Reality Show: And The Best Couple Is..............

Veena was at the market on her way back from office when she met Vijay, her colleague. “What a coincidence!” Vijay remarked. “I just came across this advertisement and here you are. Can you pretend to date me so that we can participate in this reality show?” 

Veena was taken aback. Vijay undoubtedly was her colleague, but she knew him just for a month or so. All that she knew of him was that he was in the Marketing while she was in the Planning and they hardly interacted except during their company meetings. Vijay was known to be a good performer and hence enjoyed a good reputation. Veena did not know what to say. Vijay coolly took her bag of vegetables and fruits and kept it inside the car and held the door open for her to get in. As if mesmerized, Veena got in.

Vijay drove the car to the venue where he completed the registration process. Veena felt as if she was in a trance and could not react to anything that Vijay said or did. In a few minutes, he led her to their seats and waited for the show to begin. 

“Oh my God! What have I got myself into? Why could I not have refused? What would others in the office say when they come to know of it? Thank God Babuji is in the village - he will not know about it but how would he react to this? Would Amma approve of her act? She would always keep pointing out that Veena should be on her best behaviour so that getting a match for her as well as her younger sisters would not be difficult. All these thoughts came to her in a flash and she had to dry the drops of perspiration from her forehead.

On the other hand, Vijay was eagerly waiting for their names to be called out. Hesitantly Veena asked him, “Sir, if we are participating in this, don’t you think we should know something about each other?” “Oh no, don’t bother about all that. We are just taking part for fun. Of course, the prizes are very attractive – the first being a trip for two to Switzerland, the second to Mauritius and the third to Singapore. I have been to all these places and would be happy to spend some time within our own Incredible India – be it the Gir forests with a pride of the king of the jungle or the home of the Rhinos, Kaziranga, or the tigers of Corbett – these would be adventurous!” Veena replied with a smile, “I can show all these places on a map, that is all. Being the eldest in a family of three girls, I am happy that my father permitted me to come to Mumbai and stay alone because of this job! Back home, we have our Durga and Parvati, our two cows to tend for and a large field where we grow sugarcane, intercropping it with mustard. All of us siblings find the lush green fields beautiful and we love spending hours at the bore well or driving Babuji’s Tractor…” Before she could finish, the first pair had been interviewed and there was an expectant silence to listen to the next pair to be called out. “Veena and Vijay” – the speakers boomed and Vijay assisted Veena in getting up and making their way to the stage to the loud applause of the audience.

They did make a lovely pair and there were quite a few contestants whose faces revealed their emotions of jealousy and nervousness seeing them. Once on the stage, Vijay oozed self confidence and answered each and every question without any hesitation. Veena too played her role very well and she was mighty pleased with herself when she could answer all the questions correctly to match the answers Vijay had already submitted to the organisers. It was sheer luck that Vijay was asked questions such as : Which appealed more to Veena – village or the city? Has Veena travelled abroad? What is her favourite pastime? How many siblings does Veena have?..... Just before their names were called out, these were the very things Veena was talking about. Similarly Veena too effortlessly breezed through her Rapid Fire round, thanks to the very brief exchange which preceded the contest.

It was no wonder, therefore, that Veena and Vijay were the winners of the Reality Show. The organisers too were very accommodative and flexed their rules to offer the first prize as a week long holiday in Assam topped with a cash prize of the equivalent to three nights’ stay in Switzerland! 

It seemed a dream simply unbelievable. The press and media had covered the entire event exhaustively and even before Veena reached home, there was a flood of calls and she had a tough job explaining how it all happened. Vijay dropped her home and got off the car, locked it and followed Veena to her apartment. She was scandalised and tried to tell him that she had nosey parkers as neighbours who would spin tales behind their back. Vijay heard none of it and even as Veena opened the door, barged in and shut the door. 

Veena was trembling and did not seem to approve of it at all, but Vijay made himself comfortable on a sofa and asked her to get some water. In the meanwhile he made a call from his mobile. When Veena came with a glass of water, he handed over the phone to Veena and asked her to speak.

“Hallo, hallo…”, she could hear the voice on the other side. It seemed so familiar. “Beta, main hoon, Babuji”. Veena could not believe her ears – “Babuji? Oh my God! Has this dandy broken the news to him already? What am I going to tell him?” . A hundred thoughts came to mind, but what surprised her was that Babuji was not mad at all. He was happy that she had won the prize with Vijay! Veena could not believe her ears. What he said further was even more surprising..

Ever since Vijay had set his eyes on Veena in the office he had been greatly impressed with her nature and simplicity. He collected all details about her and also her village address and during one of his tours near that village had personally approached her parents and asked for her hand. He had also made it clear that he had not breathed a word about it to Veena and that only after they approved of him would he formally propose to Veena. Her parents instantly took a liking to this straightforward person and had conveyed their consent. He had returned to Mumbai only the previous evening when he came to know of the Reality Show for dating Couples and thought it to be a novel way to propose to her. He had watched her leaving the office and had followed her to the market .

It took Veena quite some time to absorb it all. She did not know how to react and just broke down with tears flowing from her cheeks. Everything was too good to be true, but true it was!! After Vijay left, she spoke again to her parents and sisters and felt happily relieved.

The next morning both of them were greeted with flowers in the office and Vijay conveyed the good news that the Best Couple of the show would soon be one in real life. It goes without saying that there was happiness all around and in a few weeks’ time Veena and Vijay enjoyed sighting the rhinos at Kaziranga, but not before Veena had taken Vijay in their tractor across their sugarcane fields.