A year passed.
Saranya had joined a job and made many friends there. Her life had become quite lively, with a movie or an outing with her friends once a month. Occasionally, she would dream of the sounds of explosions—“dhamal, dumeel”—but she would forget them as soon as she woke up.
Her parents were now trying to take her into the next stage of her life.
“First, talk to that boy. If you like him, we can take it further. There is absolutely no compulsion,” her father had said.
How could she refuse?
He had not even given her a photograph. He had only told her the man’s name was Praveer. Apparently, she was expected to ask him everything else herself. If the elders told them all the details beforehand, her father believed there would be nothing interesting left for them to talk about when they met in person.
And the fact that he wanted her to meet the man alone, without even accompanying her for support, suddenly made Saranya feel that her father had become unusually modern.
They arranged to meet at a particular restaurant on her way home from the office. Though her father had not given her any other information, at least he had given her a phone number.
Just as she was about to call Praveer, an incoming call from his number appeared on her phone.
“Saranya, come inside. Look at the left corner. I’m at the last table. Come,” said a commanding voice.
She felt as though she were waiting for the hero’s entry in a movie.
She had a name first, and now she had heard his voice. Only the man himself remained to be seen.
Hesitantly, she walked forward. A friendly expression lit up his eyes as he stood to welcome her.
“Saranya, I’m right here,” said Praveer.
Hey! This was the savage!
A “dhamal, dumeel” background score seemed to play inside her ears.
With a neat haircut and a thoroughly sophisticated appearance, he looked extremely attractive in jeans and a T-shirt that revealed his muscular arms. Apart from that large moustache—the one thing that had remained unchanged from that day to this—everything else about him had changed. And that moustache was what helped her recognize him.
“Come, Saranya. Sit,” he said, speaking to her with complete ease.
As they talked, Saranya felt an inner sense of alarm when she realized that she was answering all his questions.
Why is he talking to me as though he already knows me? And why am I responding so naturally? she wondered.
As she was thinking about it, their conversation turned to their first meeting.
Oh no! What must he have thought about me?
Her head lowered on its own.
“I really liked your presence of mind that day, Saranya.”
She raised her head in disbelief at his words.
“That day, I was actually on my way to corner and arrest an illegal gang. That was why I had changed my appearance a little. Based on the information we had received about them, I was planning to travel quite a distance. If I had known there would be trouble halfway through, I would never have let you get into the car that day.
“But it was already quite late in the evening, and you were standing there frightened. I couldn’t refuse when your aunt asked me to take you.
“Your aunt passed away a few months ago.”
At the thought of her aunt, Saranya lowered her face.
“I had already met and spoken to her. When I told her that I wanted to marry you, she was very happy.”
Saranya stared at him in astonishment.
“Can’t believe it? I had asked your father about you that very day before I left,” he said.
She looked at him in disbelief.
Had she really travelled with this man for only half an hour—or perhaps three-quarters of an hour? How had he decided within that short time that he wanted to marry her?
Seeing the question written all over her face, he continued.
“Generally, I’m a little allergic to women who scream at cockroaches or shriek ‘eee!’ at every little thing and faint. My job is risky. I want my wife to be a courageous woman. Only then will I be able to do my job without worrying about her. I had always expected that.
“The way you behaved that day made me like you very much.”
Even as Saranya was thinking, He calls a woman who hid in the back seat instead of helping him when danger came courageous?—he continued.
“The first thing that attracted me was the way you stayed alert instead of being careless after getting into the car. From the moment you saw my appearance, you suspected me. But without making a fuss, you searched for identifying details about the car.
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