feelslikeimfallinginlove

It was a Sunday evening and a number of guests had gathered at a bungalow in Lutyens Delhi. The women had come in their bright and colourful silk sarees, lehengas and designer dresses. The men were casually attired in their jeans and jackets. One thing that stood out in the crowd was the salt and pepper colour of the hair; in short, these were all people in their late fifties and early sixties. A huge three tier cake was kept ready and the hall erupted with the coming of the hosts, Mandira and Surinder. The party was thrown to celebrate their wedding. 

Surinder and Mandira had known each other since school days as neighbours. It was just another friendship and as years rolled by, they parted company and lost touch with each other. Both were busy with their careers and each was oblivious of the life of the other person somewhere on planet Earth. Then, after almost twenty-five years, they met once more at Udaipur, at the wedding of their common friend Ajay’s daughter. This was sometime in the winter of 2011.

Hi Suri… she shouted at top of her voice at the smart looking man wearing a silk bandhgala.

Oh, Hi Madi… he replied and waved back.

Where have you been… Geek, you must now be living in the Silicon Valley?

No way. I am very much here in Delhi and always have been.

What about your family…are they here? 

He smiled and then stylishly spoke…. Main aur meri tanhai, aksar yeh baatein karte hain… ha ha ha!

Kya baat hai, Handsome Prince, it is impossible that you’re a loner. You always had so many beautiful girls hanging around you during school and college days. 

He started laughing aloud and just shook his head from right to left and then left to right a number of times… Maybe I took too long to find the perfect partner and by the time I decided, it was too late. But I am having a blast alone with no one to answer to. Both mum and dad have passed away, and now I am my own master… the prince in now truly the King. What about you, Madi?

She just smiled… My story is somewhat similar. After college, I went abroad for my masters and returned, not because of the love for the country but because dad was not keeping well and there was no one else to take care of him. I took charge of his company which was in doldrums and somehow managed to keep it afloat. After prolonged illness, dad, passed away in 2000. Till then, mom had been strong and doing good but after his passing, she was completely heartbroken having lost a companion of over forty years. She lost her will to live. Now, I am taking care of her.

You are still living in the same bungalow? I will come and visit auntie. I am sure she will recognize me. After all, I never failed to give her a scare every time I came to your house, breaking some porcelain vase or shifting the old pictures on the walls from one peg to another, flicking a book… those sure were good and carefree days.

Yes, we are there in the same place and mom will be really very happy to see you. But mind it, she may be bedridden and sick but her temper is still the same. She will still warn you sternly to behave and tell all the servants to keep an eye on you to make sure there is no loss or damage to her treasured things in the house. She would often say then that Suri has ants in his pants. He just can’t sit at one place for more than sixty seconds. You were her Dennis the Menace, cute but a troublesome one.

Both sat down and shared old memories and, for the next two days at Udaipur, it seemed they were inseparable. Once they returned to Delhi, Suri went to Madi’s place and met her mother. Suri was a connoisseur of fine drinks but to auntie, he confidently said that he was a teetotaller and enjoyed Darjeeling tea. He knew very well that she was a daughter of a tea garden manager in the Dooars in North Bengal and she still got her first flush tea leaves from the same garden as a gesture of gratitude from the current garden owners. She asked Madi to bring out her fine China porcelain tea set and place the tea trolley near her bedside. Once the things were set with a floral tea-cosy covering the tea pot, a small pot of milk, sugar cubes in a small bowl, a few silver spoons, the sieve and a small plate of cookies, the lady sat up and made the tea in the finest tradition. She handed a cup and saucer each to Suri and Madi before picking up hers and gently sipping the tea. Suri admired the white cup which had blue-coloured dragons painted on the outside and when he finished drinking the tea, he saw the image of a flower at the bottom of the cup. The old lady smiled as she saw the amazement in Suri’s eyes seeing the wonderous cup and its magic. Fine tea drinking had its own moments of beauty.

Hereafter, the meetings between Mandira and Surinder became a regular feature. Initially they would meet at each other’s place for a couple of hours, just for some chit-chat over drinks. Then they started going to social get-togethers as a pair. They were a strange duo. While one was heavily the right wing and spoke about saffron and ridiculed the country’s ruling family of the past sixty-five years, the other was more balanced and had a kinder view of the past. One was a voracious talker and could talk even to strangers on any subject for hours together, the other was the quiet one and unless poked and pushed, was happy to stay in his own world. While one was an early riser and would go to parks and monuments in Delhi, take pictures and then post them on social media immediately, the other would enjoy a good night’s sleep and get up late and had almost zero digital footprint. One loved reading history books, collecting antiques and made the room look like a cluttered and an unkept museum, the other was more interested in keeping the house clean and tidy. But two things were common, one was their genuine warmth towards all and second was their mutual love for dogs. She had a German Shepard Dog and he had a French Bull Dog. When the two people met, it was also a meeting for the doggies and they got along well with each other despite their difference in size. 

