Our brain has a funny way of memorizing things ; it doesn't remember anything just cause you want it to , rather it makes sticky notes of events or people that it found interesting or things that stand apart from the rest. Its kind of funny how we forget birthdays and anniversaries but the first interaction , the first smiles or even the first mistakes make a permanent place in our memories. I guess that is why i have a vivid memory of this. The first time I saw her , it was through the moving wipers on the windshield of my car . I clearly remember it was raining that day but there wasn't anything particularly romantic about that rain . It was more of pouring variety , one that hits your face so hard that it leaves a stingy feeling ; the one people associate with heartaches or mourning. It is in that heavy downpour that I first saw her . I could spot her from a distance , from the rain smeared glass of the car. She stood there right in the middle of the concrete staircase; completely still . It wasn't her beauty that drew me to her from so far ; rather it had to do with the fact that she was the only person standing still under the open sky with just a umbrella in her hand , while every single person around her was running helter skelter to get some reliable overhead protection from the wrath of the rain gods. But she stood still , just looking at the rain go . It was damn near impossible to read the emotions that her face emoted behind all that water, but strangely , to me it looked as if it was some blank canvas. There was nothing there on her face or perhaps all that water was making up an illusion of some kind. That was all I saw of her before she was dragged inside the court premises by what appeared to be a friend or a sister.

Our driver pulled the car near the steps of the courthouse and waited for us to step outside before driving to a parking spot. I helped my mom out of the vehicle , while dad stepped out through the other side. We walked up the steps of the court and looked for registrar's office. It took us a few wrong turns and a lot of asking around to find our way to our destination. My parents entered ahead of me as a call from a friend held me back . I went straight inside as soon as I was done with the call and took the seat in front of the table ,which was left empty on purpose. That is when I saw her again , the girl from outside; the girl in the rain. She was sitting in the chair right next to me , looking ahead with the same blank stare that I was unsure of before. But there was something in those eyes of her ; if only she would have looked into my direction once, I would have read it or would have tried to at the least.

She wasn't alone; the girl who dragged her to sanity was also sitting besides her. Judging by her looks and behavior , she looked more like a friend than a sister or probably she was both . The girls were accompanied by an ailing middle aged lady in a wheelchair ; rain girl's mother.

The registrar who had been busy over the phone up until now, called for our attention and explained all the necessary legal details to all present. He made sure everybody understood what they were getting into and that no one was under any kind of obligation to do this. Only after he was absolutely sure about it , that he pushed the papers towards us .We stared at the paper without actually touching it , long enough for the registrar to ask if everything was okay . As a courtesy , I waited for her to pick the stamp papers up first but she just sat there like a lifeless puppet. It took the hand of her mother on her shoulder and a tender tap on the hand by her friend to wake her up from the wide eyed dream she seemed to be lost in. She took one last look at her mother , who had by now stood up from her wheelchair to stand besides her and then she put down her signature on the dotted lines. Vaani Kapoor , she signed on the right end of the paper.

It was my turn now. I didn't know how I felt about the whole ordeal or how I should feel about it. I wasn't one of those people who planned these things well ahead of time . To be honest I wasn't even sure if I knew I really wanted it to be this way , but then it wasn't up to me to decide that. Though one thing that I was sure about was that this definitely wasn't what my parents had in my mind for their only son who was still in his twenties. Not letting any more thoughts wander into my headspace I grabbed the papers and signed below my printed name , Dhruv Singhania.

Both our mothers signed in as witnesses and my father took care of all other formalities like a father would. As the legal formalities ended , we were asked to do oblige by a few Hindu rituals as well . It was more for the inner satisfaction of our deeply rooted Indian parents than anything else. But this gave me the opportunity to see her up and close. She was neither tall nor short ;her head reached just up to my shoulders. Her skin had this milky white color but her face looked pale and worn out.There was not even a hint of a smile on her face . Her long tresses were tied up in a loose bun behind her. But her most remarkable feature were her blue eyes. It was as if those eyes were hiding away things deep within; far from the grips of judgement. A tear escaped through one of them which she was quick to wipe away before anyone else noticed. As for me , I pretended as if I didn't notice it ;she would have wanted that I assumed . After all it was only normal for a newly married to feel emotional .Happily married they say , but was she really happy ?

That was the day I first met her , my wife Vaani.

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