Love Lasts Forever (14 page)

20.  Wow! We are married!

DAY – 2,
Delhi

‘Baby! Why have you been so angry with me all day?’ I asked Aisha, latching the door of our room behind me, and slipping my feet out of the shoes. They had been aching badly as we had a long day.

We’
d returned home from Suresh uncle’s place – my father’s eldest brother – in Malviya Nagar from dinner. The food menu was wide and delectable, the people were warm and courteous, and the drive back home was smooth and pleasant. If anything, she should have been delighted for a wonderful evening.

             
‘You OK, baby?’ I asked again, a little precarious this time. I could sense some cold vibes as she slipped out her
sari
and then banged the door of the washroom behind her.

             
OK. A lot of cold vibes.

             
I plopped over the bed and pondered over the day’s events.
Was it something I had said? Or was it something I did?
I was sure I was the reason behind her sulky mood. Joe Singh had told me once: ‘whenever your woman is angry for no discernible reason, there could only be two things - either she was having her periods or her husband did or said something inappropriate.’ I wondered how Joe Singh knew so much about women; the guy never even had a girlfriend. Mulling over his advice, I ruled out the first option. So then I began to ponder again, what had I done or said?

             
I fidgeted on the bed when she opened the door and made her way out in an exasperated sigh. She glowered at me from the corner of her eyes before leaning in her wardrobe. I sat tight-lipped and feigned calmness. Few minutes later when she was on the bed, I couldn’t help and asked her again, ‘Baby, is everything alright?’

             
‘No!’ she replied tartly and whisked through the magazine she picked from the side table beside her.

             
‘At least tell me what happened?’ I pleaded, squeezing her hands to draw her attention.

             
‘Don’t tell me you don’t even
know
!’ she said, shaking her head in agitation.

             
‘No, I don’t
know
,’ I waved my arms out in defense. ‘Would you mind telling me at least?’

             
She thumped the magazine back on the table and turned toward me. Her gaze bore through my eyes. ‘Haven’t you noticed we are not spending any time with each other? It’s always your family first, isn’t it? In the morning we were at Meenu auntie’s place for lunch and then for dinner at Suresh uncle’s and then tomorrow we would be going somewhere else. Why can’t your relatives give us some space? I want to spend some “me time” with you. And then there are so many cousins and aunts and uncles and naked children in your house roaming around all over. I can’t even move around freely here. Why can’t they mind their own business and go back to their home, marriage is over, isn’t it?’

             
‘Oh baby, that’s it,’ I smiled, moving closer to her. ‘I know, even I want to spend some alone time with you. Don’t worry my relatives will leave in a few days anyway.’

             
‘A few days?’ she arched her brow.

             
‘Aisha, don’t get paranoid baby, I love you so much.’ I held her arms and tugged her toward me.

             
‘And what about your grandmother?’ she asked, knocking my hands and pushing herself away from me. ‘You know what she told me this morning?’ Her face crumpled in a frown.

             
‘What?’ I asked, trying my best to hide the irritation in my voice.

‘
Get up in the morning before the sun rises, immediately take a shower, join me in the morning for the prayers, never call your husband by your name, start planning a baby-’

             
‘OK, alright stop it,’ I interjected. ‘She’s my grandmother for heaven sake, what do you expect from a woman her age?’ I held her gaze expecting an answer. Instead she turned her face away.

             
‘Alright Aisha, you don’t have to follow everything what she says.’

‘
Not everything?’ Her forehead furrowed as she faced me again. ‘Really? So name a single thing she told me that I
can
follow? Getting up so early, not calling you by your name, what, tell me?’ She placed her hand on her chin and glared back at me.               

             
‘Um…, I scratched my eyebrow. ‘You could follow that…baby planning part, perhaps,’ I replied with a coy smile.

             
Her shoulders fell and she didn’t respond. She turned away and switched on the television. ‘Yeah, well, come and hump me is all you can care.’ She shook her head in disgust. ‘I thought this guy was different,’ she muttered under her breath.

             
‘I
am
different,’ I cried, feeling slightly insulted. ‘And now I’ll show you something you’ll know I care.’

             
‘Yeah, sure,’ she said with an air of indifference gazing at the TV screen.

             
‘Remember, how you used to tell me for the honeymoon you want to visit an exotic destination…’ I trailed off, making it sink slowly, and waited for her reaction. She had told me a couple of times before our marriage that for the honeymoon she wanted to visit a place where she could see exotic mountains dotted with plantation and snow, pristine lakes adorning them offering a breathtaking view, indulging in activities like rock climbing and river rafting, away from the noisy and polluted cities that we have been brought up in.

A ghost of a smile played on
her lips, but she tried hiding her curiosity. ‘Yeah, what about that?’ she asked casually, turning the volume of the TV down.

             
‘Well,’ I said, ‘I’ve got something like that for us.’ I slid open the drawer on my bed side and offered her two tickets. I had hidden them so it came as a surprise.

             
Her eyes widened in excitement and that sullen look vanished. ‘Oh, are we going to SWITZERLAND?’ she asked with barely suppressed glee. ‘I always wanted to visit that country,’ she added leafing through the tickets.

