ArYa FF: Dil Jaanta Hai - Thread 1 (chapt 1-10) - Page 95

It was the day of the much-awaited nikaah of the Khan-family's laadli with the stalwart of the Ansari khandaan. Zoya and Ammi had insisted Arti come early to the venue - to help Zoya get ready they said.

As Arti paid off the auto, she smiled reminiscently. She was not the one who could dress up brides. That was Vidhi - she could make any one look pretty, even Arti. And Zoya was so pretty - cute as a button. If only Vidhi were here...

Arti turned and a whistle left her lips. The venue was gorgeous. No surprise there since the Scindias were managing. But what was it with her friends? Why did they all want opulent venues? Vidhi had a palace and Zoya - a replica of Red Fort! Shaking her head at her friend's choice and grinning to herself, Arti walked inside briskly.

And of course the first person she encountered was Mr. Yash Scindia. "Oh!" she exclaimed, as she stopped herself just in time from banging straight into him. And "Oh!" again, as she recognized him.

"Oh...uh... Namaste Artiji", Yash said. The embarrassment he had felt since the last time they met came flooding back, staining his cheeks a bright red.

Arti noticed the spreading red and her lips quirked. Curbing her instinct to laugh, she said instead, "Namaste Yashji. The venue is...beautiful."

Yash looked around, as if seeing it for the first time. "Thank you, Artiji. It's a bit much - but then this is what Zoyaji wanted" he nearly apologized, wondering at the same time why he felt the need to do so.

Arti laughed out then. "Yes, I can well imagine she did. But it's amazing you managed to pull it off in such a short time."

Yash inclined his head, accepting her compliment. He still had to thank her for that morning...how to begin...As Arti started to leave, he cleared his throat, "Uh...Artiji?"

She stopped and looked at him enquiringly.

Darn it. This was so embarrassing..."Umm...Artiji...I...I wanted to..." Yash stumbled over his words, embarrassment making him tongue-tied.

"What is it Yashji?" Arti asked gently, getting an inkling of what was troubling him.

Taking a deep breath, Yash plunged in, "Artiji, I wanted to thank you for your help that morning."

Not knowing how to respond, Arti just nodded and hurried away inside.

She went up the stairs to the room meant for the dulhan. The voices could be heard till outside, laughing, teasing, joking. The happy sounds brought a bubble of joy to her and with a wide smile, Arti pushed the door open.

Zoya was sitting in front of the mirror, Ayesha standing next to her. The bride was bedecked with jewelry, the muted gold-weave sharara-choli Zoya had chosen turning her slender frame into a golden statuette. Zoya saw Arti in the mirror and turned to her excitedly, "Arti! How do I look?"

"Beautiful" Arti stated simply.

Ayesha moved slightly and the lady who had been standing right next to her, peeped over her shoulders at Arti.

"Vidhi!" exclaimed a shocked Arti.

Grinning widely, Vidhi rushed to Arti and hugged her. Zoya and Ayesha exchanged smiles and came up to them as well.

Breaking from the hug, Vidhi explained, "Aana hi pada. Our Zoya is quite an accomplished emotional black-mailer. She insisted we come, insisted we meet before she got married."

"Aur nahin toh kya? Who knows whether we could meet after my marriage or not. Nahin nahin, we had to meet. And I am delighted you agreed and came" Zoya added.

Vidhi laughed, "You talk as if you are going away to a different country or something. You will still be here in Delhi."

"Huh! I feel like I will be going to a different planet" Zoya exclaimed.

Jut them Ammi came in. Seeing Arti she broke into a smile and came over to her. Holding Arti's face in her hands, she kissed her forehead. "Aa gayi meri beti. Aur bahut acche samaye pe aayi. Chalo, get ready now".

