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“What happened was terribly wrong, Roshni, and I know Deepak is regretting it. Can you please forgive him?” requested Vivek.
“Forgive him for what? For being so rude to me on our wedding night? For saying that he was forced into this marriage, or telling me that he was not ready to commit to a stranger, that is, me?” Roshni retorted. “He deceived me, his brother, my father, everybody. He could have spoken to me before the wedding, and I….I would have stopped this wedding. Why was he not truthful? I don’t respect him,” she said, perturbed.
The food was served. Roshni became aware that she was talking a bit loudly and apologized to Vivek and Vaishali. “It is too late now. It is best that we separate. He can continue his relationship with the girl he likes. It does not matter to me now.”
Vivek and Vaishali appreciated her courage.
Vivek tried to talk to her. “Roshni ji, we certainly agree with you that Deepak made a big blunder. However, you are mature…please think about this decision. It is a tough decision. Breaking a relationship is easy, but forgiving him and moving forward is a big step. I don’t think Deepak is matured, but you can change him. Look what you did to his brothe
rs. I have known Sashank bhaiya and Akash bhaiya for several years and never saw them so carefree and radiant. Look at the influence you had on them. I am so glad.”
“Vivek ji, I agree. I did not want this relationship to end this way either. I married him with an expectation, with a resolution to make this work like any other marriage.” Roshni looked at them. “You are married. Don’t you have any misunderstandings?”
Both Vivek and Vaishali agreed they had misunderstandings.
“Does that mean you separate? No, right? Misunderstandings occur in love and arranged marriages. When both partners are committed to the marriage, they will work at it wholeheartedly. They have to have faith and work with perseverance towards this relationship.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Love, affection, etc., all come as time goes by, but if one partner enters a relationship with preconceived notions regarding compatibility, those relationships do not last,” Roshni said, justifying her actions.
Vivek and Vaishali stared at each other and enjoyed the conversation. She had such mature ideas!
“Both of them have to work together as a team to make it happen. One person cannot do it alone. Agreed, initially there is little or no compatibility in arranged marriages; however, there is trust, understanding, compromise, commitment, and these take over everything else. In no time, the marriage will be successful, love after marriage develops, and this lasts forever. Don’t you agree?” she genuinely asked.
Both Vivek and Vaishali agreed with Roshni. They understood – although Roshni had a strong personality, she was very accommodating and compromising. It was discernible; she was very affected by what Deepak had said.
After dinner, Vivek listened to Roshni and then addressed her, “Roshni ji, you are so advanced in your thinking, very educated, and I heard that you have a very good job as well. If I can take the liberty…as if I were your older brother…and make a suggestion: please rethink the decision you made regarding Deepak. I’ve known him for a very long time, and he is a very nice gentleman, very loving and caring. Unfortunately childhood played a big role on him, like his brothers. I am sure if he saw what you did with his family, he would never ever say anything regarding arranged marriages.”
Vivek continued to narrate his own experiences with Vaishali and how they had troubles adjusting to each other, but both of them worked together. When it was time to leave, Vivek and Vaishali thanked Roshni for agreeing to join them for dinner and asked her to rethink her decision. Her only response was ‘time will tell’. Vivek and Vaishali offered to drop her at her house.
~ ~ ~
After few days, Vivek and Vaishali called Sashank and Roshni to let them know of their return flight and say their good-byes. Sashank and Roshni agreed to send some sweets for Deepak. Deepak called that weekend – it had been a few weeks since he called – so he talked with Sashank bhaiya, Akash bhaiya and then asked for Roshni.
Roshni was not interested but made no fuss.
“Roshni, how are you?” Deepak enquired.
“I’m all right. How are you?”
“I am well, just been too busy with a project. We – our entire team is spending long hours on it. It has been very stressful and tiring too at times.”
Roshni listened to him but was quiet.
There was absolute silence. Nobody said anything. After a few moments, Deepak broke the silence. “My friend Vivek and his wife, Vaishali, are visiting India to meet Vivek’s father. They were planning on coming to our house. Did they?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Vivek is a very good friend of mine. Fortunately he works for the same company.”
Again there was silence because Roshni did not want to continue; she just listened. Deepak tried to engage her in some conversation with little luck.
Deepak continued, “I think they are leaving in a couple of days.”
“Yes, Vivek ji called last night to inform us. Sashank bhaiya asked if you needed anything from here.”
Soon after she asked if she could hang up. Deepak certainly wanted to chat for some more time, but she was disinterested, and they ended the call.
After this call, he called Vivek, and both friends talked for a few minutes. Vivek told him about their meeting with Roshni and how very impressed they were with her.
“Deepak, you observed her correctly. She has all the qualities you mentioned. You really messed up everything! Vaishali and I also concur – she is the right person for you. Anyway, there are a lot of things we would like to share with you once we get back. By the way, did you need anything from here?” Vivek asked.
