Swiping for Shaadi: Episode 16 - Will Papa Let Her Swipe?

“Papa, how are you?” Anjali asked joyfully, surprising Mishraji about her secret of happiness.

“What happened, beta? You seem to be happy. Did you buy another camera lens?” Papa asked her easily, but internally he was skeptical about her gleeful voice and tone. ❓

“No, Papa. These days, I don’t even find time to work on my photos. Why do I buy another lens? Maybe, some other time.” She answered truthfully, and Mishraji felt relieved upon listening to this.

“Papa, I was wondering…em…what if I search on my own in Mumbai?” She asked stammering with nervousness. She had never practiced the art of informing her father that she would be the one searching for a dream man (by herself and for herself)!

“Are you searching for another job, beta? Beta, you don’t have to compromise your career for getting married. Don’t quit the job. Stay where you are. If you get married to a guy living in another city, then it is okay.”

Anjali didn’t like what he had advised, but she had no other choice than to listen to him obediently and not react like a feminist. So, like a father’s princess, she accepted whatever he advised and added, “Papa, it is not about the job. Can I search for marriage proposals in this city on my own? I can search for a life partner, can’t I?”

A wrong way of asking permission from your father, she inferred immediately.

“So, you have already chosen someone for yourself and decided to get married? Isn’t it, Anjali?” When Mishraji called his daughter by her real, official name, it would mean that he was terribly mad at her. 😠

“No…Pa…Pa…” She stumbled when she was fetching a glass of water in the flat’s kitchen in Mumbai. She could sense her father’s enraged voice, but she had no guts to argue with him.

“Anjali beta, I know well what is happening. You had already found someone in Mumbai, and till now, you were trying to fool me by checking and rejecting proposals. I was damn sure ki daal me kuch kaala hai pehle se..”

“No, Papa. The daal was never kaali, Papa. Please try to understand me. I had found someone in Mumbai, but it didn’t work out. There is no one now.” 😦

There was no need to reveal the truth and be authentic in front of Father. She had not been assigned the task of telling the truth that evening. She repented immediately and tried to rectify.

“I mean I never had feelings for anyone, I don’t have for anyone, Papa. But I want to choose a life partner by myself. Can I do it?”

“How are you going to do it?” Father asked in a threatening voice.

Anjali failed to have the courage to answer his question. He knew about marriage portals, but he wasn’t the kind of father who trusted the online world. He used a smartphone, not because it had internet, but because Anjali had gifted him out of her first salary.

“Papa, have you heard of vivahsoon.com? It is a website that helps youngsters to get married. I can find someone of my type.”  

Mishraji was lost in thoughts. Anjali guessed that he would reject her plan and disapprove of it straightaway. His silence troubled Anjali the most.

“How soon can you find a life partner? 3 weeks or 3 months? Before you turn 28?”

These questions weren’t expected by Anjali at all. She thought he would ask her about the genuineness and reliability of such online marriage portals, but he was more interested in the time limit.

“Papa, I can’t tell you now. Nothing is fixed. It is not like online shopping na. They don’t guarantee that they will find us a life partner within a few days.”

Father grunted and remarked, “Huh! Then, what is the use?”

                                                            -x-

For the next two days, there wasn’t any response from her father. Mishraji’s calmness denoted a passive hurricane in his mind, so Anjali was more upset than ever. She had already planned to visit Agra the next long weekend. She was glad that she would seek the complete idea behind her father’s silent treatment.

On the first day of her arrival, he didn’t speak apart from the usual Mumbai weather updates. On Sunday, they had a deep conversation, Mishraji and Alokji were seated while Shantiji listened to the conversation.

But then suddenly, her father said calmly, “I think you should go for that online thing….for marriage. I have been trying to search proposals for you since several years, and most of the boys have rejected you for silly reasons. Why couldn’t they see the positives in you? I think you should try it out.” He didn’t smile while saying this and his face displayed signs of reluctance but he had approved it anyways.

Alokji didn’t seem to be happy with his brother’s decision and he argued. “Bhaiya, you don’t know what’s cooking in the current generation’s minds. You know what Mihirji’s daughter did. She had already found someone while she was working in Delhi. One day, she informed her parents that she had registered on a marriage portal and someone had shown interest in her profile. Bhaiya, it was the same guy with whom she was having an affair. See, how these young kids fool their parents.” 🙄

This story sounded like a harsh, nagging baritone for Anjali but for her father, it was an eye-opener. He had never heard of such stories, and listening to Mihirji’s predicament, he was shocked. He glared at his daughter but didn’t utter a word. Anjali sat frozen on the chair while her mother entered the scene with a rose from the garden. It seemed that Mother had saved Anjali from her father’s clutches unknowingly.

“I don’t understand why you have to plant all types of roses in the garden?” Father roared.

Anjali noticed the situation and supported her father, “Mummy, why do you do such things that Papa doesn’t like?” She wanted to ask her, ‘Don’t you love him?’ but refrained. 

Father was relieved that his daughter supported him even though he was opposing her decision.

“Ek rishta aaya hai. I hope this one works out for you. Let’s see then.” 😐