This is no politics; this is pure love between two lovers. One is a boy, and the other is a girl; both are of marriageable age, and highly educated, having earned prestigious degrees from prestigious institutions in India. In India, both of them come from different states. The boy is from West Bengal and hence a Bengali, while the girl hails from Gujarat. But here is another twist. The girl’s parents are settled in Kerala and have a flourishing business in Ernakulam. They have constructed a four-floor building on the main road and have a fleet of four cars, the costliest of which is the recently acquired Mercedes- Benz. She was born in Trivandrum and can speak Malayalam fluently.
The boy completed his management degree in Kerala, and the two were in the same college; the girl was a year junior. The two did not know one another then.
But the burning question is: how do I come into the picture? The boy’s father has been my friend since my school days. My friend is a retired civil servant, while his wife retired from a banking job upon reaching superannuation age. The boy’s mother was more worried about her son not agreeing to tie the wedding knot. She often cried. My friend was not worried but said, “He will marry when the time is ripe for him,” and would laugh loudly.
LONDON POSTING
The boy, having jumped from one company to many others, was now in London, my friend informed me.
One day, I received a phone call from my friend: “Look, he has agreed to marry and will be marrying on” and told me the date. Congratulatory messages flowed from this side.
A few days later, my friend and his wife came, and handed over the wedding card and narrated the story.
LOVERS MEET
The boy was in London then, and as it happens, he went to France on Christmas Eve. The two met accidentally one fine morning while having breakfast in a café, where all the tables were full. Only one table was left, and there sat this Indian girl with a hot cup of coffee. The boy found only this table with a solitary occupant, and that too seemed to be an Indian, and so thrust himself there, pulling a chair. He thought this was a safe place. Having seen her, his mind raced with the thought that he had seen her somewhere. To quench his thoughts, he asked, “Are you an Indian?” She nodded.
“I believe I have seen you in Kerala. Were you a student in” and before he could complete his sentence, she blurted out, “Yes. I was a year junior to you.” She recognised him.
The two met often, and their intimacy deepened. They decided to get married now.
My wife and I attended the reception. My friend held the reception in a five-star hotel. I met the girl there. She was a sweet little girl, very smart and intelligent.
I call this international love! Ha, ha, ha