The Bride Trilogy - Part 1 - The Chosen Bride

Chapter 2: Nischaiy

That night, Ratna had a conversation with her husband, Arvind about Arnav's wedding. Arvind left the matter in her hands to broach the subject with their son, who was reluctant to get married to anyone, no matter who they proposed.

After breakfast the next morning, Ratna asked her mother-in-law, Devyani, her sister-in-law, Manorama, her brother-in-law, Manohar, and her husband to linger at the table a bit. After Arnav and his cousin, Akash, had left the table to go to work, the elders in the family looked at Ratna curiously.

"Bhabhi, what was it you wanted to talk to us about?", Manohar asked.

"Maaji, Devarji, I went to a NGO yesterday, and there I met this girl, Khushi. She's a doctor and is just finishing up her MD graduation. She should be done in another month with her exams and stuff. She helps out with the NGO, taking care of their medical needs. I really like this girl, Maaji", Ratna told her earnestly.

Devyani just looked at her, still waiting for the main point of this conversation.

"She's kind and generous and cheerful, and very beautiful. And so humble. And she comes from a good, middle-class family. Her father is also a doctor, he's got a small family practice in Laxminagar. She's an only child. I spent almost two hours with her yesterday, and I saw her values in action. She's just perfect, Maaji", Ratna smiled.

"Ratna, you need to stop gushing and come to the point", Arvind told her wryly.

"Huh!? Yes, yes, I'm getting there.... Like I said, she's perfect.... for Chote", And Ratna smiled widely at the people around the table.

Then she pulled out her cell phone, and brought up the pictures she'd taken with Khushi and the kids and showed them around.

There was a pause as everyone assimilated this information.

"I like this idea, Jiji!", Manorama chimed in, "We should ask them for Khushi's hand in marriage for Chote".

Devyani just looked at her, shaking her head, "Do we know the family, Ratna?"

"I will find out their details by end of day today, Maa", Arvind told her.

"I think Khushi will be perfect for Chote, Maaji", Ratna gushed again.

"Don't raise your hopes, Ratna. We need to first find out about the family, then we need to find out if they want an alliance with us, then the kids will meet and decide if they suit. If everything works out, then we can have a wedding", Devyani cautioned her.

"I think the first two things will be easier than the third. Even if the girl agrees, getting Chote to meet and then like someone will be the toughest thing. We've introduced him to so many girls, and he always finds some fault in all of them", Manohar said.

Ratna's face fell. Manohar was right. They'd spent nearly two years getting Chote to try and meet various girls, but he always made some excuse. And even if he was cornered and did end up meeting the girls, he always rejected them, pointing out some flaw or the other. "Our wavelengths don't match" was his favorite excuse. His wavelength must be on a completely different frequency than other human beings then, cause so far, it had not matched with anyone.

"Arvind, find out about the family and we can talk about it tonight", Devyani told him.

After dinner, the elders gathered in Devyani's room as requested by her, and Arvind opened up the file he'd received from his security guys and gave the family the gist of it.

"Dr. Shashi and Mrs. Garima Gupta. Middle-class family. Have a three-bedroom home in Laxminagar that is their ancestral home. Live there with their only daughter, Dr. Khushi Gupta and Shashiji's older, widowed sister, Mrs. Madhumati Sharma. Garimaji is a house-wife. Madhumatiji runs a small sweet shop in Laxminagar itself that she inherited from her husband. Her husband died 20 years ago of cancer, and they have no children. At that time, Madhumatiji moved back in with her brother and his family. Dr Shashi has a small, family practice in Laxminagar, in the same complex as the sweet shop. They're not rich by any means, but between the sweet shop and the practice, they make enough money to live comfortably".