The Rajput Brides

Chapter 18

Dressed up in the yellow kurta , with little scattered stubbles on his face, Ruhan was looking as amazing as always, hot and charming at the same time, and that seriousness on his face, added cherry on the top. He was busy in staring at his wife from a far , who was laughing along with some guests at something Rishan had said, and they were soon joined by a few more people , whom he assumed were her colleague doctors.

Suddenly he felt someone's presence beside, and upon looking, he found his father standing beside him , staring in front with a small smile playing on his lips , which was of course, a very rare event, as it took fortunes to see Raghuveer Rajput smiling.

" she's beautiful, isn't she? " Raghuveer's asked softly to his son , still looking in Vanika's direction.

Ruhan looked at his father with confusion and asked " whom are you talking about baba ?"

" Ofcourse about the one , whom you have been staring for so long , son." Raghuveer chuckled at his son's pretence .
Heat rushed to Ruhan's ears and he became too flushed to even meet his father's gaze.

" You love her alot , right? " Raghuveer now turned towards his son, who was looking here and there, not meeting his eyes.
Unable to answer his father's question, Ruhan licked his upper lips and pressed his lips together.

" You know, when I was married to your mother, I was also like you, I never expressed my feelings towards her , but I had been in love with her even before our wedding. Yes I loved your mother like a crazy man , but I never expressed that to her in the initial days of our marriage , because the situation was worst and circumstances were very unfavourable, but Ruh bete , your case isn't same as mine, today the conditions aren't that bad , that you don't tell her about your feelings, that too when she already knows, what you have to do is to just say that to her , express yourself , your feelings towards her. Till when are you planning to live in the past , hmm? It wasn't your fault in anyway so stop blaming yourself and get a grip . Break your walls and claim the one who's yours, before it gets too late. " Raghuveer said patting Ruhan's shoulder .
While Ruhan just gave a curt nod to his father and again looked towards Vanika , who was now looking in his direction, their eyes met for a moment and he felt a sudden hurl of emotions within himself, eventually looking away breaking the eye contact.

Here Vanika had zoned out after looking at her husband, how handsome he was looking today. She thought to herself and got lost in alleys of past .

Flashback ( 6 years ago):

The whole Rajput Mansion was decked up in lights, with lots of hustle and bustle all around. The chanting of holy mantras , echoed in the whole mansion and the sacred aroma of the holy havan ( ritual wherein offerings are made into a consecrated fire. )
filled every corner, from home to outside.

It was Ruhan's 25th birthday today, and on this occasion, the elders of the family had organised Rudrabhishek , for the wellbeing of their family.
( a ritual in which the Shivling is first bathed with milk and water and then flowers, fruits and other things are offered. It's a kind of ritual which is believed to be very powerful and fruitful as it is done to please Lord shivji and seek blessings from him . More details at the end of the chapter. )

All the four brothers, including the birthday boy ofcourse , were dressed in traditional kurta , and were busy distributing the prasad (a devotional offering made to the god, typically consisting of food that is later shared among devotees.) to everyone after the pooja , when suddenly Ruhan felt Rivan nudging him with his elbow and he gave him a questioning look.
" Bhaiya look at front , look at front" Rivan whispered slowly in his brother's ear slowly.
Ruhan frowned but nevertheless , looked at front AND he froze .
He froze looking at the girl , for whose single glance, he was restless since past six months, was right now standing with her mother, talking to Aparna,  laughing and telling her something dramatically.