Chapter 72

Maurvi's POV



Gautam was calling me every day telling me to come back. He said that he was missing me. Well, even I was missing him a lot.

Last two weeks have been very busy. My mom was going crazy. She was getting emotional all the time and was pampering me like anything. So much so that she was feeding me with her hand.

Dad was also getting emotional but both of them were very happy that Gautam and his family were going to take care of me just the way they do.

The house was bursting with activities and excitement as the preparation for the wedding was going on in full swing...

One day Sagar called me on my phone. He wanted to meet me so I invited him to home. He told me about the situation between them. I had promised that I would help him so I suggested a few things.

He even asked me to accompany him to a party as he wanted me to see her. I was very curious about her so I went with him. As it is I wanted to see her expressions and body language around Sagar... I met her a few more time.

I enjoyed a lot and together we could bring a small but positive change in her attitude. Sagar was a bit happier now... I wished Gautam was also here but he was really busy with the arrangements.

Rest of the time I was rushing here and there for shopping and pre-bridal beauty sessions, fittings of the wedding dress and other outfits.

Noopur was also here and mom became very sentimental as Kshitij's family also came to meet my parents. They wanted Kshitij and Noopur to get engaged soon. So mom was getting very emotional about this. We both enjoyed a lot and did lots and lots of shopping.

Our wedding was in three days...The relatives had started coming to the wedding. All my cousins were here and were teasing me.

Gautam and his family had come to Chandigarh. Prachi was supposed to come with Gautam and family. So she also came last night. We had so much to catch-up. We kept talking till very late at night... She kept teasing me that Gautam is really restless without me and couldn't wait to meet me till our wedding. But can't come and meet me as my parents believed in traditions and so we couldn't meet.

I teased him about Amit and she blushed so much. I asked her what was going on, she told me a few things and I had to stop her as it felt a bit weird to talk about how your brother was being romantic and naughty with your friend.

The rituals of the wedding were about to start from today. The ceremonies started with Ganpati puja ( It is popularly known as the mandav ceremony and is performed to seek the divine blessing of God Ganpati for successful completion of all wedding functions without any interruption and mishappening and seeking blessing for the new couple who are about to start a new life). The puja was performed in both families.

Then my dad, my paternal uncles, maternal uncles, Amit and other male members went to meet Gautam and his family for the Tilak ceremony. My dad applied Tilak on Gautam's forehead and offers him gifts, some shagun (money), sweets, clothes and fruits as a ritual.

After this, we had a God Bharai ceremony at our place (This ritual is conducted at girl’s home) . Aunty, other lady relatives, Priya, Megha and Sandhya came to our place. Aunty applied Tilak on my forehead and kissed and hugged me. Then she offered gifts, clothes, sweets, toy and fruits in the lap.

All the girls were teasing me. I had seen the way they had teased Sandhya so I was prepared and I kept smiling but couldn't stop the blush that made me look almost red in face. They clicked my pictures and sent them to Gautam. We enjoyed the day. Prachi and Noopur took my phone away... So that I could not talk to Gautam. I was running after them. Finally, they gave me the phone after a lot of teasings.

The next day we had Sangeet and Mehandi. This ceremony is also held in both families. So uncle suggested that we have this function together so everyone could enjoy it. My dad agreed to it as he respected what uncle said. Oh God, that means that Gautam would also come.

Next day I got ready in a simple green coloured sleeveless lehenga dress as Mehandi designs were such that it covered my arms till my upper arms. All the females of the family were wearing green. They were excited to smear Mehendi on their hands.

Aunty came with a big platter full of Mehandi also known as Shagun ki mehandi( Auspicious Heena ). She hugged me and said that I was looking very pretty. I smiled and blushed. She took a Mehandi cone a made a small Swastik on my hand and then kissed my forehead.

There was an old relative of Gautam, who blessed me and said, " Beta, The Mehendi has its own significance in Indian wedding and bridal make-up and look is incomplete without Mehendi ceremony. It not only enhances the overall beauty of the bride, but it has many believes as well. Some people believe that the darker the colour of the Mehndi, the more bride’s husband will love her."

" Then it is guaranteed the colour of her Mehandi would be the deepest red. " Noopur said and all the people started laughing.

" God bless both of you," mom and aunty said to me. The men were having snacks. Aunty and mom had had not allowed the men in this ceremony. So they were outside having food and fun. All the ladies went off and asked the artists to apply Heena on their hands.

The mehandi was being applied on my hands feet. All my friends Noopur and Prachi were here with me. It was a very beautiful and intricate design. The Mehandi designer asked the name of the groom and I blushed. Noopur told her but then all the girls started teasing me that I was not even taking his name now...

The artist wrote his name very artistically, it was hidden well yet it could be read easily.

" Hmmm don't let him even touch you till he finds his name in your hands. " Sandhya teased.

" Ha ha ha very funny... Sandhya did you do the same with Vikram as he must have spent a lot of time in finding his name. Poor Vikram did not even want to come out of his room after the wedding night. " Priya said and Sandhya blushed.

" Oh please... Stop it... Have you two noticed how Gautam is these days... He might kidnap Maurvi before the wedding itself. He is getting too desperate to get to meet her. He would not bother looking at the design or find his name in her hand on his wedding night... He would have more interesting things in mind. All the best Maurvi... You know what I mean... " Megha said and winked. I closed my eyes and blushed I would have hidden my face with my hands but it had Mehandi on them.

" Oh please stop teasing... " I said

" Stop teasing? We have just started dear... " Said Megha. We all started laughing.

The Mehandi was applied to my hands and feet. Even all my friends and Noopur got Mehandi on their hands.

After some time the men were allowed to come in. All of them came in and I finally saw him. He was looking so good. The guys came towards us. But Noopur and Prachi stopped Gautam from coming near me. He tried his level best and was about to succeed when my dad went near him and asked him to come to another side of the room.

Poor Gautam... he tried his best to hide the disappointed look but failed miserably. All his friends and their wives laughed at his condition. He went with dad but kept looking at me.

All the guys came and hugged their wives and asked them if they got their name written on their hands. The girls giggled at that and showed them their names... There was so much of love everywhere. But my handsome satan was sitting with my dad and uncles with a sad puppy face, trying to smile. He was looking so cute......