Arhi TS: What the....... Just Imagine !! Part 2 on page 17, note pg 26 - Page 12

Garima and Shashi belonged to the middle class family and worked hard to bring up both their sons and provided them with good education and good sanskar.

Gone were the days when boys were just limited to household activities. Times had changed and girls usually preferred well educated boys as their husbands. While Akash chose medical profession and is a pediatrician today, Arnav's dream was to achieve big in the corporate industry.

Apart from education, Shashi and Madhukar made sure that their sons were proficient in cooking and managing household activities efficiently.

The Guptas were very religious too. They took part in the temple activities regularly. Both Akash and Arnav could sing bhajans very well, particularly Arnav.

Arvind Raizada had heard Arnav singing bhajans at the temple and it is during one of these times, he had striked upon the idea of his daughter getting married to this sanskari boy.

Akash's marriage was decided through local contacts three years ago. Payal Sharma's parents had demanded a huge dowry during his wedding. Garima and Shashi had to sell their property in Lucknow to fulfill the demands along with all the money Akash had saved working as a doctor.

Now, the Raizadas were much more affluent than the Sharmas. The Guptas were worried that they might not be able to meet the dowry expectations of the Raizadas. The only property left was their house in Lakshminagar. They did not want to sell this house, but they decided that if need arises they would sell it so that their Arnav would be well settled in life. They also came to a conclusion that they will not disclose this to Arnav as he would not like the idea and call off the marriage.

On the other side of the city, Ratna and Arvind were eagerly waiting for Khushi to come home. Raizadas lived in a large mansion and they called their home as "Shantivan".

At 7 PM Khushi came home. Handing over her laptop bag to Haripriya, she asked for a strong cup of black coffee and sat on the couch rubbing her temples. Ratna and Arvind, seeing their daughter tired, came and sat next to her. Ratna asked her what had caused her a headache today. Khushi told them about the issue at the production unit and about how she and Shyam had a very tough time resolving it. .

As Khushi drank her coffee, Ratna asked Khushi about her opinion on Arnav and the marriage proposal.

Khushi, smiling a little and blushing a little, told her mother that she liked Arnav as he seemed to be a nice person. She said that he was well educated, intelligent and handsome and also she liked his outlook towards life.

Ratna and Arvind felt very happy listening to their daughter's observations and told her that they shared similar views about Arnav's parents and his Mamaji. If Khushi gives her consent, they said, they would go ahead with the marriage proposal.

Khushi, nodding her head, said "yes". Ratna and Arvind hugged their daughter happily and all the three went to Dadiji's room for her blessings.

They also gave Shyam and Anjali the good news. Now Arvind and Devyani eagerly waited for the next day to meet the Guptas and take the proposal forward.

Next day at the temple, the Raizadas and Guptas greeted each other and shared their happiness regarding the positive response from their children.

The Guptas were very happy about the concent from the Raizadas.

The Raizadas invited the Guptas to their house on Sunday morning to talk about the wedding preparations and also decided to have a small havan on that day to celebrate this special occasion.

On Sunday morning, there was excitement and jubilation in both the households.

The Guptas got ready early and left for Shantivan with Garima driving the car. The Guptas took along with them sweets and gifts and Arnav too had made his special Jalebis to be offered to Devi Maiya. Mamaji had clearly instructed Arnav to not forget the ghee for the havan which had to be taken from the boy's house. Payal and Akash accompanied the Guptas too.

In Shantivan, Haripriya and Shantipriya were busy decorating the house with garlands and lights.An elaborate meal was cooked by OmPrakash and JayPrakash under the expert guidance of Arvind Raizada.

Anjali, Shyam and her parents too reached Shantivan along with other close relatives and friends of the Raizadas.

When the Guptas entered the Raizada mansion, Ratna did the arthi for Arnav and asked him to enter the house with his right foot first. The Guptas were very impressed seeing Shantivan in all its grandeur and glory. Ratna and Arvind introduced Arnav and his family to all their relatives and friends.

Once the havan and pooja was done, prasad distribution was followed by lunch. After all the guests had left, Khushi took Arnav to her room. She showed him her palatial room, the pool attached to the bedroom and a small garden around the pool. They both sat at the poolside and shared their plans regarding the marriage and their future life.

Meanwhile, the Guptas thought this was the best time to discuss with the Raizadas, the wedding dates and any dowry demands they may have as the ladkiwale.

The Raizadas immediately stopped the Guptas from talking further, and they said that they were against any kind of Vadhu dakshina and that the marriage expenses could be shared equally between them.

The Raizadas suggested that the in a week's time, they could have the Roka ceremony and within a month the marriage could be done. Guptas were very happy listening to this and agreed to the dates and the condition.

It was decided that the Roka would be done at Raizada mansion. The Mehndi and Sangeeth would be held at Raizada mansion too. The haldi ceremony would take place at the Gupta house and the marriage at The Oberio hotel.

The Guptas could not thank Devi Mayya enough for giving Arnav such good in-laws and such a good home.

