Love: Perfect. World: Imperfect- My entry for the Get Published Contest

The Idea Description:

Is there a yardstick which can measure the extent of one’s love? Is there a frame in which one needs to fit perfectly in order to justify one’s love? However philosophical you might want to be in answering these questions, one thing is clear-There is none. While no love is perfect, the fact is, that it is the imperfection that brings out the real impact of love.  What the world might consider a mismatch can be the very foundation of why two people got attracted to each other. What the world thought was mindless might be the whole premise of why they will never let each other go. What the world thinks “they didn't see” may actually be something that “never existed between them”. This story will take you through the lives of 2 people who rose above the rigidity of how ideal couples should be and at the same time make you rethink your own eccentrics of how you viewed love. And if you are thinking that religion is the barrier in this one, you have just made your first mistake.

Sherry is a pampered sikhni. There have been no rules that have not been bent while raising her. But she is not a victim of this pampering. She infact stands out as an example of how daughters who are immensely loved can also turn out to be real charmers who have their heads firmly on their shoulders and mind absolutely in place with sanity. What else explains a tough, tall, beautiful and chatty Sikhni, to be so brainy that she could sit for the toughest examination of her country? In her proud father, Colonel Sukhdev Singh’s, words: “Sherry probably possessed the combined brains of our 5 generations”. This Colonel’s daughter may have defied the clichés of being brought up in a secured, lavish background yet having a mind and career of her own, but will she be able to break the walls that are built in the heads of those she must seek permission for her happiness?

Abhay is the ideal son. He was raised to become an IAS officer and so he became. It is after all not unusual for a kayastha family to not expect their children to stay as far as possible from the ideas of doing a business or running a shop. The children of a typical kayastha household are made best friends with everything to do with nurturing the dreams of a service class. When Abhay, the son of two bank employees, cracks the civil service exam in the very 1^st attempt, the whole world is at his parent’s feet but did they know that while they realised the dream of seeing their son in a high stature service, there will be an uncomfortable compromise they will make to keep him happy?

Excerpt:

“Life sometimes is a total.....you know what!” said Sherry

“No ! Your life was not! Yes maybe because it was not you decided to make it...I know what!”, shouted Gayatri.

“I had no idea you would not understand Gattu” Sherry moved closer.

Gattu shrugged her shoulders and moved away. It was clear to Sherry that if Gattu reacted this way, the task of making her parents go through all this would only be uphill. Gattu sensed that Sherry was finally thinking. She was happy inside that maybe her resistance had rubbed off and Sherry would not pursue her senseless admission.

“I ll deal with you later. I have to strategise my next move”, finished Sherry while moving out of her best friend’s room. Gayatri stood defeated. 

This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs fromYashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India.