Chapter 15
Font:
Text Size:
Theme:
[MEMBERSONLY]
[NOCOPY]
SAVING KHUSHI
(Thank u, naughtymallu, for these 2 brilliant banners!)
(Thank you, Risat, for the sweet banner!)
Arnav & Khushi walked in to the temple, and waited inside to be summoned by the priest. A boy from the sweetshop brought them a big basket of jalebi, and a couple of temple staff ran around making the final arrangements for the wedding.
Khushi looked at Arnavji's content face.
Softly, she spoke, "It is so strange, Arnavji..."
He looked at her.
"You hated me with a passion. I hated you with a vengeance. We hurt each other, we tried to go away from each other. Shyamji tried to destroy us, our bond..." Khushi thought aloud.
Arnav listened, very attentive.
"Inspite of all the hatred and hurt, inspite of Shyamji's lies and our misunderstandings, we are here... ready to marry each other because we can't live without each other..." Wonder lit her eyes, making them glow with an inner light.
Arnav swallowed. He whispered in his husky voice, "Our love is stronger than our hatred ever was, more potent than Shyam's lies, capable of vanquishing my wrong notions and prejudice, more powerful than our tears and pain..."
Khushi pressed his fingers with hers, and moved closer to him to sit pressed against him.
"Khushi, I will never give you cause to cry again..." he promised sincerely, his eyes serious, earnest.
"What the! Is this Arnav Singh Raizada speaking or the spirit of Salman Khan that has possessed his body?" Khushi teased him to make him smile.
Arnav smiled and parted his lips to make a comeback, but was stopped by his phone.
Arnav's phone vibrated.
"Yes, NK?"
"Nannav, Shyam went in to your room, and tried to open your locker with a key he had with him."
Arnav frowned.
"The key got stuck. He pushed your books down, wrecked the room, & tore many of your files."
"What the!"
"Nannav, he took one file with him. I don't know what it was, but he seemed thrilled to lay his eyes on it!" NK cautioned him.
The contract marriage! Arnav shut his eyes. So Shyam had found out about the contract marriage!
"Nannav, I have recorded everything he did..." NK reassured him.
"Thanks, NK. Don't worry about the file. And don't follow Shyam out of the house. Not under any condition." Arnav was definite on the point, urgent in his instruction.
"I promise. I won't, Nannav. Akash told me not to." NK comforted Arnav.
Arnav phoned Aman.
"Aman, I am getting married to Khushi now, in a temple, with full vidhi & rasam. How do I get our marriage registered? What are the documents I need? The proof? Can you contact Mr. Roy, our lawyer, & find out? Message me the answer now."
"Yes, Sir. Just give me five minutes." Aman got busy.
He texted, "Photo of saath phere, sindoor, managalsutra ceremony etc, wedding invitation if any, witnesses, preferably 4, age proof, address proof, identity proof..." the list went on. "We need to give all of this to Mr. Roy after the wedding. He will complete the formalities to register the wedding."
Arnav read the message with attention.
"Kya hua, Arnavji?" Khushi asked, anxious.
"Nothing." Arnav smiled. "Tomorrow, when we return, we need to register our wedding. I need all the paperwork done immediately. That is all."
Khushi's anxious eyes studied every inch of his face and eyes.
"I want to make sure that you are mine and only mine, Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada!" Arnav teased to make her smile.
Khushi smiled. "Hum to aap hi ke hain, with or without real or contract marriage, with or without rasams..."
"Khushi... remove the mangalsutra. I have to tie it around your neck again." he said softly, loving the smile on her face, treasuring the trust she had in him...
Khushi removed the mangalsutra and handed it over to him, taking care not to drop the thin chain of black and gold beads and diamonds.
The priest called them. "It is time for aarti." he said.