Khushi and Arnav too joined the talks of the elders.

Ratna looking at Arnav told him, "Beta, welcome to our family. We are happy to have you as our Damaad. We hope Khushi and you build a happy life together. You know that Khushi is the CEO of the Raizada Industries. For now I am the Chairwoman of the Raizada industries, but in a few years I want to retire and hand over the position to Khushi. I hope you would support her in every way including her professional growth and take care of her personal needs?"

Arnav nodded his head and bent down and touched Ratna's and Arvind's feet and took their blessings.

The week passed quickly with the preparations for the Roka.

On the day of the Roka, there was a continuous ringing of the door bell early in the morning at the Gupta house. Madhukar opened the door and there stood at the door Arnav's childhood friend Kamlesh Khabri .

Madhukar greeted Kamlesh, "Good morning beta, how are you doing? Where were you all these days?"

Kamlesh looked like he was not happy about something and, mumbling that he was out of Delhi, took leave of Mamaji and went to Arnav's room looking for him.

Shashi, seeing Kamlesh heading towards Arnav's room in a foul mood, told Madhukar in a worried tone, "I am concerned about what Kamlesh will try to fill Arnav's mind with, now. I know that his marriage with Preeto was a mistake and her torments led to a bitter divorce. But that does not mean all women are bad and all men are good. I hope Arnav does not come under his influence and change his opinion about this marriage."

Kamlesh entered Arnav's room and closing the door behind him, woke up a sleeping Arnav. He started narrating again, like how he did many times earlier, his bitter experiences regarding marriage, to Arnav. He also told Arnav that he is breaking the promise he had given to Kalmesh that he would never marry.

Arnav corrected Kamlesh by telling him that the promise was that he would marry only if he found a girl who would understand Arnav and his mindset. He had found everything he wished for in a girl, in Khushi , and so he was happy to marry her.

Kamlesh, who after his bitter divorce was always looking for ways to help men facing domestic abuse, was a famous "Men's rights activist" today. Just last night he had come back from Mumbai after taking part in a rally supporting the same cause.

Kamlesh was still not very happy. Arnav calmly asked him to attend the Roka today along with him and decide for himself if Arnav was indeed taking a wrong decision.

Along with the Guptas, their relatives and friends, a not very happy Kamlesh too headed towards Shantivan to attend the Roka of Khushi Singh Raizada with Arnav Kumar Gupta.

Ratna and Arvind welcomed the Guptas with open arms and soon the roka ceremony began. Khushi and Arnav were made to stand next to each other. Ratna applied tika and did arti to both of them. Khushi slid a platinum ring studded with a central diamond on Arnav's fingers and Arnav slid a gold ring studded with ruby on Khushi's finger.

Khushi and Arnav took blessings of the Raizadas, Dadiji and then the Guptas and Mamaji.

Meanwhile Kamlesh was observing everything keenly and was waiting for an opportunity to show Arnav that the Raizadas were the same as other ladkiwale in the society. But he could not find anything wrong with them. Though he was skeptical about this rishta, he decided to keep quiet for some time till he could prove to Arnav that all women were the same.

The one month after the Roka passed quickly. While the elders were busy with the wedding preparations, Khushi and Arnav gradually came close to each other.

Arnav was impressed with Khushi for her intelligence, sense of vision and her hard work and how efficiently she was managing such a large enterprise alone. Arnav fell in love with Khushi's broad mind, her tender heart and her honesty apart from her beauty.

Khushi loved Arnav's sense of humor, his witty behaviour, his smartness and how he could make her smile even when she had a rough day.

In the course of one month, both Khushi and Arnav fell in love with each other deeply and could not wait to start their new life together as wife and husband.

Khushi's constant use of the phrase "what the", whenever she was shocked or surprised amused Arnav a lot. He would sometimes recollect her saying the phrase and smile to himself. His Mamaji looking at Arnav smiling to himself, teased him often, making Arnav blush while Garima and Shashi would have a good laugh.

Khushi visited the Gupta house a couple of times. During her visits, Shashi and Madhukar pampered their "honewali bahu" by preparing dishes which Khushi liked and caring for her like their own daughter.

Khushi too liked her future inlaws a lot and would often gang up with Madhukar to tease Arnav about his love for bollywood movies and his secret crush on Aishwarya Rai.

Arnav had one big desire in his heart, to keep his last name the same even after his marriage. He always thought since his mother had only two sons, it was their duty to carry on her name and her legacy. And when he shared this thought with Khushi, she suggested that he add the Singh Raizada last name to his present last name and this way he could keep both the names. Arnav liked this idea a lot and decided to change his name to Arnav Kumar Gupta Singh Raizada after the wedding.

In this one month, they went out on a lot of dates, dinners and movies. Khushi always surprised Arnav with her well planned romantic dates.

They spent a lot of time on shopping for the pre wedding and wedding accessories and Arnav loved the sherwani which Khushi had selected for him to wear on the wedding day. Khushi's lehenga was designed by a famous designer and Arnav gave his inputs to the designer to enhance its beauty.

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