Love doesn’t come easy. And no one knows that better than me. Rohan made an impression on me the moment I first saw him. He was my sister’s best friend and almost 5 years older than me. The three of us always hung out together, from movies to late night clubbing, he was the only guy my mom trusted to drop me back home.
Gradually, from friends we became a lot more. I had never felt this way about a guy before. I was loving every bit of being in love. But, I chose not to tell my family about the relationship just yet. I wanted to graduate, get a job and then disclose my relationship. I knew they would be happy for us. My parents got along fantastically well with him, he was well settled professionally and we both loved each other. His family had the same background as mine, so there was just no room for any disconnect.
Well, things didn’t go as planned. My parents found out about us from an ex-boyfriend who was in the mood for revenge. For the first time I realised that my folks always saw Rohan as my caring elder brother!
They suddenly found a million faults in their golden boy. They called his parents, told Rohan to stay away from me and, to top it all off, grounded me! Their (completely new!) list of objections: he was way older than me, he came from a different community, he wasn’t very good looking (!), he wasn’t trustworthy, he was a Casanova who phasaoed a young girl like me, his profession was not right. All these ‘reasons’ were thrown at me. I couldn’t believe that my parents opposed marriage!
Thus began my long and ugly fight for love. I had always been extremely close to my parents, and was pampered to no end. We were always referred to as ‘the coolest family’ and all my friends always called them ‘the most fun parents’. Their disapproval was a big shock.
There were loud, ugly fights at home every day. Some days I would take the Metro and travel randomly along the routes, just to kill time; or walk to the nearest park at odd hours just so I could cry. I lost my appetite, I didn’t feel like meeting my friends any more and it felt as if life had closed in on me. But none of this ever affected Rohan and our love for each other. While we might have our petty fights, our bond became a lot stronger. He was my one and only emotional rock.
I saw my parents crying and that hurt the most. Their health worsened, and I saw my mom looking fragile and older with each passing day. They blamed me for all of it while saying they just wanted the best for me.
This went on for almost two years. I realised that there was no end to this. Rohan and I then decided to take the big step: we’d elope. As a last shot at fixing the situation, we decided to share our marriage plans with my sister. She, in turn, became hysterical and shared the news with my parents.
When I woke up the next morning, my grandmother motioned for me to come to the living area. I walked in to see my parents sitting very still on the couch. My granny took my hand and said, “Mumma Papa maan gayein hain.” At first I thought I heard her wrong. I couldn’t react at all, I felt numb. She continued to reassure me, “Rohan ke liye maan gayein hain.” A month later his family was invited home and we had our roka. 6 months later we were married!
Not just with my parents, Rohan is now a favorite with my entire family. Till date, people ask my parents why on earth they had such a big problem. And my husband often gets to hear how he is the best thing that could have happened to the Sharmas!
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