Unhappily Married

Ch.03 Steal my gaze

Six months earlier.....

It all started in the year 1995. A baby girl to be known as Maithili was born in the Harshawardhan household (Don't try pronouncing, it's too complicated). The devils in the burning pits of hell rejoiced, for this was the baby who would be the cause of doom of an angelic child named Nina.

We never know how and when calamity strikes. But I have known since a month that my cousin's engagement day, would indeed put an end to the very air of freedom I breathed till date. And boy! I couldn't be more right. However I was completely helpless as time leaped and bounded towards the fateful day.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the car door and relished the few moments of calm and quiet before two days of torment. Someone elbowed me out of the way and passed by in a rapid blur. Steadying myself, I found out who the culprit was. My darling mother was engulfed in a sea of swarming aunts and grandma and friends and their relatives and so on and so forth.

And some of them had spotted me a few feet away. Rushing over they asked me, 'Your sister is getting married huh?' and started giggling among themselves. They proceeded to remind me over the course of the next ten minutes that my 'Younger sister is already engaged' and if I was not too careful, all my younger siblings will 'follow suit' and I might remain 'single forever'. All jokingly, of course.

I made a face as if someone had told me to smile while having a cavity filled in, and endured it all. Some people were reassuring my mother, 'Don't worry. We'll find someone for your daughter next.' All in all, the first few minutes gave a wonderful preview of what the next two days held in store.

Yes, the next two days. First day was just the gathering of all relatives and some good old family fun. Second day would be the actual engagement and some other rituals I really had no idea about. As soon as I entered the ceremony hall, I made a beeline for my cousin's room.

There she was, arranging her clothes and looking quiet and demure, which was anything but her usual self. Seeing me, she got up to hug me.
I felt genuinely happy for the first time since hearing about her impending nuptials.

'Maithu, you're happy with this marriage right? Do you like the groom? Are you certain that you can adjust with his family and their lifestyle after marriage? What about-'

'Calm down Nina. I am happy with my engagement. Rohan is a perfect gentleman and his family is amazing too. Don't worry, my parents left the choice to get married to me and I realised that I did want to do it.'

Her words quelled my fears that our relatives had somehow hoodwinked her into this decision. Although, it was difficult for me to understand how a person would choose to be tied down at all in their life, nevermind at such a young age. I chose to keep my thoughts to myself.

As afternoon kicked in everyone, after the hearty elai sapadu with their stomachs full were in a sleepy state. Some had proceeded to lie down on the floor and catch their forty winks. I wedged myself in a small room and lied down with a book to pass the time and eventually put the book aside and slipped into dreamland.

I heard a deep male voice talking or perhaps singing? It was so cozy and comforting. Soon it was joined by some other voices too. Arrgh! Can't they keep their voices down? Stupid gits. Grunting in quite the monsterly voice, I peaked my eyes open to see who was disturbing my sleep.

My eyes landed on a very beautiful male specimen. Forgive me for I have been out of the dating loop for a while, er..since birth, but I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat when the man laughed. With a chiseled jaw, tall frame, yummy body, this guy reeked of masculinity.

I am not even embarrassed to say that I stared for quite sometime, maybe drooled a little too before I realised I looked like a shabby hobo and the guy could see me anytime if he turned his frame towards the door of the room.
Very carefully, I crawled across the tiny room and shut the door. It was quiet for a while, before I started screaming noiselessly and jumped around the room.

It's not everyday that you get to see such ridiculously handsome guys. And I realised that he would have to be from the groom's side, as they were due to arrive in the evening. Suddenly the prospect of staying here for two days seemed so much happier now.

Grinning like a cat who got the cream, I listened at the door. It seemed like those guys had moved away. Quickly I dashed outside the room and made my way towards the nearest bathroom. I was a lazy bum, but even I knew which occasions called for a neat appearance.

Cleaning the remnants of sleep from I face, I scrubbed out the unnecessary makeup my mother had forced me to apply. After making my face bare, I applied a light coat of lip balm and lip gloss. My face appeared with a natural glow or so I would like to tell myself. I decided to skip on eyeliner. My eyes were the only feature I liked about myself. Large, brown and eyelashes pointing heavenward, they made my face somewhat bearable to look at.

Normally, I would be the first person to scoff at heroines who fawn over a hot guy and have a low self - esteem. But, something drew me towards this guy and even without knowing him, I was already infatuated. Besides, this was just for two days anyway. After a small pep talk and a weird jig, I exited the restroom.

I was a woman determined, who was going to track down the hunk and 'accidentally' bump into him or pass by him before making some serious eye - contact. As I passed by some of my relatives and the groom's entrouge, I caught snippets of their conversation. Being the curious little girl with an overgrown nose, I nonchalantly stood by the pillar to listen in.

'What do you think about a marriage alliance for Nina? She's a year elder to Meetali and is an engineer. She earns very well and is planning to pursue MS too.'

Noooo. Really auntie! You're more devious than you look. And what's with the earns very well? I barely get by and I would have been on the streets if I didn't take up a hundred online jobs.

'-my cousin's son. He has his own business and is doing really well. His family is very decent and respectable. He also-'

She must have said something else too but I didn't care. Looking in the direction of her raised finger, I saw that she was pointing to the hunk whom I saw earlier.

My heart started thumping a crazy tune in my chest. And my entire being was flushed, overcome with a hundred thoughts.

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Glossary
elai sapadu: Traditional South Indian meals offered on a banana leaf platter. It is especially used on auspicious ocassions.

Dear readers,
What is Nina's crazy family upto now? Guys please vote and comment on the story. It would mean theworld to me. Any feedback would immensely encourage me.
Love,
Vi