‘Yeah.’
‘She was in my coaching classes.’
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘A girlfriend?’
‘I liked her for roughly two years. She liked me too. Unfortunately we expressed our feelings
too late. We only dated for two months.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Her father took up a job in Saudi Arabia. She moved there with her family.’
‘I am sorry,’ I said.
‘It’s okay,’ he said and smiled. ‘It was a long time ago.’
‘How about you?’ he said. ‘You have had relationships?’
‘Nothing in India. I did have a relationship in New York and, well, I don’t know what to call
it, but something in Hong Kong. So yeah. Two. Or one and a half.’
‘Oh,’ he said, somewhat surprised.
‘Yeah. I did. God, I feel lighter telling you that. I don’t know why but I do.’
He smiled.
‘It’s over, though. Both of them ended. A long time ago,’ I said.
‘Did it hurt when they ended?’ he said.
‘Yes, it did,’ I said and smiled, ‘but I am okay now.’
He did not probe further.
‘Would you like to know anything more?’ I said.
‘Not really. Only if and when you want to tell me,’ he said.
We looked at the ducks again.
He spoke after a few minutes. ‘So what do you think? About us?’
Did he want a decision from me? After one afternoon tea and one walk in the park? Is that
how arranged marriages work? What should I do?
I thought before I spoke.
‘Brijesh, I did like meeting you. But this is such a big decision, right?’
‘Of course. Take your time. Go back. Think. Reflect.’
‘I will. Should we walk out of the park so I can call an Uber to the airport?’ I said.
‘You won’t get such a good match again and again. He is US-based. You can easily get a transfer to
his city. He makes good money. He has shares. You say he is sweet. Really, beta, I can’t find you
anything better than this.’
My mother, back in India now, had called me during my lunch break in the office.
‘But mom.. .’
‘The Gulatis have called twice.’
‘I need time to think.’
‘No prince on a horse will come. Certainly not through shaadi.com.’
‘I didn’t say I want a prince.’
‘So come down to earth. What do you know about men anyway?’
Yeah, what do I know, I thought. If I did, I would have made them stick around, right?