Prem Vivah

• Aankhon Ka Tara •

2 weeks later...

Naina was sitting quietly on the bed, hugging her pillow with a lost face. Only three days are left now for the wedding ceremonies to begin, and she was already feeling cathartic for leaving back her family to start a new journey with Sameer. She knew she had to just shift to the ground floor but yet the thought that she won't have freedom anymore and would have to make adjustments and compromises for a happily ever after was churning her insides.

It was true that she was tying the knot with a man who loved and cared for her since the beginning and always listened to her silly questions, stories, and shit without getting bored. But also she knows married life isn't a cakewalk, it brings its own ups and downs, pros and cons, and she wasn't genuinely ready for it. She undeniably adored them as a happy couple but now the thought of handling responsibilities as a wife and daughter-in-law was making her feel trembled. She huffed slowly against the cushion, and pressed her chin on the velvety fabric, blinking her dewy eyes.

"Can I come in?" Her father's voice brought her out of the land of fear, and Naina quickly brushed away her tears, putting a soft smile on her lips.

"Aao na baba," Naina said affirmatively, clearing the creases of the bed sheet.

Nishikant entered her bedroom and slightly closed the door, coming towards his daughter's sitting posture. He took a glance at the bedroom, finding a pile of boxes having unorganized clothes and other stuff which would be sent to Sameer's house in a few days. This sight cracked his heart into gazillion pieces and he hid his tears under the grey spectacles.

Naina shifted a little away to make space for her father, and Nishikant sat beside his daughter while stroking her uncombed tresses.

"Kaisi Ho?" Nishikant asked her in a soft voice.

"Main theek hun baba, aap kaise ho?" Naina replied to him in a meek tone.

"Aise toh theek hun par tumhare jaane ke darr se sahi se so nahi paa raha aaj kal," Nishikant spoke with a small smile that concealed thorns of anguish, and Naina innocently looked up at her father with bubbles of ripple in her orbs.

"Main zyada door nahi jaa rahi hai baba," Naina assured him in a low voice while resting her head on his solacing shoulder, her fingers playing with his steel wristwatch which has been her habit since childhood.

"Is ghar se toh jaa rahi hona par." He uttered, in a disheartened tone.

There was a dead silence between father and daughter with only pain enveloped in the warm room. Naina was stiffening against her Baba's white t-shirt, her nose slightly brushing with the cotton sleeve, and Nishikant was gently roaming his comforting palm on her head to calm down his anxiety and irrelevant thoughts.

"Pata hai beta, jab tum paida huwi thi na tab kitne logo ne mujhe kaha tha ki beti ko itna pyar mat dena...kyuki woh parai hoti hai, woh ek na ek din apne pariwar ko chod ke apna naya ghar basane jaati hai, par maine un sabki kabhi nahi suni, ulta main toh unse kehta tha ki Meri Beti humesha mere saath rahegi, main uski shadi karauga hi nahi, lekin dekhlo ab, do hafte baad tumhari shadi ho rahi hai," Nishikant said with a sorrowful smile while pressing his head above her rose scented hair, continuously wetting his lips through the tongue. Naina's jaw shivered when she understood his pain as a father, and her grip became firmer on his t-shirt's sleeve.

"Tum mere liye kya rahi ho bachpan se yeh main tumhe nahi bata sakta beta...tum meri jaan ho, tumhare liye main kisi se bhi ladh sakta hoon par tumse nahi ladh sakta. Jab mujhe pehli baar pata chala tha tum sameer se pyar karti ho, ek pal ke liye toh mujhe believe hi nahi hua tha, it was hard. I don't know if he is a nice man or not, I don't know if he will keep you happy or not...I just know one thing agar usne apne kiye hue waade tode toh main ek pal nahi lunga use tumse door karne me." He added further with anger brewing in his tone for Sameer for taking away his daughter.