Harvest Moon

Chapter 8

Khushi couldn't believe that deciding to marry the man she had fallen in love with would suddenly take a turn for the worse.

"Is dad very upset with me?" Khushi asked her sister Payal as they sat chatting in the balcony of Anjali's house. She had arrived in Jalandhar in the evening after taking a bus from Chandigarh.

The usually direct Payal didn't mince words. "Yes he is."

"What happened jiji? I thought he liked the alliance," Khushi said, "I heard him saying that to mom."

"I don't know Khushi," Payal shrugged, "I think he wanted to come and meet the Raizadas before making any decision."

"I thought Akashji coming to Raleigh might have helped."

Anjali had asked Akash to visit them in Raleigh so Khushi's dad's concerns could be addressed. Unfortunately it hadn't helped.

"Dad actually seemed to like Akashji," Payal said, "but nothing he said helped in changing his mind."

"I don't understand," Khushi said, "He kept telling me I can't make any decision until he came down from the States after Siya's wedding."

"But you told him otherwise," Payal pointed out, "dad is very upset about that."

"Yes I had to jiji," Khushi said, "Nanaji thinks he may not survive this surgery." Khushi's eyes filled with tears.

The dilemma of choosing between her father and grandfather had been a terrible ordeal for her but her grandfather was on his deathbed and she wasn't in a position to think of anything else at this moment.

The problems had begun a few days ago when it was decided that Satyaprakash's surgery that was to take place in a couple weeks would be now taking place in the United States.

This change in plan had materialized when Khushi had called her parents to inform them about her grandfather's cancer and the impending surgery. Her father's brother who was a leading surgical oncologist at a hospital in Wilmington had immediately asked them to bring her grandfather to the US so the complicated surgery could be performed by him.

"I don't need the surgery." Her grandfather had protested.

"You do Nanaji!"

"There is only fifty percent chance of success."

"Exactly!" Khushi had exclaimed, irritated with her grandfather for being so stubborn. "If you don't do this you don't have any chance at all.

"I am doing what you wanted me do -- I am getting married. Now you should do as I say."

Then her grandfather had come up with his condition. He wanted the marriage to take place before he left to the States for his surgery.

"But Nanaji, mom and dad aren't here!" Khushi had pleaded, "how can I get married without them?"

"Khushi, I may not be alive to see your wedding later."

Looking at his teary eyes Khushi knew she couldn't refuse.

"Don't cry Khushi," Payal consoled her, "Mom has told me to tell you that she stands by your decision and has given you her blessings. She wishes she could be here for you."

Khushi knew she could count on her mother.

But what about Payal? Khushi wondered. Payal and her dad were a lot alike in their thoughts.

"Khushi?" Payal said slowly, "why did you give in to your grandfather's demands to get married? You were planning to tell your grandfather that you wouldn't go through with it, weren't you?"