Characters
Aarushi- The central
character on whom the story revolves.
Maanav- Fiance of
Aarushi , a ship captain
Siddhanth- Father of
Aarushi , who works in the NDTV
Savithri- Mother of
Aarushi , house wife
Abhijeeth- Father of
maanav, a retired army officer
Shanthi devi- Mother of
maanav, a house wife
Maya Ramsay- The agent
for theme wedding
Srivastav- a shop
keeper whose ambition is to act in films
It was raining heavily outside. Sitting inside the cab, Aarushi was not
enjoying the onslaught of the Mumbai Monsoons, but each time the thunder stroked,
she felt uneasy and her thumping heart aided the rhythm. She requested the cab driver to slow down near
a very old fashioned building, typical to the Gothic Victorian era, a
picturesque of the British occupation in India. She ran up the stairs not
bothering about the lift, although it was in a dilapidated state. On climbing up
to the second floor with all her vigour by taking a long leap on the stairs,
she stood in front of an office and read out in her mind
“ Marriage registrar”.
The same office where
hindi movie marriages take place thought Aarushi
On entering, she found her classmates, all dressed up in
their school uniforms, eagerly waiting for her arrival. Upon seeing her, they
all started clapping and cheering. Aarushi
felt excited as she was slowly pushed to the front by her friends, when a
potbellied man through his thick spectacles seated behind a desk, popped up the
question
“ Are you the bride
Miss Aarushi Chaman”
Aarushi , reluctant to speak, nodded her head.
“The groom can sign here first”. Aarushi turned around to find
Arhanth, wearing a Nehruvian kurtha smiling, came out from among her
classmates, and hold her hand. As soon
as they had signed, all of her friends erupted in joy forcing the pot-bellied
man to interfere
“Not in here, go and enjoy outside”
Aarushi laughed out loud. Sitting in her room, in front of
the laptop with her facebook page open, she had just revisited one of her
childhood dreams, an immatured dream that if tracked originated by watching over and over the film “Saathiya”. Eloping and
getting married to the hottest hunk, in her class, with all classmates witnessing
the event, a dream that crept into her mind during those days; the reason for
an eloped marriage , she was a Marathi while Arhanth, a Jain and traditions
proved to be hindrance for their union. As Aarushi grew up , her college life,
her concept of world changed so did such
immatured thoughts forced their way into the rabbit hole of life. That night
the facebook message from Arhanth, made her just wonder through those memories,
she had once pampered although never revealed not even to Arhanth.
Arhanth@congratulations..
Aarushi had just changed her status “Engaged with Maanav
Abhijeeth”
Maanav , her fiancé, was a Ship captain and spends most time
in the sea .Once during his stay in Mumbai while attending a relative’s
marriage, Maanav’s mother Shanthi
happened to see Aarushi and felt interested in a proposal. Aarushi disliked the idea of arranged marriage
neither she approved a runaway marriage. However, a few coffee together with
Maanav, and a date when they took a trip to Pune without knowledge of their
parents, she started liking him.
“ Come down baba. Pappa needs to have a word with you”
It was her mother. Aarushi got up to leave when a wattsapp
ring tone appeared. It was from Maanav, who was somewhere in the Indian ocean, thanks to the development of technology, that possibility of communication existed.
Saw you FBpost, why
did it take time to change?
She laughed and wrote back
I thought over it
again and again; finally agreed
A smile emoticon from Maanav, she felt a desire to see him
face to face , not to see him inside her
laptop. Though not as handsome as Arhanth, Maanav was well built with lazy eyes and
squared chin and possessed a charisma,
that she couldn’t resist.
She ran down to find her father, Siddhanth going through the
newspaper.
Siddhanth , in his late fifties with his lean figure and
French beard neatly trimmed, worked with NDTV, while her mother , Savithri was
short and bubbly, resembling her. Being their
only daughter, the marriage according to Siddhanth was to flaunt his reputation,
for all the contacts he had gained in his profession. Aarushi never liked her
parents during her teenage days, owing to their frequent quarrels for
nonsensical things. But as they grew aged, the situation dramatically changed that
even a moment without seeing each other would palpitate their hear beat.
As Aarushi came down, she found her father going through the
classifieds.
