The Guy At The Cafe

The composed, self-assured yet polite guy seated next to me at the cafe ordered the exact pair of things I did. I tried to study his manners as he engaged himself in frivolous Google searches. For a while, I had an impression that he seemed to have bored himself into coming there. He finished his coffee and cake and made sure his table bore no traces of his order as he sat there, perhaps contemplating his next humdrum act. His thoughts were interrupted with the arrival of four guests, one of who looked like a person of interest to him. The girl and he saw each other and smiled in the most polite and nervous manner, as who appeared to be the farmer's parents and elder sister shook hands with the latter. This was followed by a pause and an over-the-top polite and determined-to-mpress inquiries by the guy about everyone' s well being and preferred beverage, calculatingly not excluding the girl.

The mother, however, smiled at this little detail. What is it about mothers that make them capable of looking right through the most seemingly inconsequential actions of their children?

There were only four chairs at his table. I offered them one  so that they could all sit together. What followed was a list of boring exchanges on each others' professions and backgrounds. I didn't mean to overhear but the familiarity of arranged marriage meeting has its own charm. The whole idea of a conversation full of purpose with two parties putting their best feet forward usually makes for a good show.

They talked about health, bmi, gyms, parks, traffic,  home towns, the city and metro among other things. Everything but marriage. This however, should not be mistaken for a lack of interest. It happens. People get nervous and have no idea how to go about such meetings. After a few minutes of awkward silence, someone always ends up asking a totally non-relevant question in an attempt to break the ice.

The meeting eventually ended. The smile on the faces of the girl's parents was far from pretentious. The guy collected his laptop which was left to be charged at the counter and they all left, leaving behind an air of uncertainty.

Did  he drop them to their place? Did the father hug him or shake his hands in the end? Was he invited for another round of tea? Did he leave their place with a sense of accomplishment and finality? Did the father find a secluded moment to discuss something with the mother? Did the girl spend the night thinking about her wedding trousseau? 

.................................................................................................................

Please follow me on GFC and Facebook and Instagram if you like reading the blog.