#TheWritingProject

“Rahul, you idiot! What is the use of being so handsome when you don’t have a girlfriend? Find a beautiful better half for yourself” said Rahul’s mother, Mrs.Anjali, at the breakfast table.
“Not again mom! I’m leaving for my office” said Rahul, trying to escape the topic.
“Sit down and finish your food” said another strict voice. This was Rahul’s father Vasudev. “Anju has a point, Rahul! How long will you stay single?” said he.
“Oh dad! Please stop supporting her. Parents go against their child's love. Your thoughts are completely out of the box and they drive me crazy” said Rahul who was completely annoyed with this daily soap at the breakfast table.

Rahul’s parents try to explain to him why they want him to marry a girl of his choice but he remains silent and leaves for office after breakfast. “Who said I’m not interested in having a girlfriend or a wife? I’m just 26. They tell me as if I never look at girls. It’s just that I never got connected to anyone. I will definitely find someone someday. They will have to wait” said Rahul to himself while taking his car out of the garage.

As Rahul reached the gate, a security guard saluted him and started wondering. “How come the only heir to the state’s biggest cafe chain uses such a small car for office? No wonder this man is crazy” said the guard to himself.

Mrs.Anjali on the other hand was completely frustrated with Rahul’s behavior. “I’m fed up with him… I will have to do something about this” said Mrs.Anjali to herself.

Later in the afternoon, Mrs.Anjali picked her phone up and downloaded a dating app on it. “I will chat with a few girls on his name. Let me try finding my son’s perfect half” said Mrs.Anjali to herself. She created an account on Rahul’s name and started searching for girls.

On the other hand, Rahul was teased by Priyansh for the discussion that Rahul has everyday with his parents. Priyansh was his best friend from school time and the only person in his office, who is aware of his actual identity. For the rest of his colleagues, Rahul was the son of a normal corporate employee.

After a week, Mrs Anjali visited the temple. She lit a lamp and prayed to the god about her son’s future. She noticed a girl opposite to her, trying to protect the lamp from going off. The lamp is finally adjusted by Mrs. Anjali.
“Thank you my dear. You made my day. I lit the lamp for my son and if it would have got off for any reason, I would have felt very bad. Thank you for everything” said she.
“It’s absolutely fine aunty. You need not thank me” said that girl.
“What is your name dear?” Mrs. Anjali asked.
“I’m Mythili,” replied the girl.
“What do you do?” asked Mrs. Anjali again.
“I’m here to pursue my masters from the central university. My classes will begin next week. I’m currently doing a part time job tutoring school students in my area.” said she.
“What is your native place?” asked Mrs Anjali and their conversation went on.

Mrs.Anjali is completely impressed with Mythili. After completing all the rituals at the temple, Mythili drops her till her car. She left the temple with a hope that Mythili would prove to be a perfect life partner for Rahul. Mrs. Anjali finally leaves the place. While going home, she recalled her experience on the dating app.

Anjali had created an account on the dating app in the name of Rahul. She was trying to find a perfect match for her son. But, she was failing to do so. As she was about to delete her account, she had come across Mythili who had just liked Rahul’s profile.

She didn't have too many details over her profile but had a decent profile picture. Mrs. Anjali liked her profile too and they started chatting with each other. Mythili’s innocence and her sense of humor impress her. She had planned her visit to the temple only after knowing Mythili’s plan to visit the temple. While talking to her at the temple, she had reconfirmed all her details. She was now confident that she wouldn’t regret her decision in the future.

Mrs. Anjali keeps chatting with her that evening. She understands that Mythili had trusted Rahul a lot as she tells him a.k.a Mrs. Anjali about her meeting with a very kind old lady who was very sweet and nice to her.

Days and months pass by and their chat continues. She never told Mythili that Rahul’s is the only heir to the biggest cafe chain of the state. She only tells him that he is a software engineer planning for an MBA. One fine friday, Rahul aka Mrs. Anjali finally asked her if they could meet.

Mythili thought for a while and finally agreed to it as she found Rahul to be a decent guy throughout the chat.

That night, the dinner table at Rahul’s home–
“Rahul, I’ve found a girlfriend for you. You will have to meet her next weekend” said Anjali.
Rahul starts coughing on listening to his mother’s words.
Priyansh, who almost has his everyday dinner at Rahul’s home, gave him water. He said, “Wow, mom! That's great news! Tell me about the girl… I’m excited!!”
Priyansh, who lost his parents at a very young age, began addressing Mr and Mrs Vasudev as his parents. They had nothing to oppose as Priyansh was family to them.

