A Currency Friend

Rimsha was slightly upset today. She looked outside the window of her room. It was getting dark and about to rain heavily. The wild and dusty wind had started hitting the glass of windows. “Rimsha, it’s too dusty, please close the window,” her mom called.

She was upset but didn’t let it come on her face. Her mother was an excellent face reader. She had received a call from a very close and good college friend of hers that afternoon. She called Rimsha somewhere around afternoon.

“Hey listen, can you come to a room where there is no one else? I want to have a very confidential and important conversation with you. “

Rimsha went to the fax room to take your call.

She said,

“I have a very good proposal for you but don’t discuss it with your mother now. We have studied together for three years but never asked you these things. We are looking for a girl for our brother. Tell me how much money; have your parents decided to give you at the time of marriage? What is your caste? Do you have a separate bank account or all joint with your parents? Would your parents give you a car and house in dowry too?”

Rimsha could not believe her words. She stayed quiet for some time and replied bitterly,

“Go ahead with the other questions too.” Her friend could not judge the anguish and satire in her voice and kept asking,

“Are you doing some job these days, if yes how much is your salary, the boy wants a highly paid girl for himself. Tell me what do your relatives do? What are their ranks? Do you live in a rented house or have purchased it?”

Rimsha found the last questions a bit reasonable.

Her friend continued,

“First the boy’s parents would come to meet your family. “ Rimsha and her parents had always hated greedy and materialistic people. Her family was more of an intellectual kind.

She decided at once,”I am sorry. I don’t think that my parents would cherish to entertain such people. They get annoyed over all thus. I know them very well. Kindly don’t send any one to my place.”

After finishing her telephonic talk, she came to her room. She at once decided:

“I would never tell my mom about it. This face-off of a friend is damn scary. This is how people change at the time of marriage. I shall be glad if they get the boy married to a 5000 Rs. Note”.

She wasn’t irritated over the stupid kind of demands but disliked the traditional kind “dowry “thing. She was progressive and her family too.

She had come across so many categories of friends like “promoting friends”, “close friends”, “supporting friends”, “best friends”, cooperative friends”, “affectionate friends”, “caring friends” and “loving friends”. She discovered a new category as “currency friends” that day. “There is is no need to have enemies if one has such friends. “She concluded.