Chapter-21

Aaron Malhotra
 
After taking blessings of all elders we went to wear our footwear. But there was only one pair which was worn by Shraddha. I was looking for my footwear. I knew about this Joota chupai custom. Well, I thought that my friends and sisters would take care of it. 

I looked towards Divya and Kartik to see both of them smirk. Divya from her behind bought the shoes forward. I smiled at her and removed some thousands of rupees to give her.  

"Here," I said, forwarding money to her. 

She and Kartik looked towards each other and shook their heads in no. 
We all were confused. 

“We want a promise from you." Said Divya. 

“We want you to promise that you will never make our sister cry. You will always keep her happy. She shouldn't be sad. She shouldn't cry remembering us. Give her a lot of love." Said Kartik with teary eyes. 

“I promise you both that I will try my best to keep her happy. I will make sure that she will cry only happy tears..." I promised both of them. And also I've decided in my mind to give both of them something.

After that, we moved towards the dining area to have dinner. 
Shraddha was in a veil only. My granny said that it is custom. The bride and groom can see each other at night only. Well, Mom-dad didn't follow all this strictly but not to hurt Granny's feelings they were accepting it. Shraddha’s friends took her to the dressing room where she will have her dinner with her friends whereas Ishaan took me to my dressing room where I'll be having dinner with him and Rajeev. 

They advised me to give Shraddha a chance; to give this marriage a chance. 

After dinner, there were few rituals pending which took place.
Now was the time of Vidaai (Farewell). It marks the departure of the bride from her parental home. 
Shraddha started throwing puffed rice over her head. She did it three times. Her mother catches this in her pallu.

After that, her parents gave her hand to me. They requested me to take good care of their daughter and always be there to guide and support her in our future.
We were ready to go home but she is crying hysterically hugging her dad. I don't know why but I can't see her in tears. Her father's eyes were teary. She moved towards her mother and hugged her. Her brother and cousins came forward and circled her in a hug. 

Divya was also crying. She also said goodbye to Shraddha.

After bidding bye to all, we both moved towards the car in which I came to head towards home. 
Her elder brother kept a coconut under the front right tyre of the car. We both settled ourselves in the car. Her brothers/cousins started pushing the car from behind.
When the car started to move forward her family threw some coins on the road.

There was a silence in the car except for her weeping and bangles sound. I looked towards her sideways. I was irritated with this Sehra but for Naani I was tolerating it. She was still weeping. I passed her a tissue box. She took some tissues and wiped her tears.

Again the silence took place in the car. Soon we reached our home.
Mom was waiting for us with relatives near the door. We went to her. She welcomed us by putting some mustard oil at the corners of the entrance door. She has a glass of water in her hand, which she circles 3 times around Shraddha and then offers it to her to drink, as a symbol of her acceptance and blessing as her newest daughter.

A pot filled with rice is kept at the entrance door and Shraddha gently kicks that with her right toe which spreads the rice on the floor. After that, there was a big plate filled with vermilion water. Shraddha kept her both legs in that plate for a moment and then with her right leg she stepped out of it making her red footsteps.

After that, we all moved towards the Mandir. We both prayed to god. I prayed to god to keep everyone happy and help me to tell Shraddha about Radha.  As we all were tired so Mom said to both of us to rest for the night. Remaining rituals will take place tomorrow. Riya and Shreya took Shraddha with them. I removed my Sehra after Shraddha went.
I was talking with Ishaan and Rajeev. They both were deliberately disturbing me from going to my bedroom.

I glared at both of them and left for my bedroom. There were my two lovely sisters guarding the door.

“Brother, you know right that you have to give us gift  then only you can enter your room,” Shreya said dramatically. I knew about this ritual still I forgot to get them something.

“I know. This is my credit card. You can buy anything you want but after going to Mumbai.” I told them to forward my credit card.

“Thank you so much, Brother,” Shreya shouted, hugging me.

“Thank you, Brother We will ask Sister in law also to accompany us.” Riya said.

I pulled her in a hug with us. I wished them good night and went inside the bedroom.

Shraddha was sitting in the middle of the bed. Her veil was still on her face. I lifted the veil from her face. Her innocent eyes were looking downwards. I was staring at her face. Her innocent black eyes. Her pinkish lips. Her chubby cheeks filled with the blush. She lifted her eyes and looked in my eyes. We both were just staring at each other. Her expressions were filled with shock and a little bit of happiness.

I looked towards another way.

“Shraddha, I want to tell you something,” I said not knowing how to start.

“Yes, tell me. I’m listening.” She said.

“I……want…… to…… say……” I was stammering.

She took my hands in her hand and looked directly into my eyes
And  said, “Be calm. Take a deep breath.”

"Before marriage, I loved a girl.  I never confessed my love to her. I don't even know where she is. I was searching for her for the past two years. I was waiting for her.” I said.

There was something that changed on her face. I couldn’t point it out. But listening to my words her expressions changed.  I stood up from the bed and moved towards the window.

“I was not ready to marry but for my parent’s happiness, I made myself ready. I’m not saying that I’ll not give you any rights. You will have all the rights of being my wife and daughter in law of Malhotra’s. I want time. I want to recover from my past. I want to make our marriage successful. Please give me some time. I hope that I’ll recover from the past.” I told her about my feelings, my thoughts etc.
There was a moment of silence. She came to me.

“Truly speaking, I was also not ready for marriage but then same for my parents, I made myself ready. Past is Past which can’t be changed but we have a future and we will make our present and future beautiful. I’m ready to give you time.” She said.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Can I know the name of the girl who made you fall in love?” She asked me.

“Radha… I don’t know her full name. But her name is Radha.” I said. She was stunned for a minute but then smiled.

“I don’t even know where she lives. How she looks. I know only her name and passion.” I said to her.

“Oh. I’ll help you to find her.” She said. I chuckled about hearing her.

“No need for that. I hired a private investigator but still no luck.” I said.

“Private Investigator as in Rajeev Brother?” She asked.

I nodded my head.

“You don’t need to worry. I’ll not back down from my responsibility. I was never forced for marriage. It was solely my own decision. I willingly accepted you. I respect my parent’s decision.” I said to her sincerely.

“About Radha, My feelings for her started to fade from the day I accepted the wedding proposal. I just want to see her and know about her.” I continued.

“Ok. We both were not forced for this marriage. We both want to have some time before we start our journey of marriage. We also don’t know about each other. So why not let’s start being friends first.” She said.
I liked her views.

“Yes, why not,” I said.

“Friends” She forwarded her hand to me with a smile.

“Friends” I accepted her hand and did a handshake with a smile.

“Your outfit is very heavy so go get a change. You can use the washroom. I’ll use it after you.” I said to her. She went near her bag which was placed near the couch. She kept it on the couch and opened it. She took a pair of nightdress and toiletries and went to the washroom.

I also went into the closet and took my nightwear which is a t-shirt and track pants. I came into the bedroom. Shraddha also came from the washroom so I went to freshen up myself. I did my night routine.
When I returned from the washroom I saw that she was keeping her things in the bags neatly.
We both were looking at the bed. We were confused about our sleeping arrangements.

“We both are friends and we also decided that we will be giving our best for our present and future so I feel that we both can share the bed,” I said to her. “Yes but I want to sleep on the left side.” She said. I chuckled.

“Well, you are in luck. I mostly prefer to sleep on the right side.” I told her smilingly.

We both said goodnights and drifted to sleep.