24 | Subtle Celebrations

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DO READ THE AUTHOR'S RANT AT THE END!

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Chapter dedicated to wandererbywords

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*****

Riya's Pov

The golden streaks of dappled sunlight poked through the curtains illuminating the room in its natural, vibrant yellow rays announcing a new day, and a new ritual awaiting.

It feels so overwhelming to witness these unrecognizable patterns of myriad honeyed shades of orange and yellow carefully peeping into the room signifying the beginning of a new yet beautiful chapter that was long-awaited to be written in our lives.

Eight days have passed in the blink of an eye, performing the endless rituals and customs without which any baniya wedding is incomplete.

Before the beginning of other rituals, Ganpati pujan took place at our home to seek Lord Ganesha's blessings for the successful completion of all the wedding rituals without any interruptions or mishappenings, along with their blessings for this new yet crucial step in our lives. This ritual was followed by unending set of rituals with each day passing.

We didn't plan on organizing a sangeet ceremony, because when Ayaansh Bhai got married, each and every function was done with huge pomp and fervour, being the first wedding in the house.

And if you belong to an Indian middle-class family, you would know, that the chances of all this pomp and glitters reduces multiple times in case, yours is a second or third wedding of the house.

Thus, it was decided not to plan on my sangeet. Altough I didn't mind it a teeny l-weeny bit as every night has been a sangeet for me in these eight days, because you don't need lavish settings, extravagant decorations, and diverse food items to enjoy and dance your heart out or celebrate your happiness.

Each night, with my family, friends, and relatives around, a lot of dancing, thumkas and masti takes place, along with those dholki sessions, antakshri sessions, Hindu traditional geet sessions, that in-home DJ setup, those maddening dance moves of Purva, weird and uncoordinated dance steps of mine, those amateur yet happy joyous dance of all my relatives, that shy and conscious thirty second dance of dad, that thunderous on the spot couple dance of bhai and bhabhi and the inevitable teensy-weensy crying session whenever any emotional song is played.

I covered my face immediately with the duvet, smartly acting to sleep listening to the incoming footsteps of someone outside my room.

"Riya beta, come get up now. How much more will you sleep? It's the fourth time I'm coming to your room to wake you up." Mom huffed, to which I didn't answer and kept laying unmoved in the hope I would get a little more time fulfilling my unfinished sleep of the past ten days.

"Uthja ab Riya, we are already late, and we still have so much to do before Mehandi vale bhaiya comes. Even Purva has woken an hour before you." Mom nudged me repetitively.

"And God I don't understand why do you have to cover up your whole body and face with this duvet, that too from the front and the sides! Not a gush of air could pass through it." Mom admonished, removing the sheet from my face, and sat beside me.

Scowling at the sudden intrusion of sunlight, I placed my head on her lap and hid my face in her stomach, encircling my arms around her waist.

"Just five minutes, pakka." I spoke sleepily, my voice muffled.

"Pakka?" Mom confirmed, tenderly caressing my hair.

"Hanji, but stay here only, otherwise I'll sleep again.." I affirmed groggily, cocooning my face more into her stomach, enjoying this soulful feeling of her close to me, with my head on her lap, which I would be not be able to enjoy after two days, while mom kept sitting there, softly caressing my hair, with those little occasional feathery kisses on the top of my head.

*******
I was currently seated on the chair, for my mehndi, while all other relatives were busy laughing, doing chores, teasing and of course eating.

The decorations were simple and miniminalistic, so does my outfit for today, which was a simple sari with flower jewellery, yet thoroughly special, as it was mumma's.

The function wasn't extraordinarily extravagant, just a few close relatives and friends, seated here and there telling the mehndi vale bhaiya their specifications.

Social media, wedding pages, magazines, celebrities has raised the bar of our expectations to an unreachable limits in respect to the wedding we want, the dresses we need to wear, the food arrangements, the decorations, and the couple photos, so much that we want nothing but all this to be a prerequisite for your big day.

But truth to be told, if your heart is happy, mind at peace, a supportive family beside, and an amazing man present in your life, then these things aren't necessary, neither their presence or absence would make a difference im your life ahead, nor it will bring change to the happiness you feel about your big day or your significant other.

"Riya, your Husband in two days is calling." Bhabhi said teasingly, her voice a little loud, while the other relatives passed suggestive glances at me, while I tried my best ignoring courtesy to the heat crawling my face.

I glanced at my phone in her hand, to see his incoming video call.

"Uh bhabhi, reject it, and audio call him," I uttered sheepishly, my eyes switching between my phone and my Mehandi-clad hands.

Doing the same, bhabhi stood beside me, adjusting the phone between my ear and the shoulder blade, my head tilted a little sideways to balance it.

"Why not video call?" He spoke instantly as soon as he picked up the call, and I indicated bhabhi through my eyes that she can go and feed avyukth.

"Mehandi." I answered single wordedly, as this Mehandi vale bhaiya was having quite a keen interest in our conversation, as his speed of applying Mehandi had been decreased multiple times since bhabhi told about my husband in two days incoming call.

