Friday, March 14, 2008

The Cactus Blooms.....Part 1

Year ::: 2005
Location ::: Chat room for 40+
Topic of discussion ::: Who is superior: men or women

Heated debate going on .The room has two participants Aish and Raj alias Rajesh. Seizing the silence of Aish ,Raj PMs her for the private chat.
Bored Aish responds..they realise both of them are nowhere near 40s and just drifted into the room to know what ADULTS talk.Thus started a long chat friendship which they never knew where it would culminate

Raj .. Where are you from

Aish .. NorthEast,and you

Raj .. South of Vindhyas,chennai.Have you ever been here.

Aish .. No,would love to

Common topics,topics generally to impress each other,Raj typically showing off ,Aish in her own style underplayed every word,when actually she could boast of a thousand things.Both were from conservative background with both families adhereing to their respective religious beliefs fairly strictly.But these two were in a world of their own ,without realising that were slipping into mutual love and the whirlpool had managed to suck them in with no escape !

With their cams on ,hours melted into days and days into years.Hours of mobile talk,sms ,mms were exchanged and 24 hours didnt seem to be sufficient for them.Yes three years had passed and it was time for them to take the next step..Marriage..was it possible ?..conservatism all around,was a solid wall and they wanted to break it !

Aish..Raj,I am willing to cross over.Will it be ok if we get married?

Raj .. I am dumb struck Aish.I didnt have the gutz and you are so cool about it.I am sure of myself but my people ,I honestly donno.But that means you will be away from your exotic place and wonderful parents, probably for good.You sure about it.(actually Raj was the one who was unsure,but put the ball in Aish s court ! )

Aish .. I fully realise that ,Raj.My life here is very different.Dad is 24 hours into business and politics and Mom is into kitchen 24 hours for the hordes of relatives who are perinially plonked in my house.I have never known love and you have given me that in full..

Raj thought to himself,oh my God I have perhaps not been true to her with a list of girl friends, perhaps multi timing.But somewhere he knew Aish was the right girl for him.But,he also realised that it would be very difficult for him to convince his parents

He didnt know how to open out the topic to his parents and the nudges from Aish was increasing ,since her parents had already started looking out for a boy for her.Collecting all his strength Raj opened it out to his parents..

Raj.. Appa(Father ), I want to settle down in life.I am in love with a girl.

Manikkam,(Rajs father)..So with few rupees pouring into your bank from your business you feel, you are free to chose without our permission, is it ?

Raj Its not like that,I am sure you will like her and she is a wonderful girl

Rajs mom sensing her husbands moods quikly changes the topic.

Days roll by and one day when Raj confides that the girl is from a different religion too ,all hell breaks lose.Luckily Rajs uncle Appasamy,who was into business and several kinds of activities which he never discussed at home,came into the picture and became the moderator and cooled down Rajs father saying that the girl was willing to come down and be here for good.When the issue of religion came ,Manikkam was convined by everyone that she would convert and hence all issues would be settled.He took charge and spelt out the modus operandi..

Only Appasamy knew that ,it would be the begining of all problems ,at least for next few months.

With the green signal from his parents,Raj called up Aish.He went on talking to her,virtually a monolog,how his parents were convinced about the wedding,conversion and finally accepting her.Not for a moment Raj thought about the feelings Aish would have undergone..the seperation she had to face from her parents,a virtual rejection on conversion,and finally why she had to be ACCEPTED by Rajs parents for she had done no mistake....Aish smiled it away ,but had no one to share and the one person she could, was excited beyond words on his parental acceptance of her !!

Raj.. How do you feel ,Aish

Aish .. I feel very happy Raj,we dont have much time.Can you fix the dates fast

Raj .. Sure,will call you up tomorrow and confirm

From then on things started moving fast with Appasamy literally hijacking the show as chief organiser of the marriage.All necessary documents were exchanged on courier and fax and as scan messages.Flight tickets booked and Raj was to go to her place to bring her .Naturally he had to change flights at three places to reach her remote place.He was to reach her place ,have a rendezvous with her at the airport and take the same return flight.

