Chapter-22

Aaron Malhotra POV


Morning, Malhotra farmhouse
I woke up due to sun rays falling on my face. I kept a pillow on my face and tried to sleep. There was a bangles sound coming. Bangles… sound… in my room… I suddenly realised that now I’m a married person. I woke up and sat on the bed. I looked towards the window from where the sound was coming.
There my wife was drying her wet hairs by the towel. She was continuously changing the sides. Her red and white bangles were making a sound or you can say rhythm.  She was dressed in a simple dark blue coloured saree paired up with a red blouse. She is looking so beautiful.
Suddenly she turned towards me. Her face was makeup-free. There was a bindi between two eyebrows. Some swing earrings and a nuptial chain completed her look. “Good morning” She wished me.

“Good Morning” I replied to her. I went for a bath. After a bath, I directly went to the closet and got ready. I wore a denim blue colour kurta with white churidar. I looked for Shraddha in my room but she was not here.

I was done with my look and picked my mobile. There were few notifications so I looked at it. There were few missed calls from our factory manager of Punjab. We have our factories in various states.
Punjab being our hometown it also has two factories as well as a branch office. I called the manager. He informed me that there was a small fire accident that took place in the factory. Few workers got injuries while others were safe. There was no death involved but few injuries were serious.
I decided that I’ll go and visit them. I also want to give some help to those workers' families.

I went downstairs. In the living room, all were seated. I went towards grandma and took her blessings. I wished everyone a good morning. I looked for my wife. I saw that she was nowhere. Suddenly she came from the kitchen. I was looking at her. She asked me with eyes about what happened. I shook my head in nothing.

“Today’s puja will be done by Aaron and Shraddha,” Grandma said.

We all went towards a small mandir (temple) in our home. I and Shraddha started doing puja. Then we did Aarti of the god. We both took blessings from the elders. We all went to our dining room. Shraddha went inside the kitchen and started bringing all the dishes. Riya also helped her.
Everyone took their place. I was still standing. I cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention. I told Mom-dad about the fire incident and informed them that I’ll soon return in a few hours. I also looked at Shraddha for her positive response. She blinked her eyes in assurance to me. I took my car keys and started my journey towards the hospital where injured workers were admitted.

After some 2-3 hours, I reached home and had a bath again. I chose Indian wear for an outfit. I went downstairs where all were chit-chatting.
Mom said that there are few rituals and games pending which she wants us to do today.

“Mom, first we will play that ring game,” Shreya said.

“Ok, Shraddha-Aaron sit here.” Mom said showing us a place on the double seater sofa.

We went and took our seats. In front of us on the small table were a bowl filled with rose petals and milk.
“I’m throwing this ring in the bowl. Whoever will find it first will win.” Riya said, showing us the ring.
We both put our right hand in the bowl to find the ring.

“Whoever wins the first will have the upper hand in your marriage life.” Mom said. We both looked at each other with a smirk and started to find the ring.

“Well, whoever wins but the wife always has the upper hand in marriage,” Dad said jokingly.

“Come on sister we have to win.” Ishaan and Rajeev were cheering for their sister. Even Shreya also sided with her Bhabhi.

Riya, Divya and Kartik were cheering for me. We called Kumar’s in the morning for other rituals.

We both found the ring at the same time; we showed the ring to others.
“That’s a tie,” Shreya said.

“Yeah, but you all don’t know that if the rings were found by both at the same time, it is believed that there will be a sense of balance, understanding, companionship, and decision-making capability in between both of them.” Shraddha’s mom- Mumma said.
She asked me to call both of them Mumma- Papa. Similarly mom- dad also told Shraddha to call them as Mom-dad.
 
“The Next game is to find the groom’s name in the bride’s mehndi designs.” Riya Announced.

Shraddha forwarded her both hands to me. As I took her hands in my hand she shivered. I started finding my name in her hands. There was a beautiful peacock design on her hands. I was searching for my name. Soon I found N so I started looking nearby for the letter to find my name was hidden well with intricate designs of mehndi.

I showed it to everyone. Everyone cheered for me. Shraddha was smiling.
 
“Next one is untying the knot,” Grandma said.

In wedding rituals, we both wore a sacred thread which has multiple knots. We have to untie each other’s knot of thread. We can only untie it using a single hand. Whoever does it first wins the game. It is said that the winner is the dominant partner between both of them.

We both started doing it. It was tough to do it because the knot was a day old and it was wet due to the bath. In this game, Shraddha won. She untied the thread first and after her I did.

For the next rituals, grandma asked the servant to bring stainless steel plates. He brought 6 plates. They have kept it in a row. Shraddha has to pick all the plates without making clinking noise between the plates. This ritual will predict the relation between the Punjabi bride and the members of her new family. She started to pick up one by one, stacking them on top of each other. Every plate signifies one member like the mother in law, the sister in law, etc.

Husband, mother in law, father in law, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law. Grandparents and older people are the way plates were arranged for her to pick. She did it carefully without making any noise.

Then mom introduced her to our extended family. She took the blessings of elders. After that, we all moved towards the backyard where lunch was organized for all. I and Shraddha took our seat with all youngsters in the family.

It was a happy and fun-filled lunch.
After that, we all went for our afternoon nap. We both changed our outfits and Freshen up ourselves.
I took out the necklace set which I bought in the USA. It was a simple diamond necklace with a pair of earrings. I also bought a simple platinum chain with a letter ‘A’ in an intricate design. I gave those gifts to Shraddha.

“This is for you. One is our wedding gift and another is for the food which you made in the morning.” I said forwarding her both the box of jewellery.

“There was no need for this.” She said.
I kept the box in her hand and said “It is a gift from your new friend. Please accept it.”

“Ok,” She smiled.
I told her to wear the chain. She forwarded it to me. I was puzzled. She turned herself and kept her hair on her left shoulder. I took the chain from the box and wore it to her. I hooked the end tightly.

We both took a much-needed nap.
In the evening, all wanted to see a military camaraderie and showmanship. And mom also said to visit the golden temple to take blessings of God.

Shreya, Riya, Ishaan, Rajeev, Divya and Kartik accompany us to Wagah border and the golden temple. Girls wore Patiala suits. We boys wore kurta-pyjama, Every evening, just before the sunset, the soldiers from the Indian and Pakistan military meet at this border post to engage in a 30-minute display of camaraderie and showmanship.

Officially, the purpose of the ceremony is to formally close the border for the night and lower the national flag. We enjoyed the camaraderie. Then we all went to the golden temple. We took blessings of god. We captured many of our pictures.

Girls were hungry and we also started to feel hungry so we all went to the dhaba for our dinner. Soon we had our dinner and went home.

Tomorrow we will be going to Mumbai. We wished each other good night and drifted to sleep.
 
----------