“Tell the guy beside you to get excited, Priyansh,” she said.
“I don’t want to,” replies Rahul rudely.
“You have no option,” said Mrs. Anjali.
“Rahul dear, just go give it a try… Just try speaking to her” said Mr. Vasudev.
“You are telling me as if you have met her before,” said Rahul.
“No, but your mother did and I trust her decision” said Mr. Vasudev, looking into Mrs.Anjali’s eyes and smiled.
“Don’t show me your chemistry and stop romancing in front of your kids” said the extremely irritated Rahul.
“You can continue dad, I’m fine with it” said Priyansh.
“That’s like my son” said Mr. Vasudev.

“I’m leaving…” said Rahul, getting away from the table.
“Mom told you to meet her over the next weekend. Not this!” said Priyansh teasing Rahul.
Rahul hit Priyansh with a cushion and left. When Priyansh tried to hit back, Rahul closed the room door and the cushion hit the door.

Mr&Mrs Vasudev have a hearty laugh. After their dinner, Anjali served food on a plate and took Priyansh and Vasudev along with her to Rahul’s room.
Rahul, whose temper had come down by then, completed his dinner.

“Mom, tell me, how did you find the girl?” asked Priyansh.
Mrs Anjali narrates the complete story to them.
Rahul and Priyansh are astonished at their mother’s creativity.
“I’m fine with everything but, tell me one thing. Why did you choose a dating app? You could have found some good marriage bureau or some app for marriages? You were wanting to get him married, right?” asked Priyansh.
“Despite marrying the man I fell in love with, I never had an experience of using a dating app. I wanted to give it a try! Since I can’t date anyone on an app at this age, I thought I will use it on Rahul’s name” said Mrs. Anjali. This answer startled everyone else in the room.
She shared the credentials of the app with them and left the room with her husband.

Rahul and Priyansh login to the account and start reading the conversation with Mythili. Rahul’s mother had portrayed a true face of him. She didn’t fake a single word about him. Rahul was impressed with Mythili’s character. Priyansh was eager to welcome her to the family.

Upon having the credentials, Rahul starts chatting with Mythili. Despite finding changes in both typing speed and style, she ignored it and continued to chat. Mythili tells him that she had recently been to Heartbeat cafe and had fallen in love with coffee there.
“You would one day become the madame of that cafe dear…” said Rahul to himself.

Their chats continued to such an extent that instead of replying to each other whenever they were having time, they started finding time for each other.

Their meeting was just a day away. Rahul got Anjali a coffee mug as a gift. They plan to meet at a heartbeat cafe near Mythili’s house. Rahul was quite excited about the meeting and left home early.

Rahul reached about 45 minutes before time and had no option other than waiting. He kept recalling Mythili’s interests and likes until an untuned guitar distracted him. It was the guitar of a singer at the cafe. He was trying to sing with his shrill voice and an untuned guitar. This irritated Rahul. He went to the stage and the guitar from the stand, tunes it and started singing.

On the other hand, an over-excited Mythili reaches the restaurant about 30 minutes early to see Rahul busy singing on stage. Mythili enjoys Rahul’s song. After receiving a lot of appreciation and signing a few autographs, Rahul returned to his place. He finds Mythili sitting at the opposite table and joins her. He gave her the mug. Taking the gift, Mythili replied, “Thanks for the gift. I had to shop at the last moment, so I was only able to find your favorite chocolate.” Saying this, she put a chocolate bar in front of him. “This is one gift I can never reject or say no to” says Rahul.

They finally plan to sit at the rooftop of the cafe. They sit on the rooftop and enjoy the weather and the city view. While enjoying a hot cup of coffee, they notice the manager behaving differently. Being the owner of the cafe, he follows her only to find that she was upto a conspiracy. She was looting money from the cafe by manipulating the accounts. She had stored this money as black money and was planning to send it away that night.

He shared this with Mythili. Both of them plan to hide in the cafe and catch the manager red handed. Rahul drops a message to his mother saying that he would sleep at Priyansh’s place that night and tells her not to worry. After completing their dinner date at the restaurant, they manage to find a place to hide. They successfully hide themselves from all the CCTV cameras and people. The cafe gets closed by 10 pm and the roads around the cafe all get empty by 1am in the morning. Rahul secretly texts a police officer who was a close friend of his father.

