'Bride at Eighteen'

"This sulemani is the only highlight of today macha" said Aarav, lifting his tea from the glass topped showcase of the Metropole cafe, in the busy streets of Shivajinagar in Bangalore. "It was a day filled with oscillations between finding technical glitches and frequent visits to the boss's chamber with numerous reports and updates. Any person who has survived long enough in our world would understand the drill..." he said with his voice trailing off at the end of the sentence, subtly hinting at the lack of interest I had, in his chosen field of computers.

With the beautiful orange ball of fire setting behind the tall glass buildings at a distance, I was in no mood for a battle of interests with a person so passionate about computers, that he could literally live with one, his whole life.

"I caught those last words...And yeah, Live with it..." I said, playfully punching him on his right shoulder to create an impact. 

"What plans this weekend?" I asked reaching for my glass of tea.

"My cousin's wedding macha. You know Madhu right...Its her reception on Saturday." he replied, all excited about the wedding. "You should definitely come da. She'll be very happy to see you..." invited the brother of the bride with a cheeky smile, on behalf of his cousin who didn't have the slightest clue about this invitation.

This is a special etiquette, rather a protocol of friendship. You become friends, their friends become your friends and all their relatives become your own, to the extent that, all their family functions become your free buffet passes. Perhaps, this is what 'Bro-code' is all about.

"Cheta... Innor sulemani" he pointed his index finger at the tea expert, carefully measuring the ratio of milk in the tea he was preparing.

"If I remember correctly, she's still in PU right?" I asked, with my eyes wide open in astonishment at the mention of the marriage of a girl I remembered running around in a blue frock, playing badminton with me, the last time I was at his place. 

"Yeah macha, twelveth grade. She just turned eighteen" Aarav said nodding his head, as he gulped down the last of his beloved sulemani.

Wedding at 18, in our generation? Something didn't add up for me. I couldn't imagine Madhu in a saree, let alone a wedding dress. Her cheerful face, beautiful smile and bubbly nature, bursting with energy was all that flashed in front of my eyes at that moment.

"Isn't it a little too early bro? I mean, she's still in her teens..." I asked, still a bit dazed, digesting the fact that she was being married off at this age.

"Let me be honest bro. I tried to confront my uncle about this, but all in vain. His reasoning was of the next level and honestly, I failed to capture the essence of it till the end. I finally gave up. It was a futile effort macha..." came the reply from my friend, who was an engineer with an MS from a prestigious tier 1 University, with specialisation in Robotics, one of the leading engineering fields in the world. The signs were pretty obvious. He had given up. 

This was interesting. An explanation that could defeat logic and reasoning along with quashing the dreams of a young girl, who was yet to set foot into the brutal world of professionalism and opportunities. I had never heard of one such explaination before. "Now, that's the lamest theory I have ever heard from you. As far as I know you, a decision, in your terms, normally operate in the realm of 'Right' or 'Wrong'. 'Maybe' is a possibility you don't even consider worthy enough to be true. So, please enlighten me with your new path of a complicated situation, brilliant explaination or whatever you want to call it guruji..." I said, folding my hands in a namaste, to mock him.

"Hmm... I recognise that tone, you bugger. Still, let me try. A distant relative of ours was in love with a boy for the past four years. When she turned 18, around six months ago, she said that she will marry this guy with or without the consent of her parents, now that she was capable of taking her own life decisions legally. Her parents were shocked at this development and decided to enquire about the boy. As they dug deeper, they found out that he had a couple of police cases registered against him under the Goonda act and was also involved in hafta, hawala and small acts of robbery in his area. Trying to convince his daughter against the alliance, the father tried to explain the situation to the girl. She flatly rejected everything, claiming that her parents were trying to distance her from the love of her life by stitching together a maze of lies. Finally, defeated, her parents got her married to the boy she was in love with, only to find her dead body in a lake nearby, a couple of months later. In the autopsy report, it was evident that, there were several signs of repeated physical abuse on her body. This incident shook the whole family. So, everybody is scared and I see no ray of hope in Madhu's case..." was the reply as if Aarav had resented to the fact that the marriage will transpire despite all the drama he could create with his opposition.

I was shellshocked. I had never seen Aarav so dejected in life. With my mouth so wide open that a whole pear could fit into it, my loss for words was very evident as I struggled to frame my sentences. Finally trying to get a hold of my stupefaction, I said, "Ahhh...C'mon dude, This is the big explaination for bursting the bubble of dreams of a bright young mind. She told me that she wanted to become a doctor when I asked her about her aspirations for life. She is yet to see the world, carve a respectable place for herself in society and work towards realising her goals. Who else can understand her passion and dreams to succeed than you, who has worked so hard for everything you have earned with your hardwork and dedication, despite the limited opportunities you were presented in life. All I'm telling is that, she should also get a chance to dream..."

"Actually, to be frank, I thoroughly understand your viewpoint, as my opinion is not far from the one you are trying to make. I just couldn't argue with the father who was almost in tears at the thought of his daughter standing in front of him, with a garland around her neck, next to a person who had one foot on the threshold of a lockup. Though I tried to persuade him to reconsider his decision, I could not make a comeback when he said that, in case something of that kind ever happened, it would be the last time I would see the light in his eyes. I could not speak beyond these words. No, just could'nt fight anymore..." said Aarav, reassuring himself, as I noticed his face go pale at the thought of his beloved uncle being no more. 

All along my way back from this catch up with Aarav, I was lost in thought about the harsh facts about the society we live in and its nuances we encounter in everyday life. Though we consider our lives to have evolved in every way, towards the better, it is surprises like these that show us that, though we have made drastic advances in various fields of science, technology and social behaviourism, it is the overall quality and understanding of life that has to actually improve.The question constantly lingering in my mind being, "Isn't eighteen a few years too young to start a new life, an uncharted path for a life, still finding its footsteps in this unforseen world?"