Part 1
"Hume Riddhima pasand hai aur hum usse apni ghar ki bahu banana chathe hain," said Balwinder Mallik.Everyone's face brightens when they heard those words coming from the richest man in their village.No one ever thought that they would be proposed for this but when they found out, they fixed the date to meet with them and here they are."Aap ka bohut shukriya," said Shashank Gupta, the father of the bride."Isme shukriya ki kya baat hai?Hume Riddhima pasand aur usko bahu banana chathe hain aur phir humari bete ki bhi toh umar ho gayi shaadi ki," Balwinder said.Shashank smiles and looks at hi daughter.He sits next to her and puts his hand on her head.She turns her head and looks at her father."Riddhima beta, tum khush ho?" Shashank asks.Riddhima looks down and slightly nods her head.Shashank smiles and goes over to hug Balwinder.Riddhima turns her head and looks at her mom, grandmothers, sister, cousins, and aunts who had gotten married at the age of fourteen and now its her turn.Then she turns her head to her other cousins that were soon to be in the same place as her soon.She could see the fear in their eyes.Riddhima has the same fear but can't say anything as it won't do any good and will just make the matter worse."Humari ek khwaish thi," Shashank spoke up."Ji boliye," Balwinder said, taking a sweet from Shashank's wife that offered him."Hum chathe hain ke yeh shaadi jald se jald ho jaye," Shashank said.Riddhima looks at her dad as does everyone.They were one of the poor people in the village and getting a proposal from the richest people in the village, who wouldn't want to be in a rush to get this marriage done?"Jaisa aap chahe aur hum bhi Riddhima ko ghar lekar jaana chathe hain.Toh shaadi teen din main ho jayegi," Balwinder said.Riddhima could feel her heart pounding hard and fast when she hears that the wedding will take place in three days.She hasn't even seen her soon-to-be-husband.Not even a picture.The parents had only come to meet her and Riddhima's parents knew their son but barely.After a little bit of talking, the Mallik's left the Gupta's small house."Padma, aaj main bohut khush hoon!" Shashank exclaims to his wife.His wife looks up at him and gives him a smile but it was forced."Jaa ke kapre dhundo Riddhima ke liye.Hume bohut saari tayariyan karni hai," Shashank said and walks away with the men of the house.The house wasn't too big but yet all of them still could fit in it.
Riddhima sat on her bed while her mom and other family ladies were talking amongst themselves while picking out clothes for the wedding."Riddhima," said Padma.Riddhima looks at her mom and scoots over so Padma could sit down."Tu khush hai?" Padma asks.Riddhima looks down for a second then looks back up and nods."Tu mujhse jhoot bol rahi hai," Padma said, not liking the fact that her daughter is lying to her."Agar jhoot bol bhi rahi hoon toh kuch hone wala toh nai hai.Ma, iss gaon ki har ladki ki shaadi chauda saal main hui hai aur ab meri baari hai.Aap ki bhi shaadi Papa se chauda saal main hui thi," Riddhima said with her hand on her mom's hand.Padma smiles at her daughter.She is so mature for a fourteen year old and is proud to call Riddhima her daughter.Padma kisses Riddhima's forehead then walks back to the rest of the ladies.Riddhima sees her older sister who got married two years ago, walking towards her."Baitho na Anjali Di," Riddhima said and she sat down."Ab aap mujhse puche gi ke main khush ya nai," Riddhima said and Anjali laughs."Di, mujhe aap ki bohut yaad aayi gi," Riddhima says with her eyes moist."Aye tu aise ro rahi hai jaise gaon se bahar jaa rahi hai," Anjali said, chuckling."Lekin unka ghar toh yahan se door hai," Riddhima says, looking at Anjali.Anjali's eyes become moist."Anjali!" came her husband's voice.Anjali gasps and stands up quickly then runs out of the room fast to go to her husband.Riddhima watches her sister run out then realizes that she'll have to do the same when her husband calls for her.
