“The prospective groom is 27 years old, 6ft. tall, very fair,
handsome, works in an MNC in Kolkata and earns a six figure salary. Wanted very
fair, slim, beautiful, cultured, professionally qualified, broad-minded,
working girl. Caste no bar.”
Kavita examined the ad in the Times
of India again. It was a fairly innocuous ad that appeared a dime a dozen in
the Classifieds’ section, especially on Sundays. She loved reading the ads.
They were an excellent pass-time on quiet Sunday afternoons, after her husband Kishore
was off to distant lands, dreaming during his customary siesta and her two
school-going daughters aged 8 and 10, Koyal and Kashish, were playing in the
parking space of their society, with other children staying in their society.
The hectic morning hours were spent on
preparing breakfast, lunch and then having an elaborate meal together, with the
kids fussing over the items that they didn’t like; and her husband instructing
her on errands to catch up later, like stitching a button on his favorite beige
shirt or ironing his kerchiefs besides his other clothes. Kavita would then
look forward to this solitary hour of me-time, spent on the plastic chair in
her balcony, surrounded by potted plants and quietly dripping clothes drying on
the lines above-head, with her favorite daily in her hand.
She didn’t quite relish the gory
stuff. The rapes, murders, cyber-crimes and the like. She also abhorred
politics and news about the shenanigans of party leaders and parties always trying
to be one up on the other, by vigorous mudslinging; reported in great detail by
the daily. Nor did she dig sports. She was somewhat interested in going over
the fashion section, the travelogues; and columns by the witty Twinkle Khanna
or congenial Ruskin Bond. After reading them up, she would eagerly scour the
Classifieds’ pages.
The keen interest that she showed in
reading each ad, word by word, at least twice; would make any reader of such
ads proud! One would think that she was a prospective bride, poring over
descriptions of often impossibly good-looking and accomplished grooms. 99% of
the grooms were tall, handsome and working in MNCs. She would smirk inwardly
and mutter to herself, “As if Amitabh Bachchan has split into several such suitors
like an amoeba splits into several clones!”
“For all we know, the groom could be
of average-height, buck-toothed and working in a kirana shop!” But of course, a groom is a groom. Being from the
deified male species, all his shortcomings could be glossed over to a
super-polished perfection till the brilliant dazzle obliterated everything,
except his gender, from the viewer’s eyes!
And of course, since each one was an
avatar of the Big B himself, no one less than Hema, Zeenat or Parveen would do
for him!
But then, a fair share of the blame
lay on the Mills and Boons novels that she had devoured as a teenager. The
heroes were always tall, dark and handsome. The heroines were always innocent,
charming, vulnerable and gorgeous! No wonder then, that she had wanted a
similar match for herself.
She had always fancied herself as the perfect M&B heroine as her friends always praised her good looks and svelte figure. Long, waist-length, dark hair, almond-shaped eyes, straight nose, round chin and rosy cheeks with an amiable disposition was a lethal combo! Anyone would flip for her, they would exhort! She wanted just one male epitome to do so, and soon, at that!
To be continued.....
The copyright of this story is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.
This story has also been published at www.penfactor.com.
