A Difficult Decision

Sneha knew that it would not be easy to choose one of them. She truly loved both Anuj and Mayank. If there were a unit of measurement for love, Sneha could have shown them that their individual scores were exactly the same. May be the love was not evenly distributed over time. On some days she longed for Anuj intensely and on other days she could not spend a second without thinking of Mayank but overall if you consider the average value it would have reflected the exact same score.

Sneha had met Anuj in college. It was not that she had fallen in love with him at first glance. It was not that she had fallen for him after ten glances. It was just that Anuj was absolutely fascinated and obsessed with her and she felt that it would be a crime to turn down someone who was so sure about her being the priority number one of their life.

Anuj was a simple person who considered himself to be an old fashioned romantic. His heart was looking for a muse when he came across Sneha. Sneha was kind of average in looks but she spent a good hour every day to make up her face in order to get the naturally pretty look. The gloss in her fruity lips and the flutter in her dark eyes were fake but they were sufficient to capture the fancy of Anuj.

Anuj and Sneha started off as friends or at least that is what Anuj pretended to be at first. He applied a very simple formula to befriend Sneha. He decided to love everything that Sneha liked. When Sneha wanted to discuss photography with someone Anuj was prepared. When Sneha wanted to see the trending rom-com Anuj was ready with a pirated copy of it. Even Sneha wished to find the right shade of lipstick for a special day Anuj made himself free to help her select it.

And all this was also interspersed with generous doses of cheesy compliments. Sneha could easily see through the charade but it did not matter to her. The fact that someone had done so much homework just to get her attention was sufficient to impress her.

Anuj and Sneha became inseparable friends in college. They were one of those couple who give out all signs of being a romantic couple but always deny the same officially. Anuj was happy. He was a rare person who had no fear of the friend zone. He had faith in the implicit love that Sneha and he shared.

But as college got over complications arose. Though both of them had gotten jobs in the same company they were asked to join in different batches.

Sneha got a date of joining 2 months earlier and it was in this 2 months’ space that she went on to fall for Mayank as well.

Mayank was completely different from Anuj. He did not attempt to go through an elaborate plan to get into Sneha’s heart. He was a tall and broad shouldered guy who was beaming with confidence. To be fair there was nothing truly remarkable about him but it did not stop Mayank from having a very high self esteem.

There were other lookers in the campus as well but somehow Mayank liked Sneha the most. Her style sense and ever perfect presentation won Mayank’s heart.

Mayank did not waste much time in telling Sneha that he liked her. Sneha replied with a much practiced shy smile. She looked straight into his eyes for a split second and then quickly looked down; a gesture that well compensated for the missing natural blush. They soon started to go out on dates. Mayank also took her to fancy places and publicly proclaimed his love for her. Some labeled him as a show-off but Sneha lapped up the attention and felt like a lucky cat.

But there was one thing that Mayank could never do for Sneha. In college Anuj used to help her with all the assignments and tests. But she found out soon that Mayank had an IQ far lower than that of Sneha. There was no way that he could help her to prepare for the exams of the training period.

They tried to study together but Sneha realized that she was the one who had to take charge because Mayank seemed to be completely blank about the problems they were usually assigned to. At such times Sneha wondered if she missed Anuj too much and if it was a mistake being with Mayank. But after the study session Mayank would take her out to a posh and pricey pub and pamper her in the most imaginative ways. And Sneha would slowly decide that she was enjoying the role reversal. This guy made her feel like a princess…moreover she got to be an intelligent princess to him!

Things got really complicated at the training campus when Anuj’s date of joining arrived and with it Anuj too. He went to meet Sneha with a heart full of unabashed joy. But within the first few days he got to know that he now had a competitor in Mayank.

For a few days both Anuj and Mayank were devastated to know about the wobbly status of their relationship with Sneha. Then both of then bounced back at the same time and decided not to be the one to give up.

The biggest gainer was obviously Sneha. All she had to do was assure each of them about how she liked him the most while very subtly fanning their inner insecurity.

When she was with Anuj she would talk her heart out and feel healed. Then she would tell him how important he was in her life and how comfortable she felt after a conversation with him. But as soon as an jubilant Anuj started to tell her the mundane tales of his daily life she would find a way to casually tell him that Mayank had taught her to waltz with him and it made her feel quite like a Disney princess. The shock and confusion was enough to shut Anuj up.

