Choti Si Duniya - ArShi FF

9. Raksha Bandhan

This is an impromptu chapter, so please excuse me if it's not upto the mark. Happy Raksha bandhan to everyone who celebrates this festival and loves their siblings 🤗🤗😇

Also, belated happy birthday ASR aka Barun Sobti 💕🤗

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"Khushi, kitna time aur? You already know how I feel about these clothes, I feel uncomfortable wearing a sherwani. Upar se you have made me sit through the entire puja wearing this. Jaldi karo na" Arnav was on the verge of losing patience. First his nani had arranged a puja in the morning which Khushi made him attend. Since it was a Sunday, he couldn't even make excuse of work. And second, this sherwani! He hated wearing those traditional wears.

"Haan mamma, mujhe bhi nahi pasand ye clothes. I want to wear my Virat Kohli shirt" kavish's recent obsession with Virat Kohli had made Arnav-Khushi buy quite a few things for him that either had Kohli's face or his jersey number printed on it. But this comment was more to do with how he was copying everything his papa said or did these days.

"Chiku, nahi beta, aise nahi bolte. Today's Raksha bandhan no? your sisters will tie Rakhi on your wrist and then you can gift them the ones you have gotten for them. Thik hain?" Khushi said lovingly to him, reminding him of those cute gifts he had gotten for Piya, Arohi and Shriya(Pari) which obviously Khushi had helped him select. But he was always so enthusiastic buying gifts for his sisters. In that way, he was just like Khushi, bringing smile to others' faces made them happy.

"Arre ha mamma, main toh gifts bhul hi gaya. I will go and ask Akash chachu to help me set up the gifts." Saying so he ran away. Akash had helped him hid those gifts until today so his sisters, especially Arohi didn't see them earlier than intended. Seeing him gone, Khushi turned to Arnav

"Arnav ji, kya kiya aapne? Why did you say that in front of Chiku?"

"What? Maine kya kaha?" he was confused. He was sure he didn't say anything censored.

"yahi ki aap ko traditional kapde pasand nahi" Khushi made a face

"haan toh I don't like them Khushi. You know it. the only reason I wear them is for your insistence. And why cant I say it in from of him?" of course he knew why not, Khushi wanted their kids to value all these traditions with same vigor as her but he loved challenging her.

"aap bhi na Arnav ji, I told you these days Chiku copies everything you say or do. So, you must be careful of what you say when he is around. And I don't want my baby to grow up wearing black n white" she always had a comeback and made him quite.

"Ok fine, I'll make sure I talk only nice things about wearing colorful sherwanis, happy? now can we just get done with this?" he said in a mocking tone

"aap nahi badlenge (you'll never change). Can't believe you run a business that depends on selling a good chunk of traditional wear" saying so they both made way towards the hall

--*--

Raizada mansion's drawing room was buzzing with happy voices of Raizada, Gupta and Mishra clans (ajanli's family). Raksha bandhan marked a beginning of the festive season and everyone was cheerful about it. Anjali was to tie rakhi to Arnav and Akash and her son Pratham to his cousin sisters.

Piya who was used to being an only sister to her cousins Kavish and Pratham, now suddenly had 2 more competitors in Aru and Pari! The 6-year-old tried her best not to feel bad about sharing the attention she was used to having alone but given her age, she hardly understood that she was getting insecure. She missed being the only little girl in the house! She watched sadly as Pratham and Kavish were playing with Pari and showing her a doll Pratahm got for her

"aahaa piya, aap kitne pretty lag rahe ho(you are looking so pretty)" Khushi had observed how Piya was observing Pratham and Kavish play with Pari with a longing face so she said to cheer her niece.

"Sacchi? Thank you maasi" the little girl blushed at her maasi's words of praise and hugged her tummy. khushi too wrapped her arms around her.

But of course, how will our jealous "junior ASR" like it? Arohi was just around her mamma and saw the display of affection. Her mamma was praising her Piya didi (yeah, she finally started calling piya didi much to everyone's happiness) and ignoring her! Arohi looked at Piya carefully and in her baby brain, deduced that it was the pink flowery dress Piya was wearing that was the root cause. Now suddenly she no longer wanted to wear her cherry red princess outfit.

"Mamma, Aru don't want this dress" she called out to Khushi asking for her attention. Khushi was confused for a minute. Because just like Arnav, Arohi too liked anything red. Besides this dress was picked by her dad and Khushi herself had gotten her ready with a matching hair band that had a bow and flowery shoes. Dressing her daughters was Khushi's favorite task and especially today she felt extra happy with the way they looked. Even Kavish looked handsome for a 5-year-old! Khushi's eyes welled up looking at her kids. 'aaj inki nazar utaarni hi hogi' Khushi made a mental note. It was funny how she changed her mind about this one tradition of warding off the evil. She used to mock buaji for, but now she wanted to do it! Mother's heart after all, makes you want to do anything and everything if that promises your babies' safety and wellness.

"kya hua Aru? This is your favorite dress na shona, and mamma's princess looks beautiful in it" she said convincing Arohi, picking her up and kissing her cheek to emphasize her point

"pwincess?" arohi asked Khushi, now no longer sad about her mamma praising Piya.

"Yes. Princess! Aap mama-dada ki princess hi toh ho" khushi's words made her giggle and be happy with her dress!

--*--

Finally, the muhurat to tie rakhi was here and this year they decided to start from younger lot. So Kavish and Pratham sat side by side and Payal helped Piya to do aarti, put Kumkum tika on her brothers' foreheads and then tie rakhis on their wrists. Akash took NK's role and was behind the camera to capture the moment.

And then it was twins' turn. Aru and pari were too little to follow everything on their own but arnav who carried arohi in his arms and Khushi who had pari did the rituals themselves with the girls in their arms. At least unlike last year which was twins' first rakhi and they were only a few months old, this year they could understand what was happening. Khushi's eyes again filled with tears as she saw her kids following the sacred tradition. When Arnav raised his eyebrow asking her what happened, she just blinked and said "happy tears"! He smiled feeling same feelings.

Finally, Anjali also did her part of the festival and tied rakhis to akash and arnav's wrists and fed them sweets that she had got with herself.

Being done with the ritual, everyone proceeded for dinner as aroma of delicious food filled the house.

'May God always bless this family with happiness and love for eternity' nani prayed to her favorite deities, being very happy to see her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids together and happy! It surely was a blissful day.

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A/N – Like I said, sorry if its not too interesting but it was impromptu. Wanted to post something for today(Aug 22), Raksha bandhan special! For the unawares, it is a festival celebrated in India, Indian subcontinent, and by Indians around the globe to highlight brother-sister bond. Traditionally a sister ties an aesthetically decorated thread to her brother's wrist, and he promises to stand by her and protect her. I feel it's a great tradition to celebrate this sacred bond. So to all the brothers and sisters across the globe who celebrate this amazing festival of Rakhi, have a great Raksha bandhan 😇

Edit - your votes and reviews are greatly appreciated. 🤗🤗