“Dear, your marriage is something very special for our
family” he stopped, as if short of words to prepare for a long speech” We have
decided to invite all our near and dear ones, along with my friends”. Looking
over to Aarushi’s mother Savithri, who produced a very broad smile obvious of
the fact that they were all excited for the event, “ We decided to conduct it
as a theme wedding”
On hearing a theme wedding, Aarushi had just hit the
ceiling. She could’nt for a moment stop gazing at her parents although she knew
that it was her father’s elite circle and the desire for the event to be a prestigious
one, that culminated into this selection. However, she did not care about all
the preceding facts but was looking forward for how to make the vent a
memorable one.
“Thanks pa” Aarushi turned back to hit the staircase when Siddhant
continued
“Hold on”
Pa always had such
insurance clauses accompanying an offer thought Aarushi
“we will have only two days of function and one would
definitely be our traditional Marathi style marriage”
Aarushi thought for a moment and then smiled. “ No problem
pa, accepted. ”
Immediately she had wattsapp to Maanav: I have a surprise for you, call me tomorrow.
x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
“So you are not interested in our normal themes like
monsoon, beach wedding and all. You want something different” Maya Ramsay had
personally dropped in to meet Siddhanth at their residence, finding a suitable theme
and destination for the wedding. Her firm, recently into this business, was
looking for more prospects to improvise their ratings. Maya, being an MBA
holder came up with a report on “improvisation of business through word of
mouth”, which came into limelight and she was then assigned the duty to lead
the business development unit of the firm. Maya, who actually identifies the
details of the customer and their contacts, came to the conclusion that
Siddhanth would be a potential client for the firm inspite their budget was
just satisfactory.
“Yes” Aarushi smiled
“What are you looking for” Maya was reluctant not to lose
this opportunity.
“Let me make it clear. I am looking for something different,
a sort of registrar marriage. A registration office, with my friends, all in
their school uniform; of course me in my casuals that too stylish one, while my
wouldbe can have something different, a sort of marriage outfit”
“Won’t it look odd, that you in casuals and your fiancé in a
dazzling style”
“No, never” Maya replied instantly” That would show that he
is organizing the runaway marriage”
As soon as she had finished, Aarushi was expecting a firm negative reply from Maya
for the filmy stuff could easily be read from her eyes which showered signs of
excitement typical to the leaves falling down during the autumn season at the
jogger’s park; but Maya was silent and kept thinking.
Oh god, never seen
more flimsy stuff than this but sounds cute thought Maya.
“This is the first time we are having such an option.
Normally, all of your age girls would prefer a Bollywood wedding or monsoon
wedding, but never this concept. “
“Think about it, I want something different” Aarushi was
confident.
“So how do you wish the function to be” Maya still confused
but not losing the interest.
“The registrar will call us. Then we come and sign, followed
by witness sign by my friends. We all cheer together , a few selfie clicks, and
may be you could organize a flash mob or something of that sort followed by music
and food”
Maya kept focusing on aarushi. This girl has plans, and discussion with my team is equally important
thought Maya.
“I will get back to you after discussion with my team” Maya
then put all her documents inside her bag and was about to leave when Siddhanth
approached.
“ Please take this as an advance” Siddhanth handed over a
cheque to Maya “ We will tell you the date of the function but it won’t be
long” . Maya, wholeheartedly received the cheque and she considered this
personal as this was one of her first mission after taking up the Business
development officer position.
That night while Aarushi was on skype with Maanav, she got a positive
response from Maya.
We thank your interest
in our firm. We would like to extend all support for your event to make it
memorable.
“So she agreed” Maanav, who was closing in to Mumbai.
“Yes, I told you it was a dream”Aarushi giggled
“Silly dream” Maanav was not so interested” But you didn’t
say whom did you see as the groom”
“Hrithi Roshan” Aarsuhi laughed evoking similar response
from Maanav.
Sometimes it’s better
to provide half-information Aarushi thought.
x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
It was two days since Maanav had reached Mumbai, but there weren’t
any calls from him neither any whatsapp messages to dissuade her suspicions.
Once, Aarushi took the intiative to call him for a coffee which he declined,
that actually spearheaded her worries and so did Siddhanth’s. Maya , who had
presented the special case in the company and got the model approved, started
frequently calling Siddhanth to confirm
the date of the wedding, so they could book in advance.
After a whole week of Maanav’s arrival, one fine morning, Abhijeeth,
Maanv’s father, rang up Siddhanth and told that they would be dropping in their
house the following day. Siddhanth released a deep contented sigh and leaned
his head over the shoulder of Savithri for a moment to relax.
