Dhara thought of the argument she just had with Prafulla an hour ago. They bumped into each other at the market and as usual Prafulla started instigating Dhara. She usually ignored her, but when Prafulla started talking crap about Shiva, Dhara could hold herself back. Their argument turned vicious and Dhara lost her mind.
"Tera woh devar ek number ka raakshash hai. Apna Dev phir bhi kitna shareef, padha likha ladka hai, par woh Shiva, woh ek number ka jaahil, gawar, janwar hai. Usse kabhi koi ladki shaadi nahi karegi!" Prafulla shouted.
Dhara had always thought of Shiva as her favourite. She knew she wasn't supposed to have any favourites, but Shiva had her whole heart. Perhaps the reason she loved him so much was because she knew out of all her devars, he was the sweetest one. She knew how vulnerable he could be, but he hid it from everybody. He deserved all the love in the entire world.
"Mere Shiva ki Gauri use zaroor milegi. Aur woh Shiva ke liye bilkul perfect hogi."
Prafulla started laughing. "Uss raakshash ki shaadi! Arrey, usse pehle toh meri dono betiyon ke bachhe ho jayenge."
"Aisa nahi hoga. Mere Shiva ki bohot jald hogi shaadi. Woh bhi ek bohot achhi ladki se. Pura Somnath dekhega."
Prafulla suddenly stopped laughing. "Toh lagi shart? Dekh lete hai mere dono bachhiyon ki pehle kisi achhe ghar mein shaadi hoti hai ya phir Shiva ki pehle shaadi hoti hai! Shart main jeeti toh woh tera shaadi wala haar mera, aur main shart haari toh...."
"Toh aapko maa ke kangan lautane parenge. Aur unse maafi bhi maangni paregi."
Dhara wasn't someone to act rashly. She was quite calm and composed and thought ten times before taking any decision. But today, she had acted rashly. Prafulla had managed to ignite the fire within her. Now that she had placed a bet, she had to win it, there was no other option. Her only problem was Shiva himself. He ran away wherever Dhara talked about marriage. Dhara hadn't even seen him talking to any girl, except Raavi. That too, he kept fighting with her all the time. Shiva had to fall in love. Only then would he agree to marry someone. It seemed impossible. He was least interested in romance and love. Her devar had actually claimed that he would never marry. He preferred to remain a bachelor throughout his life.
Dhara almost cried. How stupid she had to be to make such a bet? Raavi was beautiful and sweet, anybody would marry her in a heartbeat. Anita's marriage was a little more difficult. She was beautiful, but she was still hopelessly in love with Gautam, and didn't want to marry anybody. However, Dhara was sure Prafulla would really badger Anita to get married now. Anita would have to eventually give in.
Dhara didn't want to part with her wedding jewellery and she wanted to get Maa's kangan back. She had to do something. Suddenly she saw Raavi coming into Pandya house with a huge smile on her face. She straight came in and walked over to Shiva. She stuffed in a laddoo into his mouth and hugged him tightly. Shiva took a few seconds to push her off. Dhara's mind began to formulate a plan...
