"Coimbatore 9:15" read the board on the bus and exactly the same was printed on Anil's ticket. He got into the bus and swiftly moved to his seat which luckily was near the window. Anil could not sleep much while travelling and hence always preferred to have the window seat, as that would help him kill time by trying to see something through the window in the darkness. As all the passengers took their seat the bus slowly started pulling out of the bus station.
Anil was 27 years old and working in an IT company in Chennai with his parents settled in Bangalore. He was doing well in life - good job, decent pay, probable onsite opportunities, happy and surrounded by friends always. With life flowing smoothly his parents had decided that the time has come to get him married. Anil too felt that it was good time to start off with the proceedings, as he felt it would at least take 6 to 12 months to find a suitable match so better start off early than late. As with all parents, Anil's were also looking for a suitable bride from their own community and within a couple of weeks a good proposal came in through a common friend. The girl Lata was working as a supervisor at a hospital in Coimbatore and that is where Anil was headed for this weekend.
As the bus sped through the busy areas of the city Anil's thoughts were taken to the incidents that happened through the last week. Last weekend he was at home in Bangalore when for the first time he saw Lata's photo, which was sent by her father after the initial discussions between the parents. Instantly he felt that she is the one God has created for him and somehow felt this proposal would culminate in his marriage. Within a couple of hours he was able to get Lata's mobile number from her parents after he expressed his desire to speak with her. He dialled the number on Sunday evening before he left for Chennai. The phone rang for sometime and just as he was about to cut the line, somebody picked up the phone and said 'Hello'. Anil introduced himself and in turn Lata too. They hit it off instantly and went on talking over the phone for 20 minutes. Anil wanted to make sure that Lata was genuinely interested in him and was not under any parental pressure and to an extent Lata too wanted to make sure of the same. With the phone call done, Anil turned to his parents who could make out that the call went off smoothly. Now the next step was a formal meeting, but as Anil's father was going abroad for 3 weeks on an official trip, they decided to go to Coimbatore after that.
Anil left for Chennai that night fully satisfied with the planning. He was back at office on Monday, but somehow he was not able to concentrate on his work. He wanted to talk to Lata and get to know her more but was a bit hesitant. He then decided to send her a SMS enquiring enquiring how her day was going. She replied back instantly and that gave the confidence for Anil to call her up. Once the initial hiccup was overcome, they were constantly on phone and talking to each other for the next 2 days. With each and every moment passing by Anil was sure that Lata and he were made for each other as they liking and disliking were almost similar and their thoughts matched in all the topics they discussed under the sun. It was Thursday evening and Anil had enough of the telephone talks and he went ahead and booked a ticket to Coimbatore. He was going to meet her as he did not have the patience to wait for 2 more weeks. Lata had an off on Sunday and hence he planned to reach there and then call up Lata and give her a surprise. He did not get a return ticket on Sunday but that was the last thing on his mind and was sure he should be able to manage one after reaching Coimbatore or may be take the train.
With these thoughts Anil slept peacefully in his window seat......
