"She'll not be able to walk ever in her life.."
The doctor's words reverberated in her ears, as her eyes become watery, yet again. Everything was perfect just a while ago, then all of a sudden, an accident cruelly destroyed her dreams. The dreams she had seen with her sister, Payal, seemed to crash right before her eyes. The dreams of walking miles with her future husband; the dreams of dropping her kids to school every morning, running all around the house to search for their stuff... nothing would happen, ever.
"Di are you ready?" her sister's voice put a halt to her depressing thoughts and she quickly wiped her tears and picked up the eye liner from the dressing table.
"Payal, I don't want to meet them.. I can't bear papa's pain anymore now," she softly whimpered, trying hard to not to cry and spoil her freshly done makeup. "Be positive, Di. These people are from a good family.. I'm sure they'll understand.." Payal took her sister's face in her palms and rubbed the corners of her eyes to wipe out the tears.~He fixed a gray tie around his neck and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had finally agreed to get married, making his Anjali Di shed tears of happiness every day. His nani was too elated to discuss nothing but about his marriage and his mami had already started making lists of the make up items she would be needing for every occasion. The whole Raizada family were in search of a sundar-susheel bahu for their chhote, and were trying their every bit to find a suitable girl. "Arrey wah, chhote, you look really handsome!" Anjali cupped her brother's cheek and wiped a speck of kohl from her eyes and pressed the finger behind his ear."Di, I have this dress code daily since last three years! What's new?" He chuckled at the overemotional behaviour of his sister and walked to the dining table. Excited shadowed the whole family. They all were going to see a girl for their chhote. Some distant relative of theirs had suggested the girl's name; so without wasting a bit of time, they were ready to meet the girl, for whom they heard nothing but words of praise.~The doorbell to the Gupta House rang and Shashi Gupta opened the door, holding a soft smile on his lips. "Namaste" he greeted everyone along with his wife, Garima, and made them get seated in their small living room."He's our chhote" Anjali started but stopped midway as she felt his angry gaze on her; clearing her throat a bit, she continued, "I mean our Arnav."Arnav smiled and folded his hands in a gesture of respect, receiving a similar response from the other side. After talking to Arnav about some general things and feeling satisfied, Garima told Payal to bring her sister in the living room from her bedroom. Shashi's eyes lowered and he let out a troubled sigh, closing his eyes for a second to compose himself. An inaudible gasp escaped Arnav's lips as he saw Payal pushing a wheelchair out towards the room in which they were seated, on which a girl sat. A peach colored anarkali complimented her fair skin and her black silky hair swayed as the wheelchair was pushed further. Shashi and Garima saw Anjali and Nani share a tensed look, and Nani pressed Manorama mami's hand to shut her up, even before she could speak something. "She is our Khushi bitiya," Shashi's voice softened, and his eyes again lowered."How did this happen?" Nani asked looking in direction of Shashi, then Garima and then Khushi."Ji woh..." Shashi started and glanced at Khushi."Papa," Khushi nodded her head slightly, signalling her father to not to feel weak because of her. She cleared her throat and looked at Arnav once, before speaking, "I met with an accident three months ago. The doctors said that both my legs had multiple fractures, and I would never be able to walk again.. ever."Arnav could feel the pain in her voice, and felt sorry.Khushi looked at her parents, who had their heads bowed down, and felt pain seeping inside her, again. This was the third family that had come to see her for marriage, and she had already been rejected two times, harshly. Her father had started to worry about her and she felt guilty, since her little sister too was on the list.After a minute of awkward silence, Arnav stood up, making Shashi close his eyes is despair, anticipating a clear rejection, while Khushi couldn't hold back her tears. "Can I talk to her in person?" His request shocked the whole of the Gupta family, and he just smiled a bit.Payal nodded her head at Garima's signal, and held Khushi's wheelchair to take her to the room, only to be stopped by Arnav. He moved forward and gently pushed the wheelchair to the adjacent room.~"Khushi" his husky voice shuddered her, as he closed the door slightly behind him and walked in front of her. "Why are you crying?" He knelt down in front of her and placed his hands over her knees."If you are doing this out of sympathy, then please..." she tried to control her low sobs, but couldn't. "No. I'm not doing this out of sympathy. I sympathise with those people who are weak and can't do anything on their own; but you are not weak. You are strong enough to manage your life on your own," he spoke in a soft tone, feeling her sobs lower down."They called me names. They taunted my parents that I've become a burden on them for the rest of their lives, because no family will want to have their bahu as a girl who can't walk.." She choked on the last words, bursting into tears yet again."The families who rejected you are those who care about what people say, rather than caring about the etiquette's of the girl coming to adorn their family" he said in a softer voice, looking intensely in her eyes, "and I think this doesn't even matter to me, or my family. Even my Di limps, people still say bad things about her, but who cares. People will say b*llshit, but you will hear them if you give your ears to them!"Her eyes dug into his, and she swallowed back her tears, not wanting to cry more. It seemed her Devi Maiyya had finally blessed her and her family, with an amount of happiness, which couldn't be thanked enough for. "I want to share your life," he smiled softly, making her smile hard through her teary eyes, "Will you marry me?"Her insides screamed with happiness.She just nodded her head in a 'yes' and felt him wipe off her tears and speak, "To me, you're perfect!" and he placed a lingering kiss on her forehead.And at that very moment, she realised that her Prince Charming existed and she was his princess.~The Raizadas and the Guptas sat discussing more about Khushi, when they saw Arnav and Khushi come back to the living room. Arnav held a stern smile while Khushi still tried to gather all the happiness showered by the heavens. "Chhote.." Anjali stood up, looking at Arnav with expecting eyes. "Di, it's a yes. I am ready to make Khushi my wife," he spoke, looking at each of the member present there, finally setting his gaze over Khushi. It took a minute for Shashi, Garima and Payal to register what Arnav just said and they too stood up on their respective seats. "Arnav beta?" Shashi tried to be sure of Arnav's decision, he being unsure that this was happening for real.
"Yes, uncle. I really like Khushi and would love to have her in my life, as my second-half!" Arnav answered with more zest, touching Khushi's shoulders.Every glance at Arnav, would bubble an extremely emotional feeling inside her and they both would together smile at the perfection of their love, which became perfect after looking above the imperfections.
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Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
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