Becoming Sweethearts [✓]

Part Thirty

* Ten Days Later *

Exhaustion. Of all the things, this was the last feeling Gauri had associated wedding ceremonies with while growing up. She had always thought that a bride had no other work to do apart from dolling up and smiling to look her best on the day of the wedding. Quite contrary, the last ten days were the most hectic days of her whole life; even more hectic than the days she had been preparing herself for her MBA entrance exam. Starting from planning to execution, she was handling it all, of course, with a lot of help from her parents as well as Oberoi's folks.

Right now, the day before the wedding, she was seated amidst most of her things that she was to pack, half of which was already done, and half of which was still pending. After that, she was yet to have her mehendi designed on her arms and feet, for which she would be expected to sit up till the early hours of morning. Mental and physical exhaustion gripped her and she pushed herself to move things around. Weddings shouldn't have to be this hectic and strenuous, she thought to herself with a deep scowl on her face.

But thank goodness for mercies, Gauri was so grateful that both the families, although reluctantly, had agreed for a simple temple ceremony, with no other invitees except the immediate family members. Omkara had suggested that since Daadi wasn't well, a pompous wedding would cause her even more anxiety and exertion. The sly man had fooled everyone but Gauri with that excuse. When she had asked him why he wanted a simple ceremony and to come out truthfully to her, he had said with a grin, "It's only practical. The pandit says that the muhurat is either eleven days from now, or two years later. And given how Daadi is in a hurry to see us get hitched, she will do her best to get us married in eleven days. Within such a short span, planning the whole thing, especially with regard to the expenses, everything is going to be a mess if we plan anything grand. I had to keep the gun on Daadi's shoulder and shoot. I mean, it's only fair; if she can emotionally blackmail us, then it's only fair that we get to use her as an excuse, that too after agreeing to her."

Gauri had wondered, why Omkara Singh Oberoi was worried about his finances, in spite of being an Oberoi. But what he said next had rendered her speechless, "But Sharma, it's obvious that Arvind Uncle will not be able to arrange for things from his end. I know my family too well. They can get insensitive to other's emotions, most of the time. Arvind Uncle and Shalini Aunty don't need that sort of unnecessary pressure right now. And for what? Whom do we have to impress with a grand wedding, right? Everyone who loves us and whom we love will be with us when we get married. Usse zyada kya chahiye? And instead of shelling out an unreasonable amount of money, we can use the same money for building our future."

The way he'd simply put it, being practical and thoughtful at the same time, had floored her. And like always, he spoke for both of them - 'Us', 'We', 'Ours' - All of this came very naturally to them both. She had realized in the very moment that she had made the best decision of her life to agree to marry a man who was not just her best friend but was also a wonderful, empathetic, and humble human being. The two of them had decided to stick to the same version, with Gauri supporting him 100 percent in whatever he'd said - to keep it simple for Daadi's sake. No one else needed to know the actual reasons behind their decision, they'd decided.

The Oberoi family, as well as her own mother, had tried to convince them on a daily basis to change their plan and have a grand wedding. "At least, a grand reception?" Daadi too had insisted, assuring them both that she will not be exerted at all. Omkara had no go but to resort to reverse-blackmail, as he told both - the Sharma and the Oberoi families - that if they were pressurized too much, Gauri and he would go to the temple in secrecy, and get married with no audience at all. So, it was either a simple wedding they get to attend, or they don't attend their wedding at all.