When Our Paths crossed..

#Nishchayathram

The best thing about South Indian wedding is their focus on simple living, sticking to customs and traditions. Mrs. Arunachalam and Mrs.Maran preferred a simple but traditional wedding. They weren't against the modern celebration but considering the fact that the couple already attract lot of media, they were strict about the event being private. Also the ladies always had to walk on their toes in fear. They just didn't want anything to go wrong which could have a huge impact on the couple.

Next day morning, a simple engagement ceremony was planned at Mr.Arunachalam's place. As per custom, they wanted to have the event at Mr. Maran's place. But considering Mr. Arunachalam's health, it was decided to hold the event at Groom's place.

Nisha did a great job arranging the event and Mrs. Arunachalam had all praises about Nisha to the guests. SAM and Ashwin had a good feeling about this. The ladies had already matched Ashwin and Shivani's horoscope. When the priest gave them thumbs up , the ladies began the wedding preparation vigorously. For today' s event, priests from both the ends drafted the marriage agreement or Lagna Pathirikai.

The event began with formal prayers by the priests. Ashwin looked handsome in his pattu veshti and yellow silk shirt. Shivani looked elegant in her simple saree with minimal jewellery. Everything seemed good until,

"Nee thane kalyana ponnu. Unga akka evlo naga potu irukka. Yen unga periyamma unakku edhum podalaya ?" Deepa, Shivani's athai commented loudly.

"Amma summa iru.."Manimegalai , Deepa's daughter nudged her. Deepa was Shivani's aunt , her father's elder sister. She always took complete advantage of Devi's richness and innocence. She was more than happy when Shivani's engagement failed years back with Ashwin. She tried her best to convince Devi to marry Shivani to her own son who was nothing but a big failure.

"Nan enna di thappa sonnen ??" she commented casually.

When Shivani was about to reply, Mrs. Maran eyed her to be quiet and concentrate on the puja. Mr. and Mrs. Arunachalam gifted the engagement saree and matching jewellery and Shivani took it gracefully with their blessings. Pavithra and Nisha moved to help Shivani change into the new saree.

Draped in traditional Kajeevaram Silk saree in bright yellow paired with gorgeous-looking jewellery, she looked Stunning. When she sat opposite to him, he just couldn't stop himself from looking at her. They were color coordinated and looked magical. Ashwin's smirk and Shivani's blush wasn't missed by the crowd especially Deepa.

The ritual involved announcement of the wedding and offering verbal invitation to the wedding. Since the date was already fixed based on the groom and the bride's horoscope , they just had to formally fill it.

The lagnapatrikai is supposed to clearly outline the names of the family members, the bride and the groom's, the marriage date and the precise marriage time. This time of the wedding is announced in front of all the family members of both the bride's and the groom's side. The lagnapatrikai was examined and signed by the heads of the two families. Following this, gifts were to be exchanged between the 2 families. The problem raised exactly here. Malini had given Devi and Shivani's biological father's name as father and mother of the bride. when the priests called out, by default Malini stood up to do the formalities.

"Ma..Malini iru ma..en thambi irundhu irundha ippadi oru anniyayam nadakuma ? Indha paiyanala enga ponnu evlo kasta patta. Marubadiyum ivanukke kalyanam panni, yen ponnu vazhka nasama poga podhu. Yemma Malaini, idhe un ponna irundha ippadi pannuviya? Thambi...ennala onnum panna mudiyalaye..." Deepa started crying suddenly creating havoc in the crowd.

While Ashwin was momentarily hurt, SAM and Rakshan were furious. Shivani panicked as her worst fear was coming true. She looked at Mrs.Arunachalam for help.