"Antara, chalo, baarat aa gayi," Rukhsana says. I put down the photo that I was holding and walk in to the main hall where Raghu is waiting for me.
We were getting married at the kalyaan mandap in the basti. "Bhaisaab, woh dekhiye, Antara aa gayi," Mom says and I look to see Antara coming with Rukhsana. I was taken aback by her beauty. She had made the most simplest red lengha look so elegant.
"She's looking beautiful, isn't she?" Mach Mach asks. "Yeah," I say, not taking my eyes off of her.
She comes at a stop in front of me and smiles. I smile back. We exchange garlands and continue through the rest of the rasams that the Pandit leads us through.
Raghu and Antara stand up for the pheres. Rukhsana ties the end of Antara's dupatta with the end of Raghu's. They make the seven vows around the holy fire, binding themselves in an eternal relationship.
At last, Raghu clasps the manglsutra around Antara's neck. It hung there, symbolizing the new relationship that had just formed. Raghu then takes a pinch of sindoor and fills her empty maang with the red colour, marking her as his.
Soon it is time for my bidaai. Tears roll down my cheeks as I bid my father good bye and leave my house to go to Raghu's. Even though we were neighbours, it was still different. I wasn't living at my house anymore.
I am welcomed into the Naik house with open arms. Aunty, sorry, Mom, completes the rasams and welcomes me into the house.
"Wait Antara beta. We have a small tradition in our house," she says. "What tradition?" I ask. "The one where Raghu has to carry you into the house," uncle says. "Dad, it's okay," Raghu says. "No Raghu. It's the tradition of this house. You have to carry Antara bhabhi in," Mach Mach says from behind me.
Raghu looks at me as if asking for my permission. I smile. Antara, you're the daughter in law of this house, you have to follow the traditions.
I pick her up, her arms around my shoulders. "Can she come in now?" I ask. "What a perfect couple," mom says and I walk in with Antara. I put her down once we reach the sitting area. She moves away from me but a corner of her dupatta gets stuck in my watch. We both look towards the watch and I move my hand up to take her dupatta out.
"Antara, Raghu. Come here," mom calls us. I gesture to Antara and she follows me. "Yes Mom," I ask, Antara standing beside me. "Beta, we have to complete some other rasams as well. Antara, you sit here and Raghu, sit beside her," mom says.
We sit down and Mom brings out a bowl, filled with milk. "Aunty, can I tell them what to do?", Rukhsana asks. "Sure beta," she says.
"Okay so welcome our newly married couple. The two of you have to play a little game," she says. "I'm going to drop this ring on their and whoever is the first one to find it, wins. Also, that one person will have the upper hand in this marriage."
"Rukhsana, is this really necessary?" I ask. I look at Raghu, waiting to see his reaction towards this. "I think it's a good idea," he says. "But Raghu," I protest. "Antara, come on. It's just a little game," he replies. "Okay," I agree. If Raghu said that it was fine, then it was fine.
"Okay, so here goes the ring," she says and drops the ring into the bowl. She mixes it and says, "Go ahead."
Raghu puts his hand in the bowl and I follow. I look everywhere but at Raghu or the bowl. It's that moment when our hands touch that I finally move my eyes to meet his.
I was already looking at her when our hands touched. She met my eyes and then slowly looked away, moving her hand away as well.
"Come on Antara, you have to find the ring," Rukhsana says, encouraging her. I feel the smooth metal in my hand and guess that it must be the ring. I move my hand towards Antara's and carefully slip the ring into her hand before anyone can notice. She looks at me shocked but then slowly takes her hand out, revealing the ring.
"Raghu now you have to listen to my adorable Antara," Mach Mach says, sitting next to her. She gives him a slight smile and looks at me.
"Raghu, I saw that. You gave her the ring on purpose. That wasn't fair. You won!" Rukhsana says, sitting down next to me.
And so the banter continued for a while until Mom came to stop us. It was decided that Antara had won because the ring had cone out of the bowl in her hands.
"Antara, come upstairs," mom tells me. She takes me up to Raghu's room. It was decorated completely different from before. No more posters of girls on the walls or anything like that. It looked, well, mature.
Mom makes me sit on the bed and tells me to wait for Raghu, as he would be coming soon.
"Stop!" Rukhsana tells me as I reach my door. "What happened?" I ask. "Mujhe mera nek chaiye," she says, extending her hand forward. "I thought you were on Antara's side," I reply. "I'm playing a double role. Now hurry up Raghu," she says impatiently.
I sigh and take some money out of my wallet and hand it to her. "Happy?" I ask. "You seem like you're in a hurry," she says. "Here you go," I say, handing her some more. "Okay, you can go now," she says and moves away.
I enter the room and find Antara sitting on the bed. "Finally, you're here. What took you so long?" she asks, getting off of the bed. "Rukhsana was asking for her nek and you know how hard it is to convince her," I reply. "Yeah I know. Can I go change? I really can't wear this heavy lengha for too much more longer," she says. "Yeah, go ahead," I say and move out of her way.
I come out of the bathroom to find Raghu waiting for me. "Why do you girls take so long?" he asks. "Get used to it now," I say. "Whatever. I emptied half of the cupboard so you can move your stuff there if you want," he says. "Thanks," I reply.
I pick up my bag and start moving stuff as he changes. By the time he comes out, his entire cupboard had been rearranged. "I kind of had to move stuff around," I tell him. "It's okay. You can sleep on the bed," he says. "Where are you going to sleep?" I ask.
"On the couch, I guess," he replies. "But why? I mean we're still friends aren't we?" I ask. "Yeah we are," he says. "Then why the hesitation? Now come and sleep," I say, sitting on the left side of the bed.
"Chashmish, that's my side," I tell her. "So? I want to sleep on this side. I can't sleep on the other side," she replies. "Come on Chashmish, you have to try new things. Now go sleep there," I repeat. "If you're so admant on trying new things, why don't you go sleep there yourself," she says and lies down.
Sighing, I walk over i to the other side and lie down. What had I gotten myself into?
***
A hand hits my face for the third time that night and I sit up. I look to the side and see Antara sprawled out on the bed. I'm on the very end, on the verge of falling off any second.
I gently roll her over and lie down to sleep when this time she kicks me. "Antara," I say, annoyed. She doesn't wake up.
I poke her but she still won't wake up. Giving up, I lie down and face the other way, closing my eyes, attempting to sleep.
A/N: So how was that? Good? Bad? Leave your likes and comments :) 
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