They would arrive two days ahead of the marriage,D DAY,do the shopping and other formalities for the marriage,including the conversion,and so on...Appasamy cleared told Raj to advise Aish not to leave any letter or confide with anyone about their plans for this could result in complications.Only Appasamy knew what the complications were.Any sort of communication could d be done by Aish with her parents,only after the marriage.

All arranged and Raj kept Aish informed of all the developments,including the last advises given by Appasamy.Also,since time would be the essence everything was arranged in a very tight schedule . She sounded slightly nervous.

Aish agreed to everything but felt she was obligated at least to write a letter to her parents.She sat and wrote a letter to her parents,edited it at least thrice ...She went to every place she was fond of..her school,playground,her teachers who had always taught her the values of life,the tea gardens which she had smelled throughout her life..etc She realised she was going to miss it all..at least for sometime to come.All the while she wondered when and how to reach the letter to her parents.Aish also felt like confiding it to one of her favourite aunts,who she thought was not as conservative as others,but was unsure .Bottling up the emotions was proving to be a tough task,and for the first time Aish felt down right nervous and it was showing. For once she felt Raj was also too busy ,since her calls were also answered with a sense of urgency or impatience..

Five days prior to the rendezvous,(D DAY -5 ) ,a strike call given by airport staff coincided with their travel date ,and all confusion started.


(to be concluded)

TC
CU

46 comments:

Keshi said...

and all that PLANNING gets ruined by some airport strike? yuk! :(

Waiting to read the next part :)

btw my current post is also abt PLANS hehe.

hv a good wknd CU!

Keshi.

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Keshi
Welcome Keshi !I thought you were on a long weekend off..Thanks for being here..will come to your post
TC
CU

ceedy said...

Interesting - as usual aage aage dekho hota hai kya :)

Irony of this kind of a story (personal experience) is that we are too divided in India based on cast, religion, north, south, east and west.....

We see ourselves and describe ourselves from a particular region rather than proudly saying we are from India....this is the crux of such alliances - and gets extrememly difficult when one family is liberal and other ultra conservative...

good - you seem to be following the advent of technology on relationships - I like it...

also as I told you earlier - you inspired me to write short stories, so wrote one and started a separate blog for it. When you have time check it. Link is on my main blog.

Have a wonderful week

aMus said...

wah..well started...i feel the famous CU twist coming here...

let's see if i'm right in thinking what i am right now...:)

but not fair...u stopping like that...

Lakshmi said...

this is like a serial..have to wait for the next episode

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@c e e d y
you got it right man..only when we sing and feel that SARE JAHAAN SE ACCHHA and feel it within we can get our age old harmony back

Will do and visit your short story blog..inspired by me is a little too touching..thanks man
TC
CU

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Thinking aloud
Welcome Suma..twists and me ! do we go together..lol..You could have shared the way this is going to proceed..It would have made it lot more fun..in fact you can still do it !!
Thanks for your words,stopping it at a place was not intentional though ..lol
TC
CU

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@backpakker
welcome backpakker !! after the wait I hope it turns out to your liking.Thanks for passing by
TC
CU

Prats said...

That was not fair!! I had my bags all packed and ready... :(

Waiting now to see what twist you'r egoing to add...
this was a good story bringing in the present systems..

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Prats
Welcome Prats ..Guess the wait is going to be longer than expected..The invitation is yet to be printed but the list of invitees is ready..lol
TC
CU

m.flowerr said...

huh!! you stopped it there???curious..
how long would it take for part two, to unveil??
waiting....

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@ m.flowerr
Welcome.Hopefully in a week or ten days..thanks for passing by
TC
CU

Unknown said...

Happy ending this time with the twist??? :-s

Am expecting too much eh? :-s

.. Now worries Tamizhan. Will anxiously await the 2part! But I wish it's a happy one! :D ;)

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@ Curious
Welcome here after a long time..Twists and turns are very much part of our life and Happiness and sadness are the two sides of the same coin i.e LIFE..So does it matter which follows which !!lol
Did I answer you..lol
TC
CU

Keshi said...

I was on a long wknd but I wasnt totally off the net :)

Keshi.

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Keshi
Thats the spirit,being alive to net even on a long weekend.It was a pleasant surprise to know TN has also contributed to your genes !!
TC
CU

Keshi said...

wuts TN btw? :)

Keshi.

