Arranged Love: An Indian Boy's Search in Amrika To Find A Suitable Girl

by Ajay Patel

  “Do you feel like now that you’re older, you know better, that you’re looking for something different?” Vijay asked, wondering why the decision to not get married had been a good one for her.

  She thought about the question silently for a moment, stealing a glance at the ocean. “I think so. It’s a little scary sometimes though, because you sit and wonder whether what you’re looking for has changed because you know better now, or because you’re just settling,” she said. “But for me, I know better now, especially after what I went through with him!”

  “Sounds like he must have really been the wrong guy,” Vijay said.

  “He was and he wasn’t. When I met him, I liked him. But whether I loved him, I honestly couldn’t tell you. But love is confusing, and when you try to tell your parents that, they tell you it’s natural to have doubts and that it all works out once you get married. That’s where I was headed until a week before the wedding,” Mona said.

  “What? It got broken off that late? After the invites were out and everything?” Vijay asked incredulously, although he remembered the story Rocky had told him years ago.

  “Let me tell you,” Mona said with a sad laugh, “Our relatives had already flown in from out of the country for this wedding, it was that late.”

  “So, who broke it off?” Vijay asked.

  “I did,” Mona said quietly. “It turned out that he was already in love with someone else.”

  Surprised, Vijay stopped and looked at her. This was a part of the story he hadn’t heard before. “And you found out a week before the wedding?” he paused once more. “You really lucked out.”

  “Thanks,” Mona said sincerely. “Most of the times when I tell people what happened, they say they’re sorry. But I feel like you. I was lucky not to end up with him.”

  “But wait a second!” Vijay said. “How did you ever find out he was in love with someone else? Especially a week before the wedding!”

  Mona closed her eyes as she brought back the memories of that fateful day. “I remember I had gotten this letter from a Sangita Kapadia just a week before the wedding,” Mona said. “She wrote that she should be marrying Jayesh, not me. That he really loved her, and had even bought her an engagement ring and proposed to her before his parents said that they didn’t like her. He gave me Sangita’s ring when he proposed to me, if you can believe that!”

  “That’s incredible!” Vijay exclaimed. “What did Jayesh have to say about all of this?” Vijay asked.

  “I confronted him and he told me that she was the girl he was going out with just before he was introduced to me. He admitted it was serious. That he cared for her. Loved her. Loved he said. No more though, he assured me. Then he said that he knew with time he would learn to love me as much as he loved her.”

  “He said he could learn to love you!?” Vijay asked.

  “Can you believe it!” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I sat there on the bench, and then the whole absurdity of it all just struck me. I realized that love shouldn’t be something that has to be learned or taught. It may be difficult to find, but it’s also the easiest thing when it’s right. But even still, for a moment, I was thinking, the wedding still could go on. It had to,” said Mona, having stopped and just staring out at the waves, transfixed at their mixture of sun sparkle, foam, and churned up green blue water.

  The power of the moment, the day, their proximity, was all too intoxicating. It was almost as if the conversation had to come out, and they were both just vehicles for the story.

  “I left Jayesh, not sure what to do, and went home. I remember that day so vividly. My mom, who like any mom, was the most excited about the wedding. She was definitely one of the most important reasons why I kept thinking I could make this still work. Otherwise, what would people think?” Mona sniffled a little, the emotions of that long

  past day started to flood back.

  “And then?” Vijay asked almost unconsciously.

  “I remember that I was in my room crying as softly as I could, and I guess she had heard me. She always tells me that there are certain things, no matter how quiet, a mother is trained to hear,” she said with a laugh and another sniffle. “She asked me what was wrong and at first I didn’t want to say anything, but it eventually came out. And Vijay, at that moment, I truly realized how much my parents loved me even though they never say it out loud every day. I thought she would have been practical and sensible, the whole business of “it’s too late now, you make the best of the situation” mentality. But can I tell you, when I told my mom what had happened, it was as if there was no debate even necessary. She made the decision that I felt like I knew I wanted to make, but never thought I would have the courage to do. She just stood up, looked at me, reached over me in bed, stroking my hair, and simply said, ‘of course you aren’t going to marry him.’“

  They had arrived back at the hotel and sat on two chairs by the pool. “That’s quite a story,” Vijay said. Two hotel employees were bustling around them setting up lounge chairs in preparation for the day they had already started close to an hour ago.

  “Well, it really is amazing how that one event has so shaped my life. After all of that, I just decided that I needed to take care of myself, and it’s at that moment that I truly felt like my life had begun. The next fall I enrolled in fashion school, quit my job, and eventually moved to New York City away from family and friends. I started a whole new life, and it’s been so amazing. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been! So finding someone is not really something I want to do right now, even though my parents keep insisting that I’ve got to get back on that horse again,” she paused for a moment to collect herself. “I just don’t want to miss out on any of the great new things happening to me right now so I’m just kinda doing the minimum to keep them happy, like going to this convention,” she paused for a moment to look at the horizon again, almost as if all these great things that would come in her life would be like the sun, emerging from the ocean. “But what about you? How’s your timing?”

