Kaal Chakra

7. अनुमोदन

अनुमोदन - Meaning acceptance

                              *******
Dwarka

Amavasya, Phalguna Krishna Paksha, 5000 BCE

Lakshmi shyly wrapped her arms around herself, a tinge of red blooming on her cheeks in embarrassment. The blouse of her attire was more of a tube top and less of an actual blouse that she was used to and paired with a long skirt which rested just about a centimetre above her belly button, left her entire waist bare.
Something she was not used to nor was she comfortable with.
Thankfully, the heavily embroidered dupatta was carefully draped around her chest and shoulder and secured on her waist with gold pins, thus covering up her bare skin decently.

She just hoped that she would be able to manage moving around without embarrassing herself and most importantly, without losing her temper.

"I hope that I find cotton fabrics here so that I can at least try to make some comfortable pants and tshirts out of it." She thought as Rukmini came forward with a delighted smile on her face.

"You look ethereal. Today, I will ready you myself." Rukmini declared and Lakshmi just smiled in response, not having understood a single word of what the eldest wife of Krishna said.

However, her eyes widened in awe as the meaning of her words hit her when Rukmini led her to the dressing table in the corner of the room and made her sit down in front of the large ornate mirror.

"Malini, make a fresh thick garland of jasmine flowers for her, but don't make it too long. Maithili, bring me the necklaces first." Rukmini instructed quickly before turning to Lakshmi and gathering her damp hair in her slender hands.

The silky midnight black strands slipped through her fingers as she combed through them, untangling the few knots that had formed. The length was not very long, just a couple of inches shy of her mid back but the individual strands were thick and perfectly straight.

"Maybe women are allowed to keep short hair in Kaliyuga," Rukmini thought as she met the eyes of Lakshmi through their reflections on the mirror and the girl from the future smiled at her as if confirming what she was thinking.

Rukmini blinked and came out of her reverie, picking up a solid silver comb from the dressing table. She quickly ran it through Lakshmi's hair so that it dried completely and then turned to Maithili, her personal handmaiden, who was standing beside her with a tray filled with lariats of gold, of different sizes and varying weights, inlaid with gemstones but all equally exquisite.

While looking through the variety of neck pieces, a particularly finely crafted necklace caught the attention of her experienced eyes. Smiling, she picked it up and gently put it around Lakshmi's neck, the riviére resting just below her chest.

It was a rani haar, made by the finest goldsmiths of Dwarka. Delicate gold wires were twisted together to form a sturdy chain on which ornate gold pieces in the shape of a mango were fixed on the sides and both ends tapered to host a round elegant pendent at the place they were fused together.

Lakshmi had not finished admiring it yet when Rukmini made her wear another neck piece, this time a smaller and heavier one. It rested just an inch below her collarbone, but it was much thicker than the previous one for it was made out of solid gold chips, linked together with the help of gold links to make a tilari haar.

Next came the bangles and bajuband, on each hand respectively followed by a delicate kamarband made by linking together lotus flowers made out of gold and thin vine shaped wires. Now the only jewellery that was remaining was a head piece, earrings and anklets.