Arranged Marriages are like exploring an unknown place with no idea of what is the peculiarity of that place! All you get to know is how the partner looks plus his Curriculum Vitae (resume), as if I am an employer and he is applying for a job vacancy. Sometimes, as a working woman in a typical Indian society, arranged marriage becomes an only source of escape from a midlife crisis that I am bound to face in some years. However, after this huge and awkward festival called marriage, this cultural bonanza in the name of ‘Honeymoon’ comes into picture. Yes, you heard it right. I am going to tell you about my honeymoon!
Introducing myself, I am Shyambhavi Mishra, a typical Uttar Pradeshi who is recently married to Praful Mishra. Yes, he has his origin from my village and it is probably one of the reasons why we tied knots. We live in Vashi, Navi Mumbai now and we both work. Praful works in an MNC and I work for a Financial corporation. So how this information adds up to our little adventure? Well it doesn’t. But our marriage definitely contributed towards its happening.
We took our ‘saath fere’ (a ritual wherein we take seven rounds of the fire, to indicate that we would never leave each other’s company) in Mumbai. Simultaneously, after a week-long celebration the obligatory honeymoon trip was arranged. Our parents planned the entire trip and it included Shimla and Manali, without even consulting our opinion. Although they assured that we will be accompanied by Rama Chacha, my uncle residing in Dehradun, I was quite anxious. So was Praful. Right from my childhood, due to the conservative nature of my family, it was very rare for me to have such a long trip, especially without my parents. I was obviously excited, but somewhere in the corner of my mind, a negative image regarding this trip was slowly developing itself.
As we prepared for trip, Praful started expressing his concern to me. He said that this is not the first time he had this kind of trip and had witnessed something disturbing during that trip. I could figure out that he was mentally not ready for this. However, he did not mention why he felt so. I did not pester him much as I felt awkward doing so. Eventually, he decided to accompany me as it was a special occasion for both of us and also we will get to know much more about each other. But fate dictated a story that I never really thought in my dreams I would ever have!
Praful made a list of places to visit as directed by Rama Chacha and checked our train tickets. We had to catch Dehradun Express from Bandra Terminus which would leave on coming Wednesday at 12 o’clock in the afternoon. A day before our train journey, I met my mom and dad, packed our baggage and next day, my mother-in-law and father-in-law accompanied us to bid adieu. We had our seats in AC Two Tier and slowly, I found myself waving back towards my in-laws, the usual Mumbai crowd and the life I had till that day.
When I had to travel to Allahabad, my native place, I was accustomed to the sleeper class carriage which would be untidy and the loud chaotic vendors constantly moving to and fro the little passage. Now, the deafening silence that I was witnessing in this cool lifeless carriage was quite annoying to me. However, Praful was not a silent person and I am happy that he is not! He always had a topic to talk. If not, he would tell his little tit-bit stories that constantly kept me engaged. The one-day journey that I thought would become a nightmare, was compensated by his blissful company.
We reached our station named ‘Savai Rohilla’, a place somewhere near Chandigarh. It was quite cold and dark place to be then. We landed here at around 10:30 in the night. Even the station was deserted, except for a long line of Taxi Cabs and Tum Tums that stood silently. Many drivers were busy gossiping and some were simply sleeping, as if they never care for any passenger to approach. Praful dialed a number on his phone. After completing a conversation in which he told the person on call our location, he mentioned me that we had to stay here in a hotel room and tomorrow morning a car will be waiting to take us to Shimla.
Since we had pre-booked the hotel, our check-in formalities were done quickly. After a good shower, I laid down on the bed, with Praful besides me. It felt so strange to me, like I was in an unknown place, lying in a bed of a hotel room whos name I could not remember, along with my husband whom I know very little about. Even though I know I am safe besides him, a little bit of insecure feeling was constantly pricking me, not letting me have a sound sleep. I could not help myself, but simply prayed that this trip should not end like a nightmare that I shall be forced to live with, throughout my life.