Soon the one-off short meetings gave way to weekend getaways. Suri had a home in the Dehradun hills and he would drive off with her in his SUV. They started spending weekends and holidays in the hills which had a calming effect on their lives and then of course this companionship for the duo was like manna that both longed for in life but had not experienced it for long. All the friends knew about their meetings and they did not hide it from anyone. Anyway, why should they have hidden, after all they were two mature consensual adults. Madi’s mother, too, was happy at the change in Madi’s life. Her girl looked so much more radiant and happier now. She started prodding her daughter to get married. The only answer she would always get is …But why Mumma? We are happy the way we are.

Surinder, after a while, gave up his rented accommodation to join Mandira and her mother in their palatial house. This was so much better and put all gossip and speculations to rest. Now they lived bindaas under the same roof, went on holidays together and invited people to their homes. The mother, too, was happy. Now, she not only had a good daughter, she also had a caring man in the house who cared about her and more importantly, loved her daughter. Live-in is what rest of the people may call this relationship but they never gave it a name, they just lived happily together. They never thought of marrying, for this was good enough for all. And as they say in all the fairy tales, they lived happily, till one day after almost fourteen years of their coming together, things took a turn.

Mandira was a music fanatic. The band, Coldplay, was, coming to India and she wanted to see the first show live. While millions of fans in Mumbai and elsewhere were disappointed at the way online booking fiasco happened on the day with the net crashing, Madi was able to get two tickets. She was excited and even though Suri was not a music buff, she convinced him to join her at the Mumbai concert which was still a couple of months away. She quickly booked the flight tickets which had skyrocketed. Suri was a member of Delhi Gymkhana and he confirmed to Madi that it will be far more economical and better staying in the corresponding club at Mumbai than any top hotel there. He put in his request for a double room. The gymkhana rules, however, had not changed from the times the colonial masters had framed them. They allowed only married couples to stay together and room allotment was subject to the duo being legally and officially wedded. Madi was disappointed and started scouting for hotels around the concert venue when Suri came and suddenly announced… 

Let’s get married!

Whaaat?

Yes, you heard it right, let us get married now. We will go to the court tomorrow and get the marriage registered. It should be easy. Let me talk to my lawyer now.

Madi turned red… she had not expected this reaction but was also happy and said to herself… Why not?  She went and woke up her sleeping mother and told her… Mom, we are tying the knot.

The mother started crying and hugged her daughter tight. She put her hands in the air as if her prayers had been answered.

Suri soon realized, it was one thing to say it but getting it done was not all that easy. They needed documents like age proof, identification cards and many more papers before getting the marriage registered. For date of birth, the lawyer asked for their respective mark sheets for tenth standard because no one had birth certificates issued in those days when they were born. Madi opened up the big wooden trunk of hers and soon saw that white ants had gobbled up the school documents. She picked up the paper which crumbled like dust in no time. Suri, after the multiple changes of residence, could not trace his documents. 

The lawyer said… You guys must surely be having your passports. That should suffice for date of birth, names of parents and other identification details. Madi and Suri handed their passports to the lawyer who opened both and made a dirty face… These have expired three years ago and these cannot be used as documentary proof. 

Suri said… I have my driving license. That’s an acceptable government document for my residence proof. He took out the license from his wallet and handed it to the lawyer. The man shouted… This shows your name as Surender. How quickly can you get this amended… Surender to Surinder.

This is not a Delhi license but from Dehradun RTO. I am sure I can get it done quickly. 

Go and get this done fast while I get some affidavits and get some documents made. All this will cost you extra money.

Madi said… Suri, this hassle and the amount that we are spending in getting this marriage registration done, won’t it be cheaper and easier to book a five-star hotel in Mumbai. Let’s forget this madness, this registration will not change anything for us and we are happy the way we are now.

No Madi… now that we have decided, let us get this done once and for all. Then we can travel and stay everywhere, legally and officially together. Moreover, auntie will be very disappointed if we change our plans now. She is so happy. Don’t want her to go through another heartbreak.

Finally, the documents were made ready. The date was fixed at the Patiala House court. In the company of a couple of friends and with a special permission to allow the pets for the big occasion, Suri and Madi got married. Now they were a legally wedded couple. The first thing the couple did was to go home and take blessings from Madi’s mom who gave her daughter a beautiful jewellery set and an antique silver hookah, possibly from the Mughal times, to Suri. In the evening, they had an impromptu gathering of friends and family to celebrate the joyous occasion.

Late in the night, the couple flew to Mumbai and checked into their cozy double room in the Willingdon Club booked in their names. Next evening, they both went to DY Patil Stadium and witnessed Chris Martin and his Coldplay band playing… 

Oh, it feels like

I'm fallin' in love

You're throwin' me a lifeline

And this is for a lifetime

SS