Chapter – 1
One Year Later….Vidhi was worried. "Arti, are you sure? Do you know what you are doing?"
"My heart knows Vidhi – it's the right thing to do" replied Arti as she continued packing her bags. After their graduation, since the hostel shut down, Arti had been staying with Vidhi at her parents' house in Mumbai.
Not satisfied, Vidhi spun Arti around to face her. "What's your hurry? We graduated only a month ago. Prashant is still searching for a job, right?"
Arti nodded, feeling guilty again. She had been selected through campus interviews and was scheduled to join her new job in Delhi; but Prashant did not have a job offer, not yet anyway.
"So what do you plan to do about your job offer? Your start date is next week" Vidhi cajoled, dredging up any argument she could think of to stop Arti from forcing Prashant to marry her.
"I know. We will get married now, I will join next week. And once Prashant gets a job we can figure out what to do" Arti replied turning back towards her bags.
Feeling desperate now, Vidhi dragged her friend towards the window. She forced Arti to sit on the window-seat and knelt in front of her.
Holding Arti's hands tight, Vidhi asked gently "What's going on Arti? Has Prashant said something….did he do anything? What is the big hurry here? Why must you propose to him tonight, why must you marry him this week itself? Why don't you give yourself some time?"
Unable to meet her friend's eyes, Arti looked down "Prashant had asked me to marry him a few days back and I….I agreed. But…."
"But what?" Vidhi prompted, a chill entering her heart.
"We….we made love Vidhi" Arti whispered, finally looking up, straight into Vidhi's eyes. With shining eyes she added "I didn't mean to, but it happened. And you know….it felt so right. I don't regret it. But…."
Vidhi waited…her heart clenching.
"He is leaving tonight, back to Indore, back to his parents. What if he never comes back to me? No Vidhi, I am going to go to Indore with him, meet his parents and we will get married" Arti said with determination. "I can't lose him……I love him."
"You will not go alone to meet him Arti" Vidhi was equally determined. "I will come with you."
"You can't" Arti was shocked. "Your
rishta is coming today, na? How can you go?"
"You are not going by yourself – that's final." When Vidhi got like this not even her parents could budge her.
Finally it was Suneeta who went with Arti to Prashant's PG accommodations.
"Arti! What are you doing here?" Prashant exclaimed.
"Coming with you to Indore" Arti replied calmly as she walked into his room, Suneeta following behind her.
"What!?!"
Suneeta cringed internally as she saw Prashant's horrified expression.
Arti turned to face him "Yes. You asked me to marry you, I agreed. You made me yours – now its time to take me to meet your parents and get married. Don't you agree?"
"Uh…yes, yes of course. But, Arti so suddenly? My parents don't know about us" Prashant said, his anxiety and desperation coming through clearly to the two women in the room.
"What better way to find out?" Arti replied, letting a hint of steel enter her voice.
She was so afraid….so desperately afraid. What if he did not want her? What if he walked away? Just like her parents had – whoever they were? "Come on, let's go" added Arti.
Suddenly Prashant's face cleared.
It will be ok – Ma would agree. Prashant was sure of that – his mother had always supported him. And he really did love Arti. He nodded. "Let's go home." Suneeta sighed as the train took off. She had been so worried….just like Vidhi she had been unsure of Prashant. But he had come through. And Arti would finally find a home.
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Prashant tensed as the train entered Indore station. Before they had left Mumbai he had managed to call home and had told his mother he was bringing a guest home, the girl he wanted to marry. A stunned silence had greeted his words. But at least his parents' had had one night's warning.
Arti was nervous, very nervous.
Meeting Prashant's parents was way more stressful than a job interview…
Prashant got down from the train and turned to help Arti down. Collecting the bags they turned to the platform. He saw his parents hurrying towards them through the jostling crowd, anxiety writ large on their faces.
