They came, they saw and..........

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. No relevance made.

She is informed about this the previous day, "You will have to take a holiday dear, they are coming tomorrow."

On this note begin the preparations. The next day, entire house is cleaned extensively, all scattered things are kept systematically and in place, new cushion covers, new dining table sheets, new curtains and almost everything that is old gets replaced with a new one. Special care is taken to see that the flower vases have fresh flowers in them and the entire house looks as fresh and good as heaven.


The clock is ticking. The day is passing gradually. It's 5 in the evening. The wait is on. "They could be expected any moment now. Dear, have you got all the refreshments ready? And what about the new crockery? Do clean it and keep it ready before they arrive. I don't want anything to go wrong." The message goes clear to everyone involved in this event: "The Exhibition". After sometime, things are quiet in the living room. It's just a wait which now prevails around.

Hey, but what about her? Well, she is inside her room, getting ready; after all, presentation matters, you see...!
New dress......(well, sometimes there is a dress code as well), matching jewelery, supporting make-up,etc,etc. Actually no stone is left unturned to make her look gorgeous and pretty as also simple and sober; all at the same time......(Now that's an expert's job!)

The last minute preparations are on: a set of instructions with special emphasis on Etiquette, a list of "Don't ask and Do ask....." and loads of unasked advices. Even the smile, not more than so and so centimeters.....(I don't know if you can measure that......? Well, they can....!)


Amidst this, the doorbell rings. Everyone takes their positions. And she is rushed into the kitchen. The door is opened with smiling faces all set to welcome the guests.....( no, guests is actually not the right word.....)

"Welcome! Welcome! It's a pleasure to have you at our 'small' home...."(the use of this adjective is seen very often.)

Seats are taken and the discussion is on....

"Did you find it difficult to locate our house?"

No doubts you get an answer "Yes, actually we.........." and then comes a list of all the difficulties faced by them, in spite of they being provided with a very precise postal address.......( I wonder when the 'posts' can reach properly at a given postal address, why do 'people' find it difficult to reach the same place? ) And thus the discussion continues........

But, now it's time for her to make an entry. For the moment, the discussion stops, there is pin drop silence in the room as she comes with the tea, nicely balancing the tray and without losing her grace, though in her heart she fears....one small fumble and the scene would be created. But she manages to reach the center table with a poise.

'Hmm......Impressed!', comes the expression on their faces....but for her....it's the first hurdle cleared......she sits quietly on the chair, specially kept ready and vacant for her, with just the perfect adjustments so that everyone can see her.

The conversation begins, ofcourse with a different topic but all eyes are set just on her, especially 'his'....

Suddenly everyone realizes that they should be given a few minutes to talk to each other in private.....(ok, here privacy means that they both sit in the adjacent room with the door open and after every 2 minutes someone just comes in,enquiring, if things are fine with them and if they are comfortable talking or not?....But it's not surprising.....when asked so....both of them nod with a "Yes, it's all fine here!" kind of a look......) So, they are ushered into the adjacent room.

Well, as a part of the audience sitting in the living room, one may find it difficult to describe the exact mood of the adjacent room. But 5 minutes later, everyone starts looking at their watch. Well, the clock is ticking......10minutes......ok......12 minutes gone......and it's a unanimous opinion, they should come out now.

By this time, I think they must have finished their first few questions in the permitted 'privacy'.

So here enters the girl's Aunt with a 'Afsos! Samay samapti ki ghoshna' expression on her face....(I must tell you, these elderly ladies love doing this to the youngsters....)

But they have to step out of the room.....and face them.....ya.... face THEM...!!


It's really hard to explain what it takes to come out of the room and sit again in that crowd....Yet with a brave smile on their faces, they meet the expecting eyes, all asking the same question...."Yes or No?"

So, runs a quick eye-talk between the guy and his family.....and finally they decide to keep it a secret; the verdict of the entire show....!

"I think, we should take your leave now, it's too late....we will let you know our 'answer' by 'tomorrow'....I hope you don't mind that...."

"Oh no, not at all, it's absolutely fine....let him take his own time.......we will definitely wait for your answer.....", the father of the girl says with a smiling face.



On this note, the meeting gets over......!




Well, people say "Tomorrow never comes"....But for this family many tomorrows have come and gone away....
And the status still remains the same:

'Mission 'Exhibition' Successful, Results pending.'