Mahi left soon after the interview ended. Meanwhile Apurv, still trying to compose himself after getting a nickname by Mahi, was trying to escape the teasing of his friend-cum-colleague, Dr. Tarun, “So, somebody has got a new name. Isn’t it? Dr. Mon…”

“Please, not now. I have to attend to my patients and have other work to do as well. We’ll talk later.” Apurv tried to escape the leg pulling session, only for fate to intervene.

“Don’t try to run away, Apurv. You had an early morning shift and you have attended your patients for today. All you have to do now is to sit in your car and go home.” Tarun pointed out.

“God! Why? The shift had to end early today out of all the days. Now I don't even have any reason to give.” Apurv muttered to himself while trying to paste a casual smile over his face as if he’d forgotten his schedule for the day. 

“Done talking with yourself? Now may I have the honour of having a word with you, your majesty?” Tarun said, bowing his head dramatically.

“Mr. Drama King, if you continue showcasing your acting skills in public like this, you’ll be banned from showing your face again. Such is your level of acting. Neither you’ll remain a doctor, nor you’ll be able to become an actor.”

Apurv remarked.

“You’re just jealous of my talent. And don’t you dare change the topic, Dr. Mon..”

Tarun was stopped by Apurv as he placed his hand over Tarun’s mouth to stop him from speaking further. “Don’t you dare speak a word more.” Apurv threatened.

“Whmnhhorelse…” Tarun’s voice came out in jumbled words due to Apurv’s hand over his mouth.

“What? Say it clearly” Apurv said while glaring at him.

Tarun signalled him to remove his hand from his mouth.

“Why? What will you do otherwise?” Tarun said.

“I’ll...,I’ll,..” Apurv fumbled on his words. “Fine, tell me what do you want against keeping your mouth shut?” Apurv raised his hands.

“Now that’s like a good boy. Call that girl and tell her that you like her.” Tarun smirked.

“What! No way. Do you want me to go to jail? Moreover, it was just an attraction because she looked so good and had a nice vibe. That’s it. Don’t take it too far. Anyways, mummy has already set up a date for me this Sunday.” Apurv replied while being taken aback by Tarun’s demand.

“What? You have a date this Sunday and you didn’t even tell me? Me? Your best friend! This is not fair, Apurv. I share every single thing with you, and you hid such a big thing from me.” Tarun said in a tone of offence.

“You’re reacting as if I had hidden some top secret information. It's just a meeting. And I feel it shouldn’t even be called a date. I don’t even know what I will say to her.”  he voiced out his thoughts. 

“Don’t worry. Everything will go well. Just make sure you dress nicely and don’t be late. Girls hate men who stay messy and are not on time. I am telling this with experience.” Tarun replied.

The setting sun had cast a pinkish-orange hue in the sky creating the perfect ambience for a calm evening. The continuous honking of cars on the road indicated the daily evening rush of people wanting to reach home as soon as possible. 

Mahi had just reached home and was about to slouch on her bed when the doorbell rang. Her home, a three BHK flat in the outskirts of Chandigarh was minimally furnished  and clean like glass as her mother Pratibha liked it to be. Ironically, Mahi’s room, a complete mess with her dried and neatly folded waiting to be assembled in the almirah. The poster on her room’s door declared, ‘Messiness is a sign of genius’.

“Maa, please open the door,” she called from her room.

“My hands are not clean. Tell your papa to open it.” her mother replied back.

The bell rang again. “ Papa, please open the door. I am tired.” Mahi said.

“Beta, I am looking for a very important file. You go and open it.” He said while immersing himself in a pile of papers.

Mahi grumbled while getting up from her bed as the bell rang for the third time. “Of course, all the tasks come up just when I'm tired.” she murmured while opening the door. 

As the door opened, their neighbour, Mrs. Sharma appeared there. “Hi beta, how are you?” she smiled.

As much as Mahi loved talking to people, she did not want to have a conversation right now because she knew exactly where it was heading to. Mahi’s mother Pratibha greeted her best friend as she entered the house. “I was waiting for you to come. Sit, I’ll be back in just a minute after washing my hands.” she said as she disappeared in the bedroom.