Riddhima walks downstairs dressed in her night salwar kameez and sees her cousin who is about to turn fourteen in a week, sitting on the couch lost in her thoughts.Riddhima sits next to her and puts her hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts."Muskaan, kya hua?Tum itni khoyi si kyun ho?" Riddhima asks and Muskaan looks at Riddhima with her eyes red and that told Riddhima that she was crying."Tum ro ri kyun ho?" Riddhima asks, worried."Didi, ab thode dino main meri shaadi ki bhi baat ho rahi hogi" Muskaan says, crying.Even though there isn't a huge age different between Riddhima and Muskaan, Muskaan still gives her respect by calling her 'Didi.' "Muskaan, sab ladki ki shaadi ki baat hoti hai.Jaise aaj meri hui thi," Riddhima said."Lekin Didi main choti umar main shaadi nai karna chathi.Main apni parayi puri karna chathi hoon aur kuch bana bhi chathi hoon," Muskaan said, looking at Riddhima."Tu kya soch thi hai ke koi ladki kuch nai bana chathi aur sirf apni pati ki seva karna chathi hai?Main bhi apni parayi puri karna chathi hoon aur kuch bana bhi chathi hoon lekin tu toh jaanti hai ke aisa nai ho sakta," Riddhima said.Muskaan sighs and looks down then sighs."Tujhe na bohut acha ladka milega, mujhe yakeen hai," Riddhima said, assuring her.Muskaan looks at Riddhima and Riddhima softly blinks.Muskaan hugs Riddhima and Riddhima hugs her back.After a few seconds, Muskaan pulls back and looks at Riddhima with a teasing smile."Tum aise kyun muskara rahi ho?" Riddhima asks, giggling a bit. A few moments ago she was crying and now she is smiling."Maine suna hai ke Jeeja ji bohut ache dikh the hain.Woh kya kehte hain...haan hot.Jeeja bade hot hain," Muskaan said.Riddhima smiles and blushes."Oyye hoyye, aap toh abhi se sharma rahi hai," Muskaan teases."Muskaan bas.Chal sone, bohut raat ho chuki hai," Riddhima said, standing up."Didi, baat ko badlo mat.Batao na, kya tujhe Jeeja ji hot lagte hain?" Muskaan asks."Main kabhi unko dekha nai," Riddhima said, looking down and playing with her fingers."Tasveer toh dekhi hogi," Muskaan said and Riddhima shakes her head."Tasveer bhi nai dekhi?Matlab aap Jeeja ji ko shaadi ki din par dekhi gi?" Muskaan asks.Riddhima shakes her head,"Shaadi ke din pe nai, shaadi ki raat par.Shaadi ke din mera chehra ghoonghat ke peeche chupa va hoga," Riddhima said, remembering her other cousins, and her sister's wedding.How all the brides had their faces covered during the wedding."Kya yaar," Muskaan says, with a frown.Riddhima laughs and pulls Muskaan's arm to go to sleep.
Riddhima turns around and sees her mom walking in with her soon-to-be-mother-in-law.Riddhima puts her dupatta on her head and bends down to take her blessings.She puts her hand on Riddhima's head and Riddhima stands up with a smile."Ananya ji, aap Riddhima ko uski shaadi ka joda de de, mujhe kam hai," Padma said.Ananya nods and Padma leaves the room."Baithye na," Riddhima said, moving out of the way for Ananya to sit on the bed."Nai beta main theek hoon," Ananya said and puts a package on the bed then starts opening it.Soon, Riddhima saw her wedding dress and it was beautiful.Its red with green and heavy golden embroidery done on it.Riddhima has never seen such an expensive dress and today she has.Its hers, for her wedding day."Tumhe pasand hai?" Ananya asks, looking at Riddhima, hopeful that Riddhima does like it.Riddhima looks at Ananya and nods."Mujhe bohut pasand hai," Riddhima whispers.Ananya smiles and kisses Riddhima's forehead."Beta, tum shayad ghabra rahi ho ke tumhari shaadi itni choti umar main ho rahi hai.Aur shaadi bhi jaldi ho rahi hai, " Ananya said.Riddhima looks down as she was nervous and scared about her wedding."Meri bhi shaadi chauda saal main hui thi.Ladki ko apne ghar chod kar apne pati ghar jaana bada mushkil hai aur phir ek aurat bana bhi.Mujhe laga ke yeh sab badal jayega kyun ke kabhi shaadiyan kamyab nai hoti," Ananya said.Riddhima looks at Ananya, wondering what she meant by that.Weddings not being successful."Lekin main bohut khush hoon ke tum meri bete ki dulhan hogi," Ananya said, with her hand on Riddhima's cheek.Riddhima smiles but its a forced one which is gone in a second. Ananya leaves Riddhima's room, leaving Riddhima still in thoughts about weddings not being successful.Riddhima knew that it wasn't Ananya's intention to scare her but it did scare her.Was her husband going to be unfaithful to her?Was he going to treat her like trash?Questions roamed in her head that she couldn't find the answer to.