“Savi (Siddhanth prefers to keep her name short), tell me
one thing. Why do you think they took this time to come over and fix a date”
Savithri was equllay relaxed. “ They must have sought an astrologer’s
opinion to fix a date”
“Then we must be ready for them” Siddhanth then nodded
Savithri to prepare for the day.
Why didn’t Maanav
inform me on this visit thought Aarushi as she watched her parents run over
frantically around the house to prepare her in-laws’ visit.
x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
Aarushi did not phone Maanav, neither did she tried to know
why they were getting late to reach her house. It was almost noon by the time
they arrived. Maanav’s mother Shanthi ,
a typical Marathi house wife, was a tall lady, who always preferred her hair neatly tied on back , looked ravishing
in sari but she looked quite serious. Maanav
had already hinted to Aarushi that his mother was the decision maker in their
family for it was she who felt interested in Aarushi and had decided to move
with the proposal.
“So you never liked me “ Aarushi had once during their date
popped up the question to Maanav , and to feel the punch of the dialogue, she
started blinking her eyes.
“ofcourse, I do and now I really thank my mother” Maanav had
said it point blank and moved his face closer to her’s and in an unxepcted move
kissed on her cheek.
“Did your mother gave you permission for this” Aarushi
immediately sprouted the question to maanav, who for a moment became quiet and
started scratching his head.
On seeing Shanthi, Aarushi’s thoughts ran into the date with
Maanav in Pune, where they roamed together the full day, had visited the
Pravathi hills, and also had some private moments. But the serious concern in her eyes and inconspicuous
absence of Maanav, Aarushi started feeling concerned. Maanav’s
father was a retired army officer and was not much interested in home affairs
other than his normal jogging hours early in the morning and keeping a close
watch on the stock market.
Siddhanth welcomed them inside although he noticed the
serious concern in the eyes of Shanthi. Aarushi looked over from dining hall
area as she wondered a week had passed since Maanav had arrived and still not
met her.
“Siddhanthji, sorry for this unexplained hour visit”
Abhijeeeth began with a military style hand shake resembling an officer
assigning duty to a soldier.
“You are always welcome, first please have your seat and let
us eat something” Siddhanth was hospitable inspite he was feeling the heat
inside.
“We need time for the marriage” it was Shanthi who decided
to cut short the introduction.
Siddhanth looked over to Savithri, who also stood perplexed
unable to speak.
“It’s that Maanav’s grandfather has been on comma for the
past few days. And when we called in the astrologer, he predicted that a
marriage now without his funeral will spell doom on the family” Shanthi mentioned
the points clearly with the intention for all to grasp the situation rather
than put up unwarranted queries.
“That is not a problem” siddhanth began after a short break
as if to completely read what Shanthi had just said. “And, we are really sorry
for him.”
The lunch was served and the guests were happy with
occasional praises showered on Savithri’s cuisine. Savithri had expected the
day to be the confirmation of wedding date and hence expected a few more to
accompany the groom’s party.
This idiot could have
told me this, let him call now thought Aarushi also feeling sorry for her
mother, who had resumed her kitchen work , very early in the morning not even waiting
for her maid to drop in.
x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
The days became months and time flew. The monsoons had begun
in Mumbai, and so did the woes build up in Aarushi’s family. The questions started
appearing to her parents in an alphabetical order. Neighbors were the first in their list, with
neatly drafted questions that include whether Aarushi was having an affair due
to which the marriage was on hold. The grocery people followed as it became
tough for Savithri, to go for a purchase without dodging a minimum 50
questions. Siddanth’s well reputed circle, kept calling him to confirm the date
so as not to miss the event.
Adding more worries was Maya, the theme wedding organizer,
who used to once in a week drop in their house to return the advance they had
given for the function. Maya was getting frustrated with Siddhanth, that her
management decided not to pursue the event and as a courtesy give back the
advance offered.
Maya’s earlier visits were interesting for Aarushi , as she
took additional time, brooding with various ideas , to accentuate the second
day of the theme wedding, including the design of the dress for the registrar
and a person to play the part of him. Maya and Aarushi both met a potbellied
man as per the description of Aarushi , who
would take up that role for an amount, that was to be paid out from her pocket
money.
“Thank you Madam. I can also act. So if any movies you can
recommend” Srivastav, a shop keeper, who would don the role of the marriage
registrar was really hoping to make it big into the big screen.
But, the situation did not turn out to be as expected by Aarushi.
As the days passed without fixing the date, Srivastav on his old bajaj scooter used to roam around
their house, just to ensure that his contract has not become void. Siddhanth and savithri could not figure out
who this man was, as every time they come out for a walk in the evening he
would receive them with open arms as if he was paid for this activity too.
