Ardhangini - Part 2

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They had some coffee and left for the temple, it was beautiful. Her eyes were shining looking at the temple.

She was so simple, that yellow tinted cotton saree, her hands full of red glass bangles, gold jhumkas in her ears, a nose ring and a small admirable smile on her face, her eyes squinted trying to look at the highest point on the temple.

Kamakshi caught him ogling at her, atleast everything is falling in place now. As they sat at the pooja place, Raghav sat first and Pallavi stood behind
Pandit ji: Aapke patni ko aapke baaye aur baithna hai
He shifts to his right so she could sit to his left and the pandit instructed her to keep giving him flowers and hold his hand whenever he has to offer flowers.

The pandit told to apply kumkum to each other, so pallavi applied the tilak to him and he also applied to her. Then once they started to do the Pooja, he was using his index finger to apply tilak to the Idols when she held his wrist. He looked at her, and she showed him only middle, ring finger and the thumb should be used in pooja.
She joined the 3 fingers and showed him and then he continued the pooja.

After the pooja is done of Ardhnareeshwar, the pandit continued to tell stories of Shiv and Shakti and how they both make a complete existence. How even a God like Shiva needs her to survive. How he couldn't live when sati sacrificed herself.

They both had to feed the prasad to each other and then her eyes met his. He felt seen for a moment, he had so many emotions running within him throughout. Like guilt and shame, she was ignored from the day she was wed to him. She never complained but only complied to everything, she has been through so much since childhood and he had one job. One job his mom wanted him to do. And he failed.

They went home and he lied down on the bed, and sleep took over him. As they have to fast till the dinner, even Pallavi decided to take a nap.

The clock ticked 4 in the evening when Pallavi woke up and felt a tug at her pallu. It was under Raghav's grip snuggled underneath his jaw and chin and he was sleeping like a baby catching his mom's saree. She couldn't pull away from him but her shuffling woke him up.

He then let go of her saree but he didn't feel awkward. She went into the washroom to wash her face. They were given some fruits to snack on later when the 4 of them sat on the floor in the kitchen.

Raghav's ammamma started to tell how Jaya and Raghav's dadi were best friends and neighbours. How they got their kids married to each other, and how they are still able to enjoy their friendship even if their husbands are no more.

Pallavi haven't been really fortunate enough to have a loving family. It's very rare to see both sides of grandmothers having this kind of bond and she felt Raghav was very fortunate.
Sujata then told how she persuaded Jaya to patch up with Raghav. Which even Raghav didn't know.

R: kya? Aapne bola Amma ko?
S: toh kya karu re? Tu already gundagiri kar raha hai... Kya bolte hai? Haa... Don! Hoga tu Puri duniya ke liye... Mere saamne dikha Teri don-giri?
K: isiliye humne samjhaya ki shaadi karne pe wo tujhe maaf kar degi... Waise bhi tujhe bohot gussa aata hai... Biwi nahi aayegi na time pe toh ye gussa bohot galat kaam karayegi...

S: kyu galat kiya kya?
R: nahi, maine Aisa kab bola?
K: theek hai, tu mere saath chal beta... Hamari Puri phool bagicha dikhaati hu... Jisse hum roz pooja karte hai...
R: main nahi aau?
S: tujhe kabse phool dekhne me interest hai? Jaa... Tu bhi jaa...

There was a huge tree of parijat/harsingar and it was that time of evening when the flowers started blooming on the tree and the fragrance wafting in the air was heavenly
Kamakshi asked pallavi to make a garland out of those tiny flowers for pooja next day and raghav also started to collect those.
She was adoring the white flower with orange stem, the colour combination was beautiful. After collecting so many, raghav and Pallavi sat down in the hall and Pallavi started to make a garland out of those flowers. When she made a long one, Kamakshi cut the garland into 2 pieces and kept one for Pooja next morning and the other half, she clipped it in Pallavis hair.

 When she made a long one, Kamakshi cut the garland into 2 pieces and kept one for Pooja next morning and the other half, she clipped it in Pallavis hair

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The dinner was very satvik and yet so delicious. They quietly ate while their grandmothers served them.

They hit the sack pretty early and they're not able to sleep. Still they were composed turned on to their own sides, they didn't want to look at their phones as well. But the gajra in her hair was giving so much fragrance that he just wanted to turn around and spoon her nuzzling his nose into her neck.

He gulped just at the thought of it, but it felt so comforting. How is he going to make everything right? How is he even going to approach her without scaring her off? How is he going to get her to trust him?
His eyes glassed up just as these questions popped up in his head. Does that mean he wants her for real? Just the thought of her not being around is giving him palpitations. It's just been one day with her and he's been feeling so good around her, and he misses her like hell.

Just as these thoughts clouded him, those words the pandit said crossed his mind as how beautiful is the sanatan dharm where every god's name is taken by his wife's name, Gauri Shankar, Seeta Ram, Radha Krishna, Lakshmi Narayan etc. But here due to western culture, the women are addressed as Mrs. Xyz but even the gods are addressed with their respective goddesses names first.
And he thought of her name Pallavi Raghav, it was so beautiful that he had to swallow the lump of guilt in his throat and slept forcefully.

It was next morning, he glanced on his side and she wasn't there. He went and casually opened the washroom door, coincidentally she also opened it from her side and she lost balance and fell on his chest. His arms embraced her in a reflex and they both were caught in a gaze, when Sujata walked in knocking. She approached both of them as they parted.

She simply plucked the tiny bindi which got stuck on his collar bone and pressed it on her forehead very casually as it was a very casual thing for them walking her way out of the room.

Pallavi flushed in all shades of red and he saw her biting her upper lip trying to control the smile which was blooming on her face.

He went into the washroom and came out just 2 seconds later when he realised that he forgot his towel but she was caught smiling ear to ear, but she instantly stopped looking at him.

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