The Dream

1.

Raavi is getting a nightmare every night before her wedding with Dev. I was actually inspired from Kareena's dream of missing her train in Jab We Met.

Raavi woke up with a gasp. Ever since her marriage had been fixed with Dev, she had been seeing the same dream over and over again. Normally she wasn't the kind of person who would mull over one dream, but getting the same dream over and over again was not normal at all. What was happening? She was frustrated. The dream was causing her to lose sleep, and if they didn't stop, she was gonna look like a very sleep deprived bride.

"Kya hua Raavi? Wapas wahi sapna aaya?" Anita asked.

"Haa Anita di. Kyu ho raha hai mere saath aisa?" Raavi asked.

"Shayad koi darr hoga tere mann ka. Shaadi se pehle sabko darr lagta hai."

"Mujhe nahi. Main toh bachpan se jaanti thi ki main Dev se shaadi karungi. Main uske family ke sath hi badi hui hu toh main unhe bhi jaanti hu. Phir darr kis baat ka?"

"Phir bhi soch le Raavi. Shayad koi baat hai jo tujhe khatak rahi hai. Sapne humesha mann ke kisi kone mein chipe kisi baat ko humare saamne lane ki koshish karte hai."

Raavi thought of her dream again. She was standing in a wedding lehenga, ready to get married. But when she started walking to the mandap, the distance wouldn't reduce. Instead the mandap kept getting far and far away from her. Then she would begin running. Just as she was about to reach it, there would be a crack in the earth and she would fall down. She would scream and scream, but she would keep falling. That's exactly when she would wake up.

If Anita di was right, what was her mind trying to tell her? Raavi decided not to think on this matter any further. She quickly got ready for the day. Her mind was troubled so she decided to go and meet Dev. That should calm her down. Before that she decided to visit the Somnath temple so she could take his blessings.

***

"Shiv ji, aisa kyu ho raha hai mere saath? Kuch samajh nahi aa raha. Kya aap mujhe koi ishaara dena chahte hai?" Raavi asked

"Dev se shaadi tod de." A whisper reached her ear.

Raavi opened her eyes and found the culprit. It was Shiva! He was giving her his usual stern look.

"Tu sapne dekhna chor de Shiva. Shaadi toh meri usi ghar mein hogi."

"Abhi tak shaadi hui nahi hai. Itna uchhal mat. Dev ko toh main tere changul se bacha ke rahunga." Shiva said.

"Ab bohot der ho chuki hai. Shaadi ke cards bhi chapne wale hai, aur Dhara di toh mujhe shagun ke kangan bhi dene wali hai aaj. Woh pehen liye matlab shaadi toh hoke rahegi."

"Yeh Dhara bhabhi ko pata nahi kya hua? Chipkali kaun ghar mein lata hai jaan bujhke?"

"Jab tuj jaisa bhalu uss ghar mein reh sakta toh chipkali se kya problem hogi unko."

Dhara came there to find both of them fighting. She rolled her eyes. "Hey bhagwan tum dono wapas chalu ho gaye. Hum mandir mein hai! Kuch toh lihaz karo."

"Maine nahi usne start ki thi!" Raavi said. "Aap isko bolo ki yeh mujhe accept kar le."

"Kar lega Raavi. Tu jab aaj shaam ko humare ghar aayegi aur main tujhe kangan pehnaungi toh ise tujhe accept karna hi parega."

Raavi gave a smirk to Shiva and Shiva in return scowled at her. Dhara prayed to God that Raavi and Shiva's fight would end. Otherwise who knows what will happen when she will become Pandya family's bahu.

"Main aap dono ke saath wapas chalti hu. Waise bhi main Pandya house hi jaane wali thi." Raavi said.

"Abhi nahi Raavi. Tu achhe se taiyyar hoke shaam ko aana rasam puri karne." Dhara said. "Aur Shiva isko jaa jaake ghar chorke aa."

"Yeh jaise aayi thi waise laut jayegi. Akele."

Dhara gently hit Shiva. "Maine kaha na chorke aa. Yeh ab humaari zimmedari hai."

Raavi was upset that she couldn't go to Pandya house, but she was happy that Shiva was going to drop her home. Now she could annoy him. Maybe even annoy him into accepting her as his bhabhi. She went with Shiva, and sat on his bike. They rode away.

"Shaadi ke baad main Dhara bhabhi ko bolungi rest lene. Unhone 10 saal tum logo ko bohot jhela hai. Aur tu fikr mat kar, tujhe jab bhi kuch khaane ka mann karega toh tu mujhe batana. Main bana dungi tere liye."

"Chup kar warna tujhe beech raaste chorke chala jaunga."  Shiva said.

"Woh toh tu humesha karta hai. Ek baar shaadi ho jaye, phir toh har safar pura karna parega tujhe mere saath. Warna main Dev aur Dhara di ko sab bol dungi."

"Dhamki mat de."

"Oh main toh bhul hi gayi. Pehle mujhe Abdul chaacha ki dukan mein le chal." Raavi said.

"Kyu?"

"Mujhe aaj shaam ko pehenne wala ghagra lena hai Abdul chaacha se."

Shiva didn't argue. He stopped near Abdul chaacha's tailoring shop. Raavi went to collect her ghagra and came out in five minutes. She got on his bike and he dropped her home. As she got down, she hugged Shiva tightly.

"Thank you Shiva. Tu mera favourite devar hai. Par Krish ko mat bolna."

"Ae maami ki behen ki beti, teri zabaan bohot chalne lagi hai."

Raavi struck out her tongue and went in her house. She couldn't wait for the clock to strike 4PM, so she could start getting ready. And by 6, she'll finally be in Pandya house. Maybe once today's rasam is done, she'll stop having that dream.

She was feeling way too sleepy so decided to take another chance at sleep, but she could sleep for only one hour before she was woken up by her dream. Okay, not it was scaring her. What was Bholenath trying to tell her?