Yato hastah tato drishṭih|
Yato drishṭih tato manah|
Yato manah tato bāvah|
Yato bāvah tato rasah|
"Where the hands go, the eyes follow;
Where the eyes go, the mind follows;
Where the mind is, there goes the expression;
Where the expression is, ther...
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•••
The rest of the weeks to the Chidambaram-performance went by a blur of practice sessions, Chandni's dance class with Aakash and Rakshan—the latter who was a little bummed about the former being the one marrying Chandni—and fixing dates for engagement and the subsequent events.
Which meant there was a wedding shopping as well.
Ironically, the couple had been the first ones to complete their purchase before everyone else.
And Rakshan had tagged along. Again.
So playing hide-and-go-seek was a tradition.
Though there were extra players.
Upon Rakshan's pleading, he was with Chandni's team that also had Anjana and—surprise, surprise—Ashwin.
Aakash, Niranjan, Janvi and—much to Niranjan's chagrin—Diya were the other team.
Niranjan was tired of Diya's playful flirting—which was actually upon Janvi's request—that he took her alone to a trial room cubicle.
Chandni had been caught again because of Rakshan's incessant giggles but when she ran and hid in one of the free trial room cubicles, it wasn't her and Rakshan who got caught.
Safe to say, Aakash had wanted Niranjan and Janvi to get married as soon as possible although their wedding was scheduled only about a year later.
When later on Chandni and Aakash came to know that their engagement, wedding and reception would be held soon after one another, the invitation process was sped up.
Chandni and Aakash had only gotten the opportunity to personally invite their close friends and family because they had their own work to tend to and also, the parents had agreed to take care of the rest.
Amidst all of it, Chandni felt like her big day approached within a snap of her finger.
"And for the final performance, we have Srimati Rukmini with her students to grace the stage with their dance!"
Rishi, Aisha and Chandni wished each other good luck before tying up their salangai.
Offering an earnest prayer to every God up there, they did a quick namaskar right where they stood at the left wing of the stage, away from the audience's eyes.
But still, Chandni could make him out sitting among the crowd of spectators upon sneaking a peek at the people.
Rukmini also lined up with her students for they were performing Pushpanjali together.
When the Arudhi before the song resonated through the speakers, all four of them got ready for their entry with their palms cupped in front of them as if they were holding flowers.
The song begun and they entered in rhythm to the beats, their normal faces brightening the moment they were exposed to the audiences.
The Pushpanjali merged to an Alarippu before whose beginning Rukmini exited the stage in sync with the beats.
