As the hot paranthas were being served at our favourite eat out, we were in deep discussion, it seemed we could not come to a consensus on whether love was blind (as the proverb goes) or for that matter foolish. The practicality of being in love was not part of the discussion, since we all knew that, it was not what we were entitled to discuss(to be elaborated later). Specifically we were discussing love between two seemingly distant individuals with the desire to spend life together.
Before there is an all out war of words, i would like to explain where the discussion originated. Recently one among the idiots became attached to a girl , who he had met on a social networking site just a few months back. And we were trying to explain to him that his decision was suicide. To elaborate further, the idiot has a great career and is at the crossroads of his career and the girl is much younger to him. Another catch to this whole situation is that the guy is about to elope with this girl since she will be engaged soon to someone who her parents have chosen for her. Now it will be clear as to why we were up in arms over his decision to make such a move.
As the discussion went on and the finger pointing began, each one began to explain his foolish move in this regard. One said that he just liked a girl from class and proposed right away, needless to say he was rejected outright by the girl. The other idiot had more than that. He seemed to have heated arguments about his girlfriends with his parents on such decisions, and conceded to what his parents had to say finally. In it was realized that none of them knew who was the right person for them, but it was certain they knew who they did not want as their partners for life.
But as events progressed and the engagement date drew closer there was a certain panic in the air. Before the engagement the parents sent the bride-to-be in discussion, for an outing with her fiancé to get to know each other. This overnight outing turned out to be a recipe for disaster. Surprisingly the parents were in support of this marriage and no amount of rambling on the part of the girl seemed to affect their decision. Needless to describe what the girl will go through if she is forced to spend the rest of her life with this person.
Coming back to the discussion of love, as all of this was happening the first idiot was getting jittery here as she would call and give a detailed description of what was in process. Loss of appetite, lack of sleep and the apprehension were playing mind games with him. All that was in his mind was his love and affection for her and how the plan to free her from the clutches of her parents and marauding fiancé.
After having seen close ones with failed marriages due to such and other issues, there are questions as to why parents would push their children into the precipice of life long suffering. Some if not many outcomes are favourable outcomes. The hostel caretaker is one among the many favourable outcomes. He eloped and married a girl stouter than he, but of a higher caste. Initially his parents were worried that the girl had a mental/physical defect so she was inclined to marry someone of a lower caste. His first child bridged the in-law family divide, but not until they had done their bit of taunting until the child was born. As I describe this in four lines here it is not enough to explain what mental trauma he and his wife must have faced during the first few years of their marriage.
The story of that night ended on a happy note. The fiancé did not get his way, and drank himself to a stupor with his friends in an adjacent room, while the girl sat hungry and without sleep in the next room. Later that morning the girl returned home happy to be back. She narrated the nights happenings to the parents and as luck may have it the parents agreed to take matters into their hands. The engagement is off for now, leaving the first idiot heaving a sigh of relief. It also leaves him with a ray of hope that the journey he is about to embark is on the right course.
