The Elite Bride ( I was enchanted to meet you, princess )

《 32. Ullum Paadum Paadal 》

Ullum Paadum Paadal ~ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔

J A N A K I

It was the day. Was I nervous? Yes, a little bit. Why? This day was what the little girl in me always looked up to, that someday someone would win my heart and woo me forever. And as this is about to turn into a reality, I couldn't be more happy. The whole of Junagadh had been adorned with golden hued lights while Bikaner was also decorated with same type of lights.

In my and Raghav's color : Golden.

The baraat had arrived at the doorstep of Rajmahal of Junagadh only a handful of ceremonies were left before the main wedding to begin.

Currently, Raghav had descended down from his white horse and he was doing the toran ritual, which is a ritual in marwadi weddings, where the groom hits the entrance of the wedding venue with a neem stick to ward of the negative energy.

Raghav was wearing a golden sherwani, adorned with a Rajputani sehra, he too had applied mehendi on his hands. He had hos ancestral sword toed to his waist. From this mich distnace, i could feel his dlminating aura becoming the fical point of the entire gathering. He looked less like a businessman but more like a lion radiating his power.

Then they forwaded for nikkasi, which is again a vital ritual performed by the bride's sister and she ties golden thread on the sehra of the groom to ward of the evil eye.

I really wanted Chandani to do this ceremony for Raghav. But I guess she won't be able to attend the wedding as she hasn't replied to any texts of mine and has just wished a congratulations, while no news of her have been heard from either her parents and even Rudra Bhai sa is not present in the wedding.

But I could not see who performed the ceremony, I just got a glimpse of a silver lehenga doing the ritual, when Maasi sa entered to check if the jewellery for the groom is as per the tradition.

Later Baba sa followed her and he stopped when he saw me sitting in front of the dressing mirror. He looked at me and his lips quivered, he bit onto his lower lip as if stopping himself from crying. I too got up and slowly clutching my 15 kg lehenga in hands I walked towards him.

He too came towards me and hugged me saying,"Lado, tu badi ho gayi hain? Itni badi ho gayi ki Baba sa aur Maa sa teri bidaai ki tayari kar rahey hain. Ladkiyon ko bada hi nahi hona chhaiye humesha apne papa ke saath hi rehna chhaiye. Haina? Aye lado rotey nahi."

( Dear, you grew up? You grew up and now your parents are preparing to send you to your husband's house. Girls should never grow up, they should stay with their fathers. Right? Aye, don't cry child. )

I nodded my head at him. My vision was blurry as tears were begging to fall from my eyes. But I couldn't cry, because if I cry then Baba sa would too and I would not be able to handle that, my dam would break.

Clearing my throat I asked him,"Maasa is downstairs for Raghav's ponkavu?"

He nodded his head and caressing my cheek he replied,"Don't worry I have asked her to pull his nose vigorously."

My eyes widened at his answer, again ponkavu is tradition where the mother-in-law of the groom pulls his nose, it is a way of welcoming him.