Marry me not

Yet another rush hour and the driver waiting at the gate impatiently confused whether to call again or horn for a 9th time. Just then she hurriedly stepped out of the door with a handbag slipping down her shoulders, a diary and a headset in each of her hands still waiting to get into the bag. She boarded the cab planning a series of explanations to convince the driver. "Sorry Anna. Phone was in silent." A few grams of guilt got off her shoulders.

Plugged in the headset and scrolling through the 165 saved songs which she's been listening since the last 3 years, 'How strange it is that a 9 songs playlist can decide our mood for the day' she thought to herself securing her window seat.

As the song began to play, her eyes rolled onto the window ignoring her co-travellers..first appreciating the dew on the pane, then crossing a little further and watching the traffic..the lights of the vehicles, the expressions of people..the toys selling at the traffic signal..then a little higher into the darkened sky void of the stars. Suddenly a curve on her lips turned flat.

"Meera its high time that you choose a guy for yourself. You can't deny the matches with some lame excuses. All your friends are getting married. Do you think they're mad? Or are you smarter than all of them? Be practical. At your age, I'd already conceived."

With a silence and angerly raging emotions, Meera remembered her mom's reminder about her marriage and helplessness filled her eyes.

'How do I make her understand that I want to be understood. I've already conditioned my dreamy wild soul into a basic society-worthy creature. But how do I ignore the fact that I might have to continue to pretend for a 50 more years and make my every single moment as suffocating as my every compromised dream. Just because I'm an introvert doesn't mean I should give up on hope. I just wish there could be a way where my prince charming get to know me well and accepts me for what I am. Make every effort to make me his and sweep me off my feet...if only I could express this to him.' Meera laughed off at her fairytale fantasies.

The cab entered the office gates dragging the unwilling Meera into the mirror palace. "Sana, there are still 2 slides pending. You better complete and go through it once. And no staggering during the presentation..." Meera stepped out of the cab as a responsible corporate professional busy in a call, clueless about her fantasy filled diary being left behind...!