“Oh hello Mrs. Ragini Sharma, how are you? How is your nephew? I hope he’s doing fine.” Mahi’s father Harsh said. “You know Mahi, her nephew is a doctor in a reputed hospital of Chandigarh.” He added.

By that time, Pratibha had come back in from the bedroom. No sooner did they get engaged in a conversation, Mahi tried to escape from the room but as if destiny didn’t want her to do so. 

“Mahi, come here, I want to have a conversation with you.” her mother said.

“Looks like today even destiny wants to put such situations. First at the hospital in the afternoon and now here, at my place. Why God why!” Mahi muttered under her breath as she turned to sit down on the sofa. 

“Mahi, Ragini’s nephew is a neurosurgeon at Mahajan Hospital. I want you to meet him on Sunday.” Pratibha asked her daughter to consider the proposal.

“But why mummy, I told you I don’t want to marry. Why are you forcing me to do so?” Mahi replied adamantly on her decision.

“Mahi, I am not asking you to get married right away. I just want you to meet the guy. And tell me one thing, why don’t you want to get married?” Pratibha inquired.

“ Mummy, how can I judge a person in the first meeting itself? He will of course behave nice in the first meeting to impress me. In addition to that, what is the guarantee that he will remain the same after marriage as he is before that? Moreover, you are well aware of the fact that I am not very proficient in all the kitchen stuff. I know just enough to fulfill my own needs. How will I be able to manage after marriage? Also, what will happen to my own independent identity after marriage? I don’t want to live just by being known as someone’s wife. What about my dreams, my career, my life? No one has ever taken part in my decision making. How can I let someone just enter my life and take that role that I don’t even want him to.”

Pratibha was about to speak but was cut by Ragini, “Beta, I can understand your fears very well. I went through the same when I was in your phase of getting married. I know there are many uncertainties in life, in relationships, at each and every step. But I assure you one thing, my nephew is not someone who’ll force his decisions upon you. He is not a person who’ll change as the situations change. He’ll stay by your side at every phase of life. And about your kitchen duties, don’t worry about that, he knows cooking and is very good at it. You don’t need to stress on such petty issues. Moreover, no one is taking away your identity from you. Marriage is not something that stops you, it’s not a full stop, beta. It is a beautiful phase where your life partner becomes your anchor in your hard times and your biggest cheerleader in your success.” Ragini tried to explain.

“But aunty, why do I even need a life partner? Am I not sufficient? I can earn, I can feed myself and I live on my own terms. What is the need for marriage?” Mahi said sticking to her point.

“Mahi, a life partner is not a burden. He’s someone who’ll share your loads. Tell me one thing, have you ever seen your father taking away my independence from me?” Pratibha reasoned with Mahi as she nodded her head in negative. “We are not saying that you are incomplete. But beta, we all need someone to sit and listen at the end of the day on whose shoulder we can spend our lives staring even at nothingness. It’s filled with love, warmth and laughter, with hopes for a new day, aspirations and dreams, both individual as well as collective. It is like showing all your love and care to a person whom you believe is part of yourself, a person whom you love like it no longer feels that you both are two individual entities. It is like sharing that rollercoaster ride with a person with whom you are even ready to fall down.” she added.

Mahi listened, pondering on her mother’s words.

“Beta, we are not telling you to make a decision straight away to agree for marriage. All we are asking for is to give it a chance. If you think that this is not the guy, I promise that we will not ask you to give him another chance. Will you meet him? Harsh said while holding her daughter’s hands in his trying to comfort the chaos in her mind.

Mahi nodded her head in agreement.

“This calls for a nice tea party. Harsh, do the honours please.” Pratibha announced while looking at her husband.

“Yes ma’am. Your wish is my command. I’ll go and make tea for everyone.” He said while bowing his head in front of his wife dramatically earning a laugh from all present there.

“By the way, what is the name of your nephew, Ragini aunty?” Mahi asked.

“Dr. Apurv Singla”

*******************************************************

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