Happily Ever After

Charles Perrault was the first person responsible for weaving magic for her, between covers of prettily illustrated fairy tales...followed by other forms of literature (including the quintessential MB) providing wings to her teenage dreams..
Her Singapore based parents encouraged those dreams by pushing for offshore based suitable boys & festering the belief that marriage is the ultimate sign of success. Plying her with suitor after suitor....off to a great start on phone calls, emails ...invariably ending after a few meetings.
(The song/dance-laden-happy-family-wedding sequence created by the likes of Rajshri Productions didnt help either).
The aggregated effect left one educated urban woman firmly enconsed in the belief that her weight (& not her clingyness) drove men away. So this pretty, intelligent woman, with a successful career assesses every man she meets on a scale of probability...unconsciously ceasing to be herself, every action laced with an intent to effect, her coyness & desire to please or establish a connection consequently changing her inate personality. Extra-curricular activities consisting of endless "lets meet for drinks/coffee/dinner/movie" with mr.imperfect, a phase of interest, slowly petering off and an unending sojourn for mr. near perfect which carries on. The agenda doesnt change. Weeknights merge into weekends; Friends become lovers; Lovers choose to be just friends; Friends cease to be friends. Lovers cease to be lovers. Robbing her of the last vestiges of confidence, the heartbreak recurrs, till there is a new focus...will he be the One?

I dont judge her; I cant change her; I merely hold her tight, while she sobs on my shoulder. And promise myself never to succumb to the premium placed on such yardsticks of success & happiness.