"Come badi bahu, take a look at the stars, Monu you go along with her" buaji said handing over a heavy tray of the ritual requirements to an exhausted Meera whose hands now felt numb and her body, as if it had taken a shower of sweat.
Meera walked uncomfortably laden with the huge dress and her vision hindered by the cloth.
"Now look at the stars, and give them some water" buaji instructed.
"Monu remove the veil from her face"
Arjun did as he was told and found Meera sweating profusely, breathing very heavily and lips sealed, almost about the lose her balance. He quickly held her by the waist and took the glass of water from her hand and crashed it onto her lips, putting water down her throat. Meera felt an instant relief and she came back to her senses,upon which she took the glass from Arjun's hand and kept drinking it, till it was completely over unaware of Arjun hold over her waist
"You brazen woman! What was the point if you drank the water before your husband" Buaji roared, Meera looked towards buaji and cursed herself, she had almost pulled off an entire day, couldn't she have waited for a few more minutes!
"No no buaji, I had water before giving it to her" Arjun lied
"Yeah buaji, Arjun bhaiya did, you must have not seen him" Aman said who was standing on the side watching the show. Meanwhile Meera finally felt relieved to have gotten some water down her throat, she was almost numb.
"Okay okay, now Meera touch Arjun's feet" Buaji instructed
"What!?" Meera spat, she had not seen that coming
"Why are you looking at me like this girl, touch his feet"
Arjun heard Meera mutter breathe in, breathe out to herself
"I'm sorry buaji, I wont do it" Meera said as Divya behind the wall face palmed why is buaji such a pain in the ass she thought for the first time, knowing very well that even she wouldnt have touched Aakash's feet if asked to.
"What do you mean you wont do it, Monu see I told you, you have to keep them in contro-"
"That's it buaji! Please stop now, I cant call myself progressive if I dont stand up to what's happening here!" Arjun roared
"Monu!" Buaji gasped
"Buaji these are old age customs, we need to grow out of them, in today's world a man and woman are equal! Buaji we love and respect you from the bottom of our hearts but this isn't fair!" Arjun said as he pulled Divya with him towards Buaji
"See her buaji, your Divya bahu, who you berated for no reason yesterday, she is going to be a mother! But she was scared to reveal it to you, because of your old customs! And frankly we dont care whether it will be a boy or a girl, because we know that the child will be the first child of the house and hence the most adored!"
Ishika was dragged in front of buaji, "you think she is ready for marriage? Buaji our ishika is a college topper! She is got a scholarship and is going to go for her masters! But how will we tell you that?"
"Sudha chachi isn't just a housewife, she is a social worker, she does charity helping and making hundreds of lives better"
"And mom, she gave up her wish to pursue music all thanks to you and your family even thought dad was ready to support her!" Arjun revealed and everyone looked towards Pratibha gasping, they had no idea about this.
"And this Meera" Arjun said with less emotion, care and expression than for what he said for the others "she hasnt made a roti in her entire life, and here she made 56 food items without anybody's help"
Meera thought she was dreaming about Khadoos standing up for her
YOU ARE READING
Can't help falling in love
RomanceMeera Gupta, daughter of Niyati and Manish is an architect who comes back to India, after a long interval to visit her ailing grandfather, Prithviraj, whom she is most attached to. Her grandfather's last wish is getting her married and even though M...
