𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐕𝐨𝐰𝐬

21.

BHAGYA

“Nanu kesi lag rahi hun?” She asked, twirling around a little bit, showing off the new lehenga that her mother got for her, since they were going to attend a relative's wedding tomorrow.

“Are mera bacha, yahan aao. Ek dum pari jesi lag rahi ho.” The old man replied, while smiling at his granddaughter lovingly.

“Jab mai badi ho jaungi na, aap mere liye issi colour ka dress banwana. Ye mera favourite colour hai.” She said, as she climbed up on Nanu's lap.

“Miss kar rahi ho?”

I was startled with the sudden question. Looking up, as I tried wiping the tears, I saw bhai standing there with two cups in his hands. Tapping beside me,silently asking him to sit, I moved aside creating space for him.

“He would have been over the moon. Running here and there, checking after every single thing, from food to decorations to gifts that we would be giving.”
He said with a smile, taking the album from my lap. As he started flipping through the pages, memories came back in a rush.

Nanu was a fun loving man, never strict, super caring, most supportive. He was our best friend, our confidant. And bhai being the first grandchild was very dear to him. And we all knew even though bhai never said it aloud but still he misses nanu way too much.

He wasn't here in the city when Nanu had fallen sick suddenly, leading to his sudden death and by the time he returned back to town, every other ritual was already done.

We still don't know what happened that time that bhai couldn't return back sooner but no one ever asked.

“I miss him.” Bhai's voice came out lower than a whisper as he silently ran his hand around one of the pictures where nanu was holding a two year old me and beside him a 12 year old bhai was standing.

“He would be so proud of us, right.” Slowly leaning down on his shoulder, I hugged him by his side. He silently nodded and then both of us silently continued watching the pictures and in between when one of us became sad or gloomy the other one immediately recalled some funny incident making both of us laugh.

Somewhere in the middle of our sibling-bonding time, maa baba both interrupted us which later turned into family bonding time.

Honestly, it felt good. Wonderful maybe. It had been years since the four of us had spent some time together. But knowing that tomorrow I would be married, I will be going to be a part of someone's else's family made me feel antsy. Still I was excited about the new beginnings, how my life might change. My emotions were all over the place. But the most prominent feeling was fear. Everytime I have been happy for a long time, something ‘not nice’ would happen, making me fidgety about tomorrow and my future.

Touchwood.

•••

The loud music of desi beats along with dhol echoed throughout the whole house, probably the baarat arrived already.

Mandap was set in our lawn, because I always wished to get married in my own home itself. Maa baba has been busy since early morning. Even Maithili and Trishita are busy somewhere. And here, I'm sitting in my room, all dressed up as a bride while the make-up artist continues putting final touches to my make-up.

I have seen a lot of marriages, planned plenty of them and after spending a good amount of time being the one who always works in a wedding, today it's making me fidgety, difficult to sit silently.

My continuous shaking of legs while I played with the bangles in my hands or my repeated neck movements while watching if anyone came to meet me or not definitely irritated the make-up artists but they said nothing.