An Even Wedding

He slipped his feet delicately into the designer wedding shoes. They sure made him feel like a king.

The cream-coloured, red-bordered luminous Manyavar on, and one last run through the carefully shampooed, gelled and combed hair to even out any strands – a scene straight out of a wedding dress ad – Ranjit is ready for his wedding.

No, he is not the Katyal, nor is his bride the beautiful spunky Amrita.

Ranjit Subramanyam –  that’s his name and you can certainly say he is the rank opposite of the Katyal.

But Rhea – his bride – is as spunky, willful and beautiful as the star.

They say opposite things attract and it held true for Ranjit.

The traditionally brought up South Indian MD of a software firm had fallen hook, line, sinker, boat and ocean et al  for the rookie software techie, Rhea.

So, did her partner at work, Sunil Rathod. (He preferred to call himself Sunny.)

The two competed for Rhea – one sensitively and the other aggressively.

Rhea, being from an army background, is too fond of punctuality, not to mention integrity.

For all his flaws of being serious with normal middle class looks and a bit rigid values, the one thing Ranjit Subramanyam had in abundance is punctuality and his integrity is what company legends were made up of.

Sunny lacked both. But he made up for the same with his unquestionable charm. It is said he could make an elephant kneel, convince an owl to sleep in the morning and can even make a govt official to work through lunchtime.

Rhea, being too smart and intelligent, chose the man she could trust – Ranjit.

However, under some conditions.

The marriage was to be neither a North nor a South Indian one – it had to be a simple Register marriage with only the parents and close friends in attendance.

Ranjit agreed instantly. It took a while for his parents to come to terms with it. After all, marriage is a big event in any family especially in this land.

So, here comes the D-Day. January 25^th, 2016. An even day.

For this purpose, he had specially brought a new car; designed its interior befitting a beautiful bride and made sure the car number was even.

He sent the family early, his brother even earlier, to take care of the arrangements and welcome Rhea’s family when they arrive from Chandigarh.

A last look in the mirror done, the groom was now ready to travel the 25 minutes’ distance from Vivek Vihar to the Registrar’s Office at Connaught Place.

He should be reaching 15 minutes early as per conservative estimates. Lots of time for necessary courtesies.

A smile, a bow to the family Gods at the door, looking solemn as the occasion demanded, he came out of the house.

As expected, it was chilly but sunny.

And, as unexpected, there was no car in the garage.

He looked again. Their other car, the one with the odd number plate, was sitting prettily in the garage with an evil smile.

The family had taken the new car!

Disbelief and then panic took hold of him.

Think Ranjit. Think. You are good at it.

But, no thinking would come handy now.

Akki – his brother – whose phone remained unreachable as usual, had taken the bike.

Even if he calls a taxi, he thought, it would take a minimum of half an hour for him to reach his destination.

He will be late for his own marriage.

And, this reminded him of Rhea’s warning – you come well before time; if you are late, I may just decide to marry Sunny.

He ran out, intending to run all the way to the Registrar’s Office, if necessary.

A car honked. The aunty in it, waved at him.

The face seemed familiar. And, the car was even-numbered.

He ran after the car – Didi didi – calling her Aunty would not do any good now.

The car stopped.

Didi, can you give me a lift?

She looked at him, in the groom’s attire and said, “Hop in”.

He got into the taxi gratefully. Rattled the address and the situation.

The car turned into a lane.

“Didi, is this a shortcut?”

“No, but I have to pick up my daughter, Manju, from school. It will take only a minute and then I will drop you.”

He nodded. After all, there’s ample time. 

A moment passed, a few more passed, still no sign of Manju.

Oh! They are having the Republic Day practice. Don’t worry; she will be coming out any time now. Didi tried to console him.

Sure enough, Manju came running, waving a chit.

“Mommy, we have to buy these urgently. Teacher Ma’am said there would be a trial show at 3.00. The chit contains the address from where they have to be bought. Hurry up Mamma – there’s not enough for all schools and Ma’am warned, I may not be allowed to perform if I don’t get these.”

A helpless shrug, Didi took the address and the car left to another lane.

Ranjit sat silently. There’s not even an auto in sight. He wanted to jump out and run fast to the Registrar’s Office.

“Don’t worry Ranjit, we will go, get the articles and I will drop you. It’s on the way and I know a shortcut.”

Ranjit again nodded.

They reached the shop. A crowd was hankering for the same articles required by the school.

Didi said, “Ranjit, with this saree I am wearing, and Manju in tow, I can’t get inside fast enough. Can you?”

By then, Ranjit stopped thinking.

The family’s mobile is unreachable. Rhea’s phone was switched off.

Chit in hand, he ran towards the shop.

“Please take the money,” Did shouted.

But Ranjit didn’t have any time to look back.

With a few excuse me’s and well-placed nudges and a wise use of the elbow, Ranjit was inside the shop.

Unlike his character, he screamed to get attention.

He did. The man albeit looked at his dress strangely.

He realized that many people were eying him curiously and he managed to get inside because the crowd made way for him.

Finally, bruised and scathed but victorious, he came out with everything in the list. He forgot to take the balance money owed to him, but it didn’t bother him right now.

His hair was in a total disarray with all the mob’s jostling. However, he had stopped caring.

All he wanted was to get inside the car, reach where he had to and get married.

Manju, in the front seat with two chocolates, and Didi at the steering wheel with a coffee cup in hand were waiting for him.

He slid inside the car, plonked Manju onto his lap and took the cup from Didi.

Didi started the car.

The car lurched. The coffee spilled on his Manyavar suit and a big blob of chocolate was stuck to his cheeks.

No strength was left in him to repair himself.

Suddenly his mobile rang – “Ranjit, where are you?”

 “You took my car!” He screamed.

“Yes.” The voice of his father sounded surprised. “But Sunil said he is going to bring you here. It’s supposed to be a secret and he asked us not to mention it to you. What happened to you? To him? There’s only ten minutes remaining.”

Shocked, he realized what had happened.

“He duped you, Dad.” He shouted.

The faithful phone decided to conk off.

His helpless look, the face nearly in tears told Didi all there is to know.

Gulp the coffee, boy. You are in for a ride now.

In five minutes flat, they were at the last signal. She started honking.

The police came, looked inside and asked, “Ma’am, why this hurry? Are you kidnapping him?”

“No. We are eloping. Let us go.” She winked.

The police with a smile waved them on.

In another two minutes, they were at the gate of the Registrar’s Office.

Three minutes left.

Sunil, aka Sunny, was sauntering inside the building.

He was neatly, in fact too neatly, dressed to be attending a simple wedding.

“Manju?” Ranjit whispered, “Would you do something I ask you to? Remember, it’s a once-only affair. You should not do it again.”

“Yes Uncle.” Her eyes gleamed as she heard the naughty scheme.

The car stopped. With Manju holding his hands, Ranjit ran inside.

Just as they were passing Sunny, the chocolate got rubbed and the coffee cup with its leftover contents got thrown on Sunny’s neat dress. He cried out aloud, a mixture of horror and disgust.

Ranjit’s mud/chocolate-tainted face, the wild hair and the coffee stain made an awkward spectacle.

The public stopped doing whatever they were and stared at him.

Ranjit was beyond caring.

The names of the groom and bride were being called out just at that moment.

He rushed inside. Smiled at a shocked Rhea.

“Is he the groom?” The Registrar asked her suspiciously.

“Yes. I am.” A loud, defiant Ranjit replied.

They signed the register and he put the garland around the bride’s neck.

Sunny recovered fast enough to take pictures of the couple and post them on Facebook.