Arnav & Khushi stood up with alacrity. They joined the crowd, standing close, their hands folded. The aarti started with the ringing of the bells, the chanting of the crowd, the worship of Devi Maiyya with lamps... Arnav looked at Devi Maiyya's smiling visage and then looked at Khushi's peaceful countenance as she prayed with her eyes shut.
"Bitwaa, are you ready?" the priest asked.
Arnav said, "Ji. But we need photos as proof of our marriage." He held the camera out.
"Why not?" the priest smiled. He asked a temple staff to man the camera, and handed Arnav & Khushi two garlands made of rajnigandha and red roses.
Khushi placed the fragrant garland around Arnav's neck and Arnav did the same to Khushi. She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling, her face incandascent with joy.
Arnav felt like the luckiest man on earth to get a partner like her to share his life with. His life had been drab, colourless before she had fallen in to his arms like a gift from heaven... He looked at Devi Maiyya with gratitude in his heart.
Many devotees who had attended the arti stayed back to witness the wedding.
The purohit motioned Arnav & Khushi to sit in front of the havan. He began to chant mantras, thereby commencing the ceremony.
Arnav looked at Khushi. Her head was covered with the pallu of the red sari he had bought for her. The red sari with the gold border, the light from the fire of the havan falling on her face, the happiness on her face... they made her more beautiful than he had ever seen her.
When it was time for kanyadaan, the Purohit looked around for someone who would willingly do the ritual of handing over Khushi in to the safekeeping of Arnav.
But Khushi said, smiling, "Panditji, I will give myself to him." She placed her hand in her Arnavji's warm, large, loving hand as his tender eyes showered love on her.
The rituals followed one after the other, the saat phere, the managalsutra, the sindoor... The temple employee clicked photo after photo of all the rituals.
Finally, the marriage was done. Arnav & Khushi filled in all the details and signed the temple register and Arnav made the boy with the camera take a pic and a photocopy of the page.
The crowd that had gathered to participate in the wedding approached the newly-wedded pair to offer them their good wishes. The temple staff distributed the jalebi among the young and old.
Finally, the crowd dispersed, and Arnav & Khushi thanked the Purohit from the bottom of their hearts. They stood with their hands folded in front of Devi Maiyya, and slowly walked to the dhaba, hand in hand.
Shyam stashed the document related to the contract marriage in his office bag. Anjali would not poke her nose in to his bag, he was sure. That was the only safe place in the whole house where he could hide something from Anjali!
He smiled. He held the trump card now. He would beggar Arnav, and make sure that his family hated the sight of him. He would lose everything he held dear... Shyam smirked.
His phone rang.
It was Lallan, demanding his money.
"Kahe ka paisa?" Shyam growled. "Your idiots let the girl run away. And now they are missing too. First, find them. Then we can talk of money."
"A word is a word. I want my money now. Or do you want me to come to your office or house, asking for my due?" Lallan threatened Shyam.
Shyam looked around like a cornered rat. The words of the bank manager asking him to credit cash in his joint account resounded in his ears.
"No, no. I will meet you. Let's meet at the place they kept Khushi. That way, maybe we can find out what happened to them." Shyam suggested, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Lallan agreed.
As Shyam walked out of his room, he saw a perplexed Akash standing in the corridor.
"Kya hua, Akash?" Shyam asked.
"Bhai just called. The money is almost ready, but the kidnappers haven't called yet." Akash frowned.
Shyam panted. How could the kidnappers call when the kidnappers and the kidnapped were missing?
"They were supposed to call today, but... Anyway, Bhai said he will be returning only tomorrow. He does not want to travel alone at night with so much cash." Akash explained.
Shyam heaved a sigh of relief. He had time till tomorrow to fix things.
A few minutes later, Shyam left the house, citing an urgent meeting with a client as an excuse. Driving towards the kidnappers' hideout to meet Lallan, his mind filled with worry over money and the missing Khushi, Rocky, and the others, he failed to notice the two cars following him adroitly.
Your reaction
Nice
Awesome
Loved
LOL
OMG
Cry
Post Your Comment