Mr. & M(r)s. Imperfects

Their Backgrounds

Viraj was in the last year of B. Tech, and the only reason he chose that boring subject was so that he could escape all the bullying and ragging quick, get out of college, and start his new life as a software engineer with a bunch of other fat-

Nope. Obese.

...and start his new life as a software engineer with a bunch of other obese people.

Rule #1 in Viraj's No-Nonsense Philosophy Book: Nobody's fat because they want to, so we peoples need to respect them and call them "obese people". If you want to be even more respectful, call them "people"; these guys are normal.

Those 4 years of B. Tech were a nightmare for Viraj. Luckily, his parents were in Hyderabad with him, so he didn't have to stay in a hostel and go through even more bullying.

Lunch was his biggest challenge. The 30 minute lunch break just wasn't enough for him; he needed more time. He had to eat really fast, and of course, everyone laughed or looked at him with disgust when they see the tomatoes falling out of the burger and the ketchup all over his face.

And don't get him started with ragging. The seniors loved to tease Viraj for his obesity. He never liked it.

Being sensitive since childhood, he used to come home with puffy and watery eyes. Vasanthi always noticed him, gave him a glass of water, and said, "Raju kanna, you're not fat, you're just unique and you have a reason to be that way. Now wipe your tears and have some food."

His confidence is then boosted for a couple of days, but the cycle goes on. And on. And on.

Viraj's physical personality and his reserved and sensitive nature didn't let him make friends, which could have been why he passed B. Tech without any backlogs. He only had two friends who were there for him since childhood, and they were Rishi and Udbhav.

Rishi and Udbhav always helped Viraj whenever he was low and thought of himself as a failure. Rishi was the informal and senseless friend, while Udbhav was the formal and logical one.

"Arey, ragging is common, and if you keep falling, they'll keep pushing you down and down and down, so stand up my boy," said Rishi after 1/197 ragging scenes.

Udbhav added, "Yeah, and maybe try telling them about your polyphagia thing. It's kind of involuntary, so-"

Viraj interrupted, "Who the hell would listen to me Udbhav? You know what I'm going to go with Rishi this time," and high-fived Rishi, who was smiling upon his victory.

Viraj immediately went to look out for a new job but was failing miserably as the job market was down. And then, he got the golden opportunity - he got a job in Infosys, Hyderabad.
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Parvathi wasn't able to become a doctor like she wished; most of the seats were taken on recommendations for the rich kids. Paru hated it, and Ganga always supported Paru whenever she needed it. Although Ganga had an attitude for being so pretty, she always supported Paru.

"It's the society these days, Paru. Everything's become so expensive. Who the duck are they to steal our positions? The last seat at that college went to my friend's rich cousin, and on the board exams he got a 69%. His score reversed was your score."

After a pause, Ganga continued, "There are many research positions available. Try them, you'll definitely succeed."

Taking Ganga along, Paru went to Hyderabad to study Molecular Genetics. Ganga found herself a software job and (finally) a boyfriend at Infosys.

Paru was always teased for her dusky look, but she never gave a **** (insert any cuss word you want). She also came across ragging, like men who wanted her for a couple days (if you know what that means) and women who commented on her dark skin tone,

She managed to play tennis in Hyderabad under a small time coach, Coach Meena, as a hobby without being teased, because Coach Meena faced the dusky girl problems herself. "Do you, not someone else." she always said.

After finishing her bachelors in molecular genetics, Paru did her masters in genetic counseling and became a genetic counselor.

And that was when Paru first met Viraj.