Smita,😊
Here is my interpretation for Part 87.
This update is all about experiencing sensation, experiencing feelings. ...SENTIENT...
Payal, Khushi and Anjali helped Aarti dress, in a golden anarkali, while Arnav and Akash had helped NK into a Sherwani in Golden Yellow, the sunflower yellow, for the shagun and sagai.
The living room that had been decorated with diyas and flowers, was filled with children from Omkar. The entry of NK flanked by his brothers was heralded with cheers and whistles.
"NK Bhai, you look handsome!", Vivek said.
"Not bad!", smiled Chotu.
Nidhi started crying silently, big tears falling silently down her chubby cheeks.
"Bhat happened?", Mami asked. "Bhy are you crying, Nidhi Baby?"
Nidhi said, "I wanted to marry NK Bhai! But he is marrying somebody else!", she wailed.
All hid their smiles.
"The innocence of children is what makes them stand out as a shining example to the rest of Mankind" ~ Kurt Chambers
"Acha, bhy do you want to marry NK Bitwaa?", Mami asked.
"He plays basketball very well. And he drives his car very well. I wanted to marry a good driver.", Nidhi wept.
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you do, but people will never forget how you made them feel" ~ Jason Barger
"Then you should marry Aarti Bitiyaa, not NK Bitwaa, Hello Hi Bye Bye!", Mami said. "She dribes (drives) better than him!"
"Acha?", Nidhi asked, curious about this Aarti who had stolen her driver from her.
"Aur naahin to kaa! I bill do your introduction to her, Nidhi baby. Till then, you eat a laddoo."
"Feelings are feelings. They don't have dumb or smart labels" ~ Cherise Sinclair, Breaking Free
The tears vanished as if by magic. Nidhi bit in to the laddoos that Khushi had made specially for her, and waited to see Aarti, the good driver.
"Thoughts and feelings change sometimes, as one crosses the frontiers"
~ Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Tomorrow's Eve
Aarti along with Khushi, Payal, and Anjali descended the stairs under the watchful eyes of the gathering. She looked transformed! She looked like a princess! With her shoulder length, straight, healthy,shiny cloud of hair cupping her face, she looked ethereal!
Amma looked at her in wonder. How beautiful she was! More importantly, how good she was! How had she been fortunate enough to get such a wonderful daughter who was both son & daughter to her, who made up for every pain she had endured in the last 23 years...?
"I am so happy you are getting married. You are going to make the most beautiful bride ever. Wishing you more love and happiness than you can ever imagine"
Nani, seeing Amma in tears, hugged her.
"Hai Re Nandkisore! How beautiful our Aarti Bitiyaa looks!", exclaimed Buaji.
Payal's Amma and Anand's relations who heard her nodded, smiling at the bride-to-be.
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart" ~ Helen Keller
"Saasumma, look at Nk Bitwaa's phace (face)!", Mami nudged Nani.
Nani and the other guests looked at NK. He was staring at Aarti with his mouth open, his eyes like saucers.
"Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you?"
~ Richard Rodgers, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
All the ladies giggled.
"NK Bitwaa, close your mouthwaa! Naahin to housephly (housefly) will go inside it. We are vegetarian!", Mami teased him loudly.
All laughed. NK and Aarti blushed.
"What can I do, Maasi? Aarti looks so beautiful that I...", NK stammered.
"One can be the master of what one does, but never of what one feels" ~ Gustave Flaubert
NK's comment made Aarti blush profusely!
Arnav whispered in Khushi's ear, "If this is the way NK is going to go on, he will waste his suhaag raat staring at his wife. I don't think he will be in a position to do anything else!"
Khushi choked back a laugh. She whispered, "Everyone can't be Arnav Singh Raizada!"
"There could have been no two hearts so open, no tastes so similar, no feelings so in unison"
~ Jane Austen, Persuasion
Arnav looked into her laughing, naughty eyes, both of them reliving their wedding night. Arnav breathed in the fragrance of the jasmine flowers in her hair, the flowers that he grew in his garden for her and gathered daily for her, the flowers that she strung together, sitting in their room while he watched her... He would never be able to breathe in the perfume of jasmine flowers without thinking of Khushi...He smiled at her loving eyes...It was easier to just admit that he would never be able to breathe without thinking of Khushi...
"It's often just enough to be with someone. I don't need to touch them. Not even talk. A feeling passes between you both. You're not alone"
~ Marilyn Monroe
NK 's urgency to begin the function evoked mirth among the gathering!.
"Hai Re Nandkisore, somebody is in a big hurry!", Buaji teased him. "Kyun, Nandkisore, are you catching a plane to Sydney after the sagai?"
"He is scared that Aarti Bitiyaa will fly off!", laughed Mamaji.
"NK Bhai, nobody is going to steal your Aarti away from you. Relax.", laughed Anjali.
Looking at the fretting NK, Nani decided to start with with presenting the shagun gifts to the bride.
"Let's give her the gifts to welcome her into the family, NK Bitwaa. Then you can put the ring on her finger.", Nani laughed.
"Sabar karo, Babua. Sabar ka phal meeta hota he!", laughed Shanti, Anand's mother.
"Phal? Fruit? I don't want any phal, Aunty! I will just have dinner with all of you.", poor NK said seriously.
All laughed. Aarti smiled seeing her Amma laugh.