The shifting of the black money begins at 2 am and the manager successfully manages to bring the cash bags out of the cafe by 2:30 am.
The manager notices both Mythili and Rahul and plans to escape. Mythili, being an athlete, manages to hold her at the place.
“Why are you striving so much to capture me? Just let me go and I offer you 10 lakh rupees to let me go” said the manager.
“Sorry, the offer is not interesting” replies Mythili.
“I can offer you much more. Just leave me” pleads the manager.
“Seriously, you want to bribe the owner to let you loot his hotel?” said a heavy voice from behind. It was the police officer. The manager gets shocked looking at Rahul and Mythili. Mythili innocently thinks that the officer was faking her identity to scare the manager. She had completely forgotten about Rahul at this moment.

“The owner of this cafe is Mr. Vasudev, and that old bugger isn’t here” said the manager angrily.
“Rahul, who gets furious on hearing such words for his father, lifted his hand to slap the manager, but stopped as she is a lady. Mythili noticed this and got a good impression of him.
“I am Rahul Ramakrishnan. The only son of Mr. Vasudev Ramakrishnan, the owner of this cafe. Better you put this into your mind and put your tongue under control. Uncle, please take her away. This time, I will sign all the papers with my full name” said Rahul with fury.
Rahul had a complaint lodged against the manager.
Mythili was shocked to hear that she was dating one of the richest bachelor’s of the state and the owner of a cafe chain who had claimed to be a software engineer. She decided to ask Rahul on why he had faked his identity.
They finally left the place at about 3:30 am in the morning.

“Thanks a lot, Mythili,” said Rahul.
“It’s alright… You have done a brave job by saving this cafe” said Mythili.
“Shall I drop you?” asked Rahul.
“It’s alright, I can go myself” replied the annoyed Mythili.
“May I know why you have suddenly got mad at me?” asked Rahul.
“You faked your identity to me. I don’t know how many words of yours are true! I never lied about myself to you. But now, I’m unable to trust you…. Thanks for the coffee” said Mythili. After saying this, she takes out a two hundred rupee note from her bag and gives it to Rahul and walks away from him. Her eyes were full of tears.

Rahul’s heart was literally bleeding. He realized his love towards her and immediately stopped her. “Mythili, you told me your version. Can you please let me explain. No people in the business world other than my father’s close friends know my identity. Being Vasudev Ramankrishnan’s son, I can get anything without much hard work but, I wanted to be another Vasudev Ramakrishnan who had built such a huge empire on his own.In the business world, I wanted to be called ‘Rahul Ramakrishnan’ but ‘not son of Vasudev Ramakrishnan’. I chose my field and I wanted to achieve something in life before taking over my father’s business. I chose my path and never revealed my identity to anyone. I’m working to build my own identity. Please don’t misunderstand me” explained Rahul.

Mythili was convinced with his words. “Anything else you want to say?” asked Mythili after wiping her tears.
“I love you Mythili,” said Rahul.
Mythili smiles and gives no response. Rahul was disappointed with her reply but does not let this reflect on his face.

“Let me drop you,” said Rahul.
“I have no place to go. My hostel gates reopen at 7am” replied Mythili.
“Okay…” said Rahul and gave a pause. Rahul who was about to leave for Priyansh’s place could not and had no option other than to take Mythili to his house as Priyansh was the only person living at his place.

“Let me take you home” said Rahul and both of them got into his car.
On the way home, “Mythu…. I want to tell you something. But promise me that you don’t get angry with me” said Rahul.
“Since you have called me Mythu with so much love, I will listen to you. I can’t promise you of not being angry…” replies Mythili.
Rahul uses all his courage to narrate Mythili, the complete story from his mother forcing him to find a girlfriend till her chatting and meeting Mythili. He also tells how attracted he was towards her.

“Stop the car! How did you even expect me to stay with you? You and your mother have cheated on me. You broke my trust! Let me go…!!” Saying all this, Mythili tries to open the door and Rahul just stops the car with a screech.

