CHAPTER 10: The Reason

A few weeks later.

After the house warming party, I wasted no time in diving head first into work. At my company Agni, I was head designer and also in charge of approving other's work. I loved clothes and so I enjoyed doing what I was doing. I was out of the house by 8 each day, and today was no different.

No matter how involved I got with work, Vihaan managed to stay contantly at the back of my mind.

Do I give it a shot? Do I say no to him? Nothing seemed to give me a clear answer and it was slowly beginning to drive me insane.

When I got back home in the evening, I saw most of my family huddled in the living room.

"What's up, guys?" I said, heaving my body on to the sofa.

"Ah! Avnu, you're home! Coffee?" Ma asked, springing up.

"Yes, please." I mumbled.

"Dolu, how was work?" Dad asked while tickling Aanya.

"Same old. We have a show coming up soon and it's stressing me out."

"Ah..." He said. Something told me this was just small talk and something big was to be discussed next.

"So, Avni..." Ajji started, looking around nervously. By now, Bhavna, Shruthi and Siddharth were carefully listening in.

"Yes?" I asked, nervous as hell.

"What do you think of Vihaan?" Ajji asked.

"What do you mean?" I retorted, taking the hot cup of coffee from Ma's hand.

"I mean, do you think you want to give arranged marriage a try?" Ma asked.

"What? Where is all this coming from?" I chuckled.

"Well you see, he is a very nice boy, Avnu. Why do you want to miss this?" Ma asked.

Trust me, parents. He isn't going anywhere. I thought to myself.

"Well, I don't think I am ready for marriage yet. What do you think, Pa?" I asked.

"Avnu, you don't need me to run your life for you. It's your life, isn't it?" Dad said casually sipping his coffee.

"I have only met him a few months ago! How can I decide if I want to marry him? We are friends, yes. Very good friends. But-"

"Oh, hello. It's not like we had all the time in the world when we had to get married okay?" Ma said.

"I had a day to say if I liked your mother." Dad added. "Now look at us. Are we not happy?"

"I frankly thought you were quite high and mighty, you know?" Ma laughed. Dad's jaw was hanging wide open as the rest of us laughed.

"Excuse me? You were the one who said 'I have acne problems and anger issues' and all that!" Dad exclaimed.

"What? Acne problems?" Siddharth snorted.

"Yeah! It was too early for me and I wanted out!" Ma said Ajji looked scandalized.

"So you went for acne problems?" Sid was now rolling on the floor.

"I thought it would work! But this man said yes to me!" Ma exclaimed.

"And see where we are at, Avnu?" Dad said, pointing at Ma.

"Yeah I see, Pa." I said, laughing.

I glanced at Shruthi, who looked at me and slowly closed her eyes which was code for I think these guys are right. He is the right guy for you.

This of course was already discussed in detail with my sisters last night as I came and spilt all the beans as soon as we got home. Bhavna danced like a crazy person and was forced to sit after reminding her that she was pregnant and dancing like that would not be advisable. Shru on the other hand was quite calm and asked me to weigh out the pros and cons. There were many pros. Not a single con.

"Tell me, do you have any sort of feelings for Vihaan?" Dad asked, now this conversation had grasped the attention of Amrita and Amay, who on any other occasion, could care less about things like this.

"I don't know!" I cried. "What do you think, Ajji?" My heart for some reason was racing at full speed.

"Hey, don't ask me to make decisions for you! It's your life, putta. You take your time."

"What do you think about him?" I asked.

"If it were up to me, I would have already approached Harsha and Naveen for Vihaan. He is perfect for you Avni. I was very impressed by the way he took our family as his within no time. I mean, you see how everyone reacts when he is around, don't you?" Dad asked chuckling.

"Are you talking about Ajji?" I asked, giggling.

"Who else? My mother has officially lost her marbles. Do you see her change into a teenager when Vihaan is around? And she happily takes the credits for turning Rutu and Naina into her clones! What a woman!" Dad said.

"Excuse me, you cannot help it! He reminds me of Ajja, you know, Avnu?" Ajji said, her eyes glistening.

"Really?" I asked. Ajja, my grandfather was Ajji's partner in crime. They were married very early back in the day, and were more like best friends than anything else. And Vihaan reminding Ajji of Ajja gave me butterflies.

"So you think I should go for it? Give Vihaan a chance?" I asked.

"I don't see a good enough reason why you shouldn't!" Dad said.

"Does he make you happy?" Bhavna asked, later in the evening.

"Yeah he does, Bhavu. This guy has a knack of always making me smile no matter what." Bhavna looked like she was going to pass out.

