short of torturous.

“Sneha has been nothing short of a blessing to this family. I am a businessman, and I see most things from a business point of view. As soon as Sneha entered my son’s life, my profits doubled and my business went up. So I would be a fool not to have her as part of my family.”

Everyone in the room had a hearty laugh, but I couldn’t help but feel sick. Firstly, what my Dad said was not funny at all, rather it sounded demeaning. And secondly, the fact that life was but a business for him brought back some old, unwanted memories which I would have preferred not to remember.

“She is such a sweet child, so bright and respectful. We would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Sharma for giving birth to this angel. And we would like to welcome her into our family with open arms. I would also like to wish her the very best, because she is being handed a very hard task, that of handling Ansh. And. . . . .”

I couldn’t take it any more. If I heard any more of this nonsense, I would end up puking. So I got up, and came out of the room into the balcony. I closed the doors behind me. I hoped no one had seen me leave the room, but even if they had, I didn’t care. I had learnt to live my life without caring about what others thought.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the pathetic irony of life – My Dad, who just a few years ago had been unwilling to let me marry the girl of my choice was standing there, doling out praises for that very same girl and feeling proud that she was marrying into our family, albeit not to me.

I looked up towards the dark sky. I held back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. The emotions that had been stirred up today were making me weak. But I had promised myself that I would not cry, at least not here, not in front of others. I couldn’t let them see my weakness; I had to put up a brave front.

I sat down on a recliner, removed my coat and kept it next to me. Then I gazed at the stars for a while. As I slowly closed my eyes, I tried to imagine that I was somewhere far far away from this place.

(3 years earlier)

14th Nov 2010

7:20 pm

“So Mr. Senior, what do you want to do next.?” Sneha teasingly asked as she took a left onto the highway.

“Ewww, please don’t call me that now. It sounds so weird now that we are married.” I said.

Keeping her eyes on the road, she said “Well then Mr. Sneha Sharma, where should I take you.?”

“That sounds better. I actually like the sound of it.” I said with a smile.

I continued “Just keep following the directions on the map to our honeymoon destination. I know you are going to love this place, it’s awesome.”

“You still aren’t going to tell me where exactly we are going for our honeymoon.?” she asked.

“Nope.” I said.

She kept quiet for a while. And then, excitedly she said “You know it’s been seven hours now since we got married. So cool na.?”

“Are you going to keep giving hourly updates for our marriage for the rest of our lives.?” I teased her.

She lightly punched me under my rib cage.

I tickled her a bit. She looked at me and said “Raj, stop it. You know I can’t stand being tickled. Do you want me to drive or not.?”

I gave her a devilish grin, and raised my hands and acted as if I was going to tickle her again.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light filled our car. We looked out ahead; a car had veered out of control. It had crossed the median and was coming towards us. I screamed “Sne, the road. Watch out.”

The collision was imminent and to avoid it, I turned the steering wheel left with all my might.