The family gather in the hall, all the women surrounding Malini and the men surrounding Adi, rooting for them to win respectively. Malini is dressed in a red and gold georgette saree while Adi has on a cotton red kurta. The rest of the family are dressed casually. Imlie sets the vessel on the table placed in front of the newly weds and moves towards Malini's side. Radha shows the ring they have to find to both and drops it in the milk filled vessel.
On the count of three, Aditya and Malini put their hands in and try to find the ring. All the while the family cheers for them, eagerly waiting to see who wins.
The victor turns out to be not one but both. They lift the ring at the same time from the vessel while the family claps for them.
"So you both love each other equally!" Aparna exclaims, joy on her face while Rupi and Dhruv tease the couple joyfully. It is a happy environment and she cannot help the smile that forms on her face too. Aparna's declaration a moment back just affirms to her that indeed Babusaheb and Didi are a perfect match, something she and him would never have been. She sighs, turning away to head to the kitchen when another wave of pain passes through her lower abdomen. She gasps inaudibly even as her hands clutch her abdomen, applying force to help mitigate the pain and she drags herself to the kitchen, away from the family. She cannot hamper their happiness for something so normal especially since she cannot tell everybody the reason behind it. Enough awareness had reached villages but the taboo surrounding it is yet to be eradicated. She leans against the kitchen counter, breathing through the painful cramp, willing it to pass fast.
_
After the ring finding ritual, the family decides to have a lax few hours before they have to prepare for the mooh-dikhayi that is in the evening. Sitting in the hall, they decide on playing some games.
Collectively, the game of antakshari is decided on.
Imlie brings in hot tea for everybody and is pulled to sit beside Rupali and Nidhi on the carpeted ground while the elders are seated on the sofa. The teams are divided based on who is sitting on the two sides of the sofa. So team A ends up being Badke Kaka, Badki Kaki, Rupi, Nidhi and Imlie while team B ends up being Malini, Aditya, Dhruv, Chote Kaka and Choti Kaki.
Team A decides to start with Badke Kaka singing Hasta hua noorani chehra to which team B responds with Bade Acche lagte hain sung by Dhruv. He sings it with his gaze glued on his wife who looks at him with downcast eyes, cheeks blushing even as the family sings along and hoots for them.
They go back and forth, vibing to new and old songs alike till Imlie gets the chance to sing the one Hindi song she loves so much, having listened to it on the only radio in their village.
Dil hai chhota sa chhoti si asha
Masti bhare man ki bholi si asha
Chanda taron ko chhuune ki asha
Aasmano mein udane ki asha
Her voice isn't perfect but the way she sings her favourite song, the glow on her face, her smile bright, eyes twinkling the same way it had when he first met her as a carefree girl in Pagdandiya, it makes her look serene.
There is an innocence to her that comes to the fore with every word of the song, an innocence that fills Pankaj and Aparna both with melancholy. Their eyes move in sync with each other, truly meeting each other's eyes after so many years. It isn't the first time they are looking because the distance between them did not mean they had stopped communicating and interacting, yet it feels like the first time in years that the void they had been left behind has eased just a little. It can never be filled because what they lost cannot be brought back but maybe just maybe, this lonely existence by their own ends of the string can cease, helping them find their way back to the love that still exists!
_
It is late afternoon and the Tripathi house is bustling with activity. While all are occupied with the decorations and other arrangements, Malini drags Imlie to her room.
"Arey Malini Didi!! Why are you dragging me like this?"
"Imlie, I want your help!"
"With what Didi?"
"I want to look different and unique for my mooh-dikhayi, like I don't want the typical newly wed look" Malini whines like a small child.
Imlie smiles at her amusedly and says
"But how can I help in that Malini Didi. I am no stylist"
"No but you are my wonderful younger sister and I just know you are the one who'll be able to help me with this"
Imlie feigns a sigh and moves towards the suitcase that hold Malini's sarees. Removing them gently, she looks through all before selecting a bottle green banarasi silk saree with dark red border. The blouse is the same shade of red with gold and green border. Malini's face lights up at the choice.
"See, I told you you'll be the only one who can help me with this! This combination for mooh-dikhayi is less commonly used!"
Imlie smiles at the excitement on Malini's face and further helps her with selecting beautiful jewellery to go along with the saree.
Love,
Pratyusha
YOU ARE READING
Lakeerein - Ties That Bind Us
Fanfiction------ Can Be Read As General Fiction ------ One night. One event. Lives of two people altered completely. When Aditya Kumar Tripathi, Chief Executive Reporter at Bhaskar times stepped into Pagdandiya and met Imlie, he did not know how his life woul...
