The tortuous route that bisected the mountain massif didn't exactly help his nerves. He stared blankly out the rusty bus window at the lush green trees pass by. The unmatched splendor of the Sahyadri ranges that disappeared into the horizon nested against an unperturbed blue sky did nothing to comfort him. The beauty of the landscape felt jarring to him. The late morning breeze that hit his face felt uncomfortable. He felt queasy.
She didn't say a word. She held his arm tight and rested her head on his shoulder. She understood. She was nervous herself. Thoughts raced in her head, as they always tended to. How would the rest of the day go? How would they react? What would it all culminate in? She tried to clear her head. Bending down, she extracted a little Frooti carton from her backpack and waved it at him inquiringly. He shook his head.
She recounted in her mind all the events that had transpired over the last two years. Within that short span, their relationship had endured an elaborate arc traversing from their eyes first meeting, to the initial infatuation period, to the enlightenment of love, to long distance dating, to painful separation, to patching back up, and to finally deciding to commit to each other in marriage. His parents had agreed for the most part, but they thought he was too young and not ready to get married as yet. On the other hand, her parents had not agreed at all, but thought she getting older and was on the verge of entering the desi-girl-unmarriageable-age-bracket and had to be found a suitor within the community (i.e. not him). They were both the exact same age, by the way.
Teetering down the meandering ghat section, the bus finally made its descent onto the low elevation plateau. She felt a slight sense of comfort as the bus entered the small town she had grown up in. For him though, this was the first time in the region. Normally he would have been taking in the surroundings cerebrally by observing the streets and shops and asking questions. Not today though. He was too keyed up. She thought he might feel better if she chatted with him about her city, so she began jabbering. He pretended to listen.
The bus pulled into the bus stand and rolled to a stop. Debarking with their two backpacks, they walked through the noisy bus stand and exited into the busy street. She had stopped jabbering by now, and was lost in thought. What would her dad say? She knew her mom sympathized. Deep down she knew her dad did too. She understood that it wasn’t them. It was societal pressure. Relatives. Neighbors. But she wasn’t going to knuckle under all that. She was a fighter. She had always been.
As they maneuvered past a pack of haphazardly parked two-wheelers, he felt a dozen pairs of eyes on him. He looked around. Not a single familiar face. Yet, he felt watched. He felt they were both being watched. He immediately understood the importance of being formally committed. She had harped on this subject one too many times. That was exactly what this whole plan was about. His trip from the US. This idea to go and meet her parents. That was the proper thing to do. Right. Still and all, would he walk away with a yes? Or would this be the end of it all? Was this all worth it? But then again, what other choice did they have? He felt a single bead of sweat trickle down his forehead. Positive thoughts!, he told himself.
A hasty auto-rikshaw dangerously careened around the corner as they both made their way toward her childhood home. After being momentarily startled, she went back to her thoughts. The circumstances as they stood at the time hadn't just come by. She had fought for the situation to be the way it was. And she was ready to keep fighting. She was certainly glad that his parents had agreed so willingly. Imagine if they hadn't! With his family on board, it felt like half the battle had been won, like they had some conditional warrant in their back pockets. And she was grateful for this. Then she began thinking about her grandfather. Him being the head of the household, a lot depended on his disposition.
After about 30 minutes of walking they reached a busy intersection with railroad tracks. She told him they were now really close. His collywobbles began intensifying. Suddenly, he heard a motorcycle approach behind him...