             
NO! NOT SWITZERLAND!

             
Her shoulders sagged in disappointment a moment later and her face became the colour of her red top that she was wearing. The anger returned. I wondered what was wrong when she caught me off guard with a scream. ‘YOU ARE TAKING ME TO NAINITAL FOR THE HONEYMOON?’

             
I couldn’t amass the gall to look her in her eyes. Yes, I wanted to say, that’s what matches the description with the place you have always described, but decided I was better off staying silent. I knew any words from me would fail me at this moment. When I looked at her again, a faint smile bordered her lips, and then later, it gave way to a hysterical laughter.

             
‘Oh my God, I can’t believe it!’ she ran her hand through the few tendrils of her hairs that dangled over her face and pushed them back. ‘Firstly you get me a honeymoon trip to Nainital and then you think I would be thrilled about it. And…’ she waggled the tickets over my face, ‘why are we taking a god damn bus for that godforsaken place, why can’t we take a flight?’

             
‘Because they don’t have one um…an airport I mean,’ I explained quickly. ‘The nearest airport from Nainital is the Indira Gandhi International airport, and that’s here, in Delhi.’

Thank God for that!

              ‘Oh wow, great!’ she said. ‘Perfect.’ She paused. ‘
By the way
, do you know I’ve been to that place at least ten times with my family and friends and now it’ll be
so much fun
to go there again’ - she gnashed her teeth and scowled - ‘FOR MY HONEYMOON!'

             
I sealed my mouth shut.

             
She continued glaring at me. When she realized I had nothing else to offer she reached out to switch off the lights.

‘
GOODNIGHT!’ she yelled before thrusting her back toward me.

             
‘I love you, baby,’ I said, snuggling up close to her.

             
She slammed her feet on my shin. ‘DON’T TOUCH ME! GO AWAY!’

             
Oh boy, I so dreaded a platonic honeymoon.                            

21.  The platonic honeymoon

DAY – 3,
4 & 5, Nainital

‘You have ruined my honeymoon, I hope you know that,’ she said as she gazed out the window.

We were seated in a private
bus on our way toward Nainital. The dark leather seats were high and comfortable, and the bus was almost full barring a few unoccupied seats. Outside, the weather was nice and balmy with the sun performing its morning ritual, ascending toward the stratus clouds, casting blazing streaks of sunshine across the window. Aisha had drawn the curtains slightly to prevent her skin from a tan.

             
We had crossed the Delhi border and the bus drove through the notorious streets of Uttar Pradesh in Bilaspur. The road was long and wide, flanked with dense forest on either side. Pine and oak trees lined the drive and the vegetation extended as far as the eyes could reach. Even from the distance I could see a dozen different shades of green and yellow.

             
‘Did you not hear me?’ she asked again, flipping her head toward me.

             
‘I’m sorry, what?’ I’d heard it.

             
She took a long breath and then exhaled sharply, almost making a snorting sound.

‘
You know a honeymoon is the most special vacation of any woman’s life, something she would always cherish in the many years to come. I was so much looking forward to an exotic location and you know that…’ She waggled her finger at me.

‘
Instead,’ she continued sadly, ‘you chose a place which I have already visited so many times with my parents. You have taken away “the special” part from my honeymoon. Any other time I would have loved coming here…’ She paused, perhaps looking for the right words. ‘So anyway, here’s the deal’ - she waved out her hand - ‘now that you have ruined my honeymoon, I’ll ruin yours.’

             
I stared at her blankly. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

             
‘You men want only one thing…whether here in Nainital or elsewhere. It really doesn’t matter to you, does it? So in this entire trip, no…’ she curled her lips together to tease me ‘…yeah, you got it right, no love-making.’

             
‘What?’ I shuddered even at the thought. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

             
‘Nope.’ She raised her eyebrows with just a faint shake of her head. ‘I’m not; tit for tat.’

             
‘Tit for tat!’ I almost screamed. ‘You call it tit for tat?’

             
She didn’t respond and appeared pleased by annoying me. She turned her gaze back outside the window.

             
‘Hey.’ I nudged her shoulder with my own. ‘I thought you wanted to spend “me time” with me.’ I took her hand in mine. ‘Are we not doing that?’

             
‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘but I never said in
Nainital
. I had given you a hint so many times where I wanted to celebrate my honeymoon,’ she replied freeing her hands from mine. ‘And no touching as well.’

             
‘Fine!’ I said with a shade of asperity and looked away from her.

             
We didn’t look at each other or spoke for the next few minutes until the bumpy ride began. The road was strewn with potholes and the damn driver refused to press the brakes. She turned her gaze back at me and as we held on to our seats steadying our self, she mouthed, ‘PERFECT!’ rolling her lips. I withdrew from her gaze and offered her a shrug.

The next hour went by quickly. I had closed my eyes and didn’t realize I’d dozed off. When I woke up, I felt fresh and flexed my muscles. I squinted outside the window and a pleasant sight greeted my eyes. We had begun our ascent on the winding roads up on the hills. The roads were one-way and narrow, and until the bus rounded the corner, there wasn’t any indication of the incoming traffic.