"Huh? Wasn't he supposed to come after two hours?" He spoke bewildered.

"Hmm, he came early, so we thought to apply it now, and I and he could take rests in between as well." I answered, a little smile making its way on my face looking at my one hand now fully adorned in henna.

"Acha. How much it's done?" His excited voice boomed on the phone and shook my head at his eagerness.

"Only 1 arm done till now, another arm and foot are remaining. You are very excited, huh?" I teased.

"Of course! I have always loved seeing Mehandi, and that dark shade of brown looks so beautiful. Oh and yeah, It's smell too!!" He answered happily, his voice dreamy.

"Moreover, This time I love it even more, because it's special, too special in fact because that henna on my wife-to-be's hands is for me, for us, and of my name, and God! the thought itself is making me impatient to just see your hand right now." He whispered hoarsely, and a blush crept my cheeks at his words, a soft smile permanently residing at the corner of my lips.

"Ahan, If you are insinuating that I'll send the picture of my Mehandi to you, then you are mistaken, mister. You aren't supposed to see it before our wedding." I stated, a little firmly.

"Yaarrr. So cruel you are." He whined, probably pouting, and I laughed listening to him, simultaneously looking around to assure that nobody is watching my crimson face, and this blushful smile or are listening to our conversation, except this Mehandi vale bhaiya of course.

"Don't worry, you'd have enough time after our wedding to see it, after all, you are supposed to find your name in it." I reasoned smiling, my neck now paining with continuous tilting.

"Arey hann!" He exclaimed happily, "Don't hide my name too much on your hands please, so that I am able to find my name easily, okay?" This sly man tried to influence me with his soft, pleading voice.

"Umm, We'll see. No Guarantee!" I replied dramatically, internally chuckling at his innocent demand.

My answer was followed by his deep breathy sigh, as he muttered sulkily, "Stubborn-head."

Laughing at his remark, I spoke, "Acha listen, now I'm disconnecting the call okay? Everybody has been gawking at me since your call. And also don't forget to send me the video of your sangeet tonight."

"Yes ma'am. Anything else?" He asked.

"Mhm." I shook my head in a no.

"Acha take your lunch on time, no excuses please on this. And if possible call me when free, and if not free, then just message me that you won't be able to call today. okay?" Pausing for a second, he continued,

"Oh yeah, try taking rest whenever free, because rest is more important for you than our talks, and we've been sleep deprived for the past ten days. Also, you need it even more than me." He instructed, rambling non-stop, and his concerned face, and thoughtful face could be easily felt, even if we are almost 380 km away from each other.

Why does his every gesture, his every word screams thoughtfulness and humility that I want nothing but to keep smiling thinking about him?

"Hanjiiiii. Hogaya ab aapka? Or anything else..!" I extended, my grin becoming wider.

"Ummm..Naaa." He said, his voice extremely happy, "Acha bye ab, take care. We'll talk later." He whispered gently.

"Bye, enjoy." I said, and added, "Also do send me todays' video whenever possible."

"Hanji." He said.

"And yeah, when Isha's dance performance and that play that your cousins has prepared will come, just video call me handing the phone to somebody, I'll off my video and see Isha's live dance." I added hurriedly.

"Hanji, I'll do." He spoke tenderly.

"Oh and yes, eat your lunch on time, though I know you'll never miss it." I added, again.

"Hanji..." He trailed, his voice filled with amusement.

"Arey and yes..." Before I could complete, he cut me off.

"Offo yaar ab go now, otherwise you'll keep on instructing me, do this, do that!." He mimicked me, exasperated, and added rushedly, "Bye, take care, Mom is calling me."

"Bye." I replied pouting, and disconnected the call.

******
It was around twelve midnight, and me and Purva just came to my room to sleep.

Settling the pillows, I lied down, followed by Purva. A comfortable silence crept amidst our tired selves, as we kept laying lost in our own thoughts.

"We've come a long way, isn't it Rii?" I heard my best friend, her voice a little serious contrary to her non serious self.

I turned towards her side, while she did the same.

"We do." I smiled softly, suddenly overwhelmed and nostalgic thinking about the past fifteen years we've spent together.

"Remember that time when we used to discuss that we both will do our own business together in a partnership? No matter if it was our maggi selling stall, or a coaching centre, or a boutique. And, here we are in a completely different professions." I laughed reminiscing the good old times, that were filled with unadulterated hopes and expectations.

Chuckling, she replied, "And yeah do you remember that time, when we promised each other that we'll marry two brothers from the same family, so that we don't have to leave each other? I never thought this would come true someday with us marrying boys from the same family, that too in the same city." She exclaimed, unbelievingly.

"Haina! And see, here you are with me, from the bride side, celebrating all my pre-wedding rituals, while the day after tomorrow you'll be dancing like a maniac in the baraat from Aditya's side." We giggled heartily, our eyes twinkling with unshed tears thinking of how far we and our friendship has come.

