Prema (Pranushka)

Chapter 1

Anushka

"Stop it Rana,," I tilt my head down and sigh as Amma scolds Rana for the hundredth time in just a few hours as if he is a child.

"What's wrong with you," I nudge the side of his body and glare into his eyes, that have sunken and don't have the usual playful twinkle in them.

"We've been sitting like this for so long." I roll my eyes at his complaints, sounding like ones from a child, not a grown, 25-year-old man.

I turn my attention away from him and back to the puja going on in front of us, well more like in front of the few rows of people who are in front of us, but you know, same thing. I bring my hands together and put them parallel to my lips as I mumble out the words the pandit tells us to.

I tilt my head up a little and see my cousin Sai looking down at the steel bowl in his hands and his fiancée, Tanisha, looking directly at the pandit and nodding. This puja is actually for the two of them, it's their first one together after their engagement, and his mom is very religious and has a lot of beliefs so by her insistence they agreed to this (and many many more). Sai is my second cousin, my maternal grandmother's sister's grandson, and honestly, we aren't very close. When we were very young all of us second cousins met more often and as that decreased and our age increased, our bond decreased as well. Now, we all are much closer to our respective first cousins, and once a year, sometimes every few years of meeting up all we have left, so a few forced smiles and awkward conversations. We will attend all the very long and extra wedding events though, and once my first cousins join us (mom's sister's two sons) it'll be much more fun.

"Anushka, what are you doing?" I glance to the left of me and all I am met with is the dark green of my mom's sari, I panic and spring up, pressing down on my already ironed lehenga and bringing my hands together in front of my face again.

"Sorry," I mumble with a guilty face to Amma, who just shakes her head. I resist the urge to narrow my eyes at Rana who is very unsuccessfully hiding his teasing smile towards me.

I hit the pocket of his pants when I hear a vibrating noise coming from it and the bright light of the phone screen shines through.

He takes the phone out quickly before the pandit makes it to us with the big steel plate. I glance at it and see the name Chandu written across the screen and we both share a smile at our younger cousin's name. When I say younger he's not 10, he just turned 19 and his older brother, Kalyan, is 21 and the four of us have been inseparable since we were younger.

I stand behind Nanna and put my head on his shoulder lightly, a smile growing on his face.

"Tired ah?" I nod at him and move so I am facing him as he gives me a knowing look. I stayed up late working on a presentation for work and even though I have a few days to do it, I got carried away and once I got an idea things just kept flowing. I know I should have listened and slept early, but I do also know that I work so much better at night time and the regrets in the morning are forgotten quickly.

"No, just hungry," I reply with a laugh as we get into the queue of people for the food.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to back up," I turn around, my eyebrows etched in a squiggly line the moment I felt my back meet another back.

I can't see his face, but I see the older woman whom he is talking to. While the very smiley old lady is cupping his cheek and smiling at him as he takes the plate in her hands into his and she puts her hand on his shoulder. I turn back around, relieved that I didn't fall on him when everyone else ahead of me in the line shifted back, causing me to do so also. Thankfully, he doesn't realize and continues to mind his own business and looks down at the plates in his hands.