Once Upon a University Campus

A Make Believe Ceremony

Sumo had bullied Annika to take an afternoon beauty nap while she herself spent time with Saahil. Annika hardly slept a wink but she pretended to sleep just to escape Sumo's brutal dictatorship. A few hours before the appointment, Sumo 'woke' Annika up and took charge of getting Annika ready. Sumo lovingly pleated and pinned the Sari, broke the starch and made sure that the Sari was perfect, not an inch here or there. She kept pulling, tugging, draping till her high expectations were met. She also worked Annika's hair into a messy bun and decorated it with a small string of Jasmine that the florist had managed to upsell. Sumo's unbridled enthusiasm inadvertently led to Annika looking like a typical south Indian girl, one wearing a yellow Kanjeevaram silk saree with maroon temple border, jasmine in hair and Jhumkas in her ears.

"I bet, one look and Shivaay Bhaiyya will be flat Akka" Sumo triumphantly declared, once she was done.

Annika had waited nervously for Sumo to get busy with her own makeup before checking herself out in the mirror. She never thought of herself as a beautiful woman but now she wanted to look beautiful, at least she hoped that Shivaay found her beautiful. She wondered if what she saw in the mirror qualified as beautiful. Beneath her kohl lined eyes, her tinted lips, the faint natural blush on her cheeks the very thought of Shivaay brought and the glow of happiness, she was just herself. She could not help think what might have been had Sumo, Saahil were with her the day Shivaay took her to meet Pinky. It was probably the moral support, the confidence of having someone with you that would have helped navigate an adverse situation better. She was more or less convinced that the day would not have ended up in such a disaster if either of them happened to be with her.

"Akka, I am ready shall we go?" Sumo declared, showing off her new suit "Amma got me this new suit Akka. It is pretty no?" Sumo twirled to show of the generous span of her new suit. "Don't tell her I already wore it. This was supposed to be for Ugadi."

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Shivaay was very much waiting at the door for Annika and her 'family'. It was more than obvious that one look at Annika and he was rendered speechless. Sumo could not have let go of that opportunity.

"See, I told you Akka, Shivaay bhaiyya is flat.. Totally gone." Sumo whispered and decided to have some fun.

"How are you Shivaay Bhaiyya." Sumo started and went on deliberately blabbering about her new suit, holidays, campus, weather, Delhi, Mumbai, Hubli for a full fifteen minutes, not stopping to catch a breath. Saahil too joined her and prolonged their banter driving Shivaay to the point of restlessness. It was only when Shivaay started nervously fiddling with his tie and cuffs that they decided to give him a reprieve and giggled as they accorded the couple a few precious moments of privacy.

"You look .. " Shivaay sounded lost and cleared his throat "beautiful.."

Annika held his hand to stop his restless energy from further fiddling with his tie. She adjusted his tie and said nothing. She had wanted him to find her beautiful. One look was all she needed to know that Sumo was right.

"Shall we get married right away?" Shivaay regained his composure. "We have everything we need."

Annika smiled and said "If you want it, so be it."

Their rendezvous was disturbed by the watchman ferrying in the baskets of fruits and a bunch of other things that the bride's party had brought along.

Shivaay looked puzzled " What is happening? Are we really getting married today? What are these baskets for"

"I did not know what to do Shivaay and you were unreachable for most of the day. This is the best we could do as per Sumo's mother's instructions." Annika was apologetic.