The Proposal That Came Back

The Proposal That Came Back

By Lokanath Mishra:

In the year 2000, Rina was in her third year of engineering in the IT branch. She was a bright student, focused, and already dreaming of skyscrapers, software parks, and a life in some big city. The last thing she wanted was distraction. But fate, like a mischievous cat, had other plans.

One day, Deepak, a fourth-year mining student decided to ask her out. He had just bagged a job in campus selection with a public sector steel company in a remote mining area . His confidence was soaring. After all, he was placed, secure, and just months away from his “ job in a stable government of India under taking “life .

But Rina? She didn’t even blink before saying “No.”

Not only was she uninterested in “love,” but she also had a deep-rooted faith in arranged marriage, preferably one blessed by horoscopes. To her, a love marriage was something chaotic, filmy, and—horror of horrors—unapproved by parents.

So, she rejected Deepak politely but firmly.

Deepak, licking his wounds, graduated and disappeared into the dusty mines of Tensa, starting his job. Rina, meanwhile, marched into her final year, got placed in TCS, and then happily joined as a software developer in Bangalore.

Life, as it always does, moved on. She forgot the incident. He forgot her name. Or so they thought.

Rina’s parents, staunch believers in horoscopes, began searching for a groom once she was settled. But it seemed every proposal carried a hidden comedy twist.

The first match fell through because the boy’s family thought her horoscope had “too much fire.”
The second boy’s father rejected her because their astrologer declared she had “too much ambition.”
The third one? That was straight out of a soap opera.

The groom’s parents visited her home, armed with wide smiles and folded hands. The boy had already met Rina, and they liked each other well enough. The horoscopes matched like puzzle pieces. It looked perfect—until the groom’s mother opened her mouth.

With the authority of a CEO, she declared:

“Since he is our only son, the wedding must be grander than his cousin’s. Destination wedding, either in Bhubaneswar or Puri in a reputed hotel. Hotel must be booked for two full days. First day—Mehendi, Sangeet, Mangalkritya. Second day—the wedding. Sixty lakh total, and of course, your family will contribute at least forty lakh.”

She smiled as if she had just offered a discount.

Rina’s father almost fell off his chair. Her mother clutched her sari pallu as if it were a seatbelt on a crashing plane. Forty lakh rupees?! And that was not even counting another thirty lakh for gifts and post-wedding expenses.

When Rina’s father politely refused, the groom’s family stormed out, muttering about “respect among relatives.”

Proposal rejected.

Rina sighed. By now she had begun to joke about her own rejections with her colleagues:
“Maybe my horoscope says Will be rejected four times before the universe gets serious.”

Finally, a seemingly simple proposal arrived from a reputed local family. Horoscopes matched. No dowry demands. No destination wedding. No astronomical budget. The boy worked in Bangalore after completing his B.Tech ( Mining) and MBA( IT) with two years experience in mining. Both families were thrilled.

The boy’s family came to visit— boy, his parents, sister, and brother-in-law. Rina prepared herself, expecting the usual awkward tea-serving ritual. But the moment she saw the groom… her teacup nearly slipped.

It was Deepak.

Yes, that Deepak. The one who had asked her out in college. The one she had rejected with zero hesitation. The one she had almost erased from memory.

Deepak was equally stunned.

His sister somehow knowing the past incident, mischief twinkling in her eyes, immediately teased:
“Aha! So this was the secret all along. Both of you rejected others because you were secretly in love, hmm?”

Rina almost choked on her tea. “No! Absolutely not! I swear, after college I never even spoke to him.”

Deepak raised his hands in surrender. “I had no idea either. I forgot her name, honestly!”

The room erupted in half-laughter, half-shock. Deepak’s father cleared his throat and explained that it was a mutual relative who had suggested this match. No one, not even Deepak, knew it was the same girl from college.

Rina’s parents glanced at each other. The irony of fate was too big to ignore. They had rejected each other once. Life had circled back, neatly wrapping them into an arranged marriage after all.

The wedding happened simply, without drama, dowry, or royal tantrums. Relatives whispered and giggled about the strange twist of destiny.

Rina often joked later:
“See? Even when I said no to him, the universe said yes.”

Deepak laughed louder:
“Exactly. When I asked her in college, she rejected me. When our parents asked, she couldn’t escape!”

Years passed. They built a happy life together, had two children, and often laughed at the bizarre way their story unfolded.

If there was ever proof that marriages are arranged in heaven and solemnized on Earth, it was theirs.

Because sometimes, the proposal you reject comes back—disguised as destiny.