Love at the time of dentistry

Chapter-16

Manya stepped out of the Jaipur airport, in the smoldering heat. She tied her scarf tighter around her face and put on her sunglasses. The car she had hired to take her to the palace where Anya's wedding was going to take place was waiting for her in the parking lot. She got inside the car and blessed the driver for keeping the air conditioner going on. She kept her sunglasses on; they hid her swollen, tired eyes. She had been crying silently through her whole flight from Delhi to Jaipur. Reliving the scene from that horrible night brought her only pain. Was she over-reacting? Was she acting foolishly? She didn't know the answer to any of these questions. Was it wrong of her to want a family of her own? After all she was not getting any younger. For God's sake, Shanaya was going to have her first baby in a month and look how far she was in her dream of having her own children. It was clear from Ronit's reaction that he was clearly not thrilled with the idea of having a family. What did she do now? She loved him too much and it pained her to realize that he didn't share the same dreams as hers, not even close. She couldn't even bear the idea of losing Ronit but did that mean that she let go of her dream. How can she convince Ronit over the idea of marriage and family? Everything felt so hopeless and futile. If it wasn't for Anya's wedding, she would never have set foot outside her home in such a state of mind. With all these thoughts swirling in her mind, she didn't even realize that she had reached her destination. She stepped outside the blessed coolness of the car into the harsh heat; Anya rushed forwards to greet her, "Finally, you arrived, I have been waiting for you for ages. How do you like this palace? It's beautiful, isn't it? I can't believe I am going to get married in a palace!" Anya chattered on excitedly, not realizing that Manya had not said a single word since she had arrived. Anya could exactly like a bride should be at her wedding day: radiant and happy. She seemed to glow with all her happiness. Manya was happy for her friend; she deserved to have a life partner like Anuj. In between her lively chatter, Anya realized that her friend had hardly spoken a word till now; she stopped in between and held her by her shoulders, "What's the matter Manu, are you okay?" "Yeah sure, mujhe kya hua hoga." Manya tried to smile but somehow it wasn't that convincing. Anya pulled her down to a sofa in the reception area and sat beside her, "Kya hua, chal bata mujhe. I can tell when you are upset." Manya couldn't stop a single tear from falling from her eyes and slowly the whole story came tumbling out. "So that's the whole of it; it's no big deal, I think I am just over-reacting, that's all." Anya knew it was a big deal for Manya; she had no words to console her friend, she just put her arms around her and hugged her tightly. Fresh tears threatened Manya's eyes; she controlled them somehow and pulled herself up, "Look at me, it's your wedding and I am being such a cry baby. I am spoiling everything for you." Manya wiped away her tears and smiled ruefully. "Hey, I know you longer than I have known Anuj. You mean more to me than Anuj ever will. Do you get that?" Manya looked at her friend gratefully, "Don't let Anuj hear you say that. The poor guy would be devastated." Both of them laughed and got up from the sofa, "Come on, I have something to show you, it will definitely cheer you up." Anya said and pulled her towards a long corridor which seemed to go forever. The inside of the palace was beautiful; it was a heavenly place to get married. After what seem like ages, the corridor ended; there was a large carved door at the end of it. Anya stepped in front of it smilingly, "Open it". Manya opened the door, not knowing what to expect. Just as she opened the door, all wind was knocked out of her; somebody was hugging her tightly. When she was finally able to release herself to see who the person with the death grip was, she was knocked out again; it was Rhea. She was so shocked to see her friend after so long that she didn't realize who else was in the room. Everyone was there, each one of her friends; Rhea, Susannah, Pari and Tamanna. Next what followed was a series of hugs, kisses and excited chatter. Manya was meeting her friends after almost a decade; there was a lot of catching up to do. Before they knew it, they were seated in a circle and recalling their whole lives. "Do you remember our Pedo professor?" Susannah said. "Oh, who could forget the great Dr. Nandini Sharma, the discoverer of a new 450 degree angle?" Rhea said and they all broke into peals of laughter. "She was one item piece; how could they have let such people become professors and let alone teach students", Pari said. "Toh administration mein kaun se dhang ke log bethe the; wahan bhi tees maar khan hi kaam kar rahe the, remember our pyaare vice dean, Dr. Ramesh Talwar, he was also one piece of art," Rhea said. "He was never short of his absurd metaphors; comparing even the poor dentures with a saawan ka jhoola." Anya said. That brought even more laughter. "It's a miracle that we came out safe and sound from that place with all such lunatics teaching us." Tamanna said. Gradually the topic shifted from their college days to their present lives. Rhea had married her childhood sweetheart and was currently in the process of shifting to U.S; Pari and Tamanna had not married but both were in solid relationships; Susannah had married her college crush, Karan Mathur straight out of college and already had a son; "Oh my God! You have a son! So our little Sleazy Suzy finally grew up", Manya exclaimed. "God! I would have thought you would have forgotten this name by now. Main ek bacche ki maa hun yaar ab, kuch toh lihaaz karo", Susannah said irritatedly. "Toh kya", rest of them replied in unison at that. God, she had missed all this, thought Manya. And she really needed this right now; something to take her mind off her problems and who better than your friends for that. Already she was feeling a lot better than she had when she had arrived. The usual teasing was continuing when Rhea turned to her and said, "Manu tune apne bare mein toh kuch bataya hi nahin. Anu ka toh dekh liya usne kise phasaya hai, who did you manage to trap in that fancy hospital of yours and don't tell me you are single." Manya was stumped; she had not told any of her friends other than Anya that she was dating Ronit. She took a deep breath and looked towards Anya; she was looking at her with an amused expression. Everybody had turned to look at her with interest at her silence, "I am actually dating someone...." "We know that already, you are showing all the signs; we want to know who is he", Pari interrupted her. Not wanting to know what these signs were, Manya continued, "I am dating Ronit Raheja for the past 2 years now." The silence that followed was a little deafening; Susannah was even looking at her as if she was joking. Then Pari said tentatively, "You mean the guy who broke you and Siddharth up?", Manya nodded without saying anything. Then Rhea said, "You mean the guy I used to refer as 'sex on wheels'?" "Yes, the very same," Manya confirmed. What followed was a barrage of questions and excited chatter. Manya couldn't make out half of what they were saying. What, when, where, how, the questions didn't seemed to stop at all. She was saved from answering any of their questions by the arrival of Anuj, who had come to tell Anya that some of his friends had just arrived and wanted to meet her. Anya left with him to meet his friends; after chatting a little while, Susannah said that she should check on her son and left; they were also started to feel tired so the rest of them also left for their rooms on the other side of the palace to rest. They had to get ready for the wedding in the evening after all and none of them wanted to look their worst for it. Manya walked slowly around the palace lawns; they looked beautiful with the lovely flowers and the carefully tended grass, even in this unbearable heat, the grass was as green as ever. Manya went and sat on one of the benches in the garden. It was so peaceful here; it felt as if she was alone in the whole big palace. She was lost in her musings and didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming from behind her. She was brought out of her reverie by a man's voice asking, "Excuse me, can you please tell me where I can find the groom's family; I seem to have lost my way." She knew that voice but how; not thinking much about it she turned only to be shocked out of her senses; Siddharth was standing behind her, holding a small suitcase and looking very tired and very surprised.