Matchmaking

Wedding isn’t an easy affair. Be it the bride or the groom or their families, everyone experience excitement, confusion and anxiety on the big day. They laugh together, they cry together and definitely they gossip. Wedding hall becomes the hotspot of all possible things one can imagine. Flirty boys, giggly girls, nosy old bags and noisy kids, it offers something to everyone.

“I’m coming only because you promised me that you won’t do any match making business over there”, Sushma argued.

Her mom checked her make-up in the mirror for one last time before taking the keys from the drawers. “Alright sweetheart, I promise that I won’t try to fix you up with anyone. Now, shall we leave? It’s late already”.

Sushma didn’t like dressing up. She had chosen to wear a simple salwar-kameez and pearl earrings. She already knew that she would be in trouble because all her aunts were attending the wedding and they so much didn’t like her dressing sense. They wanted her to wear a heavy dress because according to them the heavier the dress, higher the status was. Sushma knew better. She avoided crowd as much as possible and if her aunts were among the crowd, then she stayed well away. However, she quite enjoyed her cousins company, especially Archana. She was very bubbly and smart too, unlike her mother. She said, “Mom was talking about a techie dude. I don’t recall his name, but she was all praises for him. I suppose that you will have to entertain him for awhile”.

Sushma said, “Mom promised that she wouldn’t try to fix me up with anyone”.

Archana warned, “Oh! You should have known better. Let’s wait and watch. The evening has just started”.

They didn’t realize how long they had been chatting until Suresh joined them. He was another cousin and he was fun to be around. Soon they got immersed in conversations over so many topics that they couldn’t count them. They talked about everything from Suresh’s ex-girl friends to Archana’s boss, Archana’s friends to Sushma’s marriage proposals and that is when Sushma heard someone call her name from behind. Without even turning around to see who it was and what they wanted, she knew she was damned. The expressions on both Archana and Suresh’s face told it.

She was surprised to see that there was no guilt on her mom’s face. There, she was standing with one of her sisters, along with a guy next to them. He was handsome alight. Sushma wasn’t against marriage and she had no problem in meeting guys, but she wanted to be left alone in family functions. It was someone else’s big day and she wanted it to be that way. Her relatives loved gossiping more than anyone else’s relatives and she didn’t want to get into the limelight, but she knew there was no escape.

Her mom introduced her to the guy. His name was Ashish and he was an engineer. She wanted Archana and Suresh to stay along her side while she tried to get to know Ashish, but her mom and aunt together sent them away.

They sat facing each other and she could sense many eyes on her. How much she wished that she had stayed at home. It was really awkward and it wasn’t just her who was feeling uncomfortable, but she noticed that even the guy wasn’t enjoying much. She was the one who started the conversation. She said, “I guess we should talk something”.

He agreed, “I guess we should” and looked around to see how many people were watching them. It didn’t help him much because almost every eye in the hall was on them, even the groom and bride.

He told her, “I don’t know about you but I seriously don’t like this”.

She replied, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how much I’m enjoying this”.

He asked, “How about taking a walk?” and walked away from the table, without even waiting for her to answer. Anyway, she followed him.

He asked, “I’m sorry but I couldn’t stay there with all those people watching us”.

“Oh, don’t be sorry. I guess I started liking you because of that”. Now, she wouldn't meet someone everyday, who would save her from getting embarrassed.

He wasn’t surprised when he heard that, instead he gave her a smile.