Once Upon A Hullabaloo!

CHAPTER 15

The chapter is dedicated to HappyReader3! :*

I gaped in silence at my reflection in the mirror. Mummy had pulled off a designer's with the beautiful combination of black, red and white for my chaniya-choli. The golden threadwork demanded minimal jewelry and I had zeroed down to only a pair of big earrings and a thick bunch of bangles. My unruly curls falling down the back complemented the dress well.

My phone lying on the dressing table buzzed wildly, flashing 'mummy' on the screen.

I answered the call, "Haa mummy, we are leaving."

"Are you children still at home?!" Mummy's panicked voice came from the other end, "The dandiya function has already started and Mohit kumar's family has arrived too. Get Miral here as quickly as possible."

The line went dead and I turned to Miral who was still picking out the bangles on the bed. After a lot of fretting around, we finally descended the stairs and out of the house to meet the boys who were standing by Kshitij's car.

Naitik looked handsome in a traditional pair of dhoti and kurta while Rishi, in a pair of jeans and shirt looked like a rebellious teenager who thought that he was too cool to don anything ethnic. Kshitij was in a pair of plain white kurta-pyjama with a vibrantly coloured bandhani dupatta around his neck. His clean shaven, businessman look from yesterday was now replaced by raw, light-stubbled appeal.

"Looking at the moon tonight, I thought I had seen the beauty at it's zenith." Kshitij gave his most infectious smile and took a few steps towards me, "Until this very moment, I hadn't realized how mistaken I had been."

I stared back at him, figuring that glint of mischief in his eyes.

"I am speechless." Rishi applauded, "I must say I'm nothing but impressed!"

Kshitij raked a hand through his hair with a coy smile on his face, "Shakespeare novels in the high school syllabus gives you a knack of it."

"What is going on?" Miral eyed Rishi suspiciously.

"Dandiya ceremony in a wedding is always for the mingling among the elders of bride's and groom's family while the younger generation of both the parties engage in healthy flirting." Rishi explained with a proud grin.

I precisely knew the person who was feeding this nonsense to Rishi.

I gave a stern look to Naitik and said, "Rishi, you should not hang out with Naitik so much. He is an absolute idiot."

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The ground was reverberating with the beats of dhol and Gujarati garbas blasted through the speakers. The familiar faces of friends and family were already engrossed in the energetic dance of garba-dandiya. I couldn't wait to be a part of it.

Naitik, Rishi and Kshitij were already gone while Miral was dragged away by her friends. I made my way to the circular formation for the dance but mummy cut me midway.

"Omi," She caught hold of my arm, "There is somebody here to meet you." She screamed into my ears over the loud music.

"Who?" I screamed back puzzled.

Mummy tried replying but decided otherwise and started pulling me towards the exit. Once we were out of the ground, the music faded in the background.

"Vikram Modi, IT engineer from U.S.A. He is Mohit kumar's cousin and your kaki claims that he is a very nice boy. Meet him, will you?" Mummy looked hopeful.

"Mummy, you know I don't want to leave India then why----"

"Omanah, be practical. If you like Vikram, I'm sure it won't matter whether he stays in India or America."