Come Fall In Love WIth Me...

CHAPTER 5- Back to present day

-----------------------------------------------------

"Anishaaaaaa! Shut up!"

"What?"My sister asked me with the most cherubic smile possible.

"Am not getting married any time soon...OK?"

"Why not?"This time it was my dad who asked me this.

"But baba am not ready for marriage. I need to be a bit more stable in my job before i even think about settling down."

"You are already earning reasonably well and your investments look sound enough as well. So what exactly are you waiting for?" inquired my father.

Had i mentioned that my dad was cool? Scratch that. He just isn't cool anymore.

"Dear, at your age i was already married," this was supplied by my mother.

"But Ma, that was ages ago!" I cried.

"So? Girls should be married off at the right age or it becomes difficult to find a good groom."

"And it's not like that you will find a man the moment you start looking. Sometimes it takes years to find the perfect match," squeaked my sister in her most serious, grown-up voice.

"Where did you pick up these crappy lines?"I ask my sister.

"Sasural Simmar Ka," she replies promptly.

Seriously she totally amazes me at times. But unfortunately for the all the wrong things. "Ma, you should totally disallow Anisha from watching any more of those daily soaps."

"But she's right dear!"

My dad the ever diplomatic and tactful said, "How about if we start looking for a man and the decision to accept him or not totally depends on you. Moreover as Anisha has pointed out, it might actually takes ages to find the right person. So you leave the intricacies to us and you take the final call. That way you can concentrate on your work without hampering your schedule too much."

What was i to say after this?

--------------------------------------------------------------

2 weeks later my advertisement on the Sunday Telegraph Matrimonial column looked something like this:-

' Wanted suitable Bengali groom for their elder daughter, 24/5.2', MBA,working with a reputed MNC. Proffession and caste no bar, But the boy should be a minimum Post Graduate. Please contact with details and photo yo Roy@gmail.com.'

I had arrived at the arranged marriage market.

"Nehiiiiiiiiiiiiii....................!!!"

Come Fall In Love WIth Me...

CHAPTER 4:- Dia Sanyal

---------------------------------------------

I met Dia in Class I in Loreto House where we were both studying at that time. The first time i noticed her, it was in our Hindi class. The reason why I noticed her was because our Hindi teacher had asked her a question, to which she replied in Bengali while the rest of the class tittered. That day I came to know that I and Dia were the only two Bengali girls taking Hindi as our Second language in that batch.

Much to my chagrin even my Hindi turned out to be a real dud. After a week of continuous humiliation, Dia and I started conversing amongst ourselves in Hindi and also at home since we were both in the same boat.So naturally we became friends in the then unknown world of a strange new language.

I guess this information about my background provides light as to why my lines are sprinkled with Hindi so much. Old habits die hard!

As the years passed we became close friends. And we had our 'firsts' together only, i.e. first drink, fag, porn etc. We called ourselves 'The kindered spirits'!

After our 10th boards, we genuinely had a difficult time coping with everything because we had gone on our separate ways after such a long time. We were so used to being together all the time that suddenly it started feeling scary to be on our own.

Dia had taken Humanities and had decided to stay on in loretto while I succumbing under family pressure took up commerce in La Martiniere for Girls.

But despite all our hectic schedule we managed to stay close.

Whenever there was a guy problem/heart aches/secret crushes, we told the other person first. We were like each other's 'secret keeper.'

But today after her phone call, I suddenly felt alone and bereft of my oldest friend....as if I was losing her for the second time... but this time managing to be in contact might prove to be more difficult.

Come Fall In Love WIth Me...

CHAPTER 3 :- Present Day

--------------------------------------------

It's now 6 years since I have left school. In the meanwhile, I have completed both my graduation and post graduation. I am currently working in an MNC with a reasonably good salary for the past few months.

At my work place my boss kind of sucks and the clients drives us up the wall. My female colleagues are bitchy while the male ones want personal favour in return for any kind of help they render. But I love my job inspite of all this since it gives me a sense of freedom and independence. I am the type of girl who likes planning for her own finances and investments. It gives me a sense of achievement to be able to see my money grow.

..............................................................................................

One evening when I came back home after a grueling day in office, I got a call from one of my closest friend Dia.

" Hey Dia! what's up? Long time ...huh?"

" Hey am doing fine. How are things at your end?"

"Fine"

"So when are you coming to kolkata for a visit? Ask those struck-up bosses of yours to give you a few days leave. Then we'll have a total Dhamal just like old times!"

"Am already in town dear. My mum called up a few days back and asked me to take leave for atleast 2 weeks"

" What??? When did you come? And how come you didn't call me and tell me earlier? Is everything OK at home?"

"Yes. Everything's fine. Mum just wanted me to come and check out a few potential guys for marriage thats all."

"Oh! Oh!Poor You...It must have been a really scary experience"

"Well to be honest, the idea about meeting guys had initially freaked me out...But the moment I met Deepak, I somehow felt this instant attraction. And he made me feel so comfortable when I was groping around for the right things to say....We ended up chatting for hours and we had the same kind of opinions in almost all the topics....it was like kismat connection ...you know?"

" Bitch! You are telling me all this now? How long has this rendezvous been going on?"

"Umm...for a week!"

"Kutti!Give me the minutest details of this guy OK?And remember you cant marry him unless I approve...Got that?"

"Arey baba....Thats why I called you. I want you to meet him this weekend.So keep yourself free"

"Sure. Now Shoot!"

