Love amidst Caste

Rahul: Maa, I wanted to talk to you about something, by the way, what do you think about Neha?
Mom : ??!! well, She is nice, good looking, smart, adjusts with everyone.....
Rahul : Maa.. I.. I love her and I want to marry her.. what do you say?
Mom : What?!? our community will never accept her, what do i say to our relatives.. what would our neighbors think about us.. how could you do this to me.. Have you talked about it with your father?  All these years we take care of your every wish and this is what you do to us in the end?

Many of my friends have gone through the trauma where you are compelled to choose your parents or the one you love. If you gamble for the reason behind it, im sure most of them hit the same result - Caste.

Who on earth introduced this caste system? Who is to be blamed? Parents - for not budging from their track  for their own son/daughter's happiness? or us - who disobey to follow the traditional path? or the Society?. Is this caste system doing any good? If not why do we still hold on to it?... The moment i ponder over these questions, it puts me in deep chaotic musings.

Going back to history, Caste system evolved based on the type of work done by the individual. This led to the rise of thousands of traditions all across India diversifying the nation. Hundreds of languages, thousands of dialects evolved. We proudly declare India as a nation of diversity. With that said, think about the complexity it brought.. its limitless. Each religion split to various caste then sub-caste then sub-sub caste.. the list never ends. oh well, that's just for a region! Different region had their own customs and traditions, yet again caste-sub-caste list grew.. phew!

Find a partner of your own religion, your own sub-sub-caste.. marry the person with whom your kundalis match and lead a happy life. If you change the track and love someone, understand that person and then wed, you are a spoilt brat! Well, Im not criticizing arranged marriage here - Its a very good system followed from ages. There might be scientific reasons for the kundali match. No offense. But just don't close the door on its counterpart.

Today, one of my friend was explaining about her recent endeavor to convince her parents. Its the moment you talk about your love, turmoil starts. You will be the target for various emotional blackmails - why did you do this? If you had loved someone of our caste .... well i mean sub-caste we would have still agreed. How could you expect us to accept. What would our relatives talk about us?.....

They blame us for not respecting their views and we blame them for not heeding to our emotions, for not understanding us. This blame-game never ends.

Great love stories are dead - Some more perish - yet many more blossom.... There is however one advice for everyone, no matter what situation you are in, never lose hope, Face it, it is always less lethal than imagined!.. have patience, im sure you will find some way out.

Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope. Sometimes we cry with everything except tears. In the end that's all there is: love and its duty, sorrow and its truth. In the end that's all we have - to hold on tight until the dawn.

Dream on fire

The door bell rings, she hesitates to answer for its her favorite TV show..

"Maaaa..." she calls out.. hoping she would help her... "oh crap! she has gone for a kitty party". Cursing the person for the wrong timing and not wanting to miss a dialog from the serial, she quickly opens the door..

"Hiiii.. " he says in an exaggerated tone. He is all excited, his left hand is making deliberate effort to hide something. she tries to ignore it.
"Hiii, how come you are early today? No class?" she asks
"Nope, I had some work so came early" he lies, a faint smile decorates her face and he is again swept away.
"What work?" she inquires
His mind goes blank, "damn!" he curse himself for not being prepared for these kind of investigations.. "err, I had this work, you know, i had to purchase something for my mom. err.. no.. sister!"  he blabbers.
"A miserable lier" she smiles inwardly.

"pyar kiya toh darna kya, jab pyar kiya toh darna kya.. pyar kiya koi chori nahi ki, pyar kiyaaaaaa...."

"Sometimes, TV understands my feelings better" he mumbles.
"where's aunty?" his fingers crossed,
"she has gone for a kitty party" she replies her eyes still fixed onto the TV.
"Morning visit to the temple worked!!" he thanks God again for his invaluable support. One of the hurdle is clear, however the big one is still awaiting... Her reaction!
Contemplating various probabilities, he finally decides to give his best shot.
"Priya..." he calls out, her eyes meet his...

that's it, butterflies flutter in his stomach, heart's racing out of proportion, throat chokes, tiny water droplets appear on the forehead.....
mustering all his strength, he kneels down in front of her with his hand held open..

"I might not have your favorite flowers now, may not even have your favorite song in the background, but i have my hand to hold you forever.. if im with you, I don't fear the future .. you make me be the best person...I... I Love you..."

He stops for a moment expecting some reaction, its just silence.... pin drop silence..  her eyes still fixed on him,

"Whats your answer? mujhse shadi karogi?.............."
he looks up confused... its the TV show, the hero is holding heroine's hand, he wish he had that courage :)

A minute passed.. her eyes still fixed on him.. not even blinked once... She hasn't moved a bit from her place, "Please..... say some.. something" he stumbles..

Her eyes relax a bit, she crawls and sits next to him.. she has that evergreen smile on her face which he always admired... she looks deep into his eyes..
"I...... I................."
he eagerly waits for her to complete... but......
"Hariiiiiii...." a voice comes from nowhere.. he tries to avoid it.. he had waited for this moment from past 3 years.. he doesn't want to let go of it... "what is it?" he struggles to listen to her..
"I............................"
the voice is fading away, he fights back to hear what she is saying..
"Eloooooo..." he again ignores that blatant voice... he is loosing her... her face slowly fade away to the dark.. "Noooooooo... just once.. only once.. let me hear what she says" he pleads...

A hand shakes him.. "Hari, elo... late aitu.. College ge hogalva?"
"Amma..... ide time bekitta ninge.. swalpa tadyak agta irlilva.. esht important moment" he fumes..