"She's too young."
"She will be fine."
"She doesn't know the world."
"She has a loving family."
"What if he treats her badly?"
"He worships the ground she walks on."
"What will I do without her?"
"She's not going forever. They will visit, so will we."
"She's too young. "
"You already said that."
It was the night before their daughters' wedding. Aanchal Singh Raizada was getting married to the love of her life Rahul Bhatia. She was 22 years old and had met Rahul at college. They had been inseparable since. Khushi had always loved the boy and had showered him with a lot of love and affection. Arnav, well he had been weary of the boy ever since Khushi told him she thought Aanchal had feelings for him.
Rahul had received a scholarship from London School of Economics to do his masters in finance and Aanchal had been forlorn at the prospect of them being apart. Rahul had suggested they get married and she could pursue her medical residency in a hospital in the UK. Khushi had whole heartedly supported the idea. Arnav hated the idea.
He had begrudgingly agreed to the wedding, not that he had much of a choice. Aanchal was a perfect combination of her mum and dad so there was no way he could win an argument with her. What Aanchal wanted. She got. Plus this time, even Khushi was on her side!
"Stop worrying and go to sleep." Khushi moved his head from her lap onto his pillow, pecked his lips softly and settled into sleep herself.
Arnav hadn't slept in a week. His daughters childhood kept flashing in his mind. How she had grown up so quickly was beyond him. His eyes misted over as he remembered the first time the doctor placed the wailing baby in his arms"Congratulations, It's a girl" the doctor had said. Khushi had barely any energy left to hold the child after an excruciatingly long labour. He had decided against having any more children after watching the pain Khushi suffered in labour. He had cut the cord between mother and child himself.
He remembered how they had named her. They had received hundreds of suggestions for names from family and friends, none appealing Arnav. Khushi had become totally disgruntled with her husband and his indecisiveness. One afternoon Arnav had walked into his room to find his wife and daughter fast asleep. He could vividly remember the complete serenity in his wife's face. Motherhood really suited her. She lay on her side with his daughter by her side. The baby was also asleep, her rosy cheeks nestled into her mothers' bosom. Her baby hands grasping tightly around her mother's aanchal. "Khushi, meet Aanchal Singh Raizada!"
Arnav got up and walked to the poolside. He thought of his daughters first steps, her first fall and how that had shattered him for a second. Her first day at school and how Khushi had cried a river. He had been so amused then. "You won't understand. My baby is growing up too fast Arnav. School today, college tomorrow and before we know it she will be married" He had laughed at her then. Now he could see how right she was.
He smiled when he thought about all the antics his daughter got up to. He remembered their family trip to Disneyland and how her eyes had lit up at meeting Mickey Mouse. He then remembered how Khushi had also become a child in that trip. She had never seen anything like it before and it was like she was inside a dream.
He thought of when Aanchal announced that she didn't want to join the business but wanted to study medicine instead. He had to give it to his daughter that she pursued and achieved every dream with a passion. She was a good girl. She was loved and cherished.
He thought of how she had announced her decision to marry Rahul.
"Papa I love him. Don't you see that?"
"You are too young to understand love. And he isn't good enough for you."
"Papa in your eyes no one will ever be good enough for me. But for me, Rahul is perfect. Sure he has his flaws, but I do too."
"NO. I will not allow this."
"Papa, I will always be your baby-doll. That will never change. Don't you remember what it was like when you fell in love with Amma?"
"That was different. I had AR industries! And he hasn't finished studying yet!"
"He is going to grad-school Papa. I will work too! And when Amma was my age, I was already 2 years old!"
It was a losing argument. He had walked off. Khushi had found him by his plants.
"You know, Aanchal is like a caterpillar." She sat in his lap circling her arms around his neck, looking lovingly into his eyes.
"what the..!"
She giggled. "hmmm, a caterpillar. And she has been in the cocoon of our love for so many years. Not just ours Arnav but the whole family. And now finally she is ready. She has transformed within that cocoon into a beautiful butterfly. She is ready to spread her wings and fly."
