The Great Indian Wedding Romance

1. Invitation

Everything was going well for Siddharth Kashyap till he decided he would come back home during the short break in his national tour with Red Wagon, his band. It was a four-person band. Angad was the lead vocalist, Yug was the drummer and Shreyas was their guitarist. He was a vocalist, alongside Angad, and the bassist.

Things were great, fantastic even. 

They had just won the Battle of the Bands in Mumbai and had travelled all the way to New York for the International Battle of the Bands. 

He was living the dream of every Indie musician out there. 

They even got close to winning the title and got placed in the top 5. But they were eliminated just before the finals. 

And yet they were ecstatic. Making it to the semi-finals was a huge deal. No Indian band had done it before them. The moment they stepped foot in the Delhi airport they were flooded with contracts from labels and offers for tours and sponsors. Yug, one of Siddharth's best friends and the band's drummer, had gotten his father's legal firm involved in the deals and they had accepted a tour spanning six major states. 

They had performed in Bangalore, Chennai and they had just wrapped two shows in Mumbai. They had been having so much fun in this wild ride that he had sort of overlooked his mother. 

His mother was obviously very happy for him but she had no one but her sister to keep her company when he was gone. 

Siddharth had flown back to Delhi on the first plane he could get a ticket for. 

They had a month-long hiatus before they resumed with shows in Jaipur, Kolkata and finally Delhi. He would be spending that time at home making it up to his mother. 

There was no one more precious to Siddharth Kashyap than his mother. She had been his pillar of strength throughout his shitty childhood. She was the one who had paid for his music lessons in secret because his father didn't believe it was a manly enough activity. He owed his career to his mother because she had risked it all for him. 

The familiar smoke-filled air and the traffic of Delhi greeted him as he made his way to his house. He paid the taxi driver and walked into his lawn. It bloomed with flowers thanks to his mother's green thumb. 

It was late and his flight had gotten delayed by a couple of hours. He rang the doorbell and waited for his mother's smiling face to greet him.

The door was opened by Hari Bhaiya their house-help. 

"How are you Hari Bhaiya?" he asked cheerfully stepping in. 

"I am fine Siddharth Babu. How was Amrica?" he asked laughing. 

"It was very good!" Siddharth replied walking into the living room that wasn't empty. 

He knew something was up when his aunt was at their place. She usually didn't stay the night because she had her own family that needed taking care of. 

"You're here!" his mother exclaimed as she walked into the living room. She gestured for Hari to take Siddarth's bags in. He declined Hari Bhaiya's help and dragged the bags in himself. 

He went up to his mother and kissed her. 

"How are you Ma?" he asked smiling. 

"Lonely without my son. Your aunt is here." 

"Yes," he said, "Namastey Damini Mosi." 

He bent to touch her feet and as per usual she gave him her blessings.