"Ma, Bauji" Prashant greeted them. Dropping the bags on the platform floor, he bent down to touch their feet. "This is Arti".
Arti bent and took their
aashirwaad as well.
"Jeete raho" Shobha, Prashant's mother said as Arti took her blessings while his father smiled at her and nodded his head.
No one spoke during the drive to Prashant's house. The silence, fraught with tension was unnerving for Arti.
Had she made a mistake in coming? Shobha showed Arti her room. Leaving her to freshen up, Shobha went to prepare lunch.
"Can I help you Aunty?
Looking up Shobha saw Arti standing at the doorway to the kitchen, nervously twisting her
dupatta in her fingers. She smiled and nodded at the girl.
"Do you know how to cook?" she asked as she passed the platter of vegetables to Arti to cut.
"Just
khichdi – but I can make that quite well" Arti said nervously.
Shobha smiled to herself. The girl's honest answer with its positive spin towards herself was quite endearing.
"What is your name
beta?" she asked as she kneaded the dough for the
roti.
"Arti".
"I know that. What is your family name?"
Arti stopped cutting the vegetables and looked up at Shobha. She was surprised to see the pain in the girl's eyes. "I….I don't have a family name. I am an orphan. When we were enrolled in school we were all given the name 'Sharma' – because it was an anagram of the word 'ashram'". As tears filled her eyes, Arti bent down to cut the vegetables.
Suddenly the knife was taken from her hands and she saw Shobha push the vegetables away. Shobha placed her fingers under Arti's chin, gently pushing her face upwards till their eyes met. "Do you love Prashant?"
"Yes" Arti whispered.
Shobha looked into her eyes – Arti felt as if she was staring into her very soul. After what felt like an eternity, Shobha nodded her head.
"Come, let's finish making lunch" she said as she turned back to the stove. "Shobha! Arti is not a dog that you can just take her in" Prashant's Bauji, Satyendra exclaimed. It was much later in the afternoon and the elderly couple was resting in their room while Prashant and Arti were in the garden outside.
"I know
Ji. If it were a question of a dog we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?" Shobha took in all the stray animals in their colony. "Arti is a girl – so much more precious don't you think? What is her fault if she is an orphan? And they both do love each other."
"And how are you so sure of this after a few hours?" Satyendra asked.
"Don't you know your own son? You can see how he looks at her. Yes, he loves her" Shobha nodded to herself. "And Arti loves him too – perhaps more than he loves her, perhaps because she is an orphan and needs someone to love".
Satyendra shook his head though he knew he would lose this battle. "You want an orphan for a
bahu?"
"Did she choose to be one?" Shobha retorted.
"No. But we don't have to choose her for our son" Satyendra exclaimed.
"Except that they both do love each other. Let them be happy. She is a nice girl, she will make him happy" Shobha said, looking at her husband with determination.
He sighed. He knew his wife's love for weaklings and the underdog and she saw Arti as one now. But it was true that Prashant was enamored of this girl. And he could not deny that she was a nice girl. So….he nodded. "Ok. But find out more about her."
Shobha smiled "Of course I will. I am going to talk to her before I say anything to them." "Prashant, I need to call Vidhi, let her know I have reached safely."
Prashant felt a bit irritated. He had always sensed Vidhi's distrust of him and now, when he and Arti were finally at his parents' house, awaiting their decision, she wanted to talk to Vidhi!!!
"Can't it wait? Perhaps later tonight?"
Arti nodded, "Ok." She sighed and sat back, twisting her
dupatta in her fingers. Suddenly she felt Prashant's fingers close over hers.
"Nervous?" he asked, gently taking her by the chin and lifting her face to his.
She nodded.
"Don't be. It will be all right. They like you" he said.
"How do you know?" Arti asked, barely able to hide the eagerness in her voice.
He smiled "I know my parents."
Just then Shobha called them in for
chai. After tea Shobha took Arti into her room. Making her sit on the bed, she sat next to the girl. "So, tell me about yourself."
