The meeting with the parents
Yea folks. It happened on 14th July 2003 at 19:30 hours. I reached her place with my tummy in knots. 'What's gonna be their reaction?' 'Is my shirt matching?' 'Will her mom approve of me?' I was informed by reliable sources ;-) that I would be 'checked out' by aunt, uncle, grand ma et al so I was ready. I kept telling myself 'don't act smart, don't crack your sidy jokes, don't lie, stay cool...'
I called up her mom and fixed up the meeting at 19:30. On my way I bought some sweets (fultoo PR). The auto dropped me off and chithu opened the door. 'No one's home. They are yet to land up' she said. They had gone out.
After a few minutes I heard a car pulling over. Dad entered first and surprised me with a warm smile and almost affectionate enquiries. And then the home minister enetered. And dispensed with a laconic greeting and an equally economical smile. So far so good.
We started talking. Dad got around the topic after about 15 minutes. Question after question. Apprehensions. Objections. I handled them all with the confidnce of a good salesman and the desperation of a sincere lover. When I thought it was over. Aunt and uncle entered the dragon. I was dished out some aggressive bowling by aunt. Bouncers, beamers, yorkers and googlies. I tackeld each ball by its merit. 'Wait for the ball. Wait for the ball' I kept telling myself. At the end of the match it was love-all. And grand ma needed some reassurance, which I offered gratefully. (I hate adverbs man! but don't know how to get rid of them).
Anyway, the news is: We have proceeded to the next level, which is 'Parents-Meet-the-Parents.' Now, that's a tough one. Bring'em on! Like the PC game Wolfenstein says.
Write to me: suman (at) sumankumar(dot)com