Fate And Love

~five~

Suhana's POV

I saw my mother in law gripping her saree tightly and rushing out of the house. She came near the gate, her eyes never leaving ours.

"What are you both waiting for? Don't you wanna come in?"

She sounded pretty unbothered, as if she completely forgot about the rituals. Good for me.

I tilted my face up to catch up with his reaction.

"Maa, what about the grih-pravesh rituals?"

He looked genuinely confused, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"What? That kalash and all? Comeon Abhi, that's so outdated!"

She rolled her eyes and scoffed as if she said something great.

"Rituals are outdated? They are literally the life of a function!"

I didn't want to perform any of them, but still, she had a very controversial opinion.

I just smiled and nodded.

"Maa-"

Before he could say anything, I squeezed his thumb tightly, trying to make him stop.

"Can't he live for a moment without countering her opinion? Why the hell is he so enthusiastic?!"

He lowered his gaze to look at me, and I gave him a tight lipped smile. I guess that's enough to shut him up for now.

He sighed and nodded, looking at him mother.

She huffed and walked inside the house again, leaving us alone out there.

I let loose of my hold on his thumb and started walking ahead of him, trying to get him out of my radar but ofcourse, he was following me.

"What else will he even do?! Its his home, and anyway, he is your only support right now."

I reached the threshold and took a deep breathe, all of this was getting even more overwhelming. The white marble was up-close to my eyes, and then I could see the small black pores and scattered scratches, they explained the fact that this house was pretty old.

Maybe his grandfather built it, or maybe it was older than that. Who knew? But I could feel many generations have grown into adults here, I could feel the childish giggles in the air. The power of unbreakable responsibility. The shed tears of grief of many different people. It could be felt, quite profoundly.

I heaved a sigh and took my first step in, and then the second, and then I was inside the home. I couldn't see the marble anymore. Rather I could see a completely modern and elegant set of furniture that contrasted the outside walls completely.

The walls had a very rich looking wallpaper, navy blue in color with intricate golden designs. It made the house look dark.

Back in Rajasthan, we had off white walls. The first ray of sun would silently creep in from the windows, making the environment fresh. This house looked like it lacked ventilation. I hope the top floors have better access to light, and I hope I get to live in one of those rooms.

I felt him walking just behind me. Anandita motioned me to stop walking and ran inside the house.

After a few minutes, she came with a plate of aarti. Great. I hope that's all she will do.

I forge a smile as she circles the plate in anticlockwise in front of my face, exactly how my life is going right now. In the wrong direction.

But isn't Aarti in the anticlockwise direction still auspicious?