Locked down in lockdown

16-The remedy

Vaani's parents along with his Mama had arrived the next day in the evening not telling her the real reason for this sudden get-together at home like that but Vaani wasn't that stupid. Sitting in the room she could hear what they were talking about in the Hall.

But Vaani, just to be sure asked her mom what actually had happened.

"That old man, Rangayya called your dad and said, 'let's cancel the wedding, because of that dosha,'" Her mom said recalling that phone call.

"What? what were they doing these many days? didn't I tell you to match the Kundli in advance? There was no problem then. Now, what happened?" Vaani asked angrily, her mood turning sour.

"He said that there was no engagement yet so it wouldn't be a problem and then he hung up on us, then we told that guy, Bhima, the one who got this proposal, about all this, he tried taking to Rangayya telling him to arrange a meeting to solve this, but that old man was making soo many excuses not to meet us" Her mom continued telling her the story standing in the kitchen.

"Then?" Vaani asked, with background calculations in her mind. She had already shopped soo much for the wedding, she would have to send them back and also the phone Vikrant had gifted. She would just transfer him the money if the wedding was actually canceled.

"Then I called your Mama, and he verified everything with a qualified Pandit. That man sent us a new Kundli and also a recording, explaining everything and he also scolded the other, half-learned astrologers for not looking properly. And your dad sent that to Vikrant to clarify this. And after some time, Vikrant himself called and apologized on his parent's behalf saying that it was a mistake and that the marriage should continue as discussed."

"soo he was also involved in this," Vaani muttered to herself not quite surprised though. Vikrant's marriage was left up to him by his parents. 

"Your father was very upset because of what happened, but we still want to clear things up so we were going to go to their house today, that's why we called your Mama because we wanted a sane calm person to talk to in case your father loses control but now, Virant's dad escaped again, saying that they were out of town today."

"Maa, if they don't want to, they what is the need to force them for this marriage? If they doubt that I would be the reason something happens to their son, then they would always be afraid of me. And I don't want to marry someone after being forced like that. Just leave it" Vaani suggested not wanting to be a burden over anyone or wanting to clarify anything with anyone for some stupid reason.

"It's not that. How can they do that, just over the call, not without meeting us? and that too blaming it on your Kundli. we just want your name to be cleared is all. " Her mom explained to her the predicament.

Vaani's mom was very worried because of the obstacles in her daughter's marriage. 

"so what now? isn't mama going back tonight? Who will go to Vikrant's house?" Vaani asked worried because her Mama was a government employee and had to go back to work and if her father went alone then there would be problems.

"Your dad called Vikrant to come home before your Mama leaves so they could meet" 

"See, your Mama took a step out of his house to solve your problem and it got resolved even before the anticipated time," Kamala aunty said, praising the connection between her elder brother and Vaani. Vaani as a child had spent most of her early childhood with her aunt Kamala and Mama, Sushil, when Vaani's dad was out in the Kargil war, serving as a backup medic. 

"Hmm. so is everything solved now?" Vaani asked to clarify whether if she was really getting married or not.

"Yes. We just called Bhima's uncle. He will join us tomorrow at Vikrant's home. We want to lighten up the burden from our heart is all. This shouldn't put a strain between the two families right." Vaani's mom concluded the topic when Vaani's dad called her out.

Vikrant had just called her father, informing him that he would be there in some time. Vaani hadn't spoken nor seen him for such a long time and was highly anticipating his arrival but she was not going to come out of her room when he came.

But when he did came through, Vaani was the one who sensed his arrival because she could smell his perfume, even before he set a foot inside the house.

He came and talked to all the elders in the house, clearing up the misunderstandings. It was all just because of a stupid computerized algorithm website that showed that their match was not compatible. There were different sites that had different results but he had consulted 3 Pandits out of which 2 of them gave him a green card.

And not just that, Bhima, the man who was involved initially had called up Shashi Master and in anger had berated him for not looking into the matter, being a well-educated elderly person. Unknown to all the others, Vikrant was holding a grudge against Bhima because of the same.

But for all the time Vikrant was here, Vaani dare not to step outside the room even for a second. She felt anxious and her stomach was full of butterflies. The event had taken a toll on her emotionally but she couldn't open up to anyone in the family.

Not even her cousins knew about this, cancel the wedding and resume the wedding thing. They weren't even serious about this whole ordeal as they should be.

Vaani knew she wasn't alone in this world, though she could not talk to anyone in the family she could most definitely tell Syed about this and share her sorrow with him. He would never spread or share it with anyone, so he was the safest choice. All of her other friends were not in much frequent contact with her. Or even if they were, the news would spread like wildfire amongst everyone.

As Vikrant left first, her Mama was next to leave as his work was done here, and he had a train to catch. He kissed Vaani's forehead before leaving, blessing her in a sense. Overwhelmed with the love and the care her family bestowed upon her, she couldn't stop herself from crying.

When he finally left, Vaani was going to call Syed but instead, he called her. It was a blessing in disguise. He was all he needed at this time when her wedding was just in trouble and her future husband wasn't even there to console her.

"Hi," She said sniffling, not able to control the emotional turmoil inside her. All the stress of the day had finally caught up to her.

"Hi, were you crying? " He asked confused. He never liked her crying but he was always there when she did.

"I... My wedding almost got canceled fatty" Vaani spoke through her tears.

"WHAT? How? What happened? " He asked shocked.

"You know what I told you about my dosha and stuff... "

" Yeah, so? " Syed asked, not liking where this was heading. He hasn't like that relationship with her in the first place.

Vaani explained to him everything, about how they called and were scared that their son would die or something, about how her mom's brother consulted other astrologers and informed everyone that she had no issue of any kind of dosha in her Kundli. Even if there was, it was countered by another planet, whatever that was. And then she told him about how Vikrant's dad was escaping from meeting them. When she was finished she had finally stopped crying, feeling her heart a little lighter than before.

"Oh, so you lied to me about your Mangal dosha, and told me that I would die when I asked you to marry me? Ha? " Syed asked jokingly acting as if he was offended by her revelation, but in reality, he was just trying to lighten up her mood.

"Shut up, you just wanted my dad's car and my gold chain," Vaani cracked up laughing.

He always joked about how he was costly and if Vaani ever thought of marrying him then she would have to get 10 crores and her dad's car as dowry. For that thought he would always end up beaten up by her.

They knew that they would never betray their families for anyone and even though they were best friends Vaani could never think of marrying him. She liked him as a friend and it was better to not mess up things with useless matters or feelings but nobody would believe that they were just friends and they did not correct any assumptions or rumors because nobody had the guts to as them to their face. And whoever did ask us, knew that we were two different people of different gender, of different caste and religion but were still close irrespective of that.