Three's Company

It was a breezy dusk, the green lawns looked invitingly soft, and the usual motley bunch of us were sprawled on cheap plastic chairs around The Tree - the epicentre of the complex. Given the relaxed shorts and tees atmosphere, the tense young man pacing the main lawn stood out starkly, and it wasn't long before our speculation focused on him.

"He looks quite tense"
"He could be breaking in new shoes"
"Nah, he's probably mentally practising coming out to his parents"
"It is possible that he is just exercising"

We didn't get far, though, before another shy-tense figure joined his pacing, and we were joined by a slightly embarrassed-looking neighbour, quickly explaining unasked, as only the embarrassed can, that the two figures were to get engaged in a couple of days, and they were getting to know each other.

Embarrassment getting the better of her, she sat a little away from The Tree, gazing at the two tense ones.

Not completely well versed with the nuances of the Great Indian Arranged Marriage, I hissed to my nearest companion: "Ok, so they are getting arranged, but what is she doing here?" "Chaperon", he answered, looking a trifle shocked at my ignorance. Having had many an unchaperoned conversation with many a boy, my next question was only natural, "But why?", I hissed again. With a knowledgeably whisper he hissed back," So that they don't kiss!"

I glanced back again in disbelief at the young couple walking on the velvety lawns in the warm yellow romantic lamplight, a little more than a metre between their bodies, eyes studying the grass with great concentration and eons of silence between a few strands of mumbled questions and answers.

Indeed, I have a lot to learn about the Great Indian Arranged Marriage!