Riddhima walks out of her about an hour later and finds the house being decorated beautifully."Riddhima," Anjali's voice said from behind.Riddhima turns around and sees Anjali standing there with a smile on her face.Riddhima smiles and hugs Anjali.Riddhima sees her brother-in-law and smiles."Aap kaise hain Atul Jeeja ji?" Riddhima asks.Atul smiles at her,"Main theek hoon." Riddhima nods and smiles. "Di, main aap ko apni shaadi ka joda dikhana chathi hoon," Riddhima said."Shaadi ka joda?Kab aaya?" Anjali asks."Abhi thodi daer pehle Ananya aunty lekar aayi thi," Riddhima said."Chalo," Anjali said and was about to walk away."Anjali," came Atul's voice.The smile on Anjali's face faded and looks at her husband. "Riddhima, tum jao main aati hoon," Anjali said.Riddhima was confused as to why Atul stopped her but nods and walks to her room."Aap ko kuch chaiye?" Anjali asks."Iss shaadi main tum mere saath rahogi," Atul said."Lekin meri choti behn ki shaadi hai.Mujhe uske saath hona chaiye," Anjali said in a low voice."Aur mera tumhara pati hoon aur tumhe meri baat mani hogi!Samjh gayi!?" Atul yells at her. Anjali looks around and sees a few workers looking at them.Anjali nods then walks to Riddhima's room.Riddhima sees Anjali walk in with a fallen face and that made Riddhima more confused."Kya hua Di?Jeeja ji ne kya kaha?" Riddhima asks. Anjali looks up at Riddhima."Nai, une pani chaiye tha," Anjali lies.Riddhima nods slowly and shows Anjali her wedding dress."Itna acha toh mere shaadi ke kapre nai the," Anjali said.Riddhima laughs and looks at her dress.Riddhima has seen everything that she is going to wear on her wedding day but she hasn't seen the man she is going to married to."Riddhima, main chalti hoon," Anjali said and Riddhima nods. Anjali walks out of the room when Atul grabs her hand pushes her against the wall. "Teri shaadi ke kapre ache nai the!" Atul yells and Anjali flinches.He had heard her say that to Riddhima.Anjali looks at Atul and shakes her head."Main bas mazaak kar rahi thi," Anjali said.Atul glares at her and Anjali looks down.Atul walks away when he hears his father-in-law calling him.Tears fall from Anjali's eyes but Anjali wipes them away and looks up to find Riddhima looking at her with tears in her eyes.Riddhima had heard and seen everything.Anjali rushes to Riddhima."Tu kisi ko kuch nai bataye gi," Anjali said, holding Riddhima's shoulder."Tu kisi ko kuch nai bataye gi!" Anjali yells and Riddhima nods, shocked.Riddhima slowly walks away and hears yelling coming from her parent's room."Hum iss baare main baat kar chuke hain.Humare paas paise nai hai aur paise lene ke liye hum Riddhima ki shaadi Balwinder ke bete se ka raha hain!" Shashank yells.Padma looks down, crying."Agar tumne kuch aur bhi kaha toh main tumhe keech ke thappar maro ga!" Riddhima gasps as she hears her father.That's what Ananya meant by a weddings not being successful.Riddhima feels her eyes welling up but hears her father's footsteps coming closer to the door so Riddhima hides behind a wall.When Riddhima sees her father pass her, she sighs in relief then walks in her parent's bedroom."Ma," Riddhima says, softly.Padma wipes her tears and looks at Riddhima with a smile."Kya hua?Tujhe joda pasand aaya?" Padma asks.Riddhima nods and watches her mom fix the bed."Main toh bhul gayi ke mujhe chai banani hai," Padma said, laughing slightly then walks out.Riddhima could tell she was lying. Padma lied to get out of the questions from her daughter about her red eyes and why her face is wet with tear stains.Riddhima watches her mom walk out and Riddhima could feel hot tears sliding down her cheeks.Riddhima just wishes that her husband isn't like that.
