"What a normal proposal would look like? A rose is mandatory. I may have to customize the rose: red rose—fully flowered, with at least a pair of unsullied leaves and one or two thorns. I stopped by the gift shop."
Neatly groomed hair is
not something I usually have. I am fond of leaving my hair as it is—to let go.
That day was different. Not only hair, from neck to trunk to the shoes, I was
afresh gently swaying my body inside the designer’s clothes. That was a walk to
remember.
To tell the truth, I had
to propose a girl. Innovating method of proposing someone has been a new normal
to this modernizing society. It needs a lot preparation, I mean you need to be
really meticulous in your planning. Besides, it may require wherewithal—money and
other resources. To uniquely brand a proposal people do it inside water, in the
yacht floating in the Antarctic or in the mountain top. I had nothing special in
plan and I knew my proposal was going to be that of a mediocre guy with a
below-average income. Almost 80% people proposed that way and were successful.
They are happy with their lives.
What a normal proposal
would look like? You don’t have to Google it because there are plenty of Hollywood
romances that portray a guy proposing a girl. And I have watched few of them. A
rose is mandatory. I may have to customize the rose: red rose—fully flowered,
with at least a pair of unsullied leaves and one or two thorns. I stopped by
the gift shop.
That was the first day
of St Valentine’s week. There was a crowd in the shop as normally expected. Bunch
of girls with their BFFs were giggling and fidgeting. Colorful stuffs were all
cluttered up in the business table, mainly roses emblematizing the rose day. I
knew what I was looking for so it didn’t take much time to choose from the
display rack and hand it to the shopkeeper to wrap it off. While wrapping was
in process, I just threw my superfluous glimpses to the youngsters who were messily
thumping their feet across the floor. Those oblivious girls and one or two guys
(from separate group) were not there with any other reasons. They were there to
purchase the flower which eventually was going to be offered to their beloved ones.
None of them seemed to be over 20. Standing at my early thirties I was odd man
out. I grabbed the plastic wrap to hastily disappear out to the pedestrians.
My mind was burning
with thoughts; one after another over how these Generation Z people rushed into
romances so quickly and nonchalantly. The trend now demands every other teenage
girl must have a boyfriend and a boy girlfriend. The geeks left alone would be
the shame and a matter of laughter in the classroom. So by the hook or the crook
you should own a lover of opposite gender. To survive, with pride. I was moving
ahead robotically dodging many other marching boots along the pavements.
My spirit to propose
tainted more by the message of the girl of my concern as she was going to be busy
in some malls with her family until late that evening. Should I wait or
postpone?
Back home I laid my
body supine in the bed resting my back of the neck on a pillow. The other day
was propose day. It should be, somehow, perfect. I unwrapped the overlying
plastic and dip the stem of the rose to a glass half filled with water. It
should look fresh-cut while I hand it to her.
In the sleep, my mind
didn’t stop pondering—why should I propose her? Is it me hurrying to secure a girl of my
choice or is it her green-signaling her expectation? Or, is it us both moving
with the trend? Answering these questions needs heck of a time.
"The non-tailored access of internet and movies to the volatile minds of the post-millennial is dreadfully fueling them to sloppily drift in surrealistic melodrama."
These days, people take
relationship so lightly. People are proposing and readily accepting the
proposal. They do it for the fun or for fashion. They, especially the post-millennial,
try to embrace the culture broadcast in usual soap opera. They rejoice few
hours in the theater to watch Fifty Shades or Midnight Sun and try to modify
themselves to become Anastasia Steele or Katie Price. Their volatile minds
never stop drifting in surrealistic melodrama and this non-tailored access of
internet and movies are alarmingly fueling them.
Deep into my mind, I
was not yet ready to take the responsibility of another person in my life not
until I had a clear picture of who I was and what my life’s motto was. Proposing
a girl for the sake of proposal was simply not acceptable for me. It should be
the imperative doorstep of one’s life to embark on a serious relationship. Trying-once-and-then-breaking-up
approach would only keep on emptying the gusto to move life ahead. The essence
of proposing should be focused on the destination not a mere diversion. Shall
my soul forgive me for turning myself into every other carefree guy in the
crowd that makes glib decision while choosing a lover? Answer is a flat no.
The next day, I took
the rose branch to the patio to nudge it into the sandy wet of the vase. It has
now revitalized its roots and developed a lot of new branches. When I irrigate the plant daily, I reflect that I will pluck one of these roses when I am ready.
©Rabindra Adhikary ||All Rights Reserved at
Author ||
Authored on 9th Feb (CHOCOLATE DAY), 2019; 9:30PM
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