"You are the most amazing woman in the world. You know that?"
He had watched how over the weeks an excited mother and daughter planned the wedding. His wife, who never spent a single cent that wasn't necessary, something about her he loved yet was irked by, had given his credit card such a workout that his accountant had called up in complete panic.
"Di its going to be so much fun! I want Aanchal to have the best wedding in the whole world. Has to be fit for a princess. We will have the wedding at Sheesh Mahal. And Di, what do you think of bands? Aanchal loves Junoon, do you think they will be available in such short notice?" Khushi was talking at a million miles a second. Anjali and Payal had laughted and tried to calm her down, but there was no stopping her. But Khushi just wanted to give Aanchal everything she never got.
Arnav climbed back into bed and held his wife tightly, nuzzling into her neck and she murmured in her sleep and slowly he fell into a slumber.
***
"So...? Say something Papa!"
"I think your Papa for the first time in his life is speechless! You look gorgeous" Akash laughed and placed his hand on the bride's head.
"Thanks Chachu. Thank you for designing the lehenga." Aanchal stood in an exquisite antique gold lehenga with a blood red dupatta. The lehenga was studded with kundan, Swarovski and polkis.
"You look...you look" Arnav swallowed hard, "like a fairy-tale princess ready to meet her Prince."
"Oh Papa! I love you!" she flung her arms around his neck.
"Can I tell you something?"
"hmmm..?"
"I am a little nervous!"
"Baby-doll, we can still call it off!"
"ARNAV!" Khushi came in hearing the last bit of the father-daughter conversation. She then turned to her daughter, taking her hands in her own, squeezing them in reassurance. "Sweetheart its completely natural to be nervous. Its exciting, you are embarking on a beautiful journey and there will be ups and downs and its like a most exhilarating roller-coaster ride. But today is about you... and only you - Enjoy this day and cherish day." She kissed her daughters forehead as Arnav looked on.
"Were you nervous too?"
"I was petrified." Khushi laughed. They had not told Aanchal about their initial wedding, the 6 month fiasco. It was something the whole family had wanted to forget. Aanchal only knew that her parents had eloped on the day of her Chacha and Chachi's wedding. A concept she found most romantic.
***
"Its beautiful you know." Arnav came from behind Khushi hugging her waist. She had just finished adding some final touches to the mandap. She had insisted on decorating the mandap herself.
"Arnav let go. Koi dekh lega!" she tried to wriggle away.
"Khushi, I am sorry."
She looked up and craned her neck to look at him
"For?"
"You were 19 when we got married. And even though I always felt bad about how it happened, I only just realised it fully. I realise now what a wedding means to a girl. You were younger than Aanchal is. You had the same hopes, dreams, aspirations, expectations and I shattered everything so formidably! I worry about Rahul... yet I was the biggest monster in the whole world. I love you Khushi and from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry darling."
Khushi reached up and wiped off his tears. "Apko yaad hai maine aapko kaha tha ke humara kismat devi maiya haat pakad ke likhwati hai?" [remember how i told you that devi-maiyya holds our hands and writes our destiny?]
"hmmm...?"
"Main galat thi. Haan devi maiyaa haat zorroor pakadti hai, per apni zindagi ke panno mein jo lafz hum likhte hai woh humari khud ki hai. Aur humari zindagi ki kahani" she pointed at both their hearts, "humne milkar lafz bhare hai. Kuch khatti, kuch meethi, per jo bhi hai, hai to humari na? Aur chalte chalte kuch dukh bhari yaadein bhi humne khushiyon ki rang mein dhal diya."[i was wrong. Sure devi maiyya holds our hands as we write into the book of our lives, but the words are our own. And in our life, we wrote the words together. Some sweet, some not so, but they are our own. And along the way we re-coloured some of the darker memories and changed them]
"I am crazy about you Khushi Singh Raizada" he tightened his grip around her slender waist and swooped down to kiss her neck.
She giggled "kuch to sharam kijiye, beti ki shaadi hai!"
[have a little shame, it is your daughters wedding!]
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
Advocate Anjali Awasthi