"See Avni, I'm not going to tell you what you should do, because that would be wrong. All I want you to do is to ask yourself if he makes you happy. Do you see him to be by your side 20 years down the line? Will he be there for you even during your darkest days? Does he respect you for who you are? Does he respect your family?"

Wow, Shruthi had a lot of questions.

"I completely agree with Shruthi. Avni, for once, think just about yourself. You need to do what makes you happy. If Vihaan makes you happy, if he brings out the best in you, I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be with him." Bhavna said.

"I really hope he is my Adi, Bhavu." I whispered.

"You need to ask yourself if he is Avnu. And if the answer turns out to be yes, never ever let him go." Bhavu smiled.

After that conversation, I went back to my room and sat at my windowsill.

Why was I thinking about this so much? Vihaan is one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever met. Why am I second guessing myself so much? Was I in love with him? Maybe, maybe not. But I do want to give him a shot. What if Bhavna was right? I would never forgive myself if I let my version of Adi pass by. I knew what I had to do.

"Avni, got a minute?" I heard Sid's voice from the door.

"Sure, Sid! What's up?"

"Ajji's turning eighty five next week. I wanted your help in planning her birthday!" He said.

Sid was always in for a good party. He loved organising any kind of a party. Out of the eight of us, Sid was one of the closest grand children to Ajji. He was always there for her.

"Oh wow! That's right! We should make this a big one. We should invite the entire family!" I said. Ajji's birthday definitely cause for excitement.

"Don't tell anybody, okay? It's just me, you and Maya who know." Sid warned.

"Oh come on! Why can't we involve Bhavna and Shruthi?"

"Bhavna should rest. I don't want her to get worked up. And please, not Shruthi! She is the BBC of our family. She will tell everybody!" Sid chuckled. He had a point.

"Fine, we won't tell Bhavs or Shruthi. But let's tell Amay, he is harmless!" I suggested.

"Deal. Get him here. We should start planning."

After two hours of intense discussion and some big fights, we had decided the guest list, food and all the other nitty gritty details. We were going to invite the entire clan from Dad's side; which meant all his sisters and brothers. They were 5 siblings- 3 brothers and 2 sisters. There was a plus side to this- all our 20 cousins would come too! This was going to be epic. I could feel it.

"I volunteer to be the distraction committee. I will take Ajji out for shopping. She will not say no." Maya said. Ajji and Maya were crazy for sarees. They would always go together and buy half the store. They had over 100 sarees, in every colour and every shade of a colour.

Ajji is like a trendsetter in our family. She was always impeccably dressed, no matter what the occasion was. Even at the age of 85, she would never repeat the same saree at two occasions.

"It's all about dressing right, Avnu. You need to learn it now. Trust me, it will help in future." She'd say.

"Oh, and one more thing, the code word is 'Jai Maata di." Amay said.

*

May 15:

Ajji's 85th birthday finally arrived. There was so much excitement in the air (for me at least!). At 12 am, a loud chorus of "Happy Birthday", which was led by Aditya, erupted in the Kashyap house and managed to wake the entire neighbourhood.

At 5 pm, the distraction committee was working in full swing.

"Ajji, let's go! I want to buy you a gift!" Maya said.

"Maya, why you need to get me gift? No need! No need!" Ajji said, blushing.

For her birthday today, Ajji had worn a beautiful beige Telia Rumaal saree. She looked gorgeous and flawless. Ajji was the best example of the phrase 'aging gracefully'.

"Oh please, Ajji! We both know how you were ogling at peacock blue saree last month! Let's go buy it!" Maya urged.

"Oh yes! We both can get nice blouses stitched for that saree! You know Asha, it was such a nice saree! You'll also love-"

"Ajji! Let's go!" Maya cut Ajji in the middle of her reminiscence.

As soon as we heard Maya's car zoom away, Amay and I texted all our cousins to drive by one by one.

Within minutes, the door opened with over 30 people swarming into our home. Dad and Ma looked beyond confused while they greeted Dad's brothers and sisters. Everybody had made it.

The noise level had exceeded beyond limits. By the time I calmed my cousins, it was time to get Ajji back. We then told everybody about our plan and got them set with hiding places.

"Avni, don't text Maya yet. We have another guest to wait for." Sid instructed.

"Who Sid? Everyone's here." I asked.

"Where are you?" Sid asked whoever it was on the other end. "Oh okay." He finished and ran to the door.

Sid gave a mischievous smile to me before opening the door.

I could feel my heart quicken as Vihaan and his family entered our house. What was he doing here? Actually it made sense, since Ajji's new found teenager soul crushed heavily on Vihaan.