"A smile starts on the lips, A grin spreads to the eyes, A chuckle comes from the belly; But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul, Overflows, and bubbles all around" ~ Carolyn Birmingham
"Kaisen Besabri he ye!", laughed Mami.
"And Betabi!", laughed Buaji.
"And Besharami!", teased Anjali.
"He is so Bekarar!", laughed Nani.
"I am not Bekar, Naniji.", NK said.
"True humor springs more from the heart than from the head; it is not contempt, its essence is love" ~ Thomas Carlyle
Akash leaned close to Arnav.
"Bhai, better finish off the shagun and sagai before Aarti decides to make a run for it!"
Arnav nodded, a smile playing on his lips. He looked at Baba and Mama who nodded. It was time.
"Laughter connects you with people. It's almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you're just howling with laughter." ~ John Cleese
The ladies, Khushi, Anjali, Payal, Buaji, and Mami escorted Aarti to a flower-covered bower, placed at the center, in the living room of RM. Seating her in one of the throne like chairs the ladies began applying tikka, bless and fill her lap with gifts.She was even teased at NK's eagerness to be married to her.
"It is our feelings that guide us and they can never lead us wrong"
~ Jude Morgan, Indiscretion
Aarti just sat there, smiling, breathing deep, trying to get used to this huge and loud outpouring of love and good wishes, the laughter, the good-natured teasing.
"If there was one thing that life has taught me, it's to accept the most unthinkable happiness"
~Anne-Laure Bondoux, The Killer's Tears
She looked at her Sunflower. He was laughing at something Akash had said, but his eyes were on her. Her eyelashes fluttered as they tried to hide the feeling of vulnerability, the weakness in her limbs, the heightened heart rate that his look produced...everytime.
"Before, I wanted to say: "I found love!" But now, I want to say: "I found a person. And he belongs to me and I belong to him"~ C. JoyBell C.
It was time for sagai.
Led by Anand, Arnav and Akash, NK took the seat beside Aarti. Mamaji and Baba were hovering around. Amidst fervent prayers, Kamla tied a raksha dhaga on NK's wrist, and the couple exchanged rings.
Unused to wearing jewellery, Aarti had selected a slim platinum band with a small diamond as her engagement ring. NK, on the other hand, had selected as his ring.
As she placed the ring on his finger, he whispered, "Good. I want the whole world to know that I am yours."
Too stunned by his words Aarti just stared at him.
"You don't want to tell the world that I am yours?", she asked softly.
"No.", he smiled. "I know it. And you know it. That's enough."
"To measure the man, measure his heart"
~ Malcolm S. Forbes
In this installment of the series we are given a glimpse to the feelings of various people. We see the happiness of the children of Omkar. They feel a sense of belonging with the family and adore NK. Little Nidhi, who had thought of NK as her very own groom, was heartbroken at him wanting to marry somebody else! When asked for reasons for wanting to marry him, her answer filled with innocence of a child, though evoked mirth among the adults, helped them to channelize her attention towards other things that she loved the most - the laddoos prepared for her by her Kushi Didi!
The way Mami handled crying Nidhi soothing her with care, showed how much she is attached to these kids!
The feelings that evoked among the gathering at the sight of all decked NK and Aarti, showed how well loved they are!
The emotions of Kamala who had given up on Aarti ever agreeing for marriage is depicted. Buaji, who had mistaken Aarti for a boy and who was hell bent on making a man out of her before realizing her true identity, is full of admiration of this beauty! The feelings of the rest of the ladies is expressed too! Aarti too is filled with happiness to see her mother adorned with smile.
NK for whom, it was love at first sight, was goggle-eyed to see this petite, ethereal vision! Though Arnav Singh Raizada joked about NK he is no less in his feelings for his wife. He too acknowledged to himself that his wife as his breath!
Arnav and Akash's brotherly feelings are also shown in their concern and wit at his plight!
Under the cover of jest, love for NK and Aarti are expressed by the members of the family gathered.
When the exchange of rings took place Aarti gets a stunning glimpse of the feelings of NK towards her. He chose a broad platinum band with a big diamond to announce to the world that he belongs to Aarti! When she asked whether he doesn't want to tell that she belongs to him, his reply that it was not needed as both of them know it in their heart left her stumped! His understanding of her liking for things that are simple but neat and elegant let her chose a slim platinum band with a small diamond for herself. He knows,
"The ones who appear to be unemotional are in real the most emotional ones"
He knows Aarti though denied her feelings for him in the beginning, has accepted him whole heartedly.
"Real love has little to do with falling. It's a climb up the rocky face of a mountain, hard work, and most people are too selfish or too scared to bother
Very few reach the critical point in their relationship that summons the attention of the light and the dark, that place where they will make a commitment to love no matter what obstacles appear in their path"
~ Stacey Jay, Juliet Immortal
He knows they NK and Aarti, like Arnav-Kushi, Anjali-Anand who have surmounted obstacles, are commited to their love no matter what. He does not need to show it to the world. But he wants to make Aarti feel secure in this relationship, the feeling that she had lacked all her life so far. That is why he declares it to her that he belonged to her!
"He wore the evidence of thinking all over his face, open and easy to read. He had the confidence to show what he was feeling."
~ Lauren Dane, Taking Care of Business
To her question of whether he does not want to tell the world that she is his, his answer tells that he has no such insecure feelings but is confident of her love, commitment and trust.
That is why it is titled SENTIENT!
That's it from me. Hope you enjoy it!
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