The punishment

Life changed in a week's time.

Her SMS sounded urgent. 'Call me now!', it said.

I was puzzled. A call revealed the urgency. Her parents, fed up with her insistence, had found her a "suitable" boy. And the date of the wedding ceremony was fixed in the middle of next month.

She wanted to escape from it. And how was I, her knight in shining armour, going to do it?

By travelling to her place, half the length of the country away, and eloping with her. I thanked my stars she did not tell me to carry her away on a white horse! I only have a black motorcycle...

It calls for good planning when all you have is a few days, some money and a girl waiting for you. I hopped onto the next train to Bombay, armed with two flight tickets to Madras. And blessings from my parents. Cool folks they are!

The train pulled in 26 agonising hours later. She was waiting for me on a stone bench next to a refreshment stall. Tension was written all over her face. I was as nervous as her. But then I couldn't show it, could I?

I repeated my plan to her. The next flight to Madras was four hours away. We had just about enough time to get to the airport and make our getaway.

A cold drink later, we walked out of the railway station, hand in hand. With every step, I could feel stress leaving her. The ride to the airport was no different. As we got out of the cab, both of us were cracking jokes and laughing.

Completely forgetting that she was running away with me. Like how we see in the movies.

If we played our parts like the ones in movie scripts, her folks were no better. Her family was waiting for us at the entrance to the departure lounge.

What happened next, I don't remember. It was a blur. I remember shouting, pushing, punching and a lot of running. But they caught up with us in the end.

As luck would have it, my phone rang. The call stopped a punch in mid-air. It was from home, my father calling to ask how long it would take for us to reach home. Sensing I had support of my folks, they cooled down a little. My folks were called. And lawyers were summoned.

The lawyers on both sides argued their case. After hectic parleys, the two sides came to an agreement. For the agony I had caused to her parents, I had to be punished.

I was shocked. It was true that I had expected this to happen, one way or the other. I resigned myself to the inevitable.

Happily.

I stared at the golden band on my right hand, as I recalled the events that unfolded after that.

It will take a while to adapt to the mindset of a married man.