Raghav's POV:

The Udida Muhurtu (ritual where parents, sisters, married aunties make the groom and bride grind whole Urad daal (black gram) signifying to teach the nitty gritty's of not just kitchen but also life and also help each other when needed with blessings from near and dear ones) was going on...one by one either cousins or aunties came to grind the black gram with Raghav but he looked like in some sort of a trans...
There were ladies chatting, loud sexophone being played, priest saying sthotra and rituals explained but Raghav was grinding the traditional hand grinder mechanically inclined in his thoughts...he could only hear kharr..........kharrr.......... of the grinder while he was thinking about his life going to change in next few hours

I was so happy a week ago ...
Now I have no idea what is happening...

I feel like I'm into a grind.

I still can't believe Aditi said No ...

She said no after saying yes...

After the Phool Malche ..

After wedding cards were printed...

She just met me once and said I'm not her type...

That she ....she love...loves my younger brother...

And Naman...that idiot never told me once...

He thought of sacrificing his happiness for me... Stupid fellow... He's my life...

My best friend before Radhika...

And that dumb guy tried hiding from me...

But Aditi being bold enough confessed the truth...

Naman is indeed a lucky guy... He's marrying the love of his life...

And I... Ummm... Guess as usual is just....

Huhhh... Girls never usually liked me...

I was rejected once in college too ...

But Radhika my bestie and Naman convinced me she wasn't good enough for me...

But the fact was... I was a bore...

I know I'm not a cool guy...I'm not a charmer... But ... I also have a heart...

I may look like a snob...but I have a heart too...

I may not be the giggling laughing chirpy kind but I always got attracted to such women who could communicate freely maybe coz I lack the quality and see it in my partner...

Aditi was the one whom I liked after my college crush Vedika...

I still can't forget I saw Aditi the first time at Radhika's wedding...I hate weddings, crowded places...but it was Radhika's wedding hence I couldn't avoid it...She was my only best friend since childhood...I had to attend it...

I was there only to wish Radhi and leave... While sitting in the wedding hall I heard a loud laughter from the stage... I happened to notice a girl in pink lehenga choli ...tall about 5.7 ... beautiful like moon... Laughing out loud...her laughter was infectious...the dias was way too far from me as I sat in the 4th row but I had a big grin on my face automatically ... I kept looking at this beautiful girl who was making fun of Radhika and her husband, cracking jokes making everyone laugh, helping old aunties walk down the dias and fighting for chocolate with her girl gang... She made me awestruck in a few minutes...while my mom saw my stupid smiling face and said

'She is my college friend Shalini's daughter... she is pretty isn't she...' to which I nodded my head and smiled... While mom asked me if we should ask her proposal for me and I just nodded a no to mom thinking it's too fast...

A few weeks later I saw Aditi in Bangalore where she was at the South India's youngest business tycoon's meet and she played the host as her company had organised the event and she was the marketing head... That's when I was impressed again with her quality to gel with people... I wished to talk to her but couldn't gather guts...

But I finally asked mom to send the proposal to which we had a yes from Aditi...

I was extremely happy that she said a yes ..

I redecored my room to welcome her home with mom's help although I was traveling to Goa to and fro owing to our company trying to buy another property there and as Naman was still in Dubai he couldn't manage this one...I had to make sure this deal was cracked before my wedding as I didn't want to keep anything for atleast 2 weeks post our wedding as I wanted Aditi to be given most importance trying to know each other and give her all the time in the world...Our families planned our wedding in mere 4 weeks as Ajjo wasn't keeping well...

My heart literally 💔 broke when dad asked me come home immediately because Aditi said a NO and she doesn't want this marriage...I had all the dreams to take her out on a date to this beach resort of ours once I returned from Chennai...but all I met was a shocking confession from her.

I met her but she was least interested to talk...

Then we got to know about Naman and her affair and I backed off...

I was ok to deal with this heartbreak as Naman was my baby brother...Being 4 years elder than him approx I was his protective shield....i felt a sense of responsibility towards Nam always....I asked dad to cancel the wedding but Ajjo was hellbent in getting me married first and that if Naman gets married first then it would be quite tough to find me a match maybe they fear that already the world thinks I'm a self obsessed heartless rude businessman who doesn't socialize, meet people, rarely knows what's happening in their relatives houses...never attends any functions... infact I even meet my cousin's only twice a year when they visit our home for Ganesh Chaturthi and my grandma's death anniversary...all this because dad was the eldest son of Prabhu family and hence all family events were held at our place...I would not even attend award ceremonies where I won awards and even charity events happened silently without anyone to know...I was a completely private person and the world thinks I'm a wierdo....Some tag me even to be s drug addict 🤦🤣 Panchadik (rumours) you see
...but I don't even smoke or drink... My only addiction is traveling, photography and books...so anytime I'm free I travel to a distant hillstation with my camera and books and relax...my phone stays switched off those few days and once I rejuvenate I come back to my daily grind.

