The Moustached Man

It was a cool and pleasant February early morning weather of Delhi. Our first walk at the Buddha Jayanthi Park was a pleasing and energising affair. As we were walking I held my hubby’s hand tight and stood still. He calls this tight hold and immobile pose of me as “The dog phobia” and as a responsible guardian turned around to look for dogs.

Seeing none he asked me “What happened now?”

“Look, I can’t believe my eyes!”

“Oh the pavalamalli, (a jasmine variety of white petals and orange red stem) we have seen enough of it in Chennai.” He said. 

It was a know it all statement and I didn’t like it at all.

 “But have you seen a fence made of pavalamalli?  Ever seen rows and rows of them welcoming you with their heady fragrance when even a single one is an intoxicating concoction! I can’t believe it! Why didn’t we think of this in Chennai?”

“You are right….. Why didn’t we think of this in Chennai?” A pleasant voice made us turn back.

A middle aged couple smilingly wished us with a ‘vanakkam’ amidst the “Ram Rams” of the park.

From then on the walk in the Buddha Jayanthi Park became a much awaited event of our morning life!

One thing led to the other and this bonhomie was a thing of joy for both sides and in those phoneless days the exchange of addresses followed suit. Was it a magic by those rows of jasmines (pavalamalli) ?!!

When we came to know that they were on the lookout for a groom for their daughter I considered it a miracle that there was a very suitable boy from my side. I told them that our family friend who was closer to us than our own relatives and was also looking for a bride for his auditor son and that I would send a letter immediately.

They were happy. Since the girl had done her studies on similar lines it would be a perfect match in their professional life too!

From then on their daughter joined with us in the ‘Buddha Jayanthi park walk’ and preferred my company to the others! “ The semester exams are over and I am free for some proper exercise!” she declared as a matter of fact.

“ A lovable liar indeed!”

I didn’t disappoint her; fed her to the brim about this handsome boy who considered me as his own sister and about his intelligence having his own business at this young age. I also talked about the boy's parents whose company was as delightful as her own parents’! And very much more…!

After a month a reply came from my uncle that there was a big calamity in the house when my letter was received. His son had fallen in love with one of his juniors but never opened his mouth, in spite of fact that his parents were on the lookout for a bride for him.

But a letter from me fixing his bride was indeed a serious one because the boy knew that his parents took me into confidence and my decision was respected always. So he told of his lady love.

I remembered my oft repeated advice of my mother “Maintain a balance in all you do.”

I had indeed committed the mistake of letting our friends daughter’s imagination run riot.

Yet the bitter pill had to be swallowed. I had to open this unhappy message to the family. In their goodness they tried to pacify me.

“Don’t you worry "Quod scribere script est"………. Whatever is written is written”

My husband said “Uncle I had to go on a business trip to Madras and my father is well connected and he would definitely find a better match. “

The family accepted this assurance gracefully though they knew it might be just a placebo.

 “Once bitten twice shy” was my status now and  before his trip I made sure that whichever boy his father was deciding on, the enquiry should be thorough and there ought to be double checking of facts and this process was utterly essential. In case any prospective alliance he came across during his stay he had to personally meet the boy to make sure that there was not an iota of doubt about the credentials of the boy.

Our morning walk that day was not just filled with fragrance but created a happy mood. My husband indeed was the bearer of good tidings!! The boy was an engineer and a gold medallist with a well-paying job and the family was highly esteemed for its good values and yes… they were interested in the alliance.

My hubby said “We will send the full size photo with all the details to my dad and in the same way they would be sending the photo and details to me. This way it would be an informal thing and the photos could be returned without any heart burn in case either party was not interested.

“And we will not talk about it till everything is finalised. Is it ok with all of us?”

It was a double ok from all of us!

The photo from girl’s side had been duly sent and we received the boy’s photo but my husband was not happy

First of all it was just a passport size photo while the boy’s plus point was his height which couldn’t be revealed in a passport size photo. Secondly even though his face was bony his nice moustache counter balanced the structure. But the boy in all his craziness had shaved off his moustache for this special snap!!

“It’s ok; we will pass on the photo to them.”

“No way! What if they reject him based on this silly photo? He is indeed a gem of a boy and very handsome unlike this portrait…”

After much deliberation he decided on a ploy to make the man look handsome. “Just two lines and what a difference it’s going to make!” my hubby told himself. During his college days his excellence in engineering drawings won him many a laurel. He still carried those implements with love and that day he took out his sharpest and the thinnest black pen. Sitting under his drawing table and keeping the snap under the bright lit spot he drew a moustache!! When he showed me his handiwork, I literally got frightened!! With his longish mush the boy resembled more of a bandit’s handy man than a gorgeous groom. My husband concurred that in his enthusiasm he had made the moustache too long and using an ink pen eraser made a reduction which turned the boy into Hitler junior with a caterpillar moustache!  My anguished cry was “Poor chap, please leave him alone”

But the artist never wanted to give up. And after a few more alteration which led to a complete disaster and the outcome was an unrecognisable 'smudged good for nothing' bit of paper.

Without revealing his goof up he quietly sent a letter to his dad asking him for a full size photo of the boy with proper moustache!

We didn’t inform any of these catastrophes to our friends!  They might take it as a not very auspicious sign!

Those were the days when a letter took its own time to travel. Even if the letter reached it would take some more time for the boy to grow a mush. After this process he had to go to the studio to take the photo and the studio owner would take his own sweet time to deliver the print with a mandatory minimum period of 8 days.

And for us to receive the photo would be another time lag.

For some time we avoided the fragrant Buddha Jayanthi park.

But they were worried about our wellbeing and came home one day. We smartly tried our best to conceal all our bungling and assure them that it might be just a postal delay.

 “Don’t worry; we understand that you are hesitant to tell us that they don’t like the girl. But let us not lose our precious friendship over this silly matter. Can you please tell your dad to send back the photo?”

Our dilemma was unbearable and for a second I thought of blurting out the whole story but what could we gain by this effort? I kept quiet.

At last the much anticipated letter from my hubby's dad arrived. With just a cursory glance we handed over the envelop lock stock and barrel to our friends and it turned to be a happy ending!

And our couple recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

But till this day the ‘secret of the moustache less man’ slumbers well only in our hearts!