DATING

‘What?’ to my what my wife screamed as if she’s seen venomous snake crawling on our bed. Even I myself a seasoned husband got shocked with her scream, I reached to bed lamp hastily & switched it on. ‘What has happened?’ I asked her innocently. ‘You are just impossible, where do you live in what century? I told you just our daughter has not been asked for dating even though she’s attained her puberty & you are asking what?’ She did all, raised her carefully crafted eyebrows, lifted her small beautiful nose, opened her mouth wide, raised hands with neatly manicured fingers in some classical dancer posture & most important her feeling of frustrations having backward husband like me was spilling through her emotions & body language. I still did not know what exactly she wanted to impress upon me. I’d heard three four months back that our sweet little daughter has grown up & needs extra care. But now what?

‘Look’ my graduate wife having passed in her third attempt & that too in useless subject as economics sat on the bed folding her legs to explain me thinking I was a bum with having done my masters in two subjects of mathematics, Topology & Statistics with doctorate within two years, and working as scientist. ‘Gone are our days when we’d no choice but to face arrange marriage’ she was giving me lecture; it means she chose a wrong person? I got up to sit before her; so far I’d taken her casually. Well, I spoke all this in my mind only, which husband would open up loosing battle with his own wife at eleven O’clock in the night especially when, the next days pressing appointments has already occupied your brain. ‘Now a day’s young boys & girls go on dating. They spend time together & perhaps choose their own life partner’. She cleared the matter.

Gosh, it means so far we at our schools, colleges, offices were using the word date has another meaning too. I never new, I realized this maths has really taken toll of my brain. I remained speechless for a longer time than a woman would during whole of her day. I never had any inhibition in my daughter meeting, playing, talking or going for movie with anybody as long as she thinks the company is right for her. I’d never said that boys are bad or like that. But what on earth this dating means?

Next morning when she put the plate of toast & omelette onto our crystal top dining table with a bang I realized two things. Had the bang been little too hard, the table top would have lost it’s once piece status; & the dating issue was still on the top of her head. Being scientist I always learnt in taking up problems than keeping them in cold store till they loose their shin. ‘What is it?’ I tried to be calm rolling my wristwatch under the cuffs so that I won’t look at the watch & get alarmed with my office appointments. I reached perhaps one & half hour late to the office, put blame on the traffic before settling with my numbering games. That day we’d decided to leave everything to our sweet daughter, with us restricting ourselves in the capacity of advisers. And most important, if she doesn’t get worried of her not being called for dating, do not ask her.

The very next day she was called for dating. My wife called me to inform with her beaming voice, ‘she’s been called for dinner date…’ ‘When will she come back?’ I asked my concern to which she just cut the line. I realized I’m buried within the walls of my office; the world has gone much ahead. The yesteryears taboo has become the fashion today, be it thighs revealing skirts, or low to very low cut blouse, unnecessary hugs to opposite sex friends,…. I slipped in to memory lane on my first revealing my mind on the girl my parents had chosen for me, ‘I like her’ in place ‘I love her’ saying so I’d left my home alibiing visiting my friend. Now a days, they even love dresses, pens, food, bikes leave alone girls & boys. ‘Like’ has lost the race with ‘love’.

‘It is eight O’clock & now she’s leaving home?’ I whispered into my wife’s ear, to which she just gave me her angry stare. Like a ship trapped in the hurricane, my brain was trapped into the clamour of thoughts with senses seizing to work by each passing minutes while I was strolling into our bedroom gallery facing front gate. My wife was snoring with smile of satisfaction on her face. I’d then decided to marry my daughter as early as possible; the thought of her marriage soothed my senses to some extent. By midnight my daughter arrived seated behind somebody’s motorcycle. She waved her hand & dancing entered into the gate. She was looking very happy. Before she uses her keys I opened the door. ‘It was great dad. We’d lot of fun, we ate you know what, we ate fish with cola. Planned our studies, like you I’d like to peruse with maths,…. Before I asked about her wellbeing she started with all that, perhaps I didn’t listen her since I was engrossed in looking her, her happy mood, her beaming face, her expressions and her decisions. I got up to give her close hug, kissed her forehead & wished her goodnight though it was well past midnight.

I suddenly got up with the cold water showers. ‘What has happened?’ I got up from the sleep with surprise, since bed lamp was on, with no sunlight passing through the window curtains, it was still night. ‘You are snoring like a tiger, I can’t sleep’ it was my wife. I turned to her side & hugged her close, kissed her & whispered, ‘thank god, our daughter is called for dating’. I closed my eyes since I didn’t want to see her surprised face I knew I’d see it with my eyes closed. Felt her hot kiss on my lips & never know when I slept again, perhaps snored too without being disturbed.

By
Vijay Yelmelwar