A College Love Story - Part 11

http://www.indusladies.com/forums/stories-fiction/179496-college-love-story-part-10-a.html
She went with her uncle to the paddy fields at around four. They hopped on to the tractor and took off. Their paddy fields were a little away from the house, so it was a ten minute drive, wobbling all the way in the tractor. They got there to see the farm helpers working in the field. Varsha wanted to join in the work, so her uncle got her a rustic hat, which is made from the palm leaf, worn by farm workers in the villages, and she got started. She got very muddy in the process, but enjoyed herself thoroughly.

They returned late evening. Her parents were waiting for her. “Thatha (grandpa) wants to talk to you, let us go to their room,” said her mother. She was a little confused at this, but followed her mother to her grandparents’ room anyway. “Varsha, come here, maga,” said her grandfather, patting the bed. Varsha went and sat on the bed, next to her grandparents. Her Thatha put his arm around her shoulders. He was silent for a while. Varsha could sense the tension in the room. She asked, “What happened Thatha, is everything alright, is there some problem?” Thatha smiled at the little child’s concern, and said, “No maga, there is no problem. Your parents, Ajji and I, want to discuss something with you.

We know that you are a smart and intelligent child. We want you to study further, and do well academically. At the same time, we are old people; you can call us old-fashioned if you want. We also want to see you happy in your life. For that, we think a marriage is essential.” A shocked Varsha turned to look at her parents, who had looked very serious. In fact, her father looked positively angry. “Let me finish talking maga, then you can react.” Thatha said, sensing that she was going to burst out. “We all love you very much; we also know that you are still a child. We are dead against your marriage until you are at least 24 or 25.” He idled again, hesitating to bring up the topic. Ajji, the practical one, spoke up now. “Maga, there is a marriage proposal for you. It is a good one; the boy is from a good family, well to do, and in a respected profession. I matched both your horoscopes, and it is a good match. We will not consider it until we have your full consent and happiness. Again, we will take things slowly. You take all the time you need to give your reply, only then will we even think about it. Until then, we will not broach the topic.”

Thatha added, “If you are for it, then we will conduct an engagement, and you get married only after you finish your masters, and have worked for a few years. As I said, not till you are 24-25.” Now her father spoke, for the first time. “Varsha, neither your mother nor I am very interested in this. However, we all agree that as an adult, you have the right to have a say in your marriage. So we are presenting this case to you, be rest assured if you say no, your mother and I will only be happy.” He added with a frown. Thatha said, “What your father means is, and we all agree with him, you are still young, and if you choose to take your time and consider proposals only once you have finished your education, we all will be fine with it.” Her mother said, “Yes, take your time, and think it over. We will talk about this only when you are ready.” Ajji added, “We have told them to wait, we said we will discuss it with you, and give them a reply in a few weeks. If you need to take some more time to think, we will tell them accordingly. This is a good proposal; we may not find something like this later. I also feel that you will like the boy. So for now, try to think with a calm mind, discuss with us if you want to, else think it over on your own, and we will talk about this later. Now let us go for dinner.” Saying this, Ajji stood up, and the others followed her lead. They all made their way to the dining hall.

Varsha was in a state of shock. This was so unexpected, she had never even dreamt about her marriage. She was still thinking about college, her friends, and her little world. Now that her parents and grandparents had brought this topic up, she was unable to think of anything else. After dinner, she went to the terrace to mull things over. The cool night breeze helped her relax a little. What would happen if she said yes now, she would be engaged to this person. Would that mean she would not be able to go out with her friends on trips? She was quite close to Harish and Vineeth. And she was very fond of Madhav sir. What about that? Would her fiancé have a problem with that? What would it be like to be married? She spent a very long time in thinking of the pros and cons. She took a while, and came upon her decision.

Having decided, she went downstairs, only to find the house in pitch darkness. She checked the time; it was 1 o’clock in the night. She didn’t realise that she had got so carried away in her thoughts. The whole family was asleep. She decided to talk to her parents and grandparents in the morning. She found it difficult to go to sleep. After a few hours of disturbed sleep, she woke up with the rest of the family, and sought out her mother. “Amma, I want to talk to all of you. Can we meet Ajji and Thatha also? And please ask Appa to come.” Soon, her parents and grandparents gathered in Ajji’s room. Without much preamble, Varsha said, “Amma Appa, Ajji Thatha, I will consider this proposal. For now, I would like to meet him, and interact with him, and see if we have anything in common. Then I need to know some other things, like my education, my friends, and my life in general. I also don’t want my independence to be affected in anyway.

I would like to complete my studies before getting engaged. I need to know this person well before I can say that I want to marry him, right?” she said. Her mother said, “Alright, if this is what you want. We will ask him to contact you via email first. Once you are comfortable, you can start talking over the phone, and you can meet him later.” Her grandfather was very happy. “Good decision, maga, I am sure you will be happy.” Ajji smiled at her proudly, “Smart of you to postpone the engagement too, Varsha, that is an intelligent choice.” Her father said, “Well, I suppose that is a better option than just getting engaged. Alright, Athey (mother-in-law), Mava (father-in-law), I will send this message across to my father as well. Let us hope he will add his wisdom to this.” Thatha said confidently, “Ranga will surely agree, he will see the good in this.”

Therefore, they decided to go ahead with the first few steps of the courtship. Varsha gave her grandmother her email id, and waited for the first email to come. She had to wait to get back home, as her grandparents did not have a computer yet, in spite of her cousins clamouring for one. She waited patiently for her trip to end, and tried to enjoy the rest of her stay there. It was difficult, as she was slowly getting excited, and couldn’t wait to get home, and start chatting with the groom her family had suggested.

 

Thanks Vasu. Yesterday I was little busy, I was unable to post. Even today morning I was busy, so I posted it now thanks for the first fb!

As for the story, ya, for now it is in a suspended animation, let us see how it goes from here! keep reading and commenting.

 

Thanks, keep reading

 

Thank you Lalitha Akka please keep reading.

 

Thank you