chapter 1
Aryan walks up the stairs... Slowly heading for his room... Numb... Unable to get over the fact that Aradhya was to become a devdasi tomorrow...
Sitting on the edge of his bed, he stares at the blank wall in front of him... Emotions that were buried deep down... Sleeping in slumber... Roar awake... Outraged... Horrified... Furious...
Battling his emotions, Aryan whispers softly, "I should not care... But I do... Oh, Aru... What have you done!"
Aradhya walks up the stairs... A slight tremor runs across her body... Her inner self demanding an explanation... Outraged over her decision... Scolding, "you once stood against this tradition... You once stood to put an end to it... You once stood to protect others from this tradition... And yet here you are... Agreeing to join this very tradition!"
Tulsi quietly watches her daughter climb the stairs... Her gaze filled with despair as silent tears fall down her cheeks... Her heart filled with sorrow, dread, thinking, "I have been unsuccessful in protecting my daughter... She stands where I once stood."
Turning to Lord Krishna, she pleads silently, "please give my daughter a life different from mine... Please."
Kumudini watches her granddaughter climb the stairs, her eyes gleaming with pleasure over the success of her plan, thinking, "finally the day comes when I shall avenge all my insults... Be ready Pradyumna Rao."
Unable to sleep, Aradhya tosses and turns... Her dreams teasing her... Reminding her that the path she has chosen leads to a place very far away from her desires and wishes. Wiping her tears, she consoles herself, saying, "I don't believe in this tradition. I am only doing this for ajji. It is her dying wish... There is no harm... It won't be for long."
His car parked outside Aradhya's home in the middle of the night, Aryan angrily debates whether to call her or not. Furious, he snaps into his phone, "open the door."
Irritation etched on her features, Aradhya opens the front doors, snapping rudely, "what?"
Grabbing her by her upper arm, Aryan forcefully pushes her inside, shutting the door after him. Pulling her closer to him, his eyes blazing with intensity, he growls, "change your decision."
Staring back with defiance, Aradhya replies, "I will not. How dare you think you can come here and demand..." Aryan interrupts, "change your decision." Her eyes glinting with stubbornness, she replies, "I won't." Furious, Aryan pushes her away from him, afraid that he just might wring her neck over her stubbornness.
Stumbling backwards, Aradhya tries to keep her balance. Aryan walks menacingly towards Aradhya, his gaze ferocious. Slightly scared, for she has never seen him this angry, Aradhya instinctively takes a few steps backwards. "If you think I will let you become like your mother... To use your beauty to steal other people's husbands... You are mistaken," he says harshly, his voice booming loudly, no longer caring.
Her sleep disturbed from the angry voices coming frown downstairs, Tulsi gets out of bed, curios, wondering who could it be and what was happening. She rushes towards the stairs, stopping at the landing as she watches her daughter and Aryan argue.
Angrily, Aradhya retorts, "how dare you? How dare you lay blame..." Ignoring her outrage, Aryan grabs some sindoor from the tray that rests near Lord Krishna's feet, fills Aradhya's maang with a menacing look, saying, "I promised my mother that this tradition will no longer take place in this village." Glaring at her sindoor filled maang, he adds with satisfaction, "and now it will not."
Aradhya stares at Aryan for several seconds as her mind battles to understand what just happened, while her mother says a quick prayer of thanks to Lord Krishna. Sputtering, Aradhya lashes out, "is this some kind of joke. You think by putting sindoor on my forehead means we are married... Just like that... Without my permission."
"Don't really care what you think," Aryan retorts, "all I know is that in Krishna's eyes we are married. I have declared myself in front of Krishna... Should I choose to keep this commitment or not in society is another matter." He turns and walks away, his hand slightly trembling as he replays the event, shocked that he had taken such a step... Making a commitment to marry her in front of God. Driving away he wonders if she would buy his argument, for a married woman cannot become a devadasi.
Tulsi runs down the stairs, calling out, "Aradhya." Surprised, Aradhya exclaims, "mum!" Then continues worriedly, "are you okay? Is everything okay? Why are you awake?" Looking at her wryly, Tulsi replies, "shouldn't it be I asking these questions," as she pointedly looks at the sindoor, asks, "why was Aryan here?"
Huffing, Aradhya begins her tirade, "can you believe it." Rubbing the sindoor, she continues, "he thinks that filling my maang means we are married and hence I can't become a devadasi. As if we are married." Holding her daughter's hand, stopping her from rubbing off the sindoor from her maang, Tulsi says in a quiet voice, "he is right. In Krishna's eyes you are married." Huffing, Aradhya replies, "mum it doesn't work like that... What sort of marriage is this? We hate each other... Our families hate one another." Releasing her hand, Tulsi places her hand in prayer form, bows slightly to Krishna and replies, "Krishna knows best." Silently adding, "thank you Krishna for giving me the means to protect my daughter from this tradition."
Tulsi turns to Aradhya and says, "you are now married. Aryan has declared his intentions in front of Krishna." "But mum," Aradhya argues, "he did this without my permission... I was never given a choice... I cannot accept it." "Accept it you must," Tulsi says sharply as her heart silently adds, "as a devadasi there would be many things you would be forced to do under the name of tradition... Better this."
Edited by angelpureness - 9 years ago
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
