KP and After That...
This appeared in the Sunday supplement
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The chat signal turned green.
“Hey!” my friend pinged.
‘Hey... long time...’ I pinged back.
“Yeah... KP...” she said.
‘Koregaon Park? Aare... I need to go shopping...’ I typed furiously.
“Not that KP re...” she said.
‘Then?’ I wondered.
“C’mon... KP...” she sounded tired.
Ah! KP... My friend was talking about the kande pohe meeting! In Maharashtra, when the prospective groom, accompanied by his family members, comes to ‘see’ the girl at her house, he is generally served kande pohe and chaha (tea). Of course, modern girls prefer to meet the guys in a cafe or restaurant. But the name has stuck.
Anyway, I was eager to know how the KP meeting transpired. I had several KP meetings to my credit, and since I also got married through an ‘arranged’ match, I was considered a ‘veteran’. No wonder then, my friend started keying in the details about her experience.
“The meeting wasn’t great,” she pinged.
‘So, you didn’t like him?’ I asked.
“No... aisa nahi hai...” she replied.
‘Aisa nahi toh phir kaisa hai? Did you like him or not?’ I grilled.
“See... he’s nice. But just nice”.
‘What are you looking for?’
“Well, something more than nice,” she drawled.
‘And you think he can’t be more than nice?’
“Are you my friend or his? You are not empathising with me...” she whimpered.
‘So, what else is happening?’ I tried to change the conversation.
“My parents, ya, they are after my life. ‘Get married, get married’, is all they say”.
‘Hmm. I have been through this’.
“And, I have to meet the boys every week ya. How the hell can I say ‘He is the one’ in just one meeting? I don’t know what to do. This guy... I don’t know anything else about him...” she trailed off.
‘What did you talk about? You didn’t ask him the details? What were you doing?’ I was becoming agitated.
“I did”.
‘Then?’
“He’s okay... He has asked to meet him at the tekadi. Do you think I should?”
‘In the morning?’
“Nope... evening around six”.
‘No... no. Never! You know, how lonely the place is after six,’ I said in my matronly voice.
“Yeah... I know. See... that’s why I had this odd feeling about the guy. What do you think I should do now?”
‘Isn’t it clear?’
“So, I shouldn’t meet him, right?”
‘Do what you want to do,’ I was short. I was already regretting my eagerness to know.
“But... you have been through this. You can help me out”.
‘Don’t go...’ I was gritting my teeth now. Where’s her common sense?
“He won’t feel bad na?”
Well... I always thought that shopping for marriage was very tiring. Never thought that kande pohe chat can be so tiring as well.
---
The chat signal turned green.
“Hey!” my friend pinged.
‘Hey... long time...’ I pinged back.
“Yeah... KP...” she said.
‘Koregaon Park? Aare... I need to go shopping...’ I typed furiously.
“Not that KP re...” she said.
‘Then?’ I wondered.
“C’mon... KP...” she sounded tired.
Ah! KP... My friend was talking about the kande pohe meeting! In Maharashtra, when the prospective groom, accompanied by his family members, comes to ‘see’ the girl at her house, he is generally served kande pohe and chaha (tea). Of course, modern girls prefer to meet the guys in a cafe or restaurant. But the name has stuck.
Anyway, I was eager to know how the KP meeting transpired. I had several KP meetings to my credit, and since I also got married through an ‘arranged’ match, I was considered a ‘veteran’. No wonder then, my friend started keying in the details about her experience.
“The meeting wasn’t great,” she pinged.
‘So, you didn’t like him?’ I asked.
“No... aisa nahi hai...” she replied.
‘Aisa nahi toh phir kaisa hai? Did you like him or not?’ I grilled.
“See... he’s nice. But just nice”.
‘What are you looking for?’
“Well, something more than nice,” she drawled.
‘And you think he can’t be more than nice?’
“Are you my friend or his? You are not empathising with me...” she whimpered.
‘So, what else is happening?’ I tried to change the conversation.
“My parents, ya, they are after my life. ‘Get married, get married’, is all they say”.
‘Hmm. I have been through this’.
“And, I have to meet the boys every week ya. How the hell can I say ‘He is the one’ in just one meeting? I don’t know what to do. This guy... I don’t know anything else about him...” she trailed off.
‘What did you talk about? You didn’t ask him the details? What were you doing?’ I was becoming agitated.
“I did”.
‘Then?’
“He’s okay... He has asked to meet him at the tekadi. Do you think I should?”
‘In the morning?’
“Nope... evening around six”.
‘No... no. Never! You know, how lonely the place is after six,’ I said in my matronly voice.
“Yeah... I know. See... that’s why I had this odd feeling about the guy. What do you think I should do now?”
‘Isn’t it clear?’
“So, I shouldn’t meet him, right?”
‘Do what you want to do,’ I was short. I was already regretting my eagerness to know.
“But... you have been through this. You can help me out”.
‘Don’t go...’ I was gritting my teeth now. Where’s her common sense?
“He won’t feel bad na?”
Well... I always thought that shopping for marriage was very tiring. Never thought that kande pohe chat can be so tiring as well.
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