two stories of marriage

chapter 13

'ishita kahan hai?' asked kriti after arriving late to the banquet hall.

'pata nahi, hum toh kabse aaye hoye hain, dessert bhi khaa liya hai, ab 15-20 minute baad nikal rahe hain hum...' said one of ishita and kriti's colleague.

'abhi tak toh ishita ko aa jana chahiye tha...'expressed kriti

'shaadiyon mein kuch time pe hota hai, kam se kam isne Friday ko toh rakhli shaadi..'

Kriti left the colleague who was no help and called purvi, that didn't help her at all as she wasn't picking up the phone.

'abe yeh ho kya raha hai!' she exclaimed.

She even dialled ishita's mom's number, clearly very desperate, but to no avail..now, she was seriously worried.

'kriti!' she looked up to see who called her name, it was kavita.

'mam, hi...' said kriti as she was caught off-guard.

'arre, woh, mujhe ishita se kuch baat karni thi, woh uska phone nahi le paayi main pehle..' said kavita

'aapko uska phone aaya tha?'

'haan, missed call kuch ghante pehle ki...' said kavita, as kriti thought,

'tabhi toh maine phone katta tha...'

'aapne callback kiya?' she asked.

'arre bewakoof, mujhe abhi hi yeh missed call ka notification aaya hai.'

'mam dekho abhi toh woh aayi nahi, uski behen aur maa bhi phone utha nahi rahe, but apparently ghanta ho gaya unhe nikle hue.' Informed kriti.

'aisa kya ho gaya?' asked kavita as kriti who was clueless too, had no idea what to tell her.

                                                      ***

'kavin, kahan hain yeh log, ghanta ho gaya hai, phone karo zara.' Said their mother with concern.

'arre mom maine try kiya, par purvi aur aunty dono hi phone nahi utha rahe hain.' Stated kavin.

'unka koi cousin leke aa raha than a unhe, uska no. try karo, zara.' Suggested their mother.

'mom, woh bhi phone nahi utha raha hai, last time nikalne se pehle phone aaya tha ghanta pehle.' Informed dushyant.

'kahan reh gaye yeh log?' said their mother.

                                                                    ***

The wait came to an end, when the bride entered and all the worries in the air were dissolved. While kavin caught hold of purvi, as he had a lot of questions he needed answers to.

'kahan thi tum? Aur phone kyun nahi utha rahe the?' yelled kavin in a whispering tone.

'arre woh raste mein mom ko car sickness ho gayi thi...' informed purvi as kavin realized all of his over-the-top ideas of what could have happened were all in vain.

'toh iske kaaran tumlog...'

'mummy ka toh tumhe pata hai, atleast 20 mins toh unki over-acting mein chale gaye...'

Kavin just shook his head ib disbelief as he asked,

'ab kaisi hain?'

'di ne pehle hi saurabh dada ke paas dawaai rakhwadi thi...so, yeah, thank her..'

They both just shook their heads and walked towards the mandap. They both looked at ishita and dushyant, sitting together, about to tie the bonds of holy matrimony, something even they would do soon. Everyone around them was happy, mostly because almost everyone had their share at the buffet, but those who really did care about the couple, were simply there for the celebration of their love.

Unfortunately, the most dreaded part of the event came inevitably, vidaai. Ishita's mother had a flare for the dramatic to say the least, but you could still sense the love this woman had for her daughter and how she's really going to miss her as she would now have to make her own breakfast. Purvi and ishita couldn't help themselves from tearing up waterworks, after all these years, they never thought getting used to living without each other would be required so soon.

                                                         ***

Ishita sat as she was supposed to, waiting for dushyant on their first night. But there's so much she could gaze at in her wedding gown, so she lifted her veil up as she looked around the room. It was well-furnished, and this interior would have cost a fortune. But that's just what his world was like, he wouldn't worry about price tags, but for her, they used to determine the very less options she got.

she took off the pins from the tightly-knit bun made out of her hair as she let them loose. But even she knew, the burden of overwhelming emotions inside her won't be helped by letting the hair loose, it still felt good though. It was after all, something, she could let loose.

'it's so strange, jo shaadi main chahti bhi nahi thi, that took away something i worked for my whole life..' she thought as she kept her pins away on the nightstand by the bed.

Her gaze fell on the study table, just a little far away from the nightstand. She looked at those scattered files, and the laptop amidst all of it. she thought of him as she looked at all of it,

'i might have liked you, but i don't know ki iss situation mein aapse pyaar kar bhi paongi...aapki, koi galti nahi hai iss sab mein...khaash main aapko resent nahi kar paati...' she shook her thoughts away as she took a deep breath and sat back in her original position as she waited for him. A tiny tear escaped from her eye, but it was one of those times, when your sadness is even too much for the tears to come out.

Suddenly, she heard the door opening, as she composed herself and dushyant entered. Sound of his footsteps, made her realise he was coming closer to her, as he sat next to her and lifted her veil, not only was he in front of her gaze, she could feel his prescence as he was really close to her.

He removed her kundan, pulled one strand of her hair behind her ear as she shivered with the sensation of his touch. It was weird how mixed her feelings were, she wanted to get away from him yet she still wanted him to get closer,

'uhh-woh-mujhe,change karna hai...' she said with discomfort.

'oh, ok, sure, uhmmm, actually main bhi change karleta hoon...ek kaam kijiye aap yahi change karlijiye, main bathroom use karleta hoon.' He said as he got up and she nodded, probably just needing to get him away.

He went to the bathroom, worried if he might have made her feel uncomfortable. While she was trying to just pull herself together as she was unable to understand what is happening to her.