(Story so far- Suryakanthi is a woman who has been bringing prospective brides and grooms together, helping in matchmaking, and many admire her for her jest. However, she is stunned to learn that her daughter, Kavita, has selected a divorced banker to marry. Her very perspective in life of finding apt grooms and brides as per horoscope and other parameters went for a toss with her daughter’s decision to marry a man of her choice. After initial resentment, Suryakanthi finally feels happy to see her daughter in bridal costumes marrying the man of her choice. Now read on)
It was almost a month after Kavita’s wedding. Suryakanthi had been busy setting the house after all the guests left. The house felt so empty with just the two of them, Suryakanthi and her husband, Rajendra, who was a man of few words.
Suryakanthi eagerly looked forward to someone connecting with her for a suitable match, but despite an auspicious month ahead, fit for marriage, no one seemed to have approached her.
“Wasn’t Snehalata looking out for a suitable groom for her daughter Rujuta?” She spoke aloud, knowing well that Rajendra would pay zero attention to her. He was always immersed in Sudoku, a pastime he’d taken up after retiring seven months ago. It wasn’t retirement, it was retrenchment, and Rajendra had felt crestfallen after that, with three more years of service to go, it was a great blow to his thirty year career.
Leaving her husband to immerse himself in his pastime, Suryakanthi dialed Snehalata’s number from her landline. “Hello, is Snehalata home?” She asked when she heard a male voice respond through the receiver.
“Madam and Saheb have gone to fix the venue for Rujuta baby’s engagement,” their house help, Ramu, said.
‘Engagement?’ Suryakanthi murmured after putting down the receiver. ‘How come Snehalata never approached me? Hadn’t she told me that she would soon connect with me for a suitable horoscope for her daughter?’ Baffled at this, Suryajanthi thought maybe the girl had found her partner herself, like Kavita. She waited patiently till evening. Ramu had told her that Snehalata and her husband would return by 3 pm. She called the number again at 5 pm. Ramu answered again, but this time after several rings.
“Madam is sleeping…,” he dragged out, but his words proved untrue the next moment when Suryakanthi clearly heard Snehalata’s husband calling out to her from inside, “Snehaaaa..”
Suryakanthi hung up the call. She felt something amiss. Snehalata had a caller Id on her landline, which means she had guessed that Suryakanthi was the caller and must have asked Ramu to pick the call and give an excuse, but then why was Snehalata avoiding Suryakanthi?
The postulate that Suryakanthi made was that the girl must have found a partner from another religion or someone of lower social and financial status than Snehalata, and must be avoiding Suryakanthi, feeling embarrassed. But that postulate lacked conviction. If not today, tomorrow or anytime in future the truth would be out and why would the couple go to look out for an engagement venue, it implied they were going to have a grand engagement.
Suryakanthi kept blabbering about Snehalata’s behavior for quite some time, which finally dragged Rajendra out of the Sudoku.
“Why don’t you directly go to their house and find out instead of dancing over my head/” He grumbled. The two exchanged a few sharp words, each accusing the other of being mean, and finally Suryakanthi stormed out of the house and went to Snehalata’s place.
Snehalata didn’t look exactly pleased to see Suryakanthi, but with a forced grin, she asked her to come in.
“Congratulations, I heard that you have fixed your daughter’s engagement. Who is the groom, and when is the engagement?” Suryakanthi sounded eager and rather blunt.
Snehalata gave her details of the groom. It seemed to be an excellent match.
“Love marriage?” Suryakanthi blurted out, bit her tongue immediately, but it was too late. “No, we matched the horoscope and went the traditional way. And I know what you are thinking.” Snehalata took a pause. “Maybe you are wondering why we did not take your help for the matchmaking. Sorry, Surya, but my husband said that when you could not use your skills to find a groom for your own daughter, this matchmaking does not suit you anymore.”
No one could have sounded ruder. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard from Snehalata. It suddenly struck her why no one had approached her after Kavita’s for matchmaking.
Suryakanthi returned home in a daze and sat stunned on the sofa. For a while, Rajendra didn’t find his wife’s behavior odd, but when the clock struck seven and she forgot to switch on her favorite serial, he grew a bit bemused.
Rajendra was taken aback to see his wife’s eyes moist when she turned to respond to his call.
“What happened, Surya?” He asked, sitting next to her. In between tears, Suryakanthi told him about what transpired in Snehalata’s house.
“Is this how people behave? I have made so many matches…” She couldn’t bring herself to speak.
“Whatever the world says, I know how many couples whom you have brought together are living a happy life today. Marriages may be made in Heaven, but God has some of his messengers like you, who do the job here on earth.” He smiled. “Why bother about what Snehalata said? You know what you are? Look at me, I gave my thirty years of life dedicatedly to a company, but what did I get in return? I was discarded like a used curry leaf. Life is like that, Surya; just don’t let someone’s harsh remark sadden you.” He lovingly held Suryakanthi’s hands.
“Come sit with me and learn to solve Sudoku,” he said, smiling. The couple’s laughter reverberated through the house.