Sentiments Reason Dogs Bats

Only in the darkness can you see the stars...

                        - Martin Luther King Jr

Her grandfather always said that life is not a bed of roses. As it unfolds, there will be joy and sorrow, pain and gain, happiness and sadness, success and failure.

But he probably forgot about the exceptional people who never got to experience the positive part of life, Aarti mused; he probably didn't know such people existed because he was always a ray of sunshine, she thought as she waited outside the marriage registration office.

The wait almost felt like an eternity and she clutched her hands in anticipation about what would happen. She bit her nails frequently, a habit she had acquired since childhood and hard to come out of.

She had almost dozed off when a man came out "you're next" he told in a crisp voice "where's your husband?"he asked looking at her.

Husband...such a beautiful word, carrying a lot of impact on her life..she stared into the blank space. She could hear distant sounds of vehicles honking, the noises of vendors screeching and yelling at the customers, the crawing of the crows.  She blinked, where the hell am I?

"Ma'am?"she turned "huh?" He stared "your husband, is he here?" She nodded "he should be here..he must have gone to..withdraw money".

"We already have few more couples waiting...if he can't come soon we'll have to cancel your appointment" the man was strict.

She sighed "please don't..he should be here any minute..he.." she stopped midsentence as the topic of their argument arrived.

Tall, lean and lanky, in fact too lean for his six feet height and an oversized horn rimmed glasses, with a tshirt loosely tucked in and a heavy leather jacket. He looked like he had just arrived from travelling.

And wet "I'm sorry..got stuck in the traffic" Prithvi apologized to the man "the rains are terrible this time!" He nodded, "come in fast"he said without any expression and walked in.

He exchanged a look with her which didn't portray anything except..hope "you have the photos?"she nodded "and all other documents?"

She nodded once again and he pocketed his key "let's go and get it over with". She followed him.

They entered an old and rusty office and a pale faced older man, probably in his late sixties with an oversized spectacles looked up "Mrs and Mr...?"

"Prithvi Sahay and Aarti Bhargav" he said, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his long face.

The old man nodded and motioned them to sit down, as he extended the document to him. He turned his attention to her.

"Name?

"Aarti.." she whispered impatient to get out of this dilapidated place as soon as possible.

"Mother's name?"

She hesitated "Anandi Bhargav".

"Father's name?"

She pulled herself together "is it really necessary?"she asked, her voice getting harsh.

His gaze didn't falter "yes it is..".

She held her breath. "Just tell him dammit!" Prithvi hissed beside her. She ignored his gaze.

"Harish Shekhawat"she sighed.

The old man nodded and turned to Prithvi "Prithvi Sahay" he said even before the man could open his mouth "father's name Parikshit Sahay and mother's Geetha Sahay".

"Okay..permanent residential address?"