A two days bride

How a marriage should be?

EDITED AND FORMATTED - 24-02-2023

Shehnaaz 

As I stand here, awaiting the bride's arrival to walk down the aisle with her partner, I can't help but reminisce about the memories that a marriage invokes in me. Witnessing Adishree being her authentic self and finding joy in keeping true to herself transports me back ten years ago. I contemplate the 'what ifs': what if I had followed the conventional path or what if I had listened to my heart's desires? These thoughts swirl in my mind as I stand in the middle of the sitting arrangement to the left of the stage at Blue Spearls, London.

Ruhan's father stands beside him, patting his back and whispering encouraging words for the new life that awaits him. Meanwhile, Sidhart's father, Raj Shukla, had done everything from threatening his son and to-be daughter-in-law to get married, to ensuring nobody knew that the bride ran away. Although Ruhan's father is one of the wealthiest investment bankers in the country, he kept his reputation on the line, taking all the harsh criticisms of the world upon himself. He protected his son and daughter-in-law from the critics, involving himself in a false scam and getting out of it unscathed while simultaneously suppressing all the false articles about his son dating someone other than his wife and Adishree being an orphan.

On the other hand, Sidharth's father, Raj Shukla, the so-called business tycoon, did the exact opposite of what a father should do and destroyed so many lives in the process. Neyonika Shukla, Sidharth's mother, a philanthropist who owns many NGOs, strives to provide a better life to the underprivileged. However, she couldn't protect her own children from being ruined by the fallacy of reputation that her husband had knitted in front of her eyes. The two of them considered themselves modernized and strong-headed people who decide according to the situation. Yet, what they decided was a total disaster. They value heritage, honor traditions and strive to follow the right path, yet they chose the cowardly path.

Shree Krishna always asked to speak the truth and to be responsible for the consequences of one's actions and to leave things in God's hands. What they did really infuriates me! I mean, either don't spout nonsense about being modern and traditional when you are nothing but selfish hypocrites who twist things into their favor and make others feel guilty for not doing what they want them to do.

"Believing in culture isn't outdated, but something to be nurtured and passed on to future generations," they say. "Culture doesn't hold you back but gives you the zeal to move forward with wisdom." I have heard them say this many times, and it used to inspire me. However, now it's just something that makes me feel nauseous. The words hold a deeper meaning, but the people who said those meaningful words make them seem soulless to me.

"Hello, Sana! What are you doing here? Let's go up!" Satvik exclaimed, pulling me towards the stage where he stood beside his brother, playfully teasing him about his bride. I smiled, admiring the amusing interaction as I took a step back, contemplating what might have happened if Paras and Mahira had reacted differently in the past.

Paras, Sidhart's brother, was the adopted son of his parents after his own parents passed away in a car accident when he was just five years old. Since then, he had been under the care of the Shukla family, and Mr. Shukla had been managing a chain of hospitals until Paras completed his Business and MBBS studies. For the past few years, Paras had been handling his parent's business, and he had fallen in love with Mahira, a heart surgeon from a difficult family. They had been married for four years before Sidharth and I tied the knot. If only they had spoken up against the situation they were facing, it would have brought me peace of mind. But to my dismay, they supported Mr. Shukla's decision. I didn't care about their reasons, but as a brother, Paras had lost his credibility in my eyes at that very moment. He didn't deserve that title.