"Rudraa darling, come here, sit with us." Requested mom, as she sat next to dad.
Utterly perplexed, Rudraa found herself following suit as she sat cross-legged on the floor next to her parents."Child, please listen to what I say without any agitation. You may not like it, but I need something from you." Dad whispered as Rudraa felt a shiver all the way down her spine. Something was awfully wrong. She had had an inkling for the last few days and this conversation seemed like a prelude to just that.
"What is it dad," she asked with great trepidation as she eyed her mom clench her dad's hand. There was something magical about her parents' love. It had the ability to transcend all barriers and make even the most difficult situation seem bearable - like now. Rudraa watched her father pull his wife in a warm embrace; she watched as they found strength in each other and found herself wishing for perhaps the umpteenth time for love like that.
Having been a product of so much love and understanding, Rudraa found herself wanting the same things. Her secret ambition in life had been to find a man just like her father and build a relation as strong as that of her parents. Momentarily forgetting the matter at hand, she sighed as she sent a quick silent prayer to her Lord, asking them to bless her parents and their magical love and to please bestow a bit of the same to her.
"Rudraa, child, our business has taken a bad hit, we have lost quite a bit and are now in negotiations with a potential investor." Dad explained as Rudraa gulped her fears and tried to keep a passive face.
"Child, this investor has a laid down an explicit condition before he even considers helping us. He wants to marry you." Dad whispered the last bit as Mom quietly hid her face in his arms and let out a moan. There, they had finally been able to say it out loud- to tell their only daughter that they would lose more than their business should she not marry the monster.
Rudraa could only stare at her father as he gently explained the intricacies of the situation and the far reaching consequences of her actions.Her entire family, the proud Rathore clan would be destroyed, the children would lose their homes and a chance to a better future too.
One of Canada's prominent family, the Rathore's had always been proud of their heritage and just as loved by their friends and employees. Any destruction of the business would destroy the livelihood of thousands of loyal employees and their families too. This was something that was unacceptable to her father. Rudraa knew this well and each passing moment sealed her fate and took away her only chance of true love.
With thousands of lives at stake, Rudraa's dreams could never ever be realised. They would have to be forgotten as she moved beyond herself and applied her life for the betterment of others. Rudraa was afterall named after the Great Mother, the Goddess who loved and protected all her children, just as Rudraa would now be doing by marrying the investor. Her mother cried as she cajoled Rudraa to consider marriage to this unseen Saviour, forcing her to accept her duty to her family honor.
"It is decided, Rudraa please ensure you are ready in your bridal fineries by noon tomorrow so that we can reach the courthouse in time for the auspicious moment of your wedding." Her dad curtly informed the shell-shocked Rudraa as he jerkily stalked away
"Rudraa, my child, I know you are angry, and you should be. But please understand, we truly have no choice. Please save our family. I have iinvested my life in you. You are my prayer, my hard work and my honor. Please uphold all that I have taught you and accept this marriage. Make it successful so that one day your husband thanks me for his wonderful wife." She whispered as tears blurred her vision and she her shattered heart forced her to pull her daughter away from this situation and hide her somewhere safe.
Alas, if only she could keep her daughter from the pain she was about to experience. Rudraa's mother understood honor and duty just like her ancestors, the great warriors of India. She had done the same when she was plucked from her beloved village and taken miles away to a foreign land called America and now expected her daughter to follow her example.
"Go to sleep love, tomorrow is a very important day for you. You should be well rested." She whispered as she gently pulled her daughter, forcing her to stand. "Tomorrow you start your new life, promise me you will give it all your efforts and will make your marriage successful. You will save our family and make us proud, won't you?" She patted Rudraa's head and walked away. There was nothing more to be said or done now.
Rudraa's fate had been sealed, her life's path decided and now all that she had to do was be the best wife of an unknown man and somehow save her family from ruin...
Rudraa stood there, in the empty living room, staring into space as she assimilated all that she was told and understood only one thing, her duty. For her family honor, she would happily marry any investor. She was afterall Rudraa, the girl named after the Great Mother, protecting her family was her duty, a duty she would happily give her life for...