“Rahul, are you okay?” said Mythili, putting her hand over his shoulder. “I am sorry, please don’t leave” said Rahul.
“Who told you that I am leaving?” said Mythili with a big question mark on her face.
“Oh! Was this a daydream?” said Rahul in his mind.
“What is your reaction after hearing all this?” asked Rahul.
“I’m happy that you have told me the truth. Shall I speak my heart out? Your mom being in search of a girlfriend for you is actually funny! You must be really lucky to have such parents who want every second of your life to be lively and colorful instead of forcing you to work to build your career. Most parents only want professional success for which they are ready to kill all other interests and capabilities of their child. Despite requiring your support in his business, your father never forces you to join his business elsewhere. He is letting you do what you want to” said Mythili. Meanwhile, Rahul restarts the car and they keep moving towards Rahul’s home.
“So, you are definitely not disappointed with what happened, right?” asked Rahul for confirmation.
“No, I’m actually happy. If our date really works out and this relationship reaches the next level, I can at least assure myself and my parents that your parents will stand for me whenever in need” said Mythili.
“Thank you so much Mythili,” he said.

“What’s your opinion about this relationship?” asked Mythili.
“If you really permit me, I’m ready to marry you at the moment” replied Rahul sincerely.
Mythili replies back with a smile.
Rahul is still confused with her reaction. He makes up his mind to ask her directly.
“Mythili…” said Rahul.
“Rahul, look there, at the other side of the road! There is a man lying in a pool of blood. Please turn your vehicle, we will have to help him” said she.
“Alright, alright.. chill… There is a Uturn in the next 500 meters. We will take him to the hospital” said he.

They turn back and reach the accident spot to see an old man in a pool of blood. They safely put the man into the car and rushed towards the hospital. On the way, Rahul made a phone call to one of his classmates who was in the police department and informed him about the accident as it had happened in his jurisdiction.

“This man has got too much influence,” said Mythili to herself. “Anyways, it’s natural! Afterall, he is a millionaire…” said she again regretting her own stupid thoughts.

They reached the hospital and by then, his friend, who was into the police department, also was there. A wardboy standing there with a stretcher takes the man inside. Mythili also rushes with him.
“Rahul, do you know who he is? What happened?” asked the policeman.
“We don’t know. When we were going home, we found that man in a pool of blood. We admitted him in the hospital” said Rahul.
“You and who? I find you alone here” said his friend.
“Rahul and I,” said Mythili.
“You are?” asked his friend.
“My girlfriend,” said Rahul.
“You are getting married and you didn’t tell me?” asked his friend.
“Sanjeev…” said Rahul.
“Actually, we are still dating. We will definitely tell you when our love is approved by our elders” replies Mythili.
Rahul gets shocked over Mythili’s reply.

They admit the man at the hospital with fake credentials and Sanjeev takes the complaint.

Rahul paid the hospital admission charges for the man. As they were about to go for a tea break, a nurse came rushing and said, “sir, his blood group is not currently available in our blood bank. Could you make any arrangements? His blood group is AB+.”

“My blood is of the same group. I will give mine” said Mythili and left without noticing Rahul’s reaction. “So will I” said Sanjeev and followed Mythili.

Rahul again was impressed by Mythili. He was not sure of any reciprocation. After making sure that the old man’s condition was stable, all three of them left the hospital. Sanjeev had already appointed one of his staff to stay with the old man. So, they had nothing much to worry about.

It was almost 6 am and Mythili and Rahul got into the car. They were traveling towards Rahul’s home. As Mythili looked at her mobile, she found about 20 missed calls.
“Oh no! I had put my phone in the silent mode when we were following the manager. I haven’t seen my phone afterwards. I’m sure my roommates will thrash me” said she.
“Just make a call. They will understand” said Rahul.
Two out of them were from her parents but the rest were all from her friends. She made a video call to assure her friends that she was alright.

She told them that she and Rahul had brought an old man to the hospital and had got stuck there. They all feel better after knowing that Mythili was safe.
Tired, Mythili fell asleep in the car and unknowingly put her head on Rahul’s shoulder.

Rahul felt nice and took a selfie silently without disturbing Mythili and sent that to Priyansh captioning it ‘My first love’.

Rahul and Mythili reach home. Just as Rahul reached the gate, the guard said to himself, “Finally, this guy has taken his Mercedes for a ride. How come he has come home at this odd hour and that too a girl? Strange..”
Rahul turned the AC off and opened the windows as the climate was pleasent.
Just as a wave of cold air hit Mythili, she woke up.
“I’m really sorry Rahul,” she said.
“It’s alright, nevermind” replied Rahul.

Both of them got down and Mythili was astonished looking at the exterior design of the mansion.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“It’s all a fruit of my mother’s hard work,” said Rahul.
“I didn’t feel your mother would be so creative! I probably didn’t notice her properly” replies Mythili.
“As if you can read people’s minds!” said Rahul.
“Creativity is generally reflected on a person's face,” she said.
“Anyways, get in. Every inch of this house has been designed by my mom. She is an architect and interior designing is her hobby.” Saying this Rahul rang the doorbell.