Vidhi went with Arti behind the cloth shutters that were being used to cordon off a small section of the room. Arti opened the bag she was carrying and took out the lehenga-choli Sunaina had gifted her on Vidhi's marriage. She rarely wore dark colours anymore, preferring pale shades and pastels, subconsciously bowing down to the tradition of widows not wearing colored clothes. But this dress was a favourite and Zoya had insisted she wear something bright. The dress still fit her well, though she was thinner now - the colour and cut set off her bone-deep beauty and culled out the self-confidence that lay hidden within her. Even then she had hesitated last night, unsure if she should really wear it again. But then she had held the dress against her and seen her reflection in the mirror. She had seen a reflection of the happy girl she used to be and a hint of the woman she had promised herself she would become.

Vidhi recognized the dress and smiled happily. Without words, she felt the emotions and change, recognized the shift in Arti's attitude that this deep burgundy dress represented. As they had done countless times earlier, Vidhi helped Arti dress, quietly insisting on a light makeup that brightened her face, ending with her trademark - the hand-drawn bindi.

Soon enough Ammi called out to everyone. It was time and she ushered everyone out as the kaazi waited to read the nikaah-nama.

Arti and Vidhi were among the last to leave, going out hand-in-hand.

"Did you come alone?" Arti asked as they walked towards the stairs.

"Actually the whole family is here. Bauji had some work here so when Zoya invited all of us, we combined business with pleasure" Vidhi said.

"So...Ansh is here too?" Arti asked, holding her breath.

Vidhi smiled, "Yes, your jaan is here. Want to meet him?" she teased.

It was Arti's turn to smile, "Of course I do! He must have grown so much. Where is he?"

Vidhi took Arti downstairs. The majority of the guests were yet to arrive - only family and close friends had been invited at the time of the actual nikaah. Nearly all the guests present knew Arti and they had to stop frequently to chat to people before they could reach Vidhi's family.

Finally they reached their destination and Vidhi called softly, "Mummyji!"

Arti saw a tall, stately...regal lady turn towards them. Her large dark eyes and high cheekbones lay testimony to the beauty she must have been in her youth - a beauty that was still evident, though there were fine wrinkles near her eyes now. Her face was stern in repose but as soon as she saw them she smiled, a warm welcoming smile that lit her eyes and shone out kindliness.

"Mummyji, this is Arti" Vidhi introduced them.

Gayatri saw a beautiful young woman dressed in a gorgeous lehenga-choli smile at her. She had lovely hair which fell past her shoulders in a straight line, the ends curling up and a teaser bang brushing her cheek lovingly. Her eyes were large, black and filled with an emotion that Gayatri could not quite read. She looked...charming, thought Gayatri to herself and her smile touched the older lady deep in her heart.

As Arti bent to touch her feet, Gayatri blessed her, "Saubhagyavati bhava" (may you always be married/never be a widow). Just then the shehenayi played out, signifying that the bride and groom were now married and the nikaah had been successfully completed.

Arti stilled in shock, still at Gayatri's feet. A sharp intake of breath, audible despite the shehenayi pulled Gayatri's eyes towards Vidhi. It was only when she saw the horrified expression on Vidhi's face did Gayatri realize what she had done. She had blessed a widow to be never cursed with widow-hood! She closed her eyes feeling the stinging pain her words must have inflicted on Arti. She knew about Arti, had heard so much about her from Vidhi, had even seen their childhood and college pictures. She somehow had not connected that happy girl in the pictures with the somber young woman Vidhi had introduced, at least not immediately.

She bent down and holding Arti by the shoulders pulled her up. Arti continued to look down, her hair helping to hide her face, unable to find the strength to look up and meet the eyes of the woman in front of her. Flushing with guilt, Gayatri gently tipped Arti's face up and tucked the strands of hair behind her ear. "Beta. Forgive me. For a moment I had forgotten. I...I did not mean to hurt you. I am so very sorry, can you forgive me?"

Swallowing the pain and tears that threatened to engulf her Arti whispered, "Its ok Auntyji".

It was not ok thought all three women simultaneously but what could they do but ignore it and move on?

Vidhi took charge and changed the topic, "Mummyji, where is Ansh? Arti wanted to meet him".

"Pankaj has him. Payal wanted to play with some of the children, so Pankaj took them both over" and Gayatri pointed out to a group of children clustered around one end of the grounds.

