Drama In Real Life

I never met my husband, before we decided to get married. Talking to each other, dating, starting a serious relationship et al, happened over the wireless means of communication. So basically, mobile phones are the main reason why, we're together today. There is another reason actually, but its more or less insignificant.

One Winter, my uncle (mother's brother) had come over to visit us for Christmas. Even though he's my uncle, there's not much of an age gap between us (I, being mom's eldest daughter and uncle being mom's youngest brother). I used to address him by his name. All of us were meeting him after 5-6 long years, so just to update us with what he had been doing, he brought along some photographs of his college days and the places he'd been to, as he was a pilot with Lufthansa.

One particular friend of his from college, was strickingly handsome. I started probing my uncle with questions about that handsome guy. My uncle never foresaw what was going to happen because of his indepth and detailed answers.

I made use fo this opportunity to extract Mr.Handsome's mobile number from uncle. I started giving a series of missed calls to that number. I guess after getting completely annoyed, he called back and that is when I heard my husband's voice for the very first time, 5 years ago, and that too caustic words of abuse. But then, I coaxed him into mellowing down and we spoke for the first time, as if we've known each other for years together. It was unbelievable; my uncle was left dumbstruck. He must've never imagined that this Christmas, he was playing Santa Claus for me!

My uncle went back after the holidays but my conversations with Jose never ceased. It wasn't long before which we started dating and officially, I was his girlfriend, one he had never met. While Jose was a Mexican residing in Mexico City, I was staying in New York.

I don't really know what kept me so committed to this guy. Probably it was his Mexican accent(which I somehow found very sexy), which kept me entangled in some sort of an invisible web, which took away all of my freedom. The hyper-possessive Jose made me stop my interactions with all my male friends, one after another. I used to interact with my uncle regularly and when he got to know about the whole thing, he asked me why I was being so imbecile and advised me to break off the relationship immediately. That is when I revealed to him that I had sincerely tried doing that a few days back but then Jose said that he loved me more than anything and threatened me saying that if I break off, he would slash his wrists and commit suicide.

Uncle told me that he knew Jose very well, he wouldn't do any such thing and that even if he did, what difference would it make to me if a Mexican committed suicide 2000 miles away from New York? But, I was paranoid. I didn't want a 180 pound man losing his life because of me and hence clung on to the relationship.

No sooner had I stopped talking to the last male friend I had, Jose ordered me to stop talking to my uncle. Uncle got furious and confronted Jose and that was the end of their solid friendship. I decided that I would still talk to uncle no matter what, but will tell Jose that I've stopped my conversations with uncle.

But, after a couple of weeks or so, I had this guilty conscience that I'm doing something I was ordered not to do, behind my master's back. I told this to my uncle who gracefully distanced himself away from me and I haven't heard from him ever since. That was 5 years back. Though my mother keeps in touch with him now and then, I do not have any interactions with him whatsoever.

A few days after the "breaking away from uncle" episode happened, my folks came to know about my wireless affair. They tried everything they could to make me stop this bizarre thing that was brewing in their daughter's life. But, no matter what they tried, I was too stubborn for them. I didn't know whether I love Jose then or not, but I didn't want any Mexican in any corner of the world, dying because of me.

We were entering the third year of our relationship. By then, both the families had gotten involved in the drama. I, being a smooth talker, was able to impress my would-be in-laws with my speech and behaviour, when they met my parents for the first time. It was the first I met Jose too. The tall and handsome Jose, unlike the Mexicans I've pictured in my mind, as I had never met any Mexican before. During that period, Jose had expressed a desire to go for a research or something so we all decided to wait for the marriage till then.

I completed my studies and siezed a vacancy in Bank of Mexico, in Mexico City. This way, I could be near Jose and we could get to know each other much better, now that there wasn't much of a physical distance between us. But then, this close proximity between us was like a wanted disadvantage, as we couldn't keep out hands off each other. Our families then decided that before something went out of hands, we should tie the nuptial knot.

As a result, last summer, Jose and I were married in a quiet ceremony at Jose's ancestral home in Mexico City. Neither Jose, nor I, invited uncle for the wedding as we had long before severed our ties with him and in any case it no longer mattered to me whether my uncle was present to grace this occasion or not.