Let's Blame Kismet

Chapter 1

"You think Agasthya will even agree to it" Durva, Agasthya's grandmother, discreetly whispered to Rishi who immediately resigned himself and went back to his 'Times of India'.

Rishi was honestly just tired of arranging repeated blind dates for Agasthya and him just chucking it out of his 'to do' list as if it's merely a stone in his way. A tiny little pebble. So far Agasthya has rejected over 15 dates which also means that Rishi had to  over explain an apology to over 15 families which is more than a 100 people.

"I would have been more proud of my son , had I heard some relatives complaining me about finding him in a live in relationship with some girl." Rishi said, not really looking out of his newspaper. "Maybe he is into boys" Rishi spoke dropping the current affairs to a side and eyeing his mother. 

"Shut your mouth" Durva hit her somewhere 50 year old son,  secretly apologising and praying to God that none of what Rishi, Agasthya's father, just spoke was true.

Ever since his mother left, Agasthya has been anything but a human. He thinks, he processes, he calculates but he never understands, he never enjoys, he never lets it be. He is a little too rigid, too harsh on others and more so on himself. He believes he is the reason his mother left- and not just left but cheated and gone. After 18 years of marriage, Tara just fell for somebody a little more rich and financially stable. 

Agasthya was 16 back then, old enough to understand what happened and too young to process it. There was no covering up for the fact that a lot of their financial instability came from Agasthya's high school gambling activities.

A bunch of teenagers just trying to be cool while their parents are too busy getting a life.

After Tara left, Agasthya had stopped gambling altogether, earned a life rich enough to live in the southern streets of Bombay. But he was still a drunkard, an alcoholic and sometimes a drug abuser. And he knew how fucked up that was. He knew how fucked up it was to feel happy about making a woman suffer. The way he suffered, the way his dad suffered. Attachments weren't really his thing and he had come to terms with it.

Therefore marriage was out of question for obvious reasons. No matter how rich or beautiful or charismatic the other person was, no one was able to have their way with Agasthya.

Durva was just scared that his 32 year old grandson was still living with a 16 year old broken and hurt Agasthya. And she somehow believed that an arrange marriage was the only solution to it.

"I have got these"Durva entered her grandson's bedroom, who was handsomely laying on his bed and trying to hide the smoke out of his cigarette and putting the deadly thing off. "When are you going to quit smoking?"

"Soon" Agasthya replied nonchalantly as always. Durva rolled her eyes as she made her way further into the room, shifting all the mess laying around on Agasthya's bed and making herself a place.

"Are these another set of photos now. I told you clearly I am not interested in any sort of commitment" he already started moving towards the balcony, his hands making a way towards his pocket to get another cigarette. Like its a muscle memory towards escape. 

Towards death.

" Atleast bother to look at them" the old lady was persuasive. Clearly Agasthya had gotten his adamant attitude from somewhere.  "Let me know who is it that you are interested in and I will have your horoscopes matched by my astrologer. He has said that this year you have more than 80% chances of settling down"

" Is he the same astrologer that predicted that my parents will have a happy married life?" The silence in defence spoke volumes. Agasthya rarely touched this topic and for him to even bring it up even indirectly was a warning. A warning that his patience was fading. That somewhere he was trying to take marriage seriously, he was trying to change but it only triggered him more. 

And that was it for Durva, for today atleast. She knew she would still bring up the topic and still persuade him and look for potential brides but today was not the day. She quickly made her way out of the room. If Rishi got the slightest hint that Agasthya had brought up his mom in the conversation, there was no way in hell that Rishi would discuss marriage with his son ever again.

Durva left, but the only thing she did was to leave the pictures that she carried along, in his room, on his bed.

Agasthya did not realise, but she was cosmically here; the woman that he was not compatible with.

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So far for chapter 1. 

Hope you guys stick around.

Thank you for being here. 

And to all the previous readers of The Royal Explorer — hello there. Welcome back. ❤️