Ganpatrao and Sheela tai were very happy. Their daughter, Tanvi’s marriage was finally fixed. “Sheela, Tanvi has been so fortunate, isn’t it? She has waited patiently all these years, taking all those rejections in her stride…but, all’s well that end well, as they say”. He stared at his wife in the mirror lovingly, admiring her graceful beauty. After all, she was in her late fifties, her premature silver hair framing a pleasant face. “What rejections are you talking about? She is manglik, but otherwise she is my daughter. An MSc in statistics, a well paying job, what more can one ask for. She did not find a perfect match, but it happens. This is India, people don’t want a manglik match for their progeny”, she protested.
“Yes, I was so relieved and happy when Shirish and his parents said that they don’t believe in astrology. And such a good looking boy, this Shirish”, answered her husband.
“Come on, let’s rush downstairs, everyone is waiting for us for the engagement ceremony”, Sheela tai interrupted her husband.
Downstairs, Tanvi was almost ready for the ceremony. “Tanvi, your husband is so good looking, yaar. Let me go and get him for the ceremony. Who knows, I might be able to entice him under your very pert nose, and elope”, Karishma, Tanvi’s close friend teased her, laughing hysterically, as the other friends joined in. “Shoo…as if I will allow that to happen. Nothing can come between me and Shirish now. See…I myself am going to his room”, so saying, Tanvi rushed out of her room in all her finery, leaving her friends behind to enjoy their mischievous banter.
“They are well and truly in my pocket now, Rakesh bhai. Not for nothing am I known as the ‘Smooth operator’. That Tanvi is lattoo over me, and the old, retired bastard will get the shock of his life, once I am through with them. It’s only a question of time, Rakesh bhai…”.
Tanvi was suddenly sweating profusely, as she overheard those words, opening the door to his room ever so slightly. The debonair, suited man standing inside was her Shirish surely, but…was it really him? Shirish had always been soft spoken and charming; what she had heard, was gruff, utterly ruffian language. She felt a deep, twisting knot inside her stomach as she withdrew from the door in a hurry. Taking a few steps backwards, she turned around and rushed towards her parents room. She saw her parents locking their room, giving her a broad smile as soon as they spotted her. But her face spoke a different story.
“Open the door…the door, come…”, a breathless Tanvi pleaded. And once they were inside and the door securely locked, the dams broke. Tanvi blurted out all she had overheard, between sobs, her body overcome by violent shaking. Her parents were stunned into silence.
After what seemed like an eternity, Sheela tai cleared her throat, “I still can’t believe this. Such a charming, sweet boy.” Seeing her daughter’s condition, she got up and strode towards her, embracing her as she spoke again, “And his parents, always so courteous…”.
Then making up her mind, she said to her husband, “Ganpatrao, go and keep Shirish and his parents occupied, they must be waiting for her. Tell them, Tanvi is waiting for her best friend to arrive…well tell them anything, they shouldn’t feel anything amiss. And I am calling Suryaprakash, my friend Sushma Patil’s nephew. She keeps telling me about how he is making fast progress in the police force. Tanvi, please forward me the Aadhar card copy, which Shirish had given. It’s time to get to the bottom of this fishy business.”, and with that monologue Sheela tai collapsed into the chair beside Tanvi.
“Don’t you worry Tanvi. So what, if your father is retired. Till we are alive, we won’t allow any misfortune to fall on your head. You know your mother, once she decides something…” So saying, Ganpatrao rushed outside.
The climax played out on the Engagement stage, PSI Suryaprakash being the central character. Shirish, alias Dheeraj Kumar was in handcuffs. So too were his parents. Tanvi, her parents, few close relatives and friends had assembled there.
“This Dheeraj Kumar is a serial fraudster. He has already entrapped 3 girls and their families in the past. This man is always on the lookout for retired public servants having a single, marriageable daughter. He sweet-talks the daughter first. Then…”, pointing at Shirish’s parents “he hires other fraudsters to act as his parents, who interact with the girl’s parents, convincing them about the great match. For the first year after marriage everything seems hunky dory. Then he starts asking for money for various schemes or businesses. The demands go on increasing, the leak becomes a flood and before long, the girl’s father is almost on the street. And then…he disappears into thin air.” PSI Suryaprakash paused to let this information sink in. Then he continued, “Sheela maushi, Ganpatrao kaka, you were truly lucky today. Good that Tanvi overheard something, she confided in you immediately and you remembered me. And we were lucky too, since we had not made much headway in the previous cases. The Aadhar card was helpful. Though the name on it was different, the face matched and here we are”. Tanvi and her family had just been saved from a big misfortune.