Chapter 2: "Prestige Over Heart "

A Day Before..

                    Swara was happy for her cousin marrying the guy she loves , and yet she wished the wedding hall wasnt filled with people who all had wise advise to her about getting married.  Swara knew and expected people to ask about her single status and still it bothered her when everyone she encountered asked her about it. She didnt want to marry, she didnt hate the idea of marriage but felt it was too early to think about it , she had dreams and aspirations about her life.

                So she went to hide in one of the rooms, hoping that no one would notice her absence and stumbled upon the groom heading towards her cousin room, she knew they were hopeless in love and felt a smile curl at her lips at the thought of a romantic moments between them, the wedding would commence soon and if her mom didnt see her in the mandap she would freak out, so Swara knew she only had around an hour of break and she was going to spend every single minute of them hiding away from her relatives .

              She glanced at her phone and typed a quick message to her sister " Hiding from every matchmaking relatives "  Her sister was advised best rest during her pregnancy and her brother in law choose to be with her, so Swara and her parents can attend the wedding.  Swara had been staying at her sister house the last two months ever since her sister got pregnant, she had been worried about her and when she reached 7 months , it felt right to stay with her to help her . 

             Then she looked up and saw her cousin running out of her room in tears not the response she expected when her fiancee stepped inside the room few minutes ago, she began running after her wondering what was wrong until she collided with her cousin  groom who looked every bit devastated as her cousin. 

           " What wrong, Why is ragini crying ?" She asked him instead, they hadnt talked much with each other but  apparently today she needed to speak with him .

       "  The Wedding is Off" he answered back as he walked away leaving her confused and angry on her cousin behalf, Swara knew how much her cousin loved him and waited for this day.  By the time she found Ragini ,the rest of her family was around her.

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           Swara hated wedding ,but she hated family meeting more than that because each time her family gathered to discuss an issue  it meant Chaos as everyone would argue with each other . And when something this big happens then everyone will have something to say irrespective of whether their suggestions were logical or not .

                 She was hiding behind a pillar as she looked at her uncle Durga Prasad , he was her mother's brother and a man of few words , yet when he spoke up no one would dare to go against him and right now he was furious because his only daughter was crying . Beside them stood his wife silent and regal ,Swara always wondered how her aunt kept the calm facade even when things were spirally out of control .

                     Then Swara eyes looked over her mom who was  silently crying along with ragini.  And she happened to glance at her father who looked disinterested in the family drama , everyone  looked intense with emotions running high . It was expected when the groom refuses to marry the girl he proclaim to love. 

              She understood his reasons, today there was supposed to be two wedding's Laksh, Ragini Fiancee and his cousin were getting married on the same day and she found out that his cousin Fiancee eloped at the last moment leaving him without a bride and Laksh didnt want to marry when his cousin was heartbroken. She understood his intentions but leaving Ragini heartbroken wasnt the solution.

                He did want to marry Ragini but not today, he had suggested a small wedding bit later but that was something her family couldnt accept because the wedding hall was filled with everyone they know and a broken wedding wasnt in the plan. Everyone kept suggesting something to convince Laksh to change his mind until her aunt eyes found her, she didnt know why it brought a deep fear in her . Swara usually never crossed path with her aunt if possible because she knew awhile Annapurna Prasad was calm, her words can be vicious if needed. 

         " There is a way, What if we find his cousin a bride,someone among our relatives. Then both of them can  get married " her aunt spoke up ,Swara would have laughed if not for her aunt eyes fixated on her, soon her uncle and mom turned to look at her almost thinking the same, she quickly shook her head in answer, pleading with them silently not to push her .

       " I dont even know him." Swara spoke up when she noticed everyone in the room were looking at her to say yes to this ridiculous idea.  It just didnt make sense , it was her life and she had already fought once against her uncle and aunt matchmaking that it caused a  small rift between her mom and uncle . Her uncle felt Swara should get married first considering she was 6 months older than Ragini and Swara fought against it and she couldnt have voiced out her displeasure more clearly .

