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The wedding day had arrived faster than I expected. My parents' house was in a frenzy, throughout the month. Caterers, wedding planners and designers kept visiting my mom every day. I wasn't spared either. She made sure to keep calling me every weekend for the fittings, selections, food tastings and so on.
Initially, I had little interest in the details. But then Nisha pointed out "Imagine you look at your wedding pictures 10 years later and you look like someone just killed your dog. Wouldn't that be sad?"
I never really envisioned the ideal wedding that I wanted. But now that I was getting married, I wanted it to be perfect. Because I knew, merger or not, the wedding is real. The memories will remain with me forever. On the practical side, I didn't want look like I was mourning in my wedding pictures.
So yeah, despite the cold war between ourselves mom and me planned every thing with utmost precision. I think my perfectionism comes from her. Nisha tagged along not wanting to miss out on any part of her only best friend's wedding planning.
It was fun. I won't deny. Tasting various foods to select the menu for the D-day (who'd ever say no to food). Talking to the wedding planners about the flowers that I wanted, or the theme that I preferred. Nisha and I had a blast, having our own little fashion show with all the lehengas we got to try. It was the most fun I had had. I don't even remember the last time I was this happy.
Maybe when I cracked our last hotel expansion deal? I was really happy that day. I think so.
Midst conversation one of the wedding planners told me about how Veer was giving his inputs too on the themes and things he preferred. It struck me then how odd it was that we were putting so much effort into a celebration for a union built on business rather than love.
Everything felt surreal. I was getting married. Because of a merger. For my company. To a man that I spoke to – once. On an online call. It was too much to take in.
Veer's family was good. Not perfect but good. His parents visited shortly after I accepted the proposal. Apparently, Veer had talked to them about my shift to New York. And they were okay with it.
"Expanding into the international market is not going to be easy. You'll have to think twice before every decision you make. We know how challenging it is going to be. The merger between the two families is really important right now. And we are really happy that Veer and you are taking this bold decision. You could spend time with each other after the business abroad settles down. Don't worry Tara. And, I hope Veer and you have a wonderful life ahead, we were never there for him when he needed us, maybe you could be there." that was what Veer's mom spoke to me that evening. Why were they hell-bent on this merger? I know it is beneficial, but, was it worth our personal lives.
I could almost see how similar yet different our parents' were. They only cared about the business and the heights to which we could take it to. They didn't consider what we wanted. At least his mom accepted that they were never there for him, unlike my parents. I almost wanted to laugh at how cruel both of our fates were.
