Arey! Cupid.

I

 mihir yusuf
_______________

  "you stay out any longer you'll be as dark as coal; who will marry you then?"

  my mother's condescending tone bounced off me as Halsey blasted in my ears.

  "come inside beta!"

   i continued to ignore her, if I stayed quiet for long she would eventually tire and leave me alone.
   i could care less about my skin color, infact I found it the most arbitrary basis to judge the marital prospects of another individual.

  honestly, I considered the whole arranged marriage propaganda a big fat joke.
   how people expected two strangers to become so intimate as to form such a sacred physical and marital bond within a short span of less than twelve months i would never know.

   especially when the other person is decided by my parents based on materialistic and shallow factors like skin color.

SKIN COLOR?????
    my mother's obsession with keeping me as fair as an egg shell had haunted me from my earliest memories.
      the smell of turmeric and the cold of the yogurt and lemon combination that she would repeatedly and forcefully apply to my face in hopes of lightning my complexion so as to find me the perfect suitor lingered on me still.

  "MIHIR GET INSIDE, YOUR BABA IS CALLING YOU!"

     i drop my notebook and earphones and reluctantly get off the hammock.
i turn towards my mother, standing in front of the sun, her 'oh so sunny disposition' mocked my scowl as I walked past her, the sun bearing down on my skin.

   the only thing I agree with my mother is that it is too hot. it is always too hot.

    i mean it would be strange if it wasn't hot, we live in dubai. a desert known for it's heat among the gulf.

   "yes papa?" i walk into his study, the heat from the outside wash away as air conditioning cools my skin.

   the best part is the 24/7 air conditioning, i consider it better than our lame fans back home.
  
   he looks up at me, his face a permanent wrinkle, but his mouth twisted into a larger-than-the-amazon smile. he was clutching paper in his hands, like he was strangling it.

    he hands me the practically destroyed paper and stands up, the unnerving grin still intact.
"im so proud of you beta, i always knew you would do it."

   my eyes skim the paper–a letter–and my heart beats faster with every word that i read.

    we, the staff of new york university, are proud to inform you that you, mihir yusuf, have been accepted into our school.

    all the stress of marriage and skin color falls off me like a load had suddenly been removed from my shoulders.

    we will be expecting you from september 21st to start your first year.
we look forward to seeing you on our campus.

    my eyes swell with tears as my father wraps his arms around me, finally after all those years i spent dedicated to my textbooks, canceling every plan to stay inside and study, to ace every test, it's all finally paid off.

    im leaving. im finally leaving behind this place. no more talks of marriage. or grooms. or skin color.

just me and my college life.

  september was in three months.
and i couldn't wait long enough.

∆ ∆ ∆