"Baarat aa gayi!" yells a girl, informing everyone that was gathered in the house for the wedding.Riddhima gasps as she hears the girl's voice yelling about her husband's arrival.Riddhima feels butterflies in her stomach more than in the morning.Riddhima stands up when she sees Padma entering the room.Padma covers Riddhima's face with her dupatta.Soon, she is walking down the stairs to where her husband is seated at the mandap.All of the rituals are done and they have taken the saat phere.He puts the black beaded mangalsutar with white and red stones around Riddhima's neck.Riddhima's ghoonghat was lifted so he could put the sindoor in Riddhima's maang.Riddhima couldn't see his face because her head is lowered.She felt him put the red sindoor in her maang then her face is covered again.
The door opens then closes as Riddhima sat in the middle of the bed with her face still covered.Riddhima feels one side of the bed go down because he sat down. He lifts Riddhima's dupatta up and puts it on her head.Riddhima's eyes stay lowered as she was scared, nervous, and shy at the same time to be able to lift her eyes and look at him.Riddhima feels him move closer to her making Riddhima's heart raise then felt him attacking her neck with his lips, roughly.Riddhima was shocked and felt uncomfortable so she tried to push him back but he is way stronger than her. Tears roll down Riddhima's eyes as she feels him bite her neck.After a lot of pushing, she finally got him off of her."Yeh kya batameezi hai!" he yells and slaps Riddhima.Riddhima falls on the bed, crying.He grabs a fistful of Riddhima's hair and makes her look at him."Ek baat kan khol kar sunlo Riddhima Armaan Mallik. Armaan Mallik ko na suni ki aadat nai hai toh agar tune mujhe na kaha toh acha nai hoga," he said in a deep and dangerous voice.Riddhima looks in his eyes, scared as he smirks and gets off of her.Riddhima closes her eyes as she recalls about what just happened.She slowly sits on the floor with her knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around them.Riddhima hears him coming out of the bathroom and Armaan picks her up from the floor and throws on the bed.Riddhima closes her eyes as he started to take lehenga off.Armaan drops his body on Riddhima's small and fragile body and holds her wrists down as he kisses her throat and chest.
Armaan wakes up and sees Riddhima walking out of the bathroom with her face expressionless and he smirks.Riddhima didn't notice him looking at her until Armaan came from behind and moved her wet hair out of his way to Riddhima's neck.Riddhima closes her eyes and struggles to get out of his grip but Armaan held on tight."Maine kya kaha tha," Armaan's dangerous voice made Riddhima stop struggling."Shabash," Armaan compliments and turns Riddhima around, abruptly. Both of them look in each others eyes when Armaan leans his head down but Riddhima turns her head away.Armaan holds her face from her chin and turns it towards him and Riddhima sees anger flickering in his eyes.Riddhima gulps, looking in Armaan's eyes."M...mujhe neeche jaana hai," Riddhima said.It was the first time Armaan heard her voice."Neeche jaa ke tu kya karegi?Tera jo kam hai, woh mere saath hai," Armaan said."Mujhe...jaane dijiye...na," Riddhima whispers. Armaan pushes her and Riddhima falls back."Le chod diya," Armaan said.Riddhima looks at Armaan and slowly stands up.Riddhima walks out of the door with Armaan's eyes on her.Once, Riddhima was out of his range, she ran to another room and shut the door.She started crying hard and fell on the floor as she wasn't able to keep herself balanced.
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I don't know if it turned out good.From the response I get I'll see if I should continue or not.
Edited by aProductions - 12 years ago
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