Chapter 20: chapter 20

I thought, “It means that I was just wasting my time calling random people. I should have focussed only in this column. Arora Sikh column. Now, I am tired and almost all normal matrimonial ads are over. Rest are of widows and divorcee only. Now, next week, I will buy new newspapers and try only in Arora Sikh column.”Next Saturday morning, I rolled off my bed and first of all, without taking showers or brushing my teeth, I said to my mom, “Mom, I am going to buy newspapers. Please latch the door.”Mom – Now? You haven’t even had a cup of tea. First take tea and then go. Aman – No, mom. I want to go now. It’s already seven a.m. And if I go late, the newspapers I want might be sold. Mom – No, problem. First take tea. Aman – No, mom. I want to go. I am going mom, lock the door! You prepare tea.Seeing me going out of the house, my mom said, “How curious is he for his marriage! He is not even shy about it! In my times, we didn’t even have courage to utter the word – Marriage.”After about eight minutes, I was back with four newspapers in my hand. My mom saw it. She asked me, “These many newspapers?”Aman – Yes, mom. Actually, mom for our caste there is only a small column in a newspaper. It appears as if there are so many matrimonial ads but for our caste, there are a few. Mom – Hmm... Aman – Now, I am going to tick mark the matrimonial ads that I should call. At about 9 a.m., I will start calling them. Mom – Okay. Don’t take tension. You will get a very good girl for marriage. Aman – Thanks for consoling me. I will also try my best. I will leave no stone unturned to find the best partner for me. She smiled and said in a very low voice, “Shameless!” I didn’t hear the word properly but I understood the meaning about what she said. I knew my mother very well. Hehe.  At about 9 a.m., I opened a newspaper and directly saw the matrimonial ads under the Arora Sikh column. The ad read “24/5.5” B.A., homemaker, business class family, Arora Sikh girl looking for a well settled groom.”I thought, “She is just B.A., not even B.Ed. I think they will immediately agree to initiate a talk with me for the marriage of their daughter. And yeah, one thing, I will add more to it. I don’t know why this idea didn’t come to my mind before. I will say to the girl’s family that I prefer simple marriage. Actually, I love simple marriage only.” “Because by doing simple marriage I will save my money as well as money of the girl’s family in lakhs. They will become very happy to hear that. It’s a great idea. Let’s implement it and see what happens. If they get agree then I will say to them that first I will discuss everything with my family and if they say yes, then we will proceed ahead.”I called them. This time a woman picked up the call. It seemed as if she was the mother of the bride. I said, “Hello.”Woman – Hello.Aman – Aunty ji, actually I read your matrimonial ad, that’s why I called you. Woman – Okay. Aman – I am 25/5.9”, 75 kg, working as a government teacher. I am from Bathinda. My date of birth is 26 January, 1997 and my time of birth is 4:20 p.m.Woman – Hmm... okay. Your profile is good. I thought, “Wow! First time ever has anyone told me like that!” My confidence increased.Aman – Thanks, aunty ji. I also want to add one more thing to it. Woman – Yeah, tell me. I said with a smile, “I prefer simple marriage.”I thought they would become extremely happy to hear that but the results were just the opposite. She said, “Oh! But we were not looking for simple marriage. We want to do marriage with pomp and show.”Aman – Oh...okay. Woman – Actually, she is my youngest daughter. And you know the youngest child is the apple of an eye of their parents. So, we are looking for only grand marriage. I said in a low tone, “Okay...”Woman – You seem to be a good boy. Keep trying. You will surely get a good match one day. She disconnected the call. I was literally shocked to hear that. I said to myself, “She politely rejected me! On one hand, she said that I seemed to be a good boy but on the other hand, she rejected me. What does that mean? It simply means the quality of goodness doesn’t matter at all in the eyes of girl’s parents. What kind of era is this! I can’t understand! Where only caste matters, where date of birth and time of birth matters, where there is no place for good nature, likes or dislikes! Huh!”I read another matrimonial ad and called them. They also said No. Then I called the next number. Again, I heard No! I again read the next ad and called them. Again, the answer was no! Then one by one, I almost called all the Arora Sikh column and the answer of all of them was no!I thought, “I thought I was a non-drinker, non-smoker, a government teacher with decent reputation, I could easily find thousands of girls to marry me but the reality is just the opposite! Nobody is ready to marry me. Not to talk of girls with government jobs, simple homemaker girls are also not ready to marry me! My value is zero! I am nothing! It’s the only reality that I have never ever even dreamt of! It’s just like a nightmare!”“I don’t think in this way, I am going to succeed in finding a girl. Now, the time has come to try something different. The time has come to use Paras’s idea.”Fully frustrated, I searched on Google “Best Indian matrimonial websites.” The results appeared and I began to read all the articles related to matrimonial websites. I was reading such articles to find the best and the most genuine matrimonial website where I could create my profile and search for a bride. (It will be so nice of you, if you leave at least a single word comment 🌺❇️🌹🌺❇️)