As Arti left with Vidhi, she turned and did a quick Namaste to Gayatri. The older woman returned the salutation, the guilt flooding her again. She was so used to giving that blessing to Vidhi every morning, it just slipped out. But...she should have been more careful. That poor girl must have hurt so much...she sighed to herself, wishing she could do something to assuage the pain she had unknowingly inflicted.

Arti and Vidhi went up to where Pankaj was standing, holding on to a straining Ansh. The unequal tug-of-war dispelled the gloom the two women had been under and they burst out laughing. Pankaj turned at the sound and grinned seeing his wife and Arti.

Ansh turned to look at them and Arti's breath caught. She would have recognized him anywhere. He still had the same face - the same look of charming innocence, with eyes glinting in mischief. He was even wearing the sherwani she had gifted him! He gave them a toothy smile and Arti caught a glimpse of his two front teeth.

She turned to Vidhi, her eyes shining, "Kitna bada ho gaya hai. And he has teeth now!"

She knelt down in front of the little boy and held out her hand, "Hello Ansh."

He looked at her directly then, consideringly, and then looked up at Pankaj. At his uncle's slight nod, he put his hand into Arti's. She lifted him and pulled him to her for a hug. The 9-month old hugged her back and she felt a sense of peace and joy that had been missing for a long time.

Just then Payal came running up to her parents. Vidhi caught her before she barreled into them and lifted her up. "See who is here" she said, pointing at Arti.

"Arti Maasi!" the four-year old shrieked and scrambled down from Vidhi's hold. She rushed over to her Maasi and hugged her, squashing Ansh in between them. The baby yowled in protest and kicked at her. Payal dodged and laughed at him, "Silly baby!"

Then grabbing Arti with one hand and Vidhi with the other, Payal dragged them along. "You must come and see this!"

"Wait, wait a minute" the two exclaimed. Arti picked up Ansh with one arm and then held Payal's waiting hand with her other.

Payal skipped along between the two women, who couldn't help but smile at her antics. As they exchanged smiles, Suraj Pratap came up to Gayatri and she pointed them out to her husband. He was surprised seeing a strange woman hold Ansh, even more surprised to see that Ansh let her hold him since he generally refused to go to anyone but the immediate family. Then he recognized the smiling woman as Vidhi's friend.

Payal skittered to a halt in front of the doll-house that the children had been building. It was the first time Arti had seen it in the venue. She knew it had been picked up a couple of days ago and now she saw how Yash had made it into the centerpiece of the entire shamiayana. The two feet structure sat atop a small stage all its own. Lights had been strung up in such a way to guide one's eyes towards it. The soft light fell on the open doll-house, lighting up all the intricate carving and tiny details. There was a crowd gathered around the stage, the adults praising the work while the children gaped. Yash had built a discrete railing around the stage, enough to prevent anyone from climbing up there but not blocking the view of the doll-house. In proud bold lettering that Arti immediately recognized as Deepak's calligraphy, the label read "Zoya-Ahmed Residence: Filled with love and laughter".

Arti's eyes filled with happy tears now, a sense of pride in her children overwhelming her.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Arti. There was so much to do, greeting the guests as they arrived for dinner as well as playing with Payal, Ansh and the children from the orphanage. By the time Zoya's family dropped her home, it was breaking dawn. Arti collapsed on her bed, too tired to change and slept. And dreamt...

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Hi There,

First of all: a huge big THANK YOU to Naureen and Sharmeen for all their help with the nikaah details. Ladies, this part would have been impossible to write without your help.
All errors are mine and mine alone.

I do know a shehenayi wouldn't have been played - but consider it a Yash Scindia touch to let the waiting crowd know that Zoya really did say "qubool hai" to her Ahmed 😉.

And if i hurt any one's sensibilities - my profoundest apologies. I had no intention of hurting any one.

Thank you so much for reading. Do me a favour please - post comments, even one-liners to hit the 150-pg mark so i can open the next thread. I know i can't fit the rest of the story in one last part (probably need 10 more - aarghh) - so help me out here friends!

Thank you for sticking with us and hope you enjoyed the ride thus far,

Kat