Srini's Stuff: Runaway Bride

We wondered what to do. We were in a huge mess. He loved his girl a lot. Ramesh could do anything for his girl. Even she would go to great lengths to restore their faith and belief in the love they had for each other. I had to do this for him; I had to help him. Both of us thought of things we could do. It had been a week since he had met Jenny. Her parents had grounded her. Ramesh was desperate; he couldn’t live without her. He had to do it. They wanted Jenny married off. That’s what happens in this society, a society that is built on the worlds weirdest morals. Yes, the times have changed. Even ‘arranged marriages,’ nowadays have become, sophisticated. Nowadays there are a few blind dates and a few get to know sessions after which they go ahead with the decision to marry the person, whom you know only for a few weeks. There was no such thing done in her case. Jenny was to be married to a person whom she had never known nor had she met. She did not know what to do. She loved Ramesh and couldn’t marry anyone, just like that. Her own house felt like a dungeon of darkness, in which, she was locked up. Her memories with Ramesh and her solitude helped her to survive so far. Her mom kept a close eye on her. They took her cell phone away, she was completely disconnected. Disconnected from the world and left on her own, to face a future, a future that she never knew.

“Are you crazy man? What if her mom calls the cops? You could get into trouble.” I told him.

“If you go tonight, you will have to deal with some tight security and her brother has contacts with the local MLA. Before the night is over, her brother and his friends will hunt you down and hand you over to the cops.”

We thought a lot, to think of the easiest way out. That’s when I thought of this brilliant idea.

“We will. Before she gets married we have to go to the church and whisk her away even before the wedding happens and get you guys married in the court. It’s near the church. The bridesmaid is a friend of mine. She knows about you guys and I’m sure she would help us in this situation. Besides her parents don’t know me and they haven’t seen me right?”

“Great, I’ll also register for you guys and call my friends who can be witnesses at the court. I’ll make all the arrangements there. Once you are married, there isn’t much anyone can do.” So, we decided to wait for that ‘right time.’

Finally, the day arrived and we decided to go to the church. When we reached the church, we were surprised that there was nobody, no decorations, absolutely nothing that would indicate a wedding. We asked the church authorities, they said that the wedding was cancelled. We were surprised. 'Cancelled?' What on earth had happened?

“What happened, what about your friend? Did she do something? What am I going to do now? Did she tell on us?”

“Relax, it’s not her. I spoke to her last night she said she would go this morning to Jenny’s place to tell her about our plan.”

“Then have they cancelled the wedding because they found out about us? Or it must be that brother of hers. He must have come to know through his spy friends.”

“I mean, do you think she had any plans that would make her parents cancel the wedding?”

“I don’t know man. I don’t think that she would do anything like that. She is not that type of a girl.”

“Hmm. I tried to call my friend but she’s not answering, I don’t think she’s home.”

We thought a lot, with moments of silence we thought of what to do. There were many questions that came to our minds. Ramesh got restless as each minute passed by. Finally we gathered courage and decided to go to her house and try to find out what the deal was. That was our only option. We drove to her place which was quite a few miles away from the church. I decided to drive his car as he was not in the right frame of mind at that time. Her house was a small row-house on the outskirts of the city. While we drove to her place, there were many thoughts that raced into our minds as we wanted to find out what would have happened. It was something we had to know.

We saw a huge crowd outside her house. People in the courtyard talked quiet. Everyone wore black clothes. We looked at each other, aghast. Our hearts started beating fast. This was something we had never imagined before. When I said earlier, I was sure even she would go to great lengths to restore their faith and belief in the love they had for each other this definitely proved it for sure. Something I had never imagined to have happened. This was an event that moved me immensely, something that changed our lives forever. When we went inside, we saw a coffin. Lay inside, with a smile on her face, there was a smile that told us something. Something we probably knew all along but never brought it up all this while...

He told me as he snatched the car keys from me and walked past all the madness to his car and went for away in search of his solitude.

Srini's Stuff