A woman, exceptionally beautiful, starts experiencing some strange things. Why was she so different from others? Did she have a purpose? Who was she really? What would happen when the characters from the stories she had heard from her childhood woul...
"You look beautiful," Pooja said, a twinge of jealousy in her eyes. Mahamaya was too beautiful and she didn't even have a layer on makeup on her face. How was this even humanly possible?
She had seen Mahamaya and she always wondered, was Maya human? Or was she a nymph? A Goddess maybe? How could someone be more beautiful than the actresses?
If Maya was not a doctor, she could be a model, and a very successful one but modelling industry was such that she would be engulfed into pleasuring others to get to where she would be needed. Modelling industry was ruthless and a woman as beautiful as her couldn't survive in it without being tainted.
Pooja wanted to be a model herself, but her family didn't support her. When they asked Pooja again and again what she could do instead of modelling, Pooja had no answers.
Finally, she was tied in marriage with her husband, Vivek. She wasn't bitter about it. She knew how the modelling industry worked. She might try it in another life maybe, when modelling would be all about talent and not about favours and connections.
Right now, she was okay here, as okay as a daughter-in-law could be. There were chores, yes but her mother-in-law taught her everything and there were frequent festivals which lightened their days and gave her more work but it was at least change of routine for her and numerous women like her.
"Thank you, vahini (brother's wife in Marathi)," Mahamaya's voice echoed the small room, snapping Pooja out of her reverie.
Mahamaya was looking extremely beautiful in her saree. It was the day when Aarav was going to come meet her for the first time. She knew that his parents were coming as well so she had gotten ready as nicely as she could.
She knew how to wear a saree already, so she had worn it within ten minutes. Pooja helped in straightening the saree at the lower part as it tucked nicely just below her belly button.
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The saree didn't make her look like a widow, even though it was white. It had a creamy colour with wide pink border and golden work. She had borrowed the saree and blouse from Pooja and the blouse felt a little tight on her but she didn't have enough time to get another stitched.
She had worn her signature crescent moon bindi but it was pink, not the usual red, matching her saree.
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(Crescent moon bindi if you want to imagine)
She had borrowed fake pearl ornaments, again from Pooja since everyone else in the household was from the last generations and didn't spend on these trivial things.
'Like you,' her mind reminded Mahamaya that she was indeed like that. She shouldn't be, however, considering that she was about to be married, and possibly covered with ornaments from head to toe and it would be a problem for everyone to get different set of every ornament for every ritual. It would create havoc.
She looked in the mirror. A pearl nath (nose piercing) and pearl earrings made her face glow more. Her bangles were fake too, borrowed from Pooja. It had a fake golden base with lining of pearls.
Her hair was braided for a long time and after it was let loose, it looked wavy as it was styled perfectly with many pins. A small puff was made just above her forehead and she looked perfect.
A car screeched to a halt at the entrance of their small Bungalow and everyone in the house heard that. A young man along with an old man and an old woman seemed to step out.
The older woman's mouth twisted in disgust as she saw the beautiful rangoli on the cow dung spread. There was WELCOME written in large letters below the rangoli. She also heard bells and saw a few cows tied just a few feet from the house.
The young man smiled and looked around. The atmosphere reminded him of his childhood. They were not always so well to do, not until he started earning at least.
He remembered that he had grown up in a similar environment, till he moved to get a job and he was so skilled and was so easily promoted that he could afford making his parents move too.
He wanted his wife to be of such an environment too. However, from her bio data, it seemed like she was from Thane, just where they currently lived because of his job. She was a doctor but she looked so beautiful that his father wanted to visit her and try this out. So, he had agreed too but now, looking at how she had a similar start at life like him, he was thankful he said yes.
His father, too, was hit by nostalgia. He used to live in a similar house. His wife used to help him milk the cows and buffaloes while he used to go around, selling the milk to the rest of the village and then he would go and farm.
His wife would pack a lunch box for him and take it to him as they would sit under a tree at the centre of their farm and eat the food together. Aarav would play with his friends at that time, or study, or, very rarely, accompany his wife and eat with them.
However, most of the times, it was the couple's time, alone, privately eating their lunch. It was more romantic than being at home because it was both of them working hard more than ever for their son and for Om, that was the most lovely memory ever.
With every look around, the nostalgia would hit him harder than ever as he would suddenly find himself liking the girl they had come to visit for his son.
He was sceptical of her. She seemed shady, as in, how could anyone be that beautiful? She must surely have used filters. Would they have to reject another such girl for their son again? Because she couldn't be real?
They went inside and sat on the cot of the living room, as Mahesh and his father welcomed them. A few minutes later, a beautiful girl stepped out with tea cups in a tray as the women of the house were busy peeking from the kitchen.
They were not allowed to enter the living room as they were women from the girl's side. It might sound patriarchal but Indrayani followed it because she didn't care as long as her daughter found a suitable guy. She had not met the other criminal guy, but as a mother, she certainly didn't want a criminal as her son-in-law.
Mahamaya served them tea as the three of them were frozen, looking at the beauty in front of them...
*****
A/N: Okay, so a clarification. I have only been to such a meeting once, for my cousin sister and I remembered I didn't get a good look of the guy because they didn't even allow me to peek from the kitchen. It was like we were playing hide and seek from the guy.
However, most of the times, things like these don't happen. I just come from a very remote village where the thinking is very backward. I remember my cousin brother from the other side had gone to visit a girl and their family was much more lively and real than being respectful and feared.
Another thing can be that when I was there, only the guy and his male friend had come and women were not comfortable coming in front of them. So, that could be the reason too. I just portrayed what I have seen and experienced but that's not how they portray in serials or movies either.