Though we had our own share of ups and downs in this span of fifteen years, where there had been innumerable times when we haven't seen or spoken to each other out of our unreasonable egos. There have been times where we have blamed each other for our own mistakes. We've witnessed those times as well when we felt like this is it, and we can't continue this friendship anymore. But still, we've crossed every hurdle, because,

We've seen each other smiling,
We've seen each other crying,

We've seen each other rising,
We've seen each other falling,
We've seen each other fighting,
We've seen each other sacrificing,
We've witnessed each other's every little thing.

From our meaningless late night talks to our model like walks, we've seen it all.

From our childhood love confessions to our matured life discussions, we've seen it all.

From eagerly waiting to see the other as a beautiful bride to actually seeing each other becoming the bride, we've seen it all.

We've walked a long long path, from each other's Hateful Enemies, to now, as Inseparable Homies.

We've seen it all.

*****

I've woken up early, the next morning, as this anxious, nervous self of mine couldn't let me sleep peacefully, thinking of my last day, and last night in my home. It was as if each emotion was playing its own unique beat, its own song, in my heart, with each feeling, each fear, and each joy marking ita territory simultaneously in the deep corners of my soul.

I was in the balcony, relishing this serene environment of early sunrise, my mind and thoughts huddled with infinite important people at the same time.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I exhaled deep, closing my eyes to calm the tornado of myriad emotions surging within me.

It astounds me to the core that how after spending twenty four years of my life here, I'll be leaving this heavenly nest tomorrow and fly over to a new city, a new place with new people and relationships around, for the rest of my life.

"Rii? You okay?" My brother's concerned voice sneaked into my thoughts, halting my reverie.

I angled my neck sideways, to see him leaning against the balcony grills, his back supported by them, "Ji bhaiya." I assured, smiling warmly.

Ignoring his questionable gaze, I kept looking unblinkingly at the unremoved mehandi at my hands, trying my best to avoid any conversations. For that I knew I may cry any second due to this sudden overwhelming feeling budding in the pit of my stomach.

I was all casual and unaffected until yesterday, maybe because I wasn't able to believe it that I am marrying. But yesterday, after my mehandi, everything seems much more real and believable, thus transforming me into an anxious and nervousmess.

"You are happy with this marriage right? We can cancel all this, if there's anything about this alliance that's bothering you. And you know that" My over-protective, over-concerned brother voiced, eyeing me assuringly.

Smiling faintly at his words, I assured, "I am happy bhaiya, just a little nervous."

"Were you also nervous like me? At your wedding?" I asked immediately.

Thinking profoundly, as if reminiscing his time, he spoke "Hmm, I was. I guess more than your bhabhi." He joked chuckling, making my own lips to curve up.

Standing beside me, he encircled his arms my shoulder, and voiced softly, "It's natural Riya, this is the time when your nervous heart would want you to run away, or hide somewhere so you could avoid every possibility of entering into this unseen phase, but at the same time your hopeful heart would want to experience this divine and intimate feeling of a lifetime matrimony."

I leaned my head against bhaiya's shoulder, listening carefully to his words.

"I've experienced it, your bhabhi had, our parents had, and even your Aditya will be experiencing this same chaos of unfiltered, unnamed feelings, maybe not the same extent as you, but he sure would be nervous too, as you are right now. If you are leaving your home to accept another family as yours, then they are also letting someone into their family, and accept a whole new member in their home and hearts. Isn't it?" He finished, and glanced at me, softly smiling.

Nodding, I again side hugged bhaiya, cocooning myself in his warm yet comforting embrace, though the feeling of my brother's bobbing throat couldn't be missed, as he gulped the ball of nerves reflecting his inner emotional predicament of leaving his little Rii.

"Vaise, you didn't paid your rent of this month, and yeah the previous month too. Oh and yeah, the one before that too!! And yeah...." Before he could continue, I slapped him lightly on his arm, for his favorite joke he passes everytime just to irritate and tease me.

What fun do these brothers get irritating their sisters everytime? It's their favourite time pass I guess! Kalyugi brothers!

"Shut up bhaiya. I am not going to pay rent for my own room." I whined, shutting my eyes exasperatedly, tightening my hold on him.

"Arey what shut up? See you are always stuck to your room, earlier because you used to study there all day and night, and now because of those endless gushy-mushy talks with your fiance, day and night. So obviously I'll have to demand my rent, isn't it?" He jeered mischievously, making me groan sulkily.

"Please na yaar bhaiya, not again!! I'll tell Paa otherwise that you were again teasing me! So don't mess with me, especially when I am here only for today." I threatened pouting, while bhaiya laughed heartily, side hugging me again.

"Paa ki chamchi!" He chuckled,

"I'll miss you." He whispered softly after a second, his voice meek, placing a tender kiss on the top of my head, and I serenely relished his pure, endless love for me, cleverly masked in his constant teasings and banters.

*****

"Hanji! So sleepyhead your good morning happened quite early, hmm?" Aditya smiled lazily, groggily rubbing his eyes.

"Hmm. I woke up early today, and you know na once I wake up, it's almost

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