January 24, 2024 4 min to read

Life is full of surprise

Next sixty minutes was the most beautiful time of my life :).

Wikipedia describes a blind date as a social engagement between two people who haven’t met before, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance.

In my case, the mutual acquaintance was none other than Mr. Vijay Makhani, a man I had known for years. He was an engineer by qualification but a matchmaker by profession. Why he left a stable engineering job to fix people’s lives was a mystery. Maybe he took Queen Elizabeth a bit too seriously when she said, “At its heart, engineering is about using science to find creative and practical solutions.” And, well… he did just that. Rumor had it that he had developed some sort of matchmaking algorithm to analyze profiles and predict compatibility. No wonder he had an unparalleled record of successful marriages. If Netflix had a Matchmaking Master category, Vijay uncle would’ve been trending at #1.

I had been on his radar ever since he arranged Kaku’s marriage—my brother. It was honestly shocking that Kaku agreed to an arranged marriage. I mean, for someone who had never faced a scarcity of female attention, settling down was the last thing I expected from him. But unlike Kaku, I was perpetually single. I was in the second year of my job, bored to death by my monotonous life. Engineering had never been my dream—neither by choice nor by accident. It just… happened.

I hated engineering. It required using the left side of the brain—analytical, logical, boring! While art students were busy exploring love, poetry, and passion, I was stuck deciphering chemical bonding. And trust me, studying bonding in a class where the only girl wasn’t even willing to look at me was a cruel joke. How was I supposed to understand the concept of bonding? I mean, oxygen was lucky enough to be involved in a threesome with two hydrogen atoms, while I struggled to even find one girl. To top it off, I was so perpetually single that if my friends were asked to give an example of a singular noun, they’d say “Aditya Shaurya.”

And then, one fine Saturday morning, Vijay uncle showed up at our house. He took his usual spot next to my dad on our chesterfield sofa, claiming center stage in our overly luxurious living room.

In his signature gentle voice, he asked, “Aditya, do you still work with Acme Engineering?”

“Yeah, Uncle. Why? Are they looking for a match too?” I quipped, pretending to care.

“Nothing wrong with them,” he smiled, his eyes twinkling with opportunity. “I just wanted to ask—would you like to meet Myra? She also works there.”

“Sure,” I replied with a polite smile on my face and a laddoo (Indian sweet) swelling in my heart.

The meeting was set for the next day, at her place.

That night, I was glued to Instagram, doing what any sane guy would do—research. Her curly brown hair, big expressive eyes, and chiseled curves didn’t let my mind—or my eyes—rest. My frustrated heart, which had been on life support for years, suddenly started beating like a Bollywood hero’s entry scene. You know, the thing about singular nouns—they fall in love at first sight. I was no exception. I was in love.

The next day, we reached her house on time. One thing I admire about modern families—they’re pretty chill. My parents stayed back in the equally lavish living room while I was asked to go up to her room.

Those seventy seconds climbing the stairs were the most nerve-wracking of my life. With each step, the love inside me multiplied. I could almost hear the background music playing as I imagined our future together. My heart was pounding so hard that I was certain it would beat me to her room. The anticipation sent an electric current through my body. I couldn’t wait to meet her.

I entered her room. It was colorful and lively. The walls were adorned with family photos, and bright sunlight filtered through floral curtains, adding to the warm, pleasant aroma that filled the space. It was the perfect setting to fall in love.

And fall I did. The next sixty minutes were the most magical of my life. I was having the best date ever—with not one, but two beautiful girls. Yes, you read that right. Myra wasn’t alone. She was accompanied by her best friend, Riya.

Riya, my schoolmate. The same Riya who had a massive crush on me back then.

At that moment, the laddoo in my heart split into two. I smiled, thinking—life is so full of surprises… and thankfully, most of them are sweet. 😊