Beauty Kills.

I was 16 when I first saw her at a relative's wedding. Unusually, that was the only wedding where I didn't have many of my cousins for company. I had present at the function hall a day before the wedding. And like all Maharashtrian weddings, here too, there was a ceremony called the Srimanti Pujan which happens one night before the wedding. I was the only one from my family to attend as the rest were to arrive next morning. 

I was on the bride's side and had lots of things to do. After the pooja ended, at about 10.00 pm, I was introduced to a very beautiful woman, a relative of the bride I had never met before. She was may be about five years older than me. She was slim, had shoulder length hair, beautiful eyes and had there was something in her eyes that could enslave any man.  I was asked to accompany her to the STD Booth as she wanted to call her father. Yeah, in 1998, STD Booths were in great demand post 10.00 pm. And then, my walk with her began. 

As I walked through the dusty lane of Secunderabad that night along with her, she started a conversation with me and asked about me, my relationship with the hosts, then about my studies, etc. She made a quick call to her father and finished it in two minutes. Then, the next number she dialed was to the same town, but to another number. Because of the broken glass pane of the telephone booth, I was able to hear what she was speaking. In a minute, I could realize that it was her boyfriend. As a teenager, I could only feel jealous of him. After she came out, she looked at me and smiled. She said, 

"Did you hear what I spoke?"

"It was audible," I said.

"Don't tell anyone, he's my hero," she said.

"That's nice," I said. I don't know why but I was a little disappointed. However, as we walked back, she told me everything about her, how they met, how they built a relationship and how it grew stronger. I was a little too immature to understand all the she said. Only one thing was on my mind. I wondered how lucky that guy must be, to find a beauty like this one. 

The next day she wore a saree and looked so beautiful that she almost killed me. Since she was older and eying her wouldn't make any sense, I decided to enjoy her company. At about four o clock that evening, almost all guests had left. The marriage hall floor was full of flower petals and rice grains. Some chairs were racked one upon the other at every corner. Everyone looked tired. She came to me and asked me to accompany her to the STD booth, again. I readily agreed and like the previous night, I waited outside the same booth and could hear what she said into the microphone.

While what she spoke into that microphone is not important, when we returned to the bride's home that evening, women gathered in one room and men in another. Long discussions followed the dinner even after the tiring day. At about 8 pm, she came out with her mother and they had their luggage in their hands. As they left, she didn't even turn and look at me. There was no good bye, there was not even a smile, nothing at all. They just crossed the street and disappeared. I was a bit disappointed, I didn't even know why. 

Slowly, I forgot everything about it and never even bothered to ask my cousin about her.  

In 2007, I had the good fortune to travel to another town for a distant cousin's marriage. At the Srimanti Pujan, the marriage-eve ceremony, as I struggled to keep my eyes open at 12.45 in the night, I was shocked to see someone. It was her. Nine years had made no difference to her apart from a couple of pounds added to her weight. She was still the magic that I had once met. I had grown up since the last time I saw her. She had a kid in her arms. I didn't know whether to smile at her or not. But when I did, she smiled back too. I was glad and waved at her and she waved back. The next day, I saw her with a handsome man who had thick mustache. He was quite tall and they made a good couple. Their kid was cute too. But she looked murderously beautiful.

Two years later, in 2009, I came to know that in 1999, when she had declared to her parents that she wanted to marry her boyfriend (apparently from a lower caste), her father had passed away because of a heart attack. Within an year, she got married to this man, the mustached college professor. When her boyfriend heard the news, he left home. They tried to search for him but to no avail. Many years later, he was found roaming around in tattered clothes near a very famous temple. The brought him home, but he ran away again. Their parents don't search for him anymore. 

This winter, another cousin from the same family is getting married. I am not sure if I will go. 

- Deepak Karamungikar
 (My book, Love at first sight & other stories is now available online for purchase - Click here)