Mornings in northern part of India are so much different from what I usually experience in Mumbai. I was literally freezing the moment I removed the blanket. Praful seemed to be in a hurry and asked me to do the same, since our cab would arrive at 8 am sharp. I got up, packed my things, took a gentle shower as the water was too cold to take a bath and got myself ready to the tiring 8-hour long cab journey. Sometimes, I wish that I had a portable door which would instantly take me to faraway places in a matter of seconds! I just hate travelling for such long periods.
The first 4 hours of my ride was quite cumbersome. Even after having a decent lunch in one of the so many dhabas that passed by, the situation only worsened. The same old town side houses, patches of large empty space constantly appearing out of nowhere, some random people, some street dogs and some cows just peeped me as I saw them pass behind. At one point of time, I felt like getting down and start running away from this place. However, this perspective of mine slowly changed as we entered Himachal Pradesh border, after another 3-hour non-stop intimidating ride.
Instead of large green voids, now the car was climbing the great Himalayan ghats! The constant twist and turns, coupled with a road that narrowed as we climbed higher, I was enjoying that bumpy ride! The majestic sceneries that covered the entire area, I had seen them only in Discovery Channel. I was quite overwhelmed with this moment, but this happiness completely vanished as I saw Praful’s face. His face showed some sort of uneasiness that was hard to explain. I made our driver to halt alongside a broader part of the road. Instantaneously, after parking the car, Praful just swung open the door and found a corner where he ended up vomiting. It took him around 10-15 minutes to take out all of his dinner that we had last night. He slowly returned back, along with the hell lot of exhaustion that he couldn’t show yesterday.
Now, I realized why Praful was explaining his concern, the moment he heard Shimla and Manali. At the same time, reality soon struck me with a sword of uncertainty. An uncertainty of whether this trip would be the best memory or a messy thing to happen. Fortunately, we had our first-aid kit and I was glad Praful had this much presence of mind. I made him rest his head on my shoulder and asked to close his eyes. This was the first time that I had made someone apart from my little brother do so. I could feel him getting relaxed as we moved ahead. I just took hold of his hand and watched the mountains that slowly were emerging as we climbed higher.
We reached Shimla by evening. Rama Chacha gave us a warm welcome, literally! He had brought a little band and some of his friends to dance on the typical Bollywood tunes that are played on occasions. Chacha made me and Praful dance along with them. I don’t know why but I felt awkward, so did Praful. He was so exhausted that he could not even stand properly. However, he did not utter a word about his situation and was dancing with the little bit of energy that he had. I saw that glow in his face which I still could picturize in my mind, something which is too hard to even forget.
After that little notorious celebration, Chacha took us to his house. As we had a little brisk walk towards his cottage, I realized that the cold here was worse than what I had witnessed in Sawai Rohilla. I saw a board which stated ‘New Shimla: elevation 2276 m’. People in Shimla have a unique attire that only suits to this place. The khaki colored sweaters made of fresh wool, a thick shawl to cover the neck and a brown cap to mark the ‘pahadi’ culture (I have heard this several times from Rama Chacha) in Himachal Pradesh.
Chacha’s house was an old style wooden cottage with a sloping roof, along with a chimney that is pointing upwards. It was a typical house that I used to draw as a kid in my school days. It was so heartwarming to meet Rinkiya Chachi after ages. She always carried a cheerful smile on her face every time I met her. Like adding a cherry to the cake, she had prepared a ‘pahadi’ style meal and damn! I had never enjoyed a meal like I did then. Although the names of those dishes were quite unfamiliar to me, my concentration was in to finishing the plate and have a good night sleep.
Next day, after having a light breakfast, Chacha took us into the heart of Shimla. As there was a snowfall last night, the entire place was covered with a thick blanket of snow. It felt so much special to me, I just felt like I wanted to do some romantic stances with Praful, but Praful’s health still showed no signs of improvement. But he was managing to not show it on his face. He had strictly warned me not to utter a word about it to Chacha as it would hamper our plans. But in order to have a backup plan, I had a conversation with my Chacha last night regarding this. He assured me that nothing would happen and told me to anticipate for an exciting adventure.