  “My timing’s good, but I don’t seem to see anyone that’s interesting, let alone interested,” Vijay replied.

  “Oh come on! I’ve seen you and all those women tagging along. You might have all you desire right next to you and not even realize it,” Mona said.

  Vijay sat there for a moment and thought back over the weekend so far. He then admitted, although not quite sure why, “You may be right.” Not ready to pursue that thought any further, he changed the subject again, “So do you know if Jayesh and Sangita ever end up getting married?”

  “I don’t know. The only other contact I ever had was writing a letter back to Sangita thanking her for saving me from making the biggest mistake in my life,” she then laughed to herself as she recollected a memory. “You know, I even sent her the ring. I figured, it really was meant for her. She should have it!”

  “That sounds like a fitting end to that story!” Vijay said with a smile.

  Mona smiled back, sighed, and then said, “I haven’t told anyone my story out loud in a really long time. It always feels good when I do, kinda forces me to realize how lucky I am. Thanks for listening,” she said with a sincere smile.

  “What are friends for,” he replied. She hugged him and said good bye. As she walked away, Vijay continued to stare at her, not quite sure what he thought of her.

  After leaving Mona, Vijay quickly raced to the hotel to meet his parents and have breakfast. It was close to nine in the morning and he had promised to give them the daily status report. He thought it amusing that his parents made the big trip to come over, but he only really ever saw them for breakfasts. He hadn’t met them the night before as they had left to visit relatives who lived nearby. Vijay entered the room with his shorts and his baseball hat on. He located his parents and walked over towards them.

  “Vijay,” his father shook his head unhappily looking at him. “How do you suppose anyone is going to want to meet you when you come in the room looking like this? Peo
ple will think that you don’t even know how to take a shower!”

  His mother ignored his appearance, perhaps thinking it was a lost cause by now, and told him to sit down offering him some breakfast and chai that they had brought to the table.

  “So. Any progress?” His father asked the standard question no sooner than after Vijay had taken his first bite out of a doughnut. “There are a lot of girls here. Have you found anyone you like?”

  “I’m looking. Believe me, I’m looking. Even though there are a lot of girls here, when you break it down, it’s a lot fewer than you’d think.”

  “What do you mean?” his father asked.

  “A lot of them are too young, still in school. Then many of the ones that are older don’t have a good job or education,” Vijay pushed his father’s buttons.

  “Well, try to meet as many girls as you can. That’s all you can do,” he said resignedly, not having anything to counter the very same principles he had counseled Vijay on numerous times before. “You never know. There may be some new people today, so keep your eyes open,” his father counseled.

  Vijay’s mother countered with existing inventory by hinting, “Or better yet, you know that we are still liking Megha.” Evidently, they had run into Megha earlier and continued to be high on her.

  “I know,” Vijay said. He recalled again how well her visit had been to their house when she had come to see him in California. “But let’s keep looking, okay? How was the visit with the relatives?”

  “Oh you know them. They all told us that they have been saving their vacations so that they can go to your wedding when the time comes. They were just wondering how many years they were going to have to wait before they could take time off,” his father laughed.

  “Boy, now I have every relative’s vacation plans on my shoulders too! What pressure!” Vijay groaned.

  “Just think though,” his mother said, “when it happens, what bottled up fun we will be releasing!”

  “I can’t wait,” Vijay said, as he left. He really couldn’t.

  Vijay went back to the room after breakfast. Rocky had already awoken and was now resting on a lounge chair on their balcony with his eyes closed, listening to the ocean.

  “Hey. How’re you feeling?” Vijay joined him, sitting on another chair.

  “I’m fine. Thanks to you, the aspirin, the water, and a visit to the porcelain god on my knees early this morning,” Rocky said.

  “That reminds me. If I ever want to meet any women at a party, you are so not on my list of people to be with!” Vijay said, grinning.

  “I know. All the honeys take one look at me, and don’t even bother looking at my friends,” Rocky said with a smile, keeping his eyes closed while he soaked in the sun.

  “No, I don’t think that’s why I wouldn’t want you around,” Vijay laughed. “I think it’s more that you can’t hold your liquor and then become an embarrassing spectacle!”

  “Was I that bad?” Rocky looked at Vijay apologetically, opening his eyes. “I don’t remember much from yesterday, and for more reasons than one, I think that’s a good thing for me right now.”

  Vijay looked at him and asked quietly, “So, are you feeling a little better?”

  “Yeah, I think so. I don’t know why,” Rocky said.

  “Maybe it’s because Megha and her friend Komal kept you entertained and out of trouble most of the evening.”

  “I know. Actually, they were pretty nice to me. So that was Megha, huh? You guys look good together,” Rocky said.

  “Please! We only looked good because we were taking care of you and Komal all evening!” Vijay laughed. “But hey! What about you and Komal? You guys looked like a pretty compatible drunk couple!”

  “Stop it!” laughed Rocky, but then he followed it with an even more drawn out “Get outta here!”