      " Shona.." her mom began to speak but Swara eyes moved past her as she looked at laksh standing in the room,she didnt know when he entered and she hoped he overheard the idea and would put a stop to it but instead she heard him speak up destroying her hopes in an single blow .

    
       " That would be so wonderful ,I will talk with bhai " with those words Ragini fiancee rushed out of the room leaving her with her family .  

       " Mom ,No .. You Promised that you will not ask this of me " Swara whispered to her mom once she noticed that her mom was going to ask her to marry a stranger for her cousin happiness . 

      " Then we will find a guy among our family who would marry ragini " her aunt yet again spoke when Swara voice her displeasure , leaving ragini in tears awhile everyone looked at her with anger . 

    Just because she couldn't blink her eyes and cry ,didn't mean she was not affected by the news . She finally turned towards her dad who was taking the entire chaos without a word , she knew why he had chosen to be silent because he never was the one to raise his voice for anything but this was her life and if her own parents refused to support her then she was lost .

        " Sanskar is a good man and he would make you happy " her uncle answered back as if her decision was a foregone conclusion ,she desperately wished her sister and brother in law was present because her sister might be fragile and shy but she would take a stand for her . 

           " No , I can't uncle ..I refuse to marry a complete stranger . " Swara spoke up ,she knew it may cause a permanent rift in her family but she refuse to be a scapegoat to salvage ragini wedding . 

           "Shona ,think of ragini life . Who would marry her if the marriage was cancelled in the last minute " her mom illogical defense to the idea made her want to scream and walk out of the room ,Laksh wasn't saying no to the marriage just not today .  

          " What about me then , is it okay for me to lose the right to choose my husband " Swara lashed back , she didn't like being under the spotlight and she definitely didn't like being forced to make a decision that was against her choice .  

              Then the door opened and Ragini fiancee entered yet again with a smile on his face that Swara felt her heart drop ,in the small corner of her heart she had hoped his cousin would say No and end this discussion .  But Laksh words confirmed that no one was coming to her rescue . 

         "Bhai said yes Ragini ,do you know how happy mom is after he agreed . And we can get married just as we planned " Laksh went straight to the love of his life as he spoke those words and Swara felt every eyes turn towards her waiting for her to destroy their happiness.

          
           " Please Shona ,do you think Laksh would marry her after his cousin was  rejected twice on his wedding day ,if his cousin said no then .." her mom whispered to her and at the moment she hated him for saying yes . She only met him few times and wondered how he could easily agree to marry a stranger . 

        "I want to talk with him " Swara spoke up as she glanced at laksh ,she hoped to convince his cousin that she wasn't the girl for him . 

           " I was 18 when I married your uncle and haven't said a word to him before our marriage , I trusted my parents choice and do you think we would ask you to do this if we aren't sure that Sanskar was a good man " her aunt spoke up ,declining her request . Swara was sure he was a good man but that didn't mean he was the one for her . 

            " Please Swara, I can't live without laksh  .." her cousin voice echoed pleading in the room and Swara went still because she had been able to say No to everyone but not her . 

            Because she was the one who drove ragini to the hospital when her father declined to accept Laksh offer for marriage  ,so  her cousin decided to end her life by consuming her mother sleeping pills . No one knew about that night except her and when Swara looked at her cousin ,she knew if things didn't go ragini way and her parents forced her to marry s stranger  then that night would be repeated and if the doctors were unable to save her ,then the blame would fall on her because apparently her cousin happiness rested on her shoulders .  

               Swara felt suffocated by the eyes that looked at her and willed her to change her mind ,her mom who wanted to please his brother because he single handedly raised her , her uncle who wanted retain his prestige over her happiness ,her dad who choose to remain quiet because he knew he couldn't win against them ,and her aunt who looked at her as if Swara owed it to them and finally on her cousin who looked like she would choose death over life . 

                   " Yes I will marry him " she said those five words and slumped against the pillar as she lost  the strength to stand , she let her family convince her to make the important decision of her life under 30 minutes .  Because for Swara ,her family remained her weakness . 

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P.S : " That it for now ,let me know your thoughts and feedbacks .Hit the votes if you liked it " 

Love

Juanita Reid .

NitaReid2016-03-12 12:23:14