“Good evening Sirjii” Srivastav would cry out loud with open
arms and walk away.
“Tell me Savi” Siddhanth would then ask Savithri” Who is
this man”?
“ He has mistaken us to someone. Poor fellow” Savithri replied although in the same imponderable
manner as her husband.
Oh no, not again this
idiot thought Aarushi.
Adding matters to worse, Maanav immediately had to sail or
exit country, as he was already almost 6 months in Mumbai and further prolonged
stay will affect his NRI status of his accounts. He preferred to sail, as he wanted to be a few
days away from Mumbai. Since the day he
had landed, Shanthi had disallowed him from communicating with Aarushi, and he
never wanted to disobey his mother. He was concerned about the health of his
grandfather, for whom he was the favourite grandchild, but the thought of not confabulating
with Aarushi , incensed him more. He used to go at night to his grand father,
whose condition was deteriorating in spite he remained in coma, and would talk
to him like as he was Aarushi.
Finally, after his parents had visited Aarushi, he resumed talking
with her, convincing her the dilemma he was in and also spent some quality time
with her outside, but as the days passed by Siddhanth had put a full stop to
their chit-o-chats.
After going through a continuous thought process and
external opinions, Siddhanth decided to break the deadlock by going over to meet
the groom’s family to understand their plans fully aware that his daughter was
going out with Maanav. But Abhijeeth did not respond positively and hinted at
the deteriorating health of his father, rather than sit together for coming out
of this stalemate.
Siddhanth , caught in
a web of thoughts circled around, his
friends, the grocers, the bank who had loaned him for the marriage, Maya the
lady from the Theme wedding and lastly the fat man who roams around his house
with his greetings for don’t know the purpose why, he decided to have a word with his family astrologer.
“ Your daughter needs to be married before 3 months or else
the stars will not reflect good for her”
Siddhanth could no longer bear the brevity of his decision
making skills and finally decided to look for another proposal for Aarushi.
Dad looking for
another suitor…plans to inform your parent in a few days messaged Aarushi .
She did not want to call Maanav as her father’s strict orders to stop
conversing, although while the situation got heated up outside, she started loving him more than before. But,
in a few days he had to take charge as captain which precisely means he will be
away on a ship for months, leaving her to face the fate, she was ordained to.
x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
Aarushi looked at her watch, a rolex watch gifted to her by
Maanav. She willed herself to not to check her phone to see if he had replied.
It had been about three days now, since she had posted her message in Wattsapp.
She hated that she was constantly checking his 'last seen at' status and yes,
he had logged in just five minutes ago. Yet she couldn't stop herself. This
sinking feeling to find absolutely no communication from him was becoming
unbearable, almost torturous.
And then, just as she sat down in her chair, her phone
vibrated. With her heart thudding in her ear, she unlocked her phone and stared
at the screen. Finally! It was his message
But when she opened it and read it, she nearly stopped
breathing. She didn't know if he was joking or not. What was this?
Immediately, breaking free form her dad’s strict instruction
to avoid conversing with him, she rang him up. Maanav was expecting her call
and was ready for it on the first ring.
“Are you joking?”
Maanav replied in a cool manner “No, I am serious”
“No, it’s not possible. What are you upto” Aarushi was
confused
“I will wait for you tomorrow. I am serious” Maanav had cut
the call abruptly.
Aarushi tried to reach him again, but it was dead at the
other end. She again tried to reach him after an hour and she did not have the
courage to dial up his landline number. Aarushi
couldn’t sleep that night as she prayed for the sun not to rise the next day.
x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
The next day began although as usual for Aarushi , though she
was more serious in her morning prayers. She got dressed up shortly in casuals,
came down and hugged Savithri, who was in the kitchen busy with her chores. With a false pretension of meeting her
friends even naming a few, she jumped out of her house and immediately caught a
cab. She looked at her parked car in the shed, but thought for a moment best
not to drive.
Suddenly it started to rain. Her heart was pounding so hard
like a drum. She asked the cab driver to slow down near a very old fashioned
building and ran up the stairs not bothering the lift. At that moment her
mobile started ringing and she found that it was her father. She silenced the
mobile.
