Brief moment of almost fame

"Guess who called up today?" my mother asked me one evening, a few weeks back. Just returning from a long day at office, I did not care if it was from the Prime Minister himself.

"You guess," I told her back.

She smiled at the fatigued joke, and mentioned, "Sumitha aththe (aunt)".

Oh! Sumitha aththe was the wife of my father's uncle who was a famous politician, and moved around in powerful circles.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"She wanted to talk to me about a proposal for you," my mother mentioned with a naughty sparkle in her eyes.

Aha!!! This had been going on for the last six months now. The first step of the process of an arranged marriage. My mother was getting unnecessarily excited about almost every proposal, some of them very good looking, some of them very smart, and some of them were both. A look at the mention of the height on the 'Biodata' of the able ladies, and my mother would sink in her chair in disappointment. Having a son whose height two men could share was certainly not working out for her. Most of the girls would look like kindergarten kids in front of me.

"Hmm," I said.

"The girl is very tall, it seems," she said.

"How much?" I threw the question, untying my shoe laces.

"Pretty tall. I think you might have seen her," the smile was still on her face.

"Eh?! I have seen her? Where?" I was surprised. A train of memories of all the marriage functions that I had attended in the past few months flew past me. Naah!!! None were 'tall'.

"Deepika Padukone," she uttered.

I was stunned.

A moment of silence followed.

"She is a Super Model. She is a celebrity," I uttered, voice barely coming out.

"I know her. She has also acted a movie I think," my mother said.

Why on Earth would Deepika want to marry me???

Oh! Lemme rephrase the question. 'Why on Earth would Mr Padukone want to propose her to me???', because I am sure that Deepika would not want to marry me if I am the last man on this planet.

Or, may be she would..... if I am the last man on this planet.... and only in that case...... or.... would she..... hmmm....

"But, Sumitha aththe says that her family is traditional. They are looking out for boys from traditional families," my mother added.

How do I qualify for being ‘Traditional’? The only times I wear Kurta/dhoti are during the times of Ethnic Days in my office.

May be I could wear Kurtas more often, I thought.

"Because she is into movies and modelling, and you were into movies and modelling before, she thought that we might consider the proposal," mother continued.

A chill traveled down my spine. Was this really happening??!!!

"Are you crazy???" I asked her, excited enough that I could not make out whether I was feeling happy, or confused.

"I know. I told her that she may not fit you in anyway other than the height," now my mother was smiling, almost on the verge of laughing.

Whew!!! That was something. Sumitha aththe had some real wild imaginations. Mother did think logically.

"You and she will not make a good pair. She is a little dusky I am told," laughed out my mother aloud.

Err.... anyway, she was never my favorite.