if everything went according to our will, life wouldn't be as exciting or as frustrating as it is! that's what the confused & annoyed aishwarya tells herself as she was hounded by a herd of her cousins and beautician aunty who were struggling to mak...
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"Still not ready?" Geeta was exasperated as she entered her daughter Aishwarya's room with a plate full of jasmine flowers and red roses. She glared at the beautician who tried to hurry against the very uncooperative Aishwarya. "Sit still, please. I can't apply your kajal." the beautician said, almost begging.
"Aishwarya! Listen to her and for God's sake stop with all the tantrums!" Geeta scolded her daughter. An awkward silence settled in the room. As their eyes met in the reflection, Geeta let out a sigh. Aishwarya's gaze seemed to pierce through her as if she were being led to the slaughter. Geeta turned her gaze away and took a deep breath. Then, she requested a moment alone with her daughter, ushering everyone else out of the room.
"Don't stare at me like that," Geeta said placing the jasmine flowers neatly on Aishwarya's braids. "Stare at you? Like what Mummy?"
Geeta really wanted to knock some sense into her daughter's head. But she refrained from doing so. In the last three months there had been enough drama in their house and the last thing she wanted was to ruin the mood. Especially on an auspicious day like today.
"You think, am being unreasonable, don't you? You think we will regret getting you married, to the boy of our choice. You think we made a mistake by making sure our prestige remained intact! That's what you are thinking, aren't you Aishu?"
Aishwarya shrugged playing with the hem of her pallu. Her mother had gone out of the way to select a grand Kanchivaram saree for the mere 'meeting ceremony'. According to their customs, it's just the two families seeing the prospective matches. In almost all of the weddings that happened in her close and extended family, the children's choices were barely considered. If the family thought it was a perfect match, then that was it. Perks of being part of an extremely conservative community.
At the rate her house was decorated, she was being decorated, Aishwarya swore it didn't look any less than a marriage ceremony. Whatever happened to the dialogue they kept chanting for the past week? "It's just a meeting! They want to see you, some family talk.. And if we both agree then, maybe we can come up with a date and time for engagement!" Bullshit!
She didn't even recognize half of the relatives who were buzzing in her house and this was supposed to be just a 'meeting'. Maybe, she could have done a wise thing and run away like her best friend had done long back. Too late to think about it now. Or.. maybe she still had some time?
"Don't even dare! Whatever you are thinking, stop it right there." Her mother's shrill voice filled her ears as she squeezed Aishwarya's braid, a bit too painfully. "Ouch! Mummy! Stop pulling my hair! I already feel like I'm holding the roof on my head. Wait.. can't I just, let the hair down? It will look nice, trust me-"
"They are coming to look for the bride for their son! Not a fashion model!" Geeta said fixing up the flowers correctly in their place with the help of at least a hundred clips. Every time her mother pressed another sharp clip into her scalp, she warily wondered if there would be any hair left on her head the next day.
Aishwarya rolled her eyes and bit her lip to stop herself from making any more attempts at casual talking. "And for the record, it's for your own good." Geeta said cupping her daughter's face and trying to find if there was any 'out of place' make-up courtesy of the beautician.
"You think we are doing this it's to maintain our family reputation, but we think, it's to make sure, you live a happy life. You are too young to make decisions, you don't understand what's right and wrong. We do. We are your elders kanda." Geeta said placing a soft kiss on Aishwarya's forehead. Her mother hadn't called her 'Kanda' in like ages! Aishwarya tried to smile like she understood every word she said. But her smile might have been either very sarcastic or very fake because Geeta groaned deeply shaking her head.
"I am warning you if you even attempt to tarnish our reputation in front of the guests-"
"What? You will disown me?" Aishwarya asked stifling a silly giggle. Geeta threw a sardonic smile at her daughter, "That would be just what you want, no? Aishu, I will personally burn all your graduation certificates and all your identity cards, your bank account will be seized, and that freaking laptop of yours will be handed over to the beggar that comes to our house every day! Oh and of course, if all that doesn't work, there will be a mass suicide. Headlines will read, 'Tired of the daughter's rebellion, the entire family killed themselves along with the shameful daughter." You hear me?'
Aishwarya nodded as if the threat sounded really, threatful. She didn't know whether to laugh, to cry or to even try and understand what was happening. When the beautician Aunty came back along with her cousins with whom she hardly exchanged Hi-Hello, let alone marriage and first-night jokes, swarmed in her room clicking selfies, tickling her and going on and on about how her time has finally come!
You would wonder why was she still stuck here. She could have left, she could have done many things to live her life the way she wanted. But... this society is complex. Right from the birth of a child, the baby is conditioned in a certain way. Values, customs, manners, and so many other things are instilled in their heads right from the age they begin to think. Despite her opinions and aspirations, Aishwarya loved her family. Even though they had planned everything to ruin her life, she unfortunately loved them. To them, religion and caste are something they wear with pride. Aishwarya didn't really have any qualms with that. But she always drew the line when it came to choosing a life partner. And look at where she was now. Sitting in front of the mirror, decked up from head to toe, all set to meet her groom. She had no choice in this matter.
Could she really blame her family? Yes, definitely to some extent. The fact that they wouldn't progress with time and the fact that they thought that by making decisions for her they were helping her, was the root cause.
She sighed sitting back.. 'If everything went according to our will, life wouldn't have been as exciting or frustrating as it is' Aishwarya tried to tell herself as she was hounded by the herd of her God-knows-how-you-are-related-to-me cousins and please-let-me-do-my-job beautician to make her look presentable.
