Rutu
She heard the TV as she came in. Suddenly, Ayaan's voice yelled, "What is 'Moby Dick'!"
Smiling, she glanced at the clock in the microwave oven as she put away the groceries - 7:38 p.m. Of course. Jeopardy was on. "This is what happens when you marry an IITian", she thought to herself, "you catch him talking to the TV, pretending to be on nerdy quiz shows instead of helping his wife out with the groceries!" It was, she admitted to herself, one of the most endearing things about Ayaan - this magical quality of his of transforming, at unexpected times, from the serious Chief Technical Officer of a multi-million dollar firm into a little boy. Like when she caught him practicing that perfect leg-spin in the garage as he waited for her, or when he was singing passionately as he cut onions "Pag ghunghroo baandh Meera nachi thi nachi thi NACHI THI!"
"What is 'Pride and Prejudice'!"
She walked into the living room. She nuzzled into the nook between his arm and the sofa cushion, as he distractedly patted her head in welcome. She looked at the clue he had guessed the answer to: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." The category was "Famous First Lines". She smiled to herself again, thinking of how similar Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice was to her own Aunt Tina, who had well-meaningly, if a little crudely, spoken about Ayaan as "a single man in possession of good fortune" four years ago to her parents, urging them to consider him a good match for Rutu. "So what if he's Muslim? Nowadays it's all okay...he is a wonderful boy. Very successful. And so handsome!" Indeed. Without Auntie, she would have found it very hard to convince her parents that she had made the right choice in agreeing to marry Ayaan.
Now she glanced at this handsome nerd and felt that she was the one who'd ended up possessing the real "good fortune". A frown crossed his face as he mumbled "Arre yaar...I know this one..which is this one yaar Rutu?"
She looked at the screen: "What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?"
"Love Story" she said immediately, and immediately felt like crying. For it had made her recall another time, another love story, another way in which she had been profoundly blessed with "good fortune". She snuggled against his chest as he looked at her, immediately sensing the change in her mood and providing the only thing he could to fill that void. His silent embrace.
To be continued...
Smiling, she glanced at the clock in the microwave oven as she put away the groceries - 7:38 p.m. Of course. Jeopardy was on. "This is what happens when you marry an IITian", she thought to herself, "you catch him talking to the TV, pretending to be on nerdy quiz shows instead of helping his wife out with the groceries!" It was, she admitted to herself, one of the most endearing things about Ayaan - this magical quality of his of transforming, at unexpected times, from the serious Chief Technical Officer of a multi-million dollar firm into a little boy. Like when she caught him practicing that perfect leg-spin in the garage as he waited for her, or when he was singing passionately as he cut onions "Pag ghunghroo baandh Meera nachi thi nachi thi NACHI THI!"
"What is 'Pride and Prejudice'!"
She walked into the living room. She nuzzled into the nook between his arm and the sofa cushion, as he distractedly patted her head in welcome. She looked at the clue he had guessed the answer to: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." The category was "Famous First Lines". She smiled to herself again, thinking of how similar Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice was to her own Aunt Tina, who had well-meaningly, if a little crudely, spoken about Ayaan as "a single man in possession of good fortune" four years ago to her parents, urging them to consider him a good match for Rutu. "So what if he's Muslim? Nowadays it's all okay...he is a wonderful boy. Very successful. And so handsome!" Indeed. Without Auntie, she would have found it very hard to convince her parents that she had made the right choice in agreeing to marry Ayaan.
Now she glanced at this handsome nerd and felt that she was the one who'd ended up possessing the real "good fortune". A frown crossed his face as he mumbled "Arre yaar...I know this one..which is this one yaar Rutu?"
She looked at the screen: "What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?"
"Love Story" she said immediately, and immediately felt like crying. For it had made her recall another time, another love story, another way in which she had been profoundly blessed with "good fortune". She snuggled against his chest as he looked at her, immediately sensing the change in her mood and providing the only thing he could to fill that void. His silent embrace.
To be continued...
posted by RTD2 at 9:18 PM
6 Comments:
the past couple of posts belie your claim to being a cynic:)..
just finished watching 'the pianist'and then this.. amazing post! and being the total zero on books, i was happy i guessed 'love story'.. :D
I'm all "eyes" to read part 2 :)
Frissko - Haha! I hope you're right! (Is that cynical?)
Zeppelin - thanks man! Yeah, it's hard to escape this book, even if you're not into reading..that's why I picked it.
Jyo bo! Feast your eyes!
Nice start, can't wait for the story to develop.
Coincidentally, there was an article today in MSN about how to marry rich :-) (not exactly the state of the Rutu character, but I thought I'd mention)
And hey, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's son would be flattered :-)
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