She climbed the stairs hurriedly, and stood in
front of the board “Office of the Marriage Registrar”. As she opened the door, she was surprised to
find many of her school mates dressed in school uniforms standing inside and at
the sight of her; all of them erupted in joy. She was pushed into the front, as
her eyes popped out that made her feel like a dejavu, but to he her dismay she
found an old man, with a lean shape, sitting in front of a computer
“Are you the bride”
Aarushi stood surprised for a moment when Maanav came from behind.
He was wearing a Nehruvian kurthah. She
looked at Maanav, as he kept smiling for last night he had messaged her to come
prepared for their marriage in the registrar office
“Yes, I am the groom and she is the bride”
“Can’t she reply” the registrar was a serious man.
Aarushi nodded her head but deep in her mind she expected
Maya to come out and say that all has been prepared as per your interest.
A print was taken and the registrar had stamped a seal on it
and asked them to show their ID prior to signing the document. Maanav produced
his AAdhar card while Aarushi submitted her driving licence
I have never seen any
ID cards being shown in films in the registrar office Aarushi thought.
They both signed on the document with her friends lining up
for the witness, they all hugged each other and at one loud voice, they shouted
“Wish you a happy married life” followed by the
now-so-common selfie together.
As they came out, there stood in front of them, with their
mouths wide open and in complete shock, their very own parents. Abhijeeth was lost in
his thoughts for the dalal street (Bombay stock exchange) was quite a few distance
from where they were standing, while Shathi was fuming with anger. Siddhanth
and Savithri was standing in disbelief, Siddhanth trying to look around not to
find any familiar faces and at the same time avoiding confrontation with
Shanthi, by focusing on Aarushi, who smiled at her parents. As they
looked each other confused on how to start, Maanav began
“Thanks for coming over. I have invited you to this
function. We both are in love and what we have done now is only to protect our
love ”
Aarushi was smiling. I
didn’t know he could speak like this
“I am going to sail for a few months. But in the meantime, please don’t even think
of anything bad. When I am back, and if the situation is satisfactory for all,
we will organize a grand marriage” Maanav held Aarushi’s hand “ We are taking
our friends for a treat. See you all shortly”
Both of them smiled and walked by leaving the home party
astonished. They were standing confused
not knowing how to react and whether to share a few words with each other, when
an old bajaj scooter came up near them and stopped near Siddhanth . Srivastav
happened to pass by for purchasing some items from the city for his shop. As he
got down from his scooter, Srivastav , who was now a familiar figure for
Siddhanth and Savithri, watched Maanav and Aarushi clubbed together by group of
people, moving like a procession from the registrar office. Seeing a giant figure moving towards them,
both Abhijeet and Shanthi without turning back, got into their car and fled.
Srivastav came near Siddhanth, who was completely surprised to find him there.
“Excuse me brother” With a confused look Srivastav started
“You should have allowed them to marry, you could have
enjoyed the marriage and I would have got my money. Damned, wasted my petrol
all these days“
With this he went back to his scooter, leaving Siddhanth and
Savithri confused with no clear idea of what he had just said.
“Tell me Savii. Does he seem to be mistaken” Siddhanth once
again expected some support from Savithri.
“No, the mistake is by us” Savithri, who was relieving from
one shock, was not ready for the next.
“ I think this guy is from that theme wedding team to
monitor our activities. “ Siddhanth
finally fell satisfied at his assessment approved by Savithri.
x---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x
The old man, seated on the corridor of a palace in the
clouds, was feeding a few white doves and was busy chatting with them, when he
failed to notice a bearded man , in a complete white robe , come behind him .
Watching the old man for some time, he decided to make the move since the old
man was fully concentrating on the doves
“So you asked for a few more days to be on earth, just to
delay your grandson’s marriage. Unbelievable”
The old man turned around to find the bearded man and unlike
him, the old man was not dressed in a white robe.
“Not exactly. What I wanted was my grandson to take
independent decision in life. I think this was his first major decision in
life, not to leave her”
“But with that others also suffered, like the lady Maya who
was on her first mission, the guy Srivastav , who many a times had shut his
shop down to get the offer” the bearded man was looking for answers.
“ That’s true, due to which I lost my white robe here. But, I
just came back from the marriage function of my grandson. “
“Was it like his wife’s interest?” the bearded man continued
with his questions
The old man got up and came over to the bearded man.
“They conducted the marriage in a cruiser, that to a three
day event. My son arranged the cruiser for the function. Maya had the best project
of her life as she arranged the event for all the days. And last but not least,
Srivastav was the ship captain who consummates their marriage on the last day”
Both of them started laughing as the white doves circled
them, with the shrieks of laughter reverberating in the corridor.
THE END
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