Forever Yours, Vrinda

Part 15

Eleven Years Ago,

"Look who graced the occasion! I thought you had said you won't be able to attend the wedding," teased Vrinda, flashing a wide grin at Vivaan, who had opted for a pastel green kurta for the occasion. She had always found his appearance in traditional or formal attire enticing. Perhaps the rarity of the occurrence had accounted for the magnetic pull, she told herself, as it was a breath of fresh air from the usual western casuals he preferred.

Vivaan offered her a small smile in response. She looked ethereal in her powder blue tulle lehenga. The beads of perspiration adorning her features had not dulled the radiant glow of her features. Her pink lips, glistening from the gloss she had applied, and kohl lined her eyes, shaped like the lotus petals, had allured him from the time he had first laid his eyes on her.

"I didn't want to come because Papa wanted me to do well in the upcoming entrance for management courses. Looks like he had concealed I could accompany him because he thought I would waste away time in excitement for the wedding!" said Vivaan, taking the marigolds and chrysanthemums strung onto a thread from her hands to hook them on the nail above his head.

Vrinda's eyebrows knotted in consternation and she shot him an incredulous look. "But you don't like management, you like music...."

"You are doing management too, right?" She nodded in affirmation. "You are doing it to be competent enough to take your father's business to new heights, and I am doing it because that's the only way I'll get hired into your company, which according to my dad is the only fool-proof way to land a job," said Vivaan, knotting the thread around the nail, and going on with his work as if he spoke about the weather.

Vrinda regarded his nonchalant form with several questions running in her mind. It was not uncharacteristic of her friend to submit to the tide without qualms, but it wrenched her heart to see his compliance in a life-altering decision. She had never understood the reasons behind the lack of dissent from him. He was always the one for rights and righteousness. How could he turn his back to his own dreams?

She placed her hand over his biceps and he turned towards her with an unreadable expression. She could see it was a charade, but what lied beneath the charade, she had no clue. "But what about your wishes? Are you happy? I would, of course, be happy to have my best friend with me in my college, but that's not at the cost of your satisfaction."

"I know dreams don't fill the stomachs, Vrinda. What's the chance I would be the next big thing in the music industry? Almost nils. The job security matters for the middle class. In fact, it is their highest priority. Not all of us can afford the dreams at the cost of responsibilities," said Vivaan, cracking a ghost of a smile to her, much to her anguish.

She had never bothered with the gap in their social statuses, and the Agarwal House was as much her home as was the Chaturvedi Mansion. But as she saw his satisfaction weeping like a bereaved spouse at the funeral of his ambition, the divide was more clear than ever.

"I am sorry, Vivaan. I can ask Papa to speak to Kaka. Only if you want me to," offered Vrinda, holding him by his other biceps, knowing well that the smile on his face was the stark contrast of the turmoil tormenting him from within.

"You know I would not want that," he replied, his ghost of a smile turning into a slight smile and warmth replacing the icy coldness in his eyes.

"There's no harm in trying, ain't it?" she asked, her own lips curling upwards, mirroring him, as she felt the tension within her ease by his smile.

"Good point! What's the harm in trying out this stream? I can pursue my passion by the side, anyway. You always tell me I am a natural leader, so I will put that to more use."

"Vivaan..."

"Then looks like even I should try to bring back my love into my life."

Vivaan looked over the Vrinda's shoulder, who turned around to face the owner of the voice. Surprise etched into their features as recognition hit them hard.

"Sumit Bhaiyya?" asked Vrinda, curiosity getting the better of her. She had, of course, heard the rumors regarding his love life and she could not help but desperately hope they were not true, or it would wreak havoc over everyone assembled for the wedding.

"I love Ridhi, and even she loves me. She is marrying Umesh because she cannot confront of her father or decline him. What's the harm in trying once?" asked Sumit, leaving the duo flustered and confounded with the new information. They exchanged concerned looks.

"But Bhai, are you sure Di loves you? Maybe she likes Jijaji.. I mean Umesh, and that's why she is marrying him," said Vivaan, knowing there were many spurned lovers who would want to avenge their unrequited love by sullying and dragging their amour's name through mud. Although he knew Sumit, who was his senior in school, he could not take any risk in such a delicate matter.

"Yes. We were in a relationship till her father broke the news of her impending wedding and she broke up with me. I thought maybe my presence here will make her change her decision, but I decided that something more must be done. I can't just let her go," explained Sumit, raking his fingers through his hair while pulling at it, much like the helplessness which tugged at him.

"It is true, Vivaan." Vivaan turned to his friend with an arched eyebrow. "I heard from the seniors, but what can we do? She agreed for the wedding and it is too late to do anything," pointed Vrinda, hoping that Vivaan would not fight for Sumit's dreams. Not that she did not want to help Sumit, but she did not want Vivaan to fall from the graces of her father.

His recent vexation and distaste at the mention of Vivaan's name depicted his growing annoyance towards her newfound love and she could not let the dislike grow if she did not want to be torn between her father and her love.

"Of course we can. He has a right to know if she is marrying Umesh out of her free will, or she is being forced to forget her love. At least for the sake of closure. He deserves that, Vrinda, and I am going to help him," said Vivaan, the fighting spirit lighting itself in him, much to Vrinda's dismay.

"Ridhi Di isn't like that, Vivaan. She would not have agreed to the marriage if she was not sure. Maybe she has moved on. It is not worth losing your place in my father's good books for this. I don't want him to disapprove of you because of this rebellion," retorted Vrinda, stepping closer to him and holding hands to calm him down.

"I respect your father, Vrinda, but that does not mean that I will approve of every deed of his. I know this alliance came to Di through your father, and I know he does not approve of the idea of love, but it is Bhai's life and Di's life. He cannot decide them on a whim. I respect the emotion of love and I will fight for it. You want to marry for love, right? How will you, if you don't learn to fight for love, Vrinda? Here's one more opportunity to overcome your fear, Vrinda - fear of disappointing your parents. Don't let it go."