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Keshi
Tamil Nadu
TC
CU

Sandhya said...

waiting for twist and turn:-))))

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Sandhya
Welcome Sandhya ..will try my best,only that I shouldnt get into knots !!
TC
CU

Jaggu said...

Hey how are you? Long time no see. There is a long pending tag for you by me. Hope you will check it out. BTW, nice and good story.

http://ootb-jaggu.blogspot.com/2008/01/tag-for-tag.html

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Jaggu
welcome Jaggu.Yeah its been long time..tags ,I feel I should consolidate all tags and write it off off at one go..hmm but as usual have been delaying it..will do..thanks for passing by
TC
CU

Solitaire said...

uh oh!!!

Will u put in a comment for me on my blog when your story is complete?

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Solitaire
Will do Solitaire ..You have one the most amazing sites Solitaire .I have visited your site several times,only that I have not left a comment..unfair on my part..sorry about that..thanks for passing by Solitaire
TC
CU

Sairekha said...

Another CU love story! Yay!:) I'll be a good reader and wait... no pressure on you sir:)

Btw, you seem quite romantic at heart.. does the missus get a generous helping of this side of you?:)

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Ziah
Welcome ! everybody has noticed only the twists in my yarns,and u have spotted something different..Being a cancerian what else can you expect from me ,romance and dreams..thats all and thats it !!
TC
CU

ceedy said...

Was walking on the streets of bloggerville - saw a sign on the road CU this way - adventurer in me wnet to explore that bylane - read the instructions on the mile marker - an old man....no unsolicited responses (as mentioned at the bottom of your page).....the lane was shrouded by banyan trees - all OLD but protecting the earth and its beings sharing their years of warmth and happiness.....

(just read your footnote for the first time - so smg for you - hope it does not make you mad)

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@c e e d y
Welcome again in this post c e e d y ...Thats nice of you to have read the footnote..Old ,yes,but donno if that alone brings happiness to my fellow bloggers,by the way of sharing my travel stories of life..
Thanks again friend
TC
CU

ceedy said...

I think what someone can get out of what you share should not bother you right - you share and what we get is how we are experiancing life at this moment...

you love story - for someone in love can send them to the moon, for someone separated can make them nostalgic and maybe cry and for someone seeking love can see the beauty of it....

so thank you...for making me your friend :)

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@c e e d y
Welcome again ,friend..perspectives,very nicely defined by you,young man !!
TC
CU

rayshma said...

waiting for the conclusion...
i, somehow, am quite against the whole 'eloping' concept... maybe i can't relate to the need...
but i guess there are situations where it's the only option...

Keshi said...

hey CU tell me abt ur DIETING course LOL!

keshi.

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@rayshma
me too agree to your views.Eloping is sad.Unfortunately society is still moving very slowly towards accepting love marriages,and especially if religion and castes are involved.
For example I had to wait almost 5 long years till ACCEPTABILITY came from people who also mattered ..HMM
Hope these stigmas and things vanish
TC
CU

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Keshi
Keshiiiiiiiiiiiiiii....lol
TC
CU

Anonymous said...

Gaawwwd... I was so much into it... now when is the next part coming up???


P.S: A post awaits you on my new blog!

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Nisha
welcome Nisha..soon..pretty soon !!
TC
CU

UL said...

lots to catch up on -hey there's a little gift awaiting you at my site, hope you will like it...i havent had a chance to read your older posts, but hope to be back..

Devilish Angel said...

Good flow of writing...

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@UL
Welcome UL ..its been ages since you came here..will go over to your posting !!
TC
CU

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Mythily
welcome Mythily..Thanks for your words and passing by here..First time here ? I wonder !!
TC
CU

The Artist said...

airport strike? of all things...waiting for the next part...

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@The Artist
welcome The Artist..lol..when things have to go wrong ,they will go wrong !!airport strike included !!
TC
CU

Keshi said...

btw come play the game in my blog ;-)

Keshi.

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Keshi
you want me to play games !!

TC
CU

Pri said...

liked the way the story is flowing till now...
rushing over to the next part...am hell curious :D

seeya

Compassion Unlimitted said...

@Pri
thank you Pri ..now I am curious to know about your reaction there in next episode..hope its same as this..tks
tc
cu