Lekha (Completed)

Lekha 69

Happy New Year Everyone :) Sorry for the huuuuuuuuuge delay 

"We are here to take you downstairs... maasa and kakisa are calling you" exclaimed Gayatri as soon as I opened the door.

I felt disappointed even though I didn't want to talk to Rudra but giving him a cold shoulder might have helped soothe my hurting heart.

The trio seemed to be getting along quite well, as I saw Vaishali grinning from ear to ear.

" I just saw Rudra sa.... soooo... was he coming towards or going away from this room " giggled Vaishali and the other two joined her. She definitely had formed her girls' club with them.

"I didn't go out ... so don't know" I lied sounding somber and felt it too. Things were going according to plan but still, I felt jilted.

"We meet that 'woman' too on her way downstairs ... did she come here?" asked Vasundhara in a low conspiratorial voice. I shook my head in denial but deep inside I wanted to blurt out that 'that woman' was soon going to be her sister in law so she better behave.

"Ooo so was that ...'that woman'...?" asked Vaishali cryptically, making me wonder how much all three of them had discussed as they understood each other's cryptic language like only best buddies do. The other two nodded solemnly as if taking her name was a taboo. Vaishali seemed to have also become part of the 'I know it all but will pretend not to know' group.

"Leave it... let's go ... 'Bhabhi sa' "Gayatri winked at me, putting special emphasis on the relationship.

I made a funny face at her but inside it felt like being stabbed right through the heart.

I was made to change my dress and instead of the silver jewelry I had preferred before, I was decked up in gold sent by maasa. I tried to deny it but Vasundhara insisted that it was not about my likes or dislikes but the prestige of maasa. That was enough to quieten my protest as I silently walked towards the door in order to avoid the further exchange of gossip. I didn't want to hear any more details related to the other two.

Gayatri covered my head with dupatta, making me realize how close I was to being married. The covered head is the sign of a married woman.

As we proceeded further towards the inner veranda the beats of the music grew louder as did my heartbeat. I felt nervous and that was it. Whispering started as soon as I came in the vicinity making me wonder if they had indeed been on the lookout for me. But then my wonder turned to curiosity as I saw them look beyond me.

"Keep looking straight... that woman has the audacity to walk right behind you. Trying to steal your limelight ... hmm.." huffed Vasundhara from beside me in a low voice.

I felt like running back to my room, but then it would have revealed to all that I knew everything. My decision was made for me as Gayatri gave me a gentle nudge to move forward while Vasundhara held my hand in support, or was it to make sure that I didn't run. I was surrounded from three sides by the sisters of my heart so there was nowhere to go but forward. I saw Maasa smiling at me from the front end of the crowd and that surely was the additional encouragement I needed.

I squared my shoulders and held my head high as I walked towards maasa. Till I had the love of maasa and my three musketeers beside me I didn't need anything else. I was made to sit right in the front on the soft spread on the floor, I was after all the chief guest. I saw that there was a similar spread on the left-hand side but it was currently empty and then it was not. I saw Roopmati glide towards it like a royal queen and sit at the back edge of it.

A big hush fell over the audience, as it was a bold move even by our 21st century standards. She had placed herself at par with me to create a comparison between us for all to see.

After a great pause, the ladies again started talking among themselves as nobody seemed to have made any further dramatic moves, for or against the action. All the three girls fumed beside me but were unable to do anything as the host protocol demanded that they ignore the rude behavior of the guest.

The gentle hum of the gathering was interrupted by the giggles of the girls from behind and the loud laughter of men. I looked behind and saw Rudra being lead inside by Taisa. While few of his friends and relatives followed him cracking jokes of some kind causing raucous laughter amongst them. They were using too many pure Rajasthani jargons that even I had difficulty understanding.

He too had changed his dress and looked heart-achingly handsome. I observed again as I had loads of times before that he had a beautiful laugh making his eyes glow with mischievousness and then, our eyes met. It was for mere seconds but his instant acknowledgment of me made me blush pink as if I had been caught doing something illegal. I quickly turned around to cover my blushes but not before I saw someone else observing him intently too.

I was proved wrong again, as I realized that I was never considered a worthy rival or even someone to be compared with but it was more of a choice of sides and the one with the closest proximity of the 'prize'. My three musketeers seemed to have realized the same as they rose in unison and made a move towards Rudra as casually as only the sisters of the groom could.

Disappointment replaced my blushes with annoyance, so I turned around to see what the girls were up to with a poker face on. It was funny to watch them trying to manipulate Rudra into coming towards me but a softly spoken word from Taisa discouraged them and they returned back scowling to their places beside me.

The rest of the procession moved towards the vacant area on my left. I forced myself not to look towards them as they all settled down. I heard a bit of whispered argument behind me and was pleasantly surprised to find Maitri there. I had almost forgotten all about her presence with the time lapse. She must have been using the wedding to her advantage to meet Vikram.

The argument turned to gestures through facial movements as maasa came to sit beside me. Gayatri and Maitri rose together with a great show as they declared in a stage whisper loud enough for others to hear that they were going to sit on the groom's side as it was more advantageous.

A bit of fun teasing by the ladies around us followed that but it seemed so rehearsed that I looked at the girls with suspicion while they acted all innocent and stared back. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw them asking Roopmati to move over as they sat between Rudra and Roopmati like a wall. My cheeks burned with embarrassment at this open show of hostility. Even though it pleased my heart I didn't want them to start off like this with their future sister in law.

I turned to scold them for their idiocracies but maasa bent towards me as she whispered "We are celebrating this sangeet (song and dance) function together as both the bride and groom are together at one place and we have common relatives, but don't expect to see Rudra everyday ... this will be the last you see him till you meet again under the marriage mandap (a sacred tent). But then its just a small wait ... so hopefully your heart can endure that much wait for my nephew". She smiled mischievously making me blush. She then looked towards my left with the same smile on her face making me curiously turn left too. I saw Rudra looking at us or for that matter with questions in his eyes as if wondering what had made me blush so hard.

"Yes, maasa our sister's heart will endure the wait but can your nephew's heart ...ouch!" exclaimed Vasundhara as I elbowed her slightly. It wasn't even a hurtful nudge but she made a big show making others around us start off cracking ribald jokes about brides and grooms and there willingness to become 'one'. These kinds of jokes seemed to have been passed on from one generation to another like a long-standing tradition which all wedding had to have their own set of, even in our times.

After that session, I didn't dare to look towards Rudra again in fear of starting another avalanche of jokes using me as the honorary target. I felt someone staring at the back of my head so on the pretext of saying something to Vaishali I turned around and found Roopmati staring at me with hatred. She quickly averted her face as soon as she saw me look towards her.