It was 4 in the evening. Guests had started arriving at the venue of the Sangeet ceremony. Sulochana wanted a grand wedding for her daughter so, they had booked a banquet hall for all the functions except the Grahmukh which is to be done at home.
Pallavi was ready and was waiting at the entrance to welcome all the guests.
Soon, Keerti and Amma arrived. She greeted them and welcomed them inside. She was talking to a few guests when her eyes went on to someone. That someone was none other than Raghav Rao. She was stunned to see him. He was looking devilishly handsome in the black kurta with a silver lined jacket. She couldn't take her eyes off him. She saw him coming towards her and came out of her la la land. She was going to ask him why he was here but decided against it as she thought that Kaku must have called him like last time. She welcomed him and asked him to enjoy himself.
Raghav's condition was same as Pallavi. He too was mesmerized with her beauty. It's not like he had never seen her beauty before, but he had never appreciated it or seen her in that sense.
He was shocked to see her welcome him so normally. He knew that she would be there but, he expected her to blast out at him and ask him thousands of questions.
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Majority of the guests had arrived but some of their important guests were still remaining and it was Sharda's mother i.e Vidya Joshi. She was going to be accompanied by Sharda's brother Vidyadhar. She was extremely close to the entire family especially to Mandar.
She was very emotional when things came to any of her family members. She had just lost her husband i.e Sharda's father a few months before Mandar and Pallavi's wedding. She had still not recovered from the shock but still pretended being strong in front of the family for Mandar's wedding. Her health had also started deteriorating during that time period. She was not informed about Mandar's death as that would have shocked her even more and the doctor had advised her to not take any kind of stress. For the past two years, everyone told her that Mandar had got a promotion and was transferred to Kolkata. She used to miss him daily but couldn't do anything about it. Even this time they told her that he wouldn't be able to make it to Mansi's wedding because he was in the US for a very important project for the company and if he missed it they would fire him.
She finally arrived. Sharda had specifically told Pallavi to avoid her as much as possible because she would ask questions related to Mandar to her and would also notice that Pallavi was not wearing Mangalustra and Sindoor.
After Aaji's (Vidya) arrival, the Sangeet ceremony started.
Raghav was sitting in front of Aaji. Small kids were performing first and Aaji was excited to watch it. Due to Lambu Raghav's height she could not see it properly so she asked him to shift at the side. Raghav did as she said because he was not here to argue anything but to meet his mother and sister. He kept on searching for them. He went near the food counter where he saw his amma. He went to talk to her.
"Hi Amma!!! Kaisa hai tum Amma?" Raghav greeted his amma and asked her how she was doing.
Amma ignored him but Keerti answered.
"Amma theek hai Raghav. Agar tumhara hal chal puchna khatam ho gaya ho toh ham chalte hai. "
Meanwhile Nikhil requested everybody to bring their snacks plates to the main hall so they can enjoy the performances while having their food.
Aaji was a foody. She went to the food counter along with Vidyadhar. Vidyadhar was bringing his plate while Aaji waited near the chairs. She saw Raghav and went upto to him as she thought he is Mandar.
"Mandar, baccha kaisa hai tu? Aaji inquired him.
Raghav was confused about who she was and why was she calling him Mandar. At the same time, Pallavi came to the rescue.
"Mandar aap idhar kya kar rahe hai? Chaliye na. Aai bula rahi hai aapko." Pallavi held Raghav's hand.
"Aaji Mandar aapse baadme aake mil lenge woh kya hai na ki woh abhi just aaye hai aur yeh Sangeet ka program chal raha hai to thoda thak gaye hai. Uparse inhe Aai bhi bula rahi hai."Pallavi said sweetly to which Aaji nodded smilingly.
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Pallavi called Aai immediately and took Raghav to a corner.
"Aai, ek gadbad ho gayi hai. Aaji ne Raghav ko Mandar samajh liya hai aur mujhe bhi kuch samjh nahi aaya ki kaise react karu isliye mene bhi Raghav ko Mandar bulaya aur waha se lekar chali aayi."Pallavi told her Aai scared.
"Yeh kya bol rahi hai Pallu tu ?"Sharda was equally shocked.
"Sach Aai. Woh abhi Raghav ko puch rahi thi ki Mandar beta tu kaisa hai."
"Phir bhi mene Dada ko bola tha ki Aai ko chije theek se dikhayi nahi de rahi, unke aankho ka operation karwa lo par nahi meri baat sunni hi nahi hai unko."Sharda complained.
"Ek minute ek minute, yeh sab kya ho raha hai? Mandar kon hai? Aur woh jo bhi aapki guest hai usne mereko kayko Mandar bulaya?" Raghav asked them all confused.
"Woh sab mein tumhe baad mein bataungi par abhi ke liye please ek favor karna ki Aaji ke saamne mat aana."Pallavi pleaded to him.
"Saree Ka Dukaan, kaash tumhara dimag bhi tumhara Saree aur lecture jaisa Bada hota. Ab mein yahi function mein hai toh ofcourse unko kabhi na kabhi toh dikhega na" Raghav responded.
Vijay saw Pallavi, Sharda and Raghav together and was worried for them. He thought that what had Raghav done again to trouble them.
"Yeh kya ho raha hai yaha pe?" Vijay asked the three of them.
Sharda told Vijay whatever had happened. To say Vijay was shocked would be an understatement.
