Oxymoron

I must get back to my writing ways. I used to write some stories in
the past, but nowadays I do not have the urge to write stories. But,
when I see the topics in the INK IT contest, I feel like writing
something. To write a story, I need a title. Once I get a title, I can
weave a story around it. I am still trying to get a title based on
this week’s topic. Is there someone who could help me out?

Thomas Uncle!!! He is my savior. Whenever there is some problem, I
look-up to him and he helps me.

Thomas uncle is my neighbor from time immemorial. I have grown-up
seeing him. He is one of those rare human beings whom I respect. He
has an aura around him and in the past two decades I have never seen
him being sad. He is the most cheerful person I have ever met. Other
than being in the same street, there is nothing in common between us.
He is 62 and I am 26. He is smart and I am dumb. He is always cheerful
and I am always gloomy. But, everyone in the colony lookup to him for
his advises. He always shares his wisdom with us.

He explains about the 1965 India-Pakistan war and Pele’s debut
world-cup match with the same enthusiasm. He speaks about the release
of the Dev Anand starrer “Guide” with the same emotion as he speaks
about the Anti-Hindi riots. He also enjoys the IPL just as I do. He is
the walking encyclopedia of our colony. He is not a nerd but someone
who has the charisma of the Superstar and the talent of the Master
Blaster. There is never a dull moment when Thomas uncle is around.

He had invested in the Reliance IPO in the 70s and the Infosys IPO in
the 90s and has reaped the benefits. But, he is not one of those
filthy rich people who have all his money with themselves. He helps a
lot of people in the town and is even planning to adopt a village in
the future. He runs a gym in the neighborhood and earns a handsome
amount from that as well. He is really enjoying his life after
retirement.

As expected, he has a lot of friends. They come to his house and chat
with him for long hours. He spends the evening in the park sharing his
wits. I wish I could atleast become half as good as Thomas Uncle in
the future.

Amidst all this, there is one thing which pricks me the most about
him. I always wanted to ask about that to Uncle. I remember him
telling the “Sermon on the mount” by heart. Being a God fearing man,
he knows that God had told, “It is not good for man to be alone”. But,
he is alone for the whole of his life. For a smart and charismatic man
like him, getting married shouldn’t have been a problem. After all,
everyone in India gets married. I should ask him about this.
Goodness gracious me, Thomas uncle is sitting in the balcony all
alone. I must use this situation and ask him about his past.

“Uncle…”
“Ah!! Come on my boy… How are you doing?”
“I am fine uncle… Finished your evening walk?”
“Yes Beta…. You look quizzical. What is the story?” He giggled…
Man, this guy is awesome. He is finding out my thoughts just by my
looks. How I wish that my PM and parents were this smart…
“Nothing uncle…” I hesitated…
“Come On dear!!! I am sure that you want to ask me something!!! Go
ahead… Shoot your questions!!”, he laughed..
Though he is friendly, I am slightly worried about asking such
personal questions, but again what do I have to lose. Let me ask him
once…
“Uncle… Why are you single?” I gathered my courage and muttered
looking at the ground.
He looked at me with his piercing eyes but I desperately wanted to avoid
eye-contact.
“This is the first time in the last 15 years that someone is asking me
about this”
He paused for a bit and continued.
“It is a long story beta”
“I have all the time in the world uncle” I winked…
“I was very choosy when I was young and I rejected a lot of proposals
even before visiting those girls. After a couple of years of the bride
search, my parents took me to a girl’s house. The girl was really
pretty”
“When was this uncle?” I interrupted.
“It was in 1975 son... I liked the girl and told my parents that I
wanted to talk with her. They were furious on hearing this. But, they
did talk to her parents and allowed us to talk”. He had some water and
continued.
“I asked her if she was comfortable and told her that I wanted to ask
her a couple of questions”
“Ah...Interviewing the poor girl? This is too much Uncle...”
He gave a wary smile and continued.
“I asked her, who the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu was. She paused for
a bit and replied Indira Gandhi...”
I literally fell of the chair laughing, but controlled it to an extent
and sharpened my ears.
“Did you ask her the second question Uncle?”
“Hmm… I did. I asked her, If 2 people can dig a 2 meter deep well in 2
hours, how much time will it take for 4 people to do the same job” he
paused and had some water.
“She replied correctly?” I was very curious to know her response.
“She started to cry and her parents came running into the room. They
were looking at me as if I had abused their daughter. Even my parents
did not understand me. They started to scold me. I got fed-up and
walked out.”
“What happened after that uncle?”
“We had a big fight at home. My Dad was furious that I had bullied a
poor girl and was scolding me like anything. He asked me, if I had any
mental problem. I told him that all I need is a smart girl to marry.”
“What did your Dad reply, Uncle?”
“He said, he was fed-up of me and asked me to find my life-partner all
by myself. I replied that I will take care of my life. ” His tone had
suddenly subdued.
“All I wanted was a smart girl to marry, smart girl…but Alas…”
“Smart Girl” I repeated quietly. I will participate in this week’s INK
IT contest.