New Millennial Love

They were the children of the digital age---everywhere on social media---pursuing dreams and images, predominantly of success, romance, and love. Instagram moments. Food porn. Selfies.

Dual FB account. Twitter and WhatsApp---all packed in a day’s work.

College meant only love. Mumbai- campus meant romancing the rains and beaches and restaurants. They were inseparable---Rahul and Neha of the 1990s transitioning into the 21^st century on bikes, SRK, Stallone, ice creams, pizza, McDonald's, MBA--- and dreams of a quick migration to the USA.

Bandra crowd!

We thought they would rather die than separate! They once threatened to jump from the bridge, if separated by cruel fate or parents or families.

“Dying for love is cool!” They often declared.

Life!

Last year, in the alumni, meet, I ran into Rahul---bald, bespectacled, fat and working in a BKC back-office---thousands of miles away from his dream destination in Silicon Valley.

And I came to learn about the twist in their college love story: Neha who always wanted to die with him had, secretly, married a boy from Florida, while Rahul was preparing for his last year MBA in Pune. The wedding pictures were shared on the FB, once she reached her palm-fringed new home there!

“I lost interest in life. But I got even with that bitch.” Rahul recalled sans bitterness.

“How?’

“I got married to her first cousin!”

“Oh! That fat Sunita!” Somebody exclaimed.

Rahul ignored the reference and continued: “She comes from a wealthier family. They own factories and properties. Neha’s family is no match. I am really lucky!”

We laughed.

He was beaming with happiness.

“Destiny!” Rahul exclaimed. “And learned a valuable lesson from my campus fiasco.”

“What is that?’

“True love is always arranged, buddies. More real than the campus romance. That teenage stuff! Good, I got to marry sweet Sunita than that pompous middle-class girl.”

We nodded in polite agreement and went out for dinner.