Devakshi One-shots/Drabbles/Short stories

A gaze at perfection

This is set in that moment of Devakshi wedding, when Dev is waiting for Sonakshi and the first moment he lays eyes on his bride. Dev POV.

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Dev was frustrated. All he wanted was to see her, but the number of rituals and customs were endless. They were not supposed to meet for a few days until the ceremony, making him extremely restless. He had called her last night to chat via video call, that helped a little, but it was nothing like seeing her in front of him, hugging her and breathing in the scent of her hair. Dev wished they could just go to the courthouse and get married in ten minutes, instead of all these charades. But he endured it all, for the two most important women in his life wanted all of these ceremonies.

No doubt he was eager to see her in her bridal attire. The image of her in the bridal chunri when Nikki had unknowingly draped Neha's wedding garment over her, was imprinted in his mind. She was always beautiful, but in that moment, he hadn't been able to stop staring. She had looked so gorgeous, that for a few moments, he didn't even care about the shock his mother was expressing. All he had wanted was to gaze at her.

He snapped himself out of it now. He was finally in the main wedding hall, awaiting the entry of his bride. He could barely hear his own thoughts over the clamor of the wedding band, their family and friends. His eyes searched for her. Where was Sonakshi?

She was brought in, sitting cross-legged on a little stool, carried by her brother and cousins. But her hands held two betel leaves to her face, making her not visible to him. And instead of bringing her to him, they started going in circles around him, while the ladies made the sound that Sonakshi had told him about: Ululudhvani. How many more times, he wondered. He just wanted to see her and the anticipation was killing him.

They finally came to a stop right in front of him. Then, after a moment has passed, she slowly moved the leaves from in front of her face, her beautiful almond shaped eyes meeting his chocolate brown ones.

His heart skipped a beat as all the sounds of the crowded wedding gathering instantly faded away. Time stood still and there was no one else in the world in this moment. It was just them, him and his Sonakshi looking ethereal, like a fairy descended on this earth. She was clad in a deep red saree, with a white bridal crown and a long veil falling on her back. Decked in heavy jewelry, with a large nose-ring, dangling earrings, a big red bindi, elaborate red and white bindis decorated on her eyebrows, hands dyed in red alta, she was the most beautiful bride this world had ever seen.

His heart was beating much faster now. He had imagined this moment so many times, in so many different ways. He had built it up so much in his head that he had ultimately convinced himself that it won't be as perfect in reality, because come on, who can look that pretty? But in this moment, he realized that he had been wrong. It was perfect, she was perfect. In fact, much more than perfect. He was spell-bound and tongue-tied, yet he was alive for the very first time. He had always known he loved her deeply, but right then, gazing at her, he understood what that love truly meant, that she was everything that he had not even known he'd hoped for, yearned for and more. His happily-ever-after.

He vowed in his heart to be her love, her faith and strength for as long as he would have a single breath in his body.

Little did he know what lay in store for them just a little ahead in the future.