Thanking you in anticipation!

When I started out with this blog, I'd imagined it to be an emotional vent for me where I could truly write how I feel about personal and professional issues and anything else that affects me, all under the cloak of anonymity. I have been true to my goal in parts, but to be honest, I have held myself back on more than one occasion. Hesitation, the fear of being identified, apprehension at who's reading this blog (though I can safely narrow that down to 3 people on the whole world wide web) and in doing so I have been untrue to my motivation behind this blog.

If you think that this is one of those posts where I will fling aside my invisibility cloak and stand up straight and tell people exactly what I think of them, then you're slightly mistaken. I am not on a death-wish just yet. There are so many things I want to tell everyone, some I'd like to yell from the rooftops and some I'd like to discuss in hushed conspiratorial tones over coffee, but there still exist a billion hurdles and more. So I shall yet again disguise my truth with a liberal dose of fiction and try and get the point across subtly.

Here goes:


"She loved him. She'd loved him for as long as she could care to remember. Despite their obvious superficial differences, she loved him. He was her and around him, she too was herself. They met up regularly, addicted as they were to each other. She knew he liked her too, but sometimes the gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach scared her. What if he were like the others? What if he too was bored in a bit? What if he cheated on her, used her, left her, lied to her? And a billion other (sometimes) irrational fears consumed her. But somehow, she trusted him. Completely, sometimes more than herself. Somehow, he was always right. Knew the right thing to say, to do, take the right decision and just be perfect without being righteous about it.

A couple of years into this, he realized he needed to know. He needed to know if she was the one. He'd always been a regular guy when it came to relationships. He hated being ordinary and stereotypical in any aspect, but he knew he was oh so regular when it came to commitment. An exit door was a must in every relationship and this too was no different. Shady and unfair as it was, he'd been completely honest to her about it. Marriage was not his cup of tea and he'd made it rather evident whenever possible. Its not that he didn't like her but he wasn't sure about loving her yet coz that would've implied a commitment at some level. But now he just needed to know. Without compromising on his loyalty, he met up with other ladies. Well to be fair to him, he did it while 'they' were on a break! Yet, somehow noone held his attention for too long. Some were too simple, some were way too complicated and some were simply unbearable. One morning he woke up and he just knew. It had to be her. Noone else would ever do!

He reached for his phone and called her up to meet up in the evening. It was the most unromantic way of going about it and now that he thought of it, he'd made it seem like any other conversation he had ever had with her, or anyone else for that matter. He'd made it as mundane as talking about the weather, yet somehow when he told her, he saw her smile and a single tear drop roll down her cheek. Surprisingly, he mirrored her reaction in toto. The coffee shop disappeared and there was noone but the two of them.

They spoke about it for the next few days and wondered what it wold be like living together. the actual ceremonies, the celebrations, the house they'd live in, waking up together every morn and a billion other intimate details. The joy in their hearts was for everyone to see. Even though they'd promised each other that till something concrete wasn't done, they'd not tell anyone about it, but the radiant faces were difficult to mask.

That was until they realized they'd need to talk to family. In all their exuberance, they'd forgotten a tiny detail. He was a foreigner. Convincing families on both sides was a herculean task and neither wanted to celebrate the biggest moment of their lives minus family. They promised each other that they'd stand by each other through the stormy times that lay ahead. They would speak with each other's family and try and convince them to come around. Worst case scenario, they'd wait. They swore they'd wait till their families blinked and only then would they come together.

With her hand in his, she led him to meet her folks, her heart thumping audibly. After debating for days over the strategy they would employ, they'd realized they would have to take the bull by its horns. The reaction was as anticipated, her folks hit the roof. Irrational, enraged, melodramatic, tearful; not a single emotion was left out. They held hands, bowed their heads and stood together waiting for the storm to subside. They told them time and again that they would not do anything if family did not consent and they were willing to wait for them to come around. They wanted to do this with them rather than without them, even though they had several opportunities and as consenting adults, they really did not need their permission. But they wanted to do the right thing. He squeezed her hand hoping to give her some of his own strength to bear the onslaught that she would have to face as he left them to talk. She steadied herself for what lay in store for her. She was stoic as she dodged every emotion they threw her way.

She just muttered over and over again that she would not be with him if they didn't want her to, but she would not be with anyone else either.

Its been ten years since..........and they are still waiting!!!!!!!"