"Well Deepak is an MCA from Gurgaon. He loves Sushi and Chinese food. He is currently working in Anubhav Technologies Ltd in Mumbai and has his own flat as well. He is the only son of his parents who live in Kolkata. His sister has married a doctor and living in Bangaluru presently. His salary is good and the feedback we received about him from some common friends has also turned out to be great."

"Hmm...So far he sounds just perfect! Does he dance?"

"Yes but he's not that great....Oops his call is in waiting....talk to ya later!"

"Arey wait..." The phone had hung up.

My mum comes from the kitchen with my masala chai and enquires who was calling.

"It was Dia. Looks like her marriage has been fixed...and she sounded smitten. She Couldn't finish the call though as her would be fiancé was calling up."

"Wow! Thats good news. I must call up Mrs. Sanyal and congratulate her", said my mother.

"But I am still in shock. It was so sudden. Am not sure how I am feeling about the entire thing," I complained to my mother.

My sister who can be quite a pest at times suddenly piped up, "Ma, don't you think it's high time we started thinking about getting Didi married off as well?"

I could have killed Anisha ( my sister) at that moment!

Come Fall In Love WIth Me...

Chapter 2:- Growing Up!

--------------------------------------

I was born and brought up here in Kolkata itself. So basically I have known most of the people I know, my entire life. And frankly at times its difficult to break out of molds cast by these people. What i mean is, I have to be this perfect girl in front of them when basically I am not really a saint.

I know! I know! Being a virgin at 24 is next to becoming a nun at this era but what I meant was that I like drinking when am out with friends. I fag from time to time and sometimes you can also find me in hookah bars. Its not like I am doing any kind of 'Paap' you know! But kaun samjaye is zalim duniya ko! Sigh! The only thing good about all this is that I have totally supportive parents who have thankfully managed to progress from their times to mine quite satisfactorily! Although like most mums, even my mom gets a wee bit paranoid at times but my dad's kinda cool!

Anyway so, during my entire school life the only thing which really fascinated me was dancing. I remember turning on the TV in the sultry afternoons during school breaks to practice the dance moves. I was never allowed to formally learn any dance form....thanks to my mum!

I was quite adept in sports, used to hate studying and was pretty much average in everything else! During my school life, my self confidence used to be at all time low for God knows what strange reasons. I was perpetually shy of even looking at boys!(but that could also be because I always studied in a girls school...thanks to my dad)

But as I moved on to college, I started transforming from an ugly duckling to a duck if not a swan! I became bolder, more sure of myself in various little ways even I had not thought possible.

For once in my life people actually started listening to me, instead of the other way round. I also started making a huge number of friends(from both sexes) which were startlingly absent during my initial years, when I had maximum 1 or 2 friends at a time.

I was definitely changing and even I could feel that inside me.

Come Fall In Love WIth Me...

PART I:- ADITI ROY

************************************************

CHAPTER 1:- Introducing Myself

-------------------------------------------------------

Hi! I am Aditi Roy. I am 24 years old. I am dusky with big eyes and am petite (Don't you dare call me little, chutki or anything which demeans my size!). My hair is curly but i prefer to call it wavy (I had heard that wavy hair signifies a true Bong beauty....whatever that means!) and no matter which hair product I try, I have never managed to resemble even remotely, the actresses or models from the glossy fashion magazines. I am a bit on the healthier side but definitely not fat...atleast thats what my friends tell me (except my dear little sister).

So In another 3 months I will become 25 but believe it or not I am still single! I have never had a boyfriend and I have never been kissed in my entire life. My cousins from US think that I am a bit of a joke to be single at 24. But what can I do??? It's not like that I have never tried to get a boy friend but somehow koi pasand hi nehi ata!

No thats not entirely true. I cant lie in my own story. Ok here's the real thing.... The guys I like either do not realise that i exist or they turn out to be full fledged psychos. On the other hand I seem to attract the attention of the biggest freaks on loser-ville!

Basically I am this ' gur dekha makhi jaise fit ho gaya kind of girl' for alluring in hordes the weirdest of the lot or the type of guys i totally seem to detest. Sadly these are the only guys who fall for me left, right and centre!

Hmm, I suppose it means am not too unpleasant to look at. Come on! I mean if I had been ugly none of these guys would have liked me right? Even weird guys have a pretty girl-radar in them! Not that I am pretty but quite passable by usual standards I believe.

Ok! What else do i need to tell you?

Oh yes, here are a few more stuff about me:-I like making plans but unfortunately hardly any of my plan materializes. But I keep making plans anyhow because it makes me feel I am in control. I am mostly practical. At times cynical too. But I can be plain crazy at times and a complete daredevil when am in the mood. I like helping people in general.

I am a big romantic at heart and I just read up anything which has the word 'LOVE' in it! Something which most people don't realize about me ever is that I am quite filmy by nature.

So essentially, I am sweet, happy go lucky types, a big believer of Karma, I like to be in control, romantic, sarcastic, lazy yet responsible, I get along with most people, am quite an optimist and filmy.

Ok, so enough about me for now. You all will get to know me quite well enough by the end of this story anyhow...so lets keep some things under wraps for the time being!

Brishti...

As i sit here on this chair overlooking the balcony in this sweltering heat.... am awaiting the much needed rain which has been due for quite sometime. I hope the rain brings with it the relief which i have been in search of for a while now....