SidNaaz Imagines

Imagine Thirty Two

Her heartbeat was on the brink of going completely insane. She didn't ever want this day to come. She had had plans, with her life, with herself. She had so much to do, and yet she was not sure what future would look like after today. Was she to trust the word of her future husband? Or her mother's? Dressed in a simple, yet elegant red lehenga, she walked down the aisle with her brother holding her hand. If not for him, she would have lost her footing, her grip on reality, her sanity a long, long time back.

The sheer audacity that her parents had, for beaming, being happy and proud, for pulling this off, at last, made her nauseated, irrationally angry. "Naaz, woh dekh raha hai tujhe, meri jaan, thoda toh smile kar." Shehbaaz said to her, trying his best to communicate over the blaring music.

Shehnaaz sighed, trying her hardest to put on a brave face, a smile on her face. She couldn't. Her life was going upside down, her whole world changing, and she was not given a real choice in the matter. She sighed, again. "Can't. Nahi ho raha hai mujhse.."

She would probably start crying if she tried any harder and her brother knew that. So, he didn't push her. He wrapped his hand around her, and smiled at her encouragingly. The music started to fade into another melody and she smiled back, grateful.

She looked up at the stage and saw her husband, he held almost the same look of assurance as Shehbaaz. Her mind went back to the day she had seen him for the first time, at her family home in Beas.

The first thing she had noticed about him were his shoes, they were shining, looked new but weren't. Then she saw his eyes, warm brown, full of sincere honesty.

If she was not vehemently against the idea of even entertaining the idea of a proposal, she would have seen these eyes, or their owner would never lie to her. She set the tray of beverages and snacks in front of the family sitting in front of them. "Yeh humaari shehzaadi hai, humaari Shehnaaz." Shehbaaz had said, affectionate as ever.

His mother had smiled at her, "Shehzaadi hi lagti hai.."

Then, her mother piped in, "Shehzaadiyan toh bas baap ke ghar me hoti hain, doosre ghar jaakar toh bas yeh dharam hai ki apne pati, uske pariwar ka har hukum maanein.."

She didn't know how she could respond to that. It was not like she had been treated like a princess by them anyway, but to reduce her to the status of a mere submissive, made her feel invisible, like she really didn't exist for them.

She came back to the present only when she felt a warm hand taking hers and pulling her upstage. Her to-be husband looked at her with such love, such warmth that she instinctively held on tighter.

She had been starved of love her whole life, by everyone except her brother. So she clung, where she saw the smallest hope of being loved. "Dhyan se, princess. Shehbaaz support her from the back, apne se double weight ka lehenga pehna dia usko.."

Shehnaaz looked down as (potentially) the two most important men in her life helped her. Her husband led her to the decorated seating, "Theek ho na?"

She nodded. He didn't expect her to speak to him right away, but she could at least have said yes, or, no. Shehbaaz got on the stage after her and Sidharth beckoned him over. "Uncle aunty kahan hai?"

"Aapke brother in law ke pas dekha tha mene, jab me naaz ko lene gaya, bulwa doon."

Sidharth shook his head, shifted slightly and made him sit. "Chotte, hum bas do hafte pehle mile hain, so I don't expect you to know me or my family, lekin hum kaafi chill hain. Humein 24/7 khatirdaari ki zaroorat nahi hai."

Shehbaaz chuckled politely. "I know, sagaai pe ya shagun waale dinn, tujhse aur shehnaaz se bahot kucch bola gaya hoga. Magar yeh— He pointed to his side— yeh sirf teri nahi, meri bhi shehzaadi hai. Hamesha rahegi."