two stories of marriage

chapter 12

A well-decorated banquet hall, filling your eyes with dreamy aesthetics at every sight, with a crowd gathered to witness the engagement of dushyant and ishita.

'namaste aunty!' greeted kavin as he touched her feet.

'arre jeeto raho! Ab dekho tumhare bhai ki bhi shaadi ho rahi hai, woh bhi tumhari maa ki pasand ki ladki se na...bina bhagaye ya bhage...' said the aunty, leaving kavin completely clueless, as he replied,

'ji?'

'kuch nahi, kuch nahi...apni-apni kismat!' she remarked as she left to wander around the banquet hall.

'mom, yeh shalini aunty ko kya hua?' asked kavin

'arre uska beta uski maalish waali ko bhagakar le gaya tha!' whispered his mother in the lowest volume she could.

'yeh kab hua?' asked kavin, totally not able to recall this happened.

'ho gaye kuch do saal...'

'isiliye bhai ki shaadi ke piche itna paddi hui thi uss waqt!' exclaimed kavin at a relatively higher pitch than his normal one, as his mother slapped him on his arm and scolded,

'bewakoof! Yeh koi zor se bolne waali baat hai!'

'yeh koi zorse maarne ka reason hai!' said kavin as he massaged around his arm.

'drama band karo aur bhaiya ko bulao!' ordered his mother as he left, just shaking his head in disbelief.

                                                            ***

'bhai! Kahan mar gaye ho yaar!' shouted kavin as he looked for dushyant.

'abe saale, thoda tameez se bola liya kar, bada hoon tujhse!' said dushyant as he came to him.

'tameez den eke liye izzat ki zaroorat hoti hai, woh kamani padti hai..'

'saale phirse koi sanjay leela bhansali ki picture dekhne baith gaya tha kya tu!'

'aap se matlab!'

'matlab dekhi hai, tera sahi mein kuch nahi ho sakta!'

'they are stories of eternal love bro, aapko usse kya problem hai!'

'they are too over the top...' said dushyant as he received a glare from kavin with a finger pointing at him as he replied,

'how dare you!'

Dushyant, who just looked at him with disbelief, said,

'what? I can't have an opinion..'

'not a stupid one!'

Dushyant knew that kavin once beat up a guy in school when he made fun of romantic epics, seriously, like the guy got a fracture. So, he just let him be as he joined his hands together and said, 'sorry!', leaving after that.

Only after a few moments later, dushyant's gaze fell on ishita, who entered with her family.

'main zara sambdhan ji se milkar aati hoon.' said their mother while exiting

'main pet pooja karke aati hoon.' said purvi as she left too.

Just in a few seconds, ishita was left there alone.

'hi.' Approached dushyant.

'hi.' Replied ishita.

'so...' he started

'so...' she continued as a vaccum of awkward silence formed between them.

'i should have thought of a line...' remarked dushyant as ishita nodded, and they both shared a light chuckle.

'you are looking beautiful.' He complimented.

'thanks, you look great too.' She replied, he smiled with a meek thank you in return.

                                              ***

While purvi was collecting the samosas on her plate, her hand had touched someone's in between,

'arre yaar..' they both said together as their eyes met and a smile came on their faces,

'phirse..' said kavin as purvi nodded.

'there's something about us..' said purvi

'and functions ka khaana!' finished kavin as they both shared a chuckle.

'yahan jalebi hai kya?' asked purvi.

'arre, haan, chalo na wahan, saath mein gulab jamun aur rasmalaai bhi uthate hain.' Replied kavin.

'arre, kachori lene do zara..' said purvi as kavin picked some from her plate as she glared at him,

'arre, tumhare paas hai toh itna!' revolted kavin as purvi snatched one of hers back.

'tumhare paas bhi bahaut hai!' replied purvi.

'thik hai, lelo, ab rasmalai na bache na tumhare liye toh mat kehna!' said kavin as he ran for the rasmalai, while purvi chased after him.

                                                            ***

They both were in for a competition and they both were not ready to give up. If she poured half, he poured full, but as their glares which were fixed on each other's, started to break as this ridiculousness made them helplessly chuckle.

'hum kya kar rahe hain?' they both said in a union as kavin suggested,

'share karein?' as purvi nodded while pulling her one year while lip-syncing a 'sorry' as kavin did so too.

rings were exchanged, bringing the night of the occassion to an end as everyone clapped for the new couple, and everything did seem to be merry and rosy till that day...

                                                ***

A few days later..

'arre parlour ke liye nikal kyun nahi rahe ho dono!' screamed their mother.

'arre bataya toh tha make up waali yahi aayegi, time bachega!' screamed purvi in reply.

'ishita, ishita! Kahan ho tum!' screamed their mother, unable to find the bride.

'arre change kar rahi hai woh, tumhare saamne karein kya!' yelled purvi filled with annoyance.

                                                     ***

Meanwhile, in the room, ishita was shocked to hear those words from the caller,

'kab hua yeh?' asked ishita.

'kal, mai tujhe dukhi nahi karna chahti thi...sorry, yaar!' explained kriti.

'toh vihaan apni biwi ke delivery ke dusre din office aata hai and he gets a promotion!' exclaimed ishita furiously.

'yaar, dekh, i know tujhe bahaut dukh ho raha hoga, but, teri shaadi hai abhi kuch ghanton mein! Main bhi bas iss traffic se niklon...'

Ishita hung up as she was interrupted by make-up waali,

'arre kya hua, abhi? Vidaai mein rolena yaar, abhi toh kiya tha make-up!'

Ishita, who quickly wiped off her tears and composed herself, when she was interrupted by purvi,

'di, kya hua, jaldi karo na yaar!di?' said purvi as she moved towards her sister,

'are you alright?' asked purvi as she sensed something was wrong, while ishita just shrugged off with a very forced smile,

'yeah, ofc, i am-completely-fine!' said ishita with as much conviction as she could muster.

'are you sure?' asked purvi as they were interrupted by their mother,

'arre dono chalo bhi, vidaai ke waqt karlena melodrama!' she yelled as she pulled both of them out.

While the make-up artist, who witnessed all this remarked,

'yeh pakka bhagne waali hai!' as she left too.