Marriage Plans

Marriage Plans

Here's a piece of Manveer's mind ......... a conversation that took place some years ago but is still very fresh in my mind, as if it had happened yesterday ........

Sitting in front of the television and just updating myself to the happenings of the programs aired after 8:00 pm every night (ok! I admit that I like watching those soaps with all the drama…..but only because I don’t want to be left out of the office conversations. I don’t know why but every gupshup session has to end up with the discussion of these soapy soap operas…. So you know don’t just strike out my name out of that intellectuals list out there because I am there, here, everywhere………. ;))

Now can we just get back to my viewing session? Although they are getting so few that I can actually count them on my finger tips.

Enough of my side tracking…………. I promise now I’ll just stick to what I wanted to share in the first place.  While I was viewing one of the said soaps, Manveer kept flipping across the screen. I felt he was doing this just to force me to switch  channels and watch something more natural and attuned to the normal human existence (this behavior is just like his father, I tell you ALL men are like that…… including the little brats as well).

But on closer look, I saw that he was just clicking away with his camera ….the one in his mobile phone (he recently got his first mobile that he can call all his ….actually it is my very old handset……. It still doesn’t have a sim card in it but that does not spoil his spirits at all.  You can say I am happy to hear thatJ).

He kept on clicking from all possible angles and of every possible object around in the room. Irritated by his constant flipping across and spoiling my premiere time, I shouted at him (actually shrieked is a better word), “what are you doing, Manveer? Get aside and let me watch my program…!”

The reply that I got was something like this.

“Mama, mein apne room ki photos kheench raha hoon, har angle se…..ke main kahan par souta tha, mera bed kahan par hota tha, aap kahan par soute the, side table par kya rakhte the….. main in sab ko apni memory ke saath-saath camera mein bhi store kar raha hoon, taaki jab main shaadi kar ke yahan se chala jaoonga toh mujhe yeh sab yahan ki yaad dilaayenga…... isliye…”. Manveer said all this very solemnly and he meant each and every word of his.

(Translation to English: Mama, I am clicking pics of our room from every angle …….. to record where I used to sleep, where my bed was, where your bed was, what we kept on the side table…….. I am storing them in my memory as well as my camera, so that when I leave this house after my marriage then I can go back to these and remember my childhood days…..)

I was stunned. So was Jatinder who just happened to walk in at that precise moment. Trying to keep a straight face, Jats asked, “Par tumhari shaadi mein toh abhi time hai naa…..vaise kab karoge tum shaadi?”

 (Translation: But there is lots of time before you can get married…...when would like to marry?)

Manveer said, “abhi nahin, jab mein bada ho jaoonga, 20 years ke baad…. .”

(Translation:  not right now…… after say 20 years, when I will be all grown up…….)

Jats said, “Tub tum kahan jaoge?” “Papa, mein bada ho kar bade ghar mein jaoonga naa…..fir jab mujhe yahan ki yaad aayegi toh mein in pictures ko dekh loonga aur mere bachaon ko dikhaoonga naa……..”

(Translation: Jats: where will you go when you grow up?

Manveer: I’ll go to a bigger house…. And if I miss this house then I will see these pictures and show them to my kids as well.)

Now this was too much for us to digest. We were doubling over with laughter, had to make humungous effort to control the peals of laughter so that he didn’t start feeling embarrassed and decides  not to share his thoughts.

“So whom will you marry? Do you know someone whom you would like to marry?” Jats decided to dig deeper into Manveer’s thinking.

“No Papa! Abhi toh kissi se bhi shaadi nahin kar paoonga; abhi toh sab friends hi hain na….!”Manveer said this with an all knowing expression on his face.

(Translation:  no Papa! Right now all of them are my friends and we don’t get married to friends… you know?)

“Agar friend se nahin toh kya tum enemy se shaadi karoge?” Jats was enjoying this conversation too much to let it go waste…….

(Translation: If not a friend, then will you get married to an enemy?)

“Nahin na…..shaadi toh ussi se karte hain na jisse hum pyaar karte hain….” This was Manveer’s sage but somewhat irritated reply. He had started fidgeting now and was uncomfortable of the entire cross questioning taking place.

(Translation: No….. we marry only that person whom we love …..)

I was following this conversation with lots of curiosity as I wanted to know what views Manveer has formed till now about life, love, marriage. Till today, we have never ever talked, joked or said anything about his marriage or his loving someone … or anything remotely related to this aspect of life. So I was curious as to how he is assimilating all the information from  his surroundings. No doubt he must be highly influenced by the movies, television etc. but how he is interpreting it all had to be unique to him.

This little dialogue between him and his father shed a whole lot of light on to how he sees the things around him and his take on such happenings. I must say I was relieved to hear that he does value LOVE above everything else. He has his heart in the right place…… so to say and I am really glad. Although I am not yet ready to let my guard down as to what reaches his ears and eyes; but I can at least heave a sigh of relief that he is gonna make choices based on love in his life.

Now what will become of friends and love……that is a  whole new chapter…… let us just wait and watch……… J

Here are pictures of your bed where you sleep these days: keepsake for you, dear!

watching tv from his bed......