Chapter 8: chapter 8

I said in an angry tone and in a loud voice, “It's not waste of money. It’s utilization. Just because of your stubbornness I will lose a good match. Your obstinacy will ruin my life!Mom made a face and said in a low bad tone, “Huh! Okay. Then let’s go to the market.”I was smiling within my heart of hearts but I was not letting my smile surface. I said to myself, “I knew it. My mom would agree with me only when I would show my anger. But if I kept on trying to convince her with my logic then we would never be going to the market. Hehe.”I and my mom went to the market and bought a good suit and a good salwar kameez for her and we returned back to our home at about 8 p.m. I said, “Finally, now we are ready for tomorrow.”My mom looked at me angrily but didn’t say anything. The Next DayMy mom was working in the kitchen as usual. I was studying as usual but with one difference. Both of us were excited. Our excitement was visible in our actions. At any time, uncle Mohan’s call could come and we had to meet an unknown family. Our eyes were lurking on my mobile phone. In fact, we were waiting for his call. Now, we also wanted to do some adventure. We waited and waited for hours at a stretch but we didn’t receive any call. The time was 12:15 p.m. now. The smiles on my and my mom’s face were disappearing now. I wanted to talk about this to my mom but I held myself. On the other hand, my mom was also feeling the same. We went on waiting for some more time. Now, it was 4:00 p.m. and we received no call. Now, it was 6 p.m. and no call at all. Finally, my mom lost her patience and she said, “Aman, he didn’t call us.”I knew she was talking about whom but I pretended that I didn’t know, “Who? Mom..”Mom – Your uncle Mohan. Aman – Oh, yeah! He has not called us. I almost forgot. (I lied.)Mom – I think he forgot about us. We should remind him again. Aman – Yeah, it’s possible. Hundreds of customers are coming to him daily, I guess. He must have forgotten about us...Mom – Then call him. Aman – Now, it’s already past six. It’s futile to call now. Mom – We have given him five hundred rupees! Call him now!Aman – No, mom. It’s only the first day. It looks bad if I call him today. At least wait for a day, tomorrow, we will call him at about 10 a.m.Mom – It's very bad of him. How can he forget us! Five hundred rupees is not a small amount. And how can he forget such a decent boy! Aman – Mom, we had already talked about it. Hundreds of customers come to him daily. It’s natural that he may forget some families at times. Mom said in an angry tone, “I can’t believe that.” Aman – Mom, now you are angry that’s why you are saying that. Mom – Huh!At 9 p.m., having lost all the hope of a call, I switched on my LED tv and switched it to a news channel. We started listening to news. Neither did she say to me anything nor I said anything to her. Then she prepared supper for me and said to me, “Son, have your supper.”I said, “Okay, mom.” I went to the kitchen and brought the supper on my bed.” I had my supper while listening to the sad news complementing my gloomy mood.  The Next MorningIt had become very difficult for me to wait till 10 a.m. Yesterday, I decided to call Mohan uncle at 10 p.m. and now it had become a big trouble to wait for that time. I tried to focus on other things but all went in vain. My brain was stuck to talk to him. To wait for four hours since I woke up felt like I waited for a decade. Finally, the clock struck 10 a.m. and wasting no time, I picked up my mobile phone and called uncle Mohan. He picked up my call. Mohan – Hallo. Aman – Hi, uncle. It’s me. Mohan – Who is this? Aman – Me, Aman. Day before yesterday, I came to you with my mom and gave you my profile. Mohan – Are you a government teacher? I smiled and said, “Yes.”Mohan – Okay, now, I got you. Yeah, say. Aman – Have you found any good match? Mohan – Not yet. I am trying hard to find it out. I could not believe what he said. To confirm it, I again asked, “What?”Mohan – I said I am trying hard to find a good match for you but up to now, I have not found anyone. Wait for a few more days.Aman – Okay. He hung up the call. I said to myself, “What! He hung up the call so soon! I guess after receiving five hundred rupees in his pocket, his behaviour is changed.”My mom was overhearing me. She asked me, “What happened? What did he say? When do we have to reach his home?”Aman – Mom, he said that he has not found any good match yet. Mom – What! It’s not possible! How is it possible that he is not able to find a good match for you after spending a full day? Aman – I don’t know. Mom – I tell you, he must have not tried. Aman – I also think so. Because he must be having a long list of girls’ profile. Had he called even twenty girls from his list, he would have easily found a good match for me. Mom – Yeah, true. Aman – Perhaps, he might be busy somewhere and he didn’t get time to call the girls’ families. And he said to us that he had not found a good match yet just to keep our heart. Mom – But he should have told us the truth. Aman – Mom, businessmen never tell the truth. They always keep their customers in the dark. I don’t know why. Maybe these kinds of tactics work for them.Â