My parents were also pissed off at the rejection, although I was hurt I understood the situation but my family came up with a genius plan of getting me married to Aditi's sister...

Aditi's younger sister...

Siya...

She is 23... Literally 7 years younger to me...
God...I'm 30. I'll turn 31 this December.

To add on...

I didn't see her

I don't know her

She doesn't know me

And she agrees

I was shocked. Dad convinced me saying about Vitthal uncle's brain hemorrhage that he suffered a few months ago and that he was feeling low and worried about the society's questions....To add on my Ajjo wanted this too... So I didn't think much and just said a YES....

But then it really didn't matter to me because...

Aditi wasn't going to be my wife anyway....

She was going to marry Naman which cannot be changed...

So I really just didn't care...

I saw her for the first time yesterday... although mom showed me her picture...

Mom asked me to call Siya and talk to her...
I was hesitant first...
I dialled her number... She said a 'Hello'....

And then there was an everlasting awkward silence...

I didn't know what to say...

I could only hear her breath...

It was an extremely odd situation for me to talk to a girl who was supposed to be my sister in law and is now going to be my wife although I never saw or met her... It was still awkward for both of us...

So I just said 'Im a bit busy I'll call back later' and dropped the call

I didn't have guts to dial that mobile number again so I just let it be...

I happened to see her yesterday post our awkward phone conversation...

She was dressed up in the pink saree we bought for Aditi....

I felt a little sad thinking she had to go through this...

She was lean, shorter than Aditi... maybe about 5.5 .. she was simple but she had a sadness lingering on her face... Although she looked pretty I felt guilty seeing her sad face...

God knows if she was blackmailed by her family on emotional grounds just like me...

I somehow couldn't stop my guilt that a innocent girl was getting crushed in this so called patriarchal family drama....

So while I was on the dias with her eating our dinner post the function when everyone were busy with their stuff......I gathered the guts to talk to her...I chose to begin the conversation...

'Siya...' I called softly....

She replied a 'Hmmm' while still playing with the spoon in her plate mixing that Dalitoy(traditional Konkani lentil soup) with the rice....

I continued....

'I know...it's unexpected and tough for you... But we still have time... If you don't want this marriage ...you can tell me... I will talk to everyone...we can't still sort it out... Please don't take the burden of my broken heart' I said softly to her... while I was still digging into my plate...

I felt her direct gaze on my face sidewards...She kept her plate on the table beside her chair and there was a long pause.... Slowly I noted her playing with her bangles... Some time later

I heard her soft voice saying 'Thank you Mr Raghav Prabhu...But'

I interrupted her saying 'You can call me Raghav'

She continued 'O.K. ....Raghav................ See it's not like this was my choice...it's a surprise for me too...but I'm not someone who takes abrupt decisions... I took my time and thought over it... I trust my dad's choice...I believe in him...he has always chosen the best for me and my mom knows me the most...she said it will work out...so all I am doing is taking a chance... I don't know if it's right or wrong but I can't back off right now...my dad has already suffered enough because of Aditi and her last minute decisions...I can't hurt dad again...his health is very delicate... he won't be able to take it...so...All I can say is.......
I'm good with this marriage' she finished her statement and gave me a stern look... I looked into her eyes that were filled with tears and ready to wet her pink cheeks any minute...

It pricked me to see her do this...she was a good hearted girl... No... A woman... A young matured woman who loved her parents...

She looked very fragile unlike the powerful and sharp Aditi...But she had a strong aura about her...it was selflessness...its a rare quality to find nowadays I thought to myself...I silently took my handkerchief and gave it to her...she took it silently and rubbed the sweat on her upper lip and then soaked the few tear drops lingering in the corner of her eye...

I have no idea if this is the right thing to do...

Will this marriage will work?...

But I'm feeling very strange...

I heard the next ritual is kashi yatra where guy pretends to go to kashi and girls father offers the groom to stay and that he will give his daughter in marriage ..

Should I really agree or take the kashi Yatra as a chance and run away...

Why am I having these last minute thoughts...