Shimla was such a surreal place to be in! The calm streets, snow-capped houses, less pedestrian density, a background filled with green pine trees and a never-ending array of mountains. On one side of the road, you witness a towering stack of building with gradual increase in heights and on the other hand, a slope that descended into the clouds! It would be too insulting to define that magnificence in mere words.
Later that day, Praful’s health improved. He was genuinely not pretending to be fine. As per Chacha’s recommendations, we decided to do some horse riding. Imagine two fully grown adults sitting on a horse back like little kids! I was excited for this, but Praful wasn’t. It took a hell lot of my energy to convince Praful to sit along with me. The moment we sat together, I could sense that the horse was not feeling comfortable due to our weight. Suddenly, the horse jumped up! As I was about to fall down, Praful somehow managed to hold me and at the same time took the hold of the belt. The rider grabbed the horse and somehow managed to calm down the huge beast. We gradually got down and I took hold of Praful’s shoulder as I went numb with fear. If it wasn’t for Praful’s presence of mind, I would have been seriously injured.
We had our Manali plans for the next day. I was initially hesitant to come due to the series of incidents that were happening. However, Praful reckoned that he was absolutely fine and we won’t be doing any more horse riding! I don’t know why, but I could sense the best aura that Praful carried, which dragged me more close to him slowly and steadily. So, the next day, we had to catch a bus for Manali. The chillness was way too much that day. As I checked the temperature in my mobile phone, it flashed -2°C! A dense layer of snow got deposited over the roadside as it was snowing heavily again last night.
Our bus arrived at 11 am. Manali from Shimla was like a 3-hour long trek in which our bus did the hiking for us. The path was way too much treacherous to surf along. The Humpty-Dumpty bumpy ride made my back ache, as if someone constantly hammered my spinal cord. Chacha was so much comfortable with this hell of a ride, so was Praful! Only thing that seemed unusual was he kept his eyes shut and made me sit on the seat besides the window. By lunch time, we reached Manali.
If you want to know how Manali would look like, all you need to do is imagine a river with clear sky blue colored water flowing flawlessly, besides the mountains that have snow-capped peaks and a lush green cover of forests on its base, and the more your sight broadens, the more number of mountains to get to see! Manali had a different story to tell, a story far more different from the one that Shimla had. Chacha took us to a hotel that was built just near the banks of the blue river (that is what he called). We had a light lunch and planned to have a sight-seeing at Solang valley.
As we climbed our way up, Praful’s health started deteriorating. When I gave a stern look, he gestured that he was fine. The moment we reached the top of that point, I felt like I am in Heaven! I realized how high up we were on the mountains. I could not resist but to hug Praful, so tightly that he was gasping for breath. We were literally standing over the edge of the cliff! Chacha had warned us to be careful, but all I could feel is the warmth of Praful’s body and the scenery that I could only dream of. I don’t know why, but I could hear some rumbling of stones and within the matter of seconds, Praful slipped! As I had a hold over his body, that thing saved him from a fatal fall! I just picked him up, and took him away from that steep abyss. Tears swept down from my eyes so heavily, that Praful had to hug me once again to calm down my nerves.
I was trembling so much that Chacha had to book a cab for our return to Shimla. That little incident kept on haunting me the whole night. At the same time, I was grateful that I was besides my beloved husband. We had to wind up our trip as Praful’s health deteriorated and we had to take him to the hospital. He had motion sickness problem that worsened due to heavy travelling that we had. We had to book a flight from Shimla as it would be too much for him to travel in train.
This Honeymoon was like a mix of good and bad things for me. It was a chaotic, tense and cumbersome, but at the same time I got to cherish is the untouched gracefulness of a state like Himachal Pradesh. It was also a period of realization that my mom and dad took a right choice and I feel blessed to get married to Praful, the best human being in my life!