  Vijay’s ears perked. The last sentence struck a chord in him. To verify, Vijay decided to bait the hook. “Yeah, Megha even told me that Komal thought you were kinda cute.”

  “Really?” Rocky turned around quickly with unmasked interest.

  Bingo, thought Vijay. “No, I was just joking! But I’ll definitely have to let Megha know about how you have the hots for Komal!”

  “Fine,” Rocky said lamely, realizing he may have played his hand to openly, “Go ahead. I don’t care. Besides, Komal is probably engaged or something anyways, knowing my luck.”

  “Actually, she’s still on the market,” Vijay said. “It’s just a shame that you aren’t even interested.”

  Rocky seemed torn as to how to respond, not comfortable revealing his true feelings, partly because he didn’t want to and partly because his feelings were based on a drunken haze. “I didn’t say that! Geez, I don’t know what to say!” Rocky was flustered having fallen into Vijay’s trap. I met her when I was so sloshed, for all I know, the person I’m thinking about may not even be her! Do you think we can hang out with them today?”

  “Sorry,” Vijay said, as he headed to the bathroom to take a shower. “I really don’t see any point to it.”

  “Why?” Rocky asked. “Do you think now that I’m sober I won’t like her?”

  “No! I’m thinking now that she’s sober, she’s not going to like you!” Vijay laughed and went back into the room. As he stepped into the shower, he thought to himself how funny it was that one night’s misery could lead to the next day’s hope.

  Close to noon, Vijay found himself sitting on the aisle seat of the shuttle with Rocky beside him as they headed back to the convention center for what seemed like the hundredth time. There had been no events planned for that morning and they were going just for lunch. He looked at the other passengers. Two straight nights of partying and late night carousing had begun to show its effects. Those with hangovers either had their eyes shut or sunglasses on to cover the strain of being upright and awake. Those certain few who appeared to have shown no signs of wear were sitting next to their parents, obviously either not permitted to engage in the night time activities that the others had participated in or simply not interested in doing so.

  “This convention sure is a marathon of partying, isn’t it?” Vijay groaned tiredly.

  “Remember? I told you it would be like this,” Rocky said.

  “I know. But even still. I feel like it gets old after a while. Everyone just walking around trying to work up the nerve to meet people,” Vijay said with a sigh.

  “Yeah. But this is the last day,” Rocky said with emphasis.

  “So? Does that really change anything?”

  “Definitely. It the Midnight Scramble. Up to now, everyone has been busy checking each other out. But come tonight, as things are starting to wind down, people will start to scramble to meet people, knowing that the time they could be together may almost be over,” Rocky said.

  “It sounds like a massive ‘let me just settle’ fest,” Vijay said. “Everyone basically figures they can’t get who they want, so they meet the next available person.”

  “It’s not that bad. You have to realize, most of these people are playing games and all that stuff because in reality they’re just too nervous to make their moves. Nothing like the last night of a convention to work up your courage and make the first contact with that woman or guy you’ve had your eye on the whole time,” Rocky explained. They had arrived and got off the bus. Perhaps, Vijay thought, this last day could still prove fruitful despite the fact that the other days up to now had not.

  They entered into the Hoover Room and waited in line again for more food. Today the fare involved pizza from a local Italian restaurant. Evidently, the organizers realized that the younger generation was not as open to Indian food for every meal as were the parents. No sooner had they put a couple of slices of pizza on their plates that Rocky had spotted Komal and Megha sitting at a table in the far corner of the room. Evidently, there would be no discussion as to whether they would join them or not because Rocky had already started to make his way towards them. It was somewhat comical for Vijay. A
rmed with the fact that he knew of Rocky’s interest, he could tell Rocky was making a beeline to their table. However, to the unsuspecting, including Komal and Megha, he looked to be searching for a table and phantom friends and was pleasantly surprised to have run into them instead.

  “Can we join you ladies for lunch?” Rocky asked before Vijay could even catch up.

  “Of course you can,” Megha replied with a smile which, to Vijay, suggested that Rocky and Vijay had been a subject of discussion between them before they had even arrived. “After all,” she said, “this is the last lunch.”

  After eating for a while, Vijay said, “I was just thinking. Tomorrow I’ll get to see the outside world again. It seems like I’ve been trapped in some isolated bubble with the same people.”

  “Well, the bubble,” Megha said with a laugh, “is actually pretty big when you think about it. Look at all the people who are here, and this is just the people our age.”

  “That’s what my parents keep saying. But even though it might seem like a lot of people on paper, after meeting them, it sure feels like a lot less,” Vijay answered.

  “You said it!” Rocky agreed, pulling out sheets of paper from his pocket.

  “What’s that?” Megha asked him.

  “This is the list of attendees they gave to us with our badges when we first arrived. Let’s see if we know most of the people listed now after having been here for four days at the convention,” Rocky said, straightening out the sheets.

  “I can’t believe you’ve been carrying that with you! You’ve been checking out badges all weekend haven’t you?” Vijay chided him.