Female Perceptions Vs. Male Perceptions

Here I am presenting a typical incident focusing on the differences between Male perceptions and Female perceptions. Both these creatures belong to same species, but they think totally different than each other.

Take a case into consideration when a guy named Rahul is attracted to a girl named Vedanshi. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few days later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Vedanshi, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

And then there is a silence. To Vedanshi, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of.

And Rahul is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Vedanshi is thinking: But, hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship, either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward . . . I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading towards marriage? Towards having children? Towards being together for lifetime? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

And Rahul is thinking: . . . so that means it was . . . let's see . . . February when we started going out, which was right after I had the new car, which means . . . lemme check the odometer . . . Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here.

And Vedanshi is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed -- even before I sensed it -- that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.

And Rahul is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the gears again. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting correctly. And they better not try to blame it on the bad handling this time. What bad handling? this damn thing is shifting like a goddamn garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves 1200 bucks to get it repaired.

And Vedanshi is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. God, I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure.

And Rahul is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty. That's exactly what they're gonna say, the scumballs.

And Vedanshi is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me. A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl romantic fantasy.

And Rahul is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a goddamn warranty. I'll take their warranty and stick it right up their . . .

"Rahul," Vedanshi says aloud.

"What?" says Rahul, startled.

"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have . . . Oh God, I feel so . . . " (She breaks down, sobbing.)

"What?" says Rahul.

"I'm such a fool," Vedanshi sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight. I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight, and there's no horse."

"There's no horse ????" says Rahul.

"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Vedanshi says.

"No!" says Rahul, glad to finally know the correct answer.

"It's just that . . . It's that I . . . I need some time," Vedanshi says.

(There is a 15-second pause while Rahul, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work.)

"Yes," he says.

(Vedanshi, deeply moved, touches his hand.)

"Oh, Rahul, do you really feel that way?" she says.

"What way?" says Rahul.

"That way about time," says Vedanshi.

"Oh," says Rahul. "Yes."

(Vedanshi turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.)

"Thank you, Rahul," she says.

"Thank you," says Rahul.

Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Rahul gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Ruffles, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between two Czechoslovakians he never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it. (Precisely, That’s also Rahul's policy regarding world hunger.)




IT'S ANALYSIS TIME

The next day Vedanshi will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it, either.

Meanwhile, Rahul, while playing table tennis one day with a mutual friend of his and Vedanshi's, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Nilay, did Vedanshi ever own a horse?"


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


I am not talking about people having different wavelengths here.

I am talking about people living on different planets, in completely different solar systems.

Vedanshi cannot communicate meaningfully with Rahul about their relationship any more than she can meaningfully play chess with a duck.
And the sum total of Rahul's thinking on this particular topic is as follows:
Huh?