Mythili was standing behind Rahul. As he rang the bell, his mother opened the door and noticed Rahul smiling. Mrs. Anjali got confused looking at the smile on Rahul’s face.
“Good morning son! How come it’s that the sun hasn’t seen you in bed today? Where is my chatterbox?” said she thereby, addressing Priyansh as a chatterbox.

“Here” said Rahul moving aside. Mrs. Anjali is awestruck when she saw Mythili with Rahul. “Won’t you let us in?” asked Rahul.
“Yeah, get in,” she said and let both of them in.
“How come both of you came home together?” asked Mrs. Anjali.
“Help her change mom…” said Rahul getting into his room.

“Hello aunty! It has been a long time since we met” said Mythili warmly.
“Yes dear. I was desperate to meet you” said Mrs. Anjali. She later gives Mythili a saree and tells her to freshen up.

By the time Rahul dresses up and comes out of his room, Mythili was already dressed up. She was sitting and having coffee at the table with his parents. Rahul was very much happy to see Mythili with his parents. Mythili was looking extremely pretty in the dress that Rahul was badly staring at her without a blink.
“Good morning son!” said Mr.Vasudev.

His fathers voice diverts his thoughts. He wished his father and went into the kitchen. He was still confused about the result of this date due to Mythili’s improper responses. Despite going a long way dreaming of his future with her, he was coming back to square one. Rahul quickly shook his head to come back to reality. He made coffee for himself and sat at the table with everyone.

Just then, Priyansh barged in.
“Rahul, you idiot! You like that girl and you didn’t….” said he and suddenly stopped. He keenly looked at Mythili and said, “Mom, isn’t this lady your darling date? This guy brought her home?”

“Please don’t mind his words. By the way, he is my brother Priyansh,” said Rahul.
“Hi! Glad to meet you. I’m Mythili,” said Mythili, shaking hands with him.
“Do you really like him?” asked Priyansh straightforwardly.
Mythili nodded her head in yes but was again silent.

“Mythili, can you please tell me why you get silent everytime I ask you about this?” asked Rahul.
“I actually wanted my parents to approve of our love just as Rahul’s parents do. But, this would never happen as my father is an extremely orthodox man who is strictly against love. I was trying to keep my emotions to myself and actually forget Rahul” said she.
Mr. Vasudev started laughing badly. Everyone started staring at him as none of them had understood the reason behiend it. “Were you trying to hide your emotions from Rahul for such a petty issue? Don’t worry dear. Anjali will definitely find a solution for this. Having an intelligent partner in crime like Priyansh, she will definitely figure something out to convince your father” said he.
“Why fear, when Priyansh is here! Just make up your mind to be his wife and a part of this family. It’s more than enough” said Priyansh.
“That’s simple. We can simply tell your father that we kept meeting in the temple. As the time passed, I got impressed with you and offering my son’s hand in marriage” said Mrs. Anjali.

Mythili was convinced by this idea. “I think this would definitely work. The presentation must be like an arranged proposal and I’m sure he will agree” said she.

“Mythili, may I now at least know your response?” asked Rahul desperately.
“I really love you Rahul…. May I be your girlfriend” said Mythili with tears in her eyes and putting hand forward towards him.

“Sure… but, on one condition…” said Rahul.
Mythili keeps looking at Rahul with a lot of anxiety in her big black eyes.
“You must also be my mother’s lovely daughter in law,” he said, holding her hand.
She nodded her head in yes.


“Love you SIL” said Priyansh hugging Mythili from the side.
“Move a side..” said Rahul.
“Someone is getting jealous,” said Priyansh, teasing Rahul and slowly moved away from her.
“So am I,” said Rahul.
“What’s SIL?” asked Vasudev.
“Sister in law” replied Priyansh.
“Welcome to our family dear” said Mrs. Anjali.

Finally, Mrs. Anjali’s hard work had yielded fruits again. She was able to find a suitable bride for her son. After proving the strength of their love by standing with each other through thick and thin, Rahul and Mythili had taken off on their journey of love. They had to travel a long way in the future.

One message that these love birds were able to convey to the world is that “Love is just magic… It does not require any minimum time to happen. It just happens and stands on only one foundation, ‘trust’.” One night that they spent together solving a few problems was enough to make them stand with each other for a lifetime.

© Radha