"There isn't anything to tell Aunty. I grew up in the ashram in Mumbai, went to school and college there" Arti said, her mind a blank.
"Prashant told me a little bit about you. You were very well liked in college" Shobha probed.
Arti smiled at that. "I had very good friends. And then, I had Vidhi".
"Who's that?" Shobha asked.
"Vidhi and I have been friends since school-days. She is my best friend, my sister. We went to school together, college together…." Arti petered off.
"And?" Shobha asked gently, wanting to know more about this girl who was to wed her son.
"During summer vacations, Vidhi's parents would let me come to their house. I would spend the whole day there. Sometimes, when they went on picnics or movies, they would take me. It's the only home I have known" Arti said, smiling at her memories.
Shobha's eyes teared at the girl's definition of a home.
"Where is Vidhi now?" Shobha asked.
"In Mumbai. In fact" Arti turned to look at her "I have to call her to let her know I have arrived safely. I was staying with her and she will be worried."
Shobha nodded "Of course. You can call from here, later in the evening."
Shobha and Arti spent the next few hours together. Shobha wanted to know more about her, her likes-dislikes, habits, personality. Arti wanted to hear about Prashant and his childhood.
After dinner, Shobha and Satyendra called the younger couple and blessed them. "We know you both love each other, will keep each other happy. You have our blessings for the marriage."
"Arti" Shobha continued, turning to the girl, "a wedding cannot be arranged in a hurry. I know you have to join your job next week. We will make arrangements for an engagement before you leave and Prahsant's Bauji will meet the
pandit for the marriage date tomorrow morning."
Prashant clasped Arti's hand tightly "Thank you, Ma-Bauji" he exclaimed. As Arti bent to touch her feet, Shobha pulled her in for a hug. Later that night Arti cradled the phone in the nook of her neck as she called Vidhi.
"Arti! Where are you? I have been so worried?" Vidhi exclaimed.
"I am fine, we reached this morning. And Vidhi – congratulate me" Arti said smiling into the phone.
"You are married!!!" shrieked Vidhi.
"No, not yet. But his parents have accepted me. We are going to get engaged before I leave for Delhi and get married as soon as they get a marriage date finalized" Arti filled in her friend.
She could hear Vidhi's deep sigh at the other end. "Congratulations! I am so happy for you."
"What about you? What happened to that
rishta that came for you?" asked Arti.
"Well…..do you know who he is? Pankaj Scindia! Remember Yash and Arpita from college? He is Yash's older brother" Vidhi laughed. She had been so amused when she found out and had been dying to share it with Arti.
Arti grinned, sharing her friend's amusement silently. "Well, do you like him? I am sure they like you."
She could almost feel Vidhi's blush at the other end as she replied, "They did call today and said yes."
"Yes!! I knew it!" Arti exclaimed in glee. "But you didn't answer me. What about you? Do you like him
?"
Vidhi replied "He is so serious Arti. You know, he agreed to get married only because Yash forced him. He said, he won't marry till his elder brother does, and Yash-Arpita are engaged already. So, Pankaj-ji had to finally give in and agree."
"And how do you know this?" Arti asked.
"He told me. Can you imagine? But he was sweet about it – it seems I was the first girl he 'saw'" Vidhi replied.
"And he went
lattu over you" Arti teased. "Do you like him?"
Vidhi said "He is serious Arti, but he seemed so….so caring. He was so courteous, nice. And you know, financially they are better off than we are, but it made no difference in his behavior and attitude. Everyone at home liked him you know."
"But what about you? Do you like him Vidhi?
Apne dil se pooch – your heart knows."
After the briefest of pauses Vidhi said "I think I do."
"Wonderful!!
Chalo – we will get married at the same time too" Arti said happily.
The two friends smiled as they hung up after a few minutes. They had done everything together, and now they were going to get married together too!
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Shiv Shakti