Sid gave me a signal to call Maya and I immediately dialled her number.

"Attige, Jai Maata di." I said, giggling to myself.

"Hey! You look stunning!" Vihaan said gesturing towards my red and green anarkali suit. I had especially worn this suit as it was Ajji's favourite colour.

"Thanks!" I blushed. I could feel goose bumps rise when he hugged me.

"Let's go find some place to hide?" He suggested.

With just two minutes for Ajji's arrival, the cousins had settled in their respective hiding places, leaving Mum and Dad in the hall. Vihaan and I found space behind our couch and quickly crouched behind it.

"I am so glad you're here." I whispered. We were barely inches away from each other. I could smell his strong scent. It was so intoxicating.

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment. I could feel my heart accelerate at ten times its speed. My conscious mind finally realized what was happened and I quickly snapped out of it.

"I'm glad you're glad." Vihaan winked.

"Actually, I have been meaning to talk to you."

"Talk." He smiled.

"Quick guys! She's here!" I heard Dad's voice from the hall.

Moments later, the bell rang and Mum let Maya and Ajji in.

"Asha! I am so happy, you know? Maya bought me the most amazing saree!" Ajji said.

"Nice, Ma. You can show me in the hall. Let's go!" Ma urged.

In the next five seconds, all of us rose together and shouted "Surprise!". The look on Ajji's face was priceless. Her face beamed as she took it all in. Her eyes filled with tears as we all approached her singing "Happy Birthday".

"Where did you all come from?" She asked, wiping her tears away.

"This is for you, Ajji!" My cousin Sahana said.

She cut the cake as all of us cheered loudly. I don't think I have seen Ajji happier than this ever in my life.

As soon as the formal cake cutting was done, we all took heaps of cake and splattered it all over Ajji's face. We thought she'd get a little angry, but she casually shrugged and said, "Never mind. It's as good as facial, na?"

There was no way anybody could ruin her mood for the next month. She was the star and she knew it!

"Vihaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! So good to see you, Chinna!" Ajji squealed on seeing Vihaan standing next to me.

"Happy birthday Ajji! Rock on!" Vihaan said giving a very hyper Ajji a hug.

"Thank you, thank you! I just turned 30, you see. Avni, you look so beautiful! Somebody should take Dhrishti off the both of you!" Ajji said.

"I'm sure! You look 30!" He replied.

Vihaan had completely stumped her and so, without another word to say, she glided towards Sid and Maya.

"She turns into such a girl around you." I whispered to Vihaan.

"She's adorable, Avni. You are so lucky to have her." Vihaan said.

"Thanks, thanks. The adorable-ness runs in the family, you know."

"Yeah, you're right! Rutu and Naina are very adorable." Vihaan said, pointing at Rutu and Naina who were giggling uncontrollably with some of my cousins.

"Hey! I was talking about me." I said, pouting like a small girl.

"I can think of ten other adjectives to describe you, other than adorable." Vihaan said. His voice was low, so that only I could hear. "By the way, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Not here. Somewhere private?" I said.

"Let's go to the terrace?"

As we were climbing the stairs, I could hear some loud, deliberate coughs, courtesy of my sisters and some raucous laughter. The moon lit my terrace with a warm glow and there were only a few stars in the sky.

"Well?" Vihaan asked from behind me.

"Wait, I need to get a little courage." I replied.

"Courage? What for? Avni, it's only me."

"Did you mean what you said to me at Shruthi's grihapravesha?"

"Every word of it. You are all I think about."

"I thought about whatever you told me for weeks and I think I have come to my decision. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me, Vihaan. You have done so much for me for absolutely nothing in return. You are the kind of person I want to spend the rest of my life with." I whispered.

"What are you saying?" Vihaan asked, a smile slowly lighting up his face.

"I want to give us a chance." I whispered.

As soon as those words came out of my mouth, Vihaan held my face and kissed me softly on the mouth. He then buried his head on my shoulder and held me tightly as I lay my head on his chest.

"You have no idea how happy you make me feel, Avni." He whispered into my ear.

"Actually I do. You make me even happier." I said. This felt right.

Vihaan was nothing less than a blessing to me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey guys! So it's finally here! How did you'll like chapter 10? :)

Lots of new Kannada words that have been introduced in this chapter!

"Putta" and "Chinna" are the Kannada equivalents to "honey". :)

Telia Rumaal is a type of silk saree!

"Grihapravesha" means house warming ceremony in Kannada.

I love you all so much! Please Comment, Vote and Share! Don't forget! :D

Until next time, A. <3