When she was with Mayank she would submerge herself in the frills and pomp of his signature dates. Dates with were never a casual affair for Mayank. It was an elaborately planned thing that was perhaps aimed to make a statement to those around him. But as long as the grandeur revolved around Sneha she did not mind at all.

“You are the true knight in shining armor,” Sneha would gently murmur into Mayank’s ears.

But just before he dropped her at her hostel she would make a sudden joke about how knights just get to save the queen for the king.

At this point you might be wondering if Sneha was being platonic or if she was bedding both the potentials. She has largely on the safe side of the line and though her words and gestures implicated romantic intent she had never actually done it with them. The maximum limit was a heady make out session; done exactly once with each of them. ( The score, you see, had always been perfect. ) On both the occasions it happened on a rainy day after the rain had subsided. There was a smooth and cool breeze blowing that would make the most unromantic person squirm with passion. So Sneha felt that it was the weather and not the men who deserved the credit for what had happened.

Anyway, coming back to the present dilemma Sneha herself had no idea about the future. Her traditional family had started to think about her marriage. A girl after completing her education and landing a job was to follow the natural law and find her way into marriage. One day her father casually asked her if she had anyone on her mind.

Sneha truthfully replied that she did not have any one man on her mind. Her father was given the go ahead to find a right match for her.

The first guy that her family had set up for her had been chosen primarily because their horoscopes had turned out to be a perfect match. On actually meeting the guy Sneha was furious. He had neither an impressive personality nor did he touch the lower limit of looks that Sneha had set for her future husband.

“Is this what you are capable of finding? In that case please leave it to me.” She bawled at her father.

Her father’s expression was apologetic.

“I have 2 guys who would do anything to marry me and both of them are better than this one that you have picked for me.”

That day Sneha and her parents had a long discussion or rather a presentation was given to her parents by Sneha. She described her expectations in a very articulate and tabular fashion. In case of confusions two examples were also provided. If the potential groom did not seem to outshine these two, he was clearly not the one.

Five months passed by. Sneha had given up all hopes and was reconsidering marrying either of Anuj or Mayank. But choosing one of them would always make her miss the other one too much. And she knew that no matter whom she chose, she would end up feeling that she had chosen the wrong one after a few years of marriage.

She was on the verge of starting her own religion where polyandry was permissible when her father called her up and forwarded the profile of Neeraj.

Neeraj was a muscular guy with a smiling face. His looks were good but not so good that they would trigger insecurity in the future wife. He was raised in India but was currently settled abroad, which meant that the future wife could have a culturally similar guy and more importantly she could get away with minimal interaction with the in-laws. And of course the family astrologer had approved of the match through his quaint calculations. Sneha smiled to herself as she envisaged herself slipping into the role with much ease.

They started to date normally after the first date was flagged off by their respective parents. Sneha realized that this was the guy that she had been waiting for. She did not feel anything special in her heart but then she was not stupid like those people who decide to marry for love. She had long since decided to be with those guys who showed the maximum interest in keeping her happy.

And of the three guys that Sneha had as options only Neeraj had the trump card of being an NRI.

The marriage was fixed. The parents again decided to throw a party and continue with their roles of being the cheerleaders in this auspicious event.

Sneha had this huge task of telling Anuj and Mayank of what was about to happen. But she simply did not go into too much detail. Mayank was told that that Sneha’s family will not allow an inter community marriage. And Anuj was told that her family astrologer had told her family that she would go on to die if she married Anuj.

Both the guys went into depression due to the suddenness of the incident. All this while they were preparing to relish the joy of defeating a known enemy. A little part of them was even prepared to accept defeat in the hands of this known enemy. But when a complete intruder came and ousted them both, they felt short changed and raw.

Neeraj and Sneha had an elaborate wedding. Those attending the event praised the fairy tale quotient of their marriage very much. The first few days buzzed away in frenzy and the new couple was happy to finally get some privacy as they boarded the plane to their honeymoon destination.

“You know you look like a fairy in this light,” Neeraj smiled at his new wife as the slanting rays of the setting sun lit up Sneha’s face. She broke into spontaneous laughter.

“However you could have chosen a better hairstyle that suits the shape of your face,” Neeraj added with a smile. “My ex girlfriend Poonam is a hair stylist so I have become kind of picky about hairstyles.”

Sneha’s smile vanished and she gulped involuntarily. Competition enhances service. It was supposed to be her personal secret.

As far as Anuj and Mayank are concerned, they are still drinking too much trying to forget Sneha. It is good that they never found out much about Neeraj. That would have given them instant hope for an extra marital innings with Sneha.