My Girlfriend's Theplas and Other Stories by Shobhaa De

Author:Shobhaa De
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: S&S India
Published: 2020-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

A QUEST ENDS

I told my wife, ‘It’s okay… so what? I have you… you have me. I am happy in our small world. You also learn to be happy… we have everything! What’s missing?’ I should not have asked the last question at all! Because I already knew the answer. I could have bitten my tongue off, but the words were out! And Sushmita’s eyes overflowed with tears. So did mine. When my wife cried, I also cried. It has always been this way. Since the day we met six and a half years ago, on 5th September. I remember everything! My memory is good. Hers is super good!

Both of us work in banking. I never use the phrase, ‘We are bankers’ because that is incorrect and misleading. We were at one of those typical networking dinners at Oberoi Hotel, where everybody knows everybody, which can get too boring. She was with a fancy foreign bank, and I had stayed with my original Indian bank from which my father had retired, even though many foreign banks had offered me a job. My friend Atul, who is quite the Romeo, introduced us to each other and we clicked immediately. I thought Atul wanted to lagao a line himself. But maybe I was wrong.

I said to myself, ‘Good, smart girl. Not that flirty type, who drops her saree pallu and keeps talking ankhon ankhon mein to seniors — meaning, influential men who can further her career. I noticed men also didn’t take a ‘chance’ with her. She must have noticed some things about me, too, because she joined our small group at the dinner table and started chatting. She asked if I was going to attend next week’s ‘Banker of the Year’ Awards function, adding excitedly, ‘I hear the F.M. is coming to the event.’

Frankly, I had not been invited, but I said ‘Definitely!’ Through Atul, I managed an invite somehow. This is how we kept meeting and chatting. Soon our friends noticed our friendship and suggested we date. Why not? We went out a few times, here and there — coffee-shoffee, movies-popcorn, and then I proposed, after talking to my parents and disclosing all details — her salary, address, education, family background, community. My parents were satisfied. So were hers after meeting me at ‘Sea Lounge’, where we ate bhel and sandwiches. Our marriage was celebrated two months later, dhoom dhaam se, at Oberoi only — Regal Room. Lots of top bankers attended and gave good gifts. We had spared no expenses — achcha sa bar, multi-cuisine buffet, proper flower arrangements. And then — it was back to work! She in her bank, me in mine!

We both liked our jobs a lot. All our friends came from the same background, and we often travelled together — short trips, long trips. My wife and I enjoyed game parks and wildlife safaris. I had turned into a pretty good photographer, and had had a couple of exhibitions at good galleries. My website was

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.