"Ab kya kare Sharda?"
"Wahi toh nahi samaj aa raha hai mujhe bhi."
"Raghav, I know ki hum ek dusre ko pasand nahi karte par please Aai(mother in law) ko kuch mat batana. Mein request karta hoon tumse."Vijay requested Raghav.
Now that Sanki Buddha was pleading to him, Raghav understood how serious the situation was because Sanki Buddha requesting him for something was impossible.
"Theek hai main try karega."
"Thank you so much Mr. Rao." Vijay said gratefully.
All of them dispersed.
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Raghav had successfully found his Amma after a lot of hide and seek game. He was trying to talk to her.
"Amma dekho na, mein aaj traditional dress pehen ke aaya hai tere liye. Tu mereko bachpan mein pehenata tha na."
"Par woh bachpan ka baat hai. Tab tu mera baat sunta tha. Ab toh tere sar pe sing aa gaye hai na joh tu mera baat sunega. "Amma said.
"Amma bolke toh dekho, mein tera baat abhi bhi sunega."Raghav said with a smile.
"Accha... Tereko kitni baar bola hai ki kisi function ko black nahi pehente phir bhi aaj black hi pehen ke aa gaya hai. Aur ye iske upar kya dala hai jacket jaisa? "
"Amma par black mera favorite color hai." Raghav whined like a child.
"Pata hai mujhe. Teri Amma hai mai. Mereko sab pata hai."Jaya said with a smile.
"Pata hai toh kyu daat raha hai?"
"Kanna, par aise functions ko black nahi pehente."Jaya said in a flow.
Raghav was so emotional listening to the word Kanna from her.
"Theek hai Amma." He immediately responded.
"Aur yeh kya 2 button khule chode hai tune." Jaya said and started buttoning up the kurta. Raghav felt the luckiest at this moment. Maybe, this function was not bad either. Keerti who was standing besides Amma was adoring their bond. She gave a slight smile to Raghav and went off to see the performances.
Here Raghav was happy that his Amma spoke to him like a mother speaks to her son. He was smiling ear to ear when Aaji cam there.
"Kya hua biwi se milke aaya isliye itna khush hai kya?" Aaji asked Raghav.
"Biwi?" Raghav asked with a confused face. It took him time to comprehend what was happening.
"Aree aise puch raha hai jaise teri biwi kon hai yeh tujhe pata hi nahi hai." Saying so, Aaji laughed.
"Nahi nahi, me toh bas aise hi. "
"Aree Aree mera pota sharma raha hai."
Aaji teased him.
"Chaliye mein abhi chalta hain woh mujhe Pallavi ji bula rahi hai." Raghav said trying to get out of the condition. He purposely addressed Pallavi as Pallavi ji because he did not know what relation Mandar and Pallavi shared.
"Har baar mujhse bhaag kyu raha hai baccha tu? Kuch hua hai kya? Tere Aaji ko nahi batayega."She asked Raghav while moving her hand on his head and in that moment Raghav understood that if he had a grandmother it would have felt the same. He felt peace when she did it. Her love and care was clearly visible.
"Kuch nahi Aaji. Woh sirf kaam ka thoda pressure hai." Raghav said as that was the only thing that came to his mind at that moment.
"Accha theek hai. Jyaada stress mat le. Kitna dubla ho gaya hai tu. Waha pe kuch khaane ko nahi milta kya macchi ke alawa. Abhi ek kaam kar, yeh Mansi ki shaadi hone ke baad tu mere saath chal mein tujhe sab apne haath se banake khilaungi. Par mein khush hu ki kam se kam tune dhadhi toh thodi katwali ya kya bolte hai usko trim karwali varna itni badha li thi ki bhalu aur tujhme koi farak nahi tha. Ek toh accha kaam hua waha jaake." Aaji said.
Raghav was already overwhelmed by the love and care that Aaji was showering upon him. Only if, she was really his grandmother things would have been different.
"Jaroor Aaji. Mein aajayega aapka ghar."
"Waha Kolkata mein rehkar yeh kya apne hindi ki haalat bana rakhi hai tune? Mein aayega yeh kya baat kar raha hai tu. Main aaunga. Waha pe jaake pura badal gaya hai tu ab." Aaji scolded him.
"Woh waha pe rehke ho hi jaata hai." Raghav said in his defense. "Chaliye mein chalta hai mera matlab hai chalta hoon Pallavi ji bula rahi thi toh. "
"Ab biwi aa gayi hai toh tu kyu rahega apne Aaji ke paas. Ja ja jeele apni zindagi." Aaji said dramatically to tease him.
Raghav blushed a little on hearing biwi but soon realized that Pallavi was married and she had hidden it from him. He grew a little sad.
"Aisa kuch nahi hai Aaji. "
"Chal mujhe mat sikha yeh sab. Sab pata hai mujhe. Abhi jaldi jaa warna woh biwi roop mein aa gayi toh tujhe bhari padega isliye jaldi jaa."
Author's Note - So how do you all like the new entry. Did you guys expect this? Also, this is inspired from Bepannah serial a bit. There Adi and Zoya had to pretend to be a married couple for a deal. I gave it a twist here. Hope you all like it and do give me your honest feedbacks in the comments. The next few chapters will have Raghvi being their cutest selves around each other with a little drama. So, Stay Tuned for that.
Date - 27th April 2022.
