Bombay Twist

Chapter 1

"God, you bunch of no-goods, I would have gotten ready earlier if I had hired a trio of monkeys instead!" Shamini screamed.

 "If you would just stop panicking and let us work, you would have gotten ready a year ago!" Arohi muttered. The porcelain-skinned, doe-eyed, black-haired beauty was doing Shamini's hair.

"Arohi! Don't say things like that! God, you'll drag us with you to hell." The woman with the wild and curly hair, large, expressive, coffee-brown eyes and a svelte figure, hissed at Arohi. "I agree with Mira. Better not tease the Bridezilla, she seems pissed already." With her shortish hair, geek-glasses, Ishani was a sharp contrast to her two besties Arohi and Mira, but pretty all the same.

"What the hell did you just call me, Ishani?" said Shamini, in a deathly-calm tone.

"Um," Ishani thought quickly and said, "I have your Snicker bar."

"GIMME, GIMME, GIMME!" Shamini yelled, forgetting her ire.

Ishani internally heaved a sigh of relief, and gave Shamini the only thing that can calm her wracked nerves.

 The trio having completed their work left the room, leaving the bride to eat her way to calmness.

"We shouldn't be subjected to this torture, we're not even related to her." Mira said.

"Oh, so just because we share a mother, I am the only one who should get her tongue-lashings? Uh, not happening. We are in this shit together." Said Arohi, while Ishani just laughed.

The girls had seen each other through rain and shine, crushes and break-ups, good-hair-days and pimple breakouts, exams and holidays, since they first came together in the 7th grade. Since then they had stuck together in every event of their life; first pair of glasses (Ishani), getting braces (Mira) and first terrible eyebrow wax (Arohi).

They had been talking about and dreaming of Shamini's wedding ever since she came home with her first boyfriend (which, if you come to think of it, was a long while back.)

A long stream of boyfriends and break-ups, patch-ups, hook-ups, all-kinds-of-ups later, Shamini had finally found her One.

 The very successful and very dashing Mehul Shah, entrepreneur and businessman, who came with a very sleek Lamborghini and a very fat bank account, and not too hard on the eyes too (scratch that. The guy is the definition of 'yummy'). Basically, the whole package.

And today was the day. The day which they had been waiting for for some time now.

Shamini's wedding.

Shamini's Big Fat Indian Wedding.

Arohi and Shamini's family had given the thumbs-up to Mehul when they realized that the guy was, aside from being filthy rich, also good-natured and modest. Well, he tried to be modest.

After a while, the girls stood there, wearing their beautiful matching (but different coloured) saris and equally matching grins, showering the happy couple with petals of marigold flowers and love, while the couple completed the last phera (Indian equivalent of taking vows).

The wedding was complete. Shamini married the man of her dreams, and was about to ride off into the sunset with him, or rather to their new home.

After a lot of tears, hugs and promises to "call (sob, sob) everyday (bursts out crying)" Shamini climbed into the car with her husband, all the while sobbing, and they drove off.

As the girls sat on chairs in the garden and chatted, they were joined by Arohi's mother Anita, and a few of her relatives.

"Hmmm, such a beautiful wedding!" exclaimed relative no. 1, a bit over-enthusiastically.

"Very lavish, very. I hope you have left something for your other daughter's wedding, HAHAHAHA!" relative no. 2 guffawed, nearly splitting the ear drums of the surrounding people.

"Say, have you started looking for a boy for our dear Arohi, Anita? If not, you know Gurupreet's nephew? The engineer? I bet they will be a perfect match!" gushed relative no. 1.

"Oh, he is a nice boy. You need to start searching now, time is flying of course!" said relative no. 2

As Anita was about to reply, Arohi quickly interrupted, "Oh aunty, that is too kind of you, but I think we will do just fine without your help."

The two aunties, looking a little miffed, sensed the tension in the air and quickly scurried off in search of refreshments.

"Really, Arohi, must you be so rude? They weren't saying anything wrong anyway."

"Oh Ma, you can't be serious." Said Arohi.

"I am serious. In fact, I am going to start looking for a nice suitable boy tomorrow itself. Oh masiji, have you had dinner? You simply cannot leave without having dinner!" Anita suddenly started walking towards another group of people.

"Great." Arohi muttered under her breath.

"What do you have against arranged marriages anyway? They are a perfectly okay way to get hitched." Ishani said and Mira agreed.

"I don't have anything against them! I just hate my relatives' choices in all matters and something tells me that it won't be any different in this case," grumbled Arohi.

"But you gotta trust Anita masi, right?" said Ishani. Arohi trusted and revered her mother more than anyone else in the world and she seldom, if ever, went against her.

"I have a feeling that Ma might get a bit carried away and then her usually sound choice will get screwed by all those big-mouthed auntyjis. But don't tell Ma... pinky swear? " said Arohi.

"Pinky Swear!" they both said in unison.

They never questioned each other's decisions (they think alike on many matters), and so, Ishani and Mira simply smiled and let it go. Besides, Anita had been going on and on about setting Arohi up but had never really acted on her intentions, so they probably doubted that she was going to start anytime soon.  

At the age of 23, it is perfectly normal for Indian girls to be pestered on getting married, arranged or love no longer mattered, just get the girl married! But after years of seeing Shamini flitting from one boy to another like a butterfly, her mother was probably a little prejudiced against love marriages. Though Shamini had found her 'happily-ever-after', she does not want to take any chances with her second daughter.

No, she was going to make sure Arohi is married of to an amazing boy, a gem of a boy!