Ragini's grandmother, Parvati Gadodia, welcomed the newlyweds and the Maheshwari family with an aarti as they reached the Gadodia Mansion. 

Ragini had been away from her family just for one day but the look of happiness on their face as they saw her, was enough to make her beam.

As she stepped into the hall, a small boy of around 5 years shot through the room screaming "Laddo!" before he hugged her tightly, as she kneeled down to hold him.

His mother – Ragini's sister-in-law, Aditi – who was clearly pregnant rushed behind him saying "Ashu! Behave!" 

Ashu for his part ignored his mother's instruction. 

He pulled back from the hug and checked Ragini's hands. Finding them empty, he shoved them aside and turned away from Ragini folding his hands around himself.

"So much anger towards your girlfriend?" Ragini asked him as she tried to make him turn. 

He stubbornly avoided her attempts. 

"You don't want your chocolates?" she asked. 

Ashu turned around quickly while Ragini took out two chocolate bars that she had hidden in one end of her saree drape.

Ashu grabbed them quickly. Ragini raised an eyebrow at him; her way of reminding him of their deal. He made a face but gave one chocolate to her as she smiled and kissed his cheeks. 

"Come," she said getting up and holding his hand, making the way towards the sofas lining the hall.

"Where is Shekharji?" DurgaPrasad asked Deendayal Gadodia.

"He had to attend a meeting that could not be moved," Ranveer cut in with a smile. "He is trying to make it though." 

Ragini's eyes darted towards her mother, Janki, but her mother avoided them. 

"I will get some cold drinks for everyone. It has been really hot these days," Janki said a smile; still avoiding looking at Ragini.

"Please don't bother Jankiji," Annapurna said kindly

"No bother at all," Janki said as she went towards the kitchen. 

Aditi made to follow Janki, but Ragini kept a hand on her shoulder stopping her. She wanted to talk to her mother – alone.

When Ragini entered the kitchen, Janki was busy – or at least acting busy.

 "Maa." 

"He wanted to be here. He will make it, don't worry," Janki said softly.

"Maa, please look at me," Ragini said walking towards her and turning her around. "It's okay. It doesn't matter that he isn't here. All of you are here. That is all that matters." 

Ragini squeezed her shoulder in assurance. "Come Maa. I will take these out," she said carrying some of the glasses out.

Everyone was busy in their own conversations; everyone but one person – Sanskar. He had been quiet. But at least he isn't making any comments on the marriage or snapping, she thought. That is enough.  

Ever since Ragini had been back home, Ashu was like her extended appendage. Even that day, he was following her around holding the edge of her saree. Nothing seemed to have changed – at least when it came to the two of them.

But in truth, he was a bit apprehensive of all the new people. It was different during the wedding festivities. For him it was like one of many ritual functions where a lot of guests arrived, there was fun and frolic and then they left. 

Now he did understand that this was different or at least that the Maheshwaris were different from the ordinary guests. The concept of marriage and husband-wife was still something vague for him.  For him, his mom stayed with his dad and now his aunt/bua–his laddo–was staying with this man she had married–his kaka. 

His interest was piqued by this new person – this kaka. He stuck around near the sofa that Sanskar was sitting on looking at him curiously as though he was a sample on display in the zoo.

Sanskar saw Ashu staring at him and said, "Hi. You are Ashu right?"

Ashu nodded by didn't say anything. He always took a bit of time to get used to new people before he unleashed his loud energetic side on them. While the conversations were going on, Ashu slowly sat near Sanskar.

"Hi Buddy," Sanskar said extending his hand towards Ashu. Sanskar was feeling pretty awkward; he didnt want to be there – period. Ashu provided a bit of a distraction from the environment.

Ashu shook Sanskar's hand.

 "I am Sanskar," 

Ashu looked confused. "But Maa said you were Kaka."

"My name is Sanskar," he said quietly trying his best to explain things. "Like your Laddo's name is Ragini."

Ashu nodded. "You have a long name. Kaka is better," he declared. "Laddo stays in the same room with you now, like Maa stays with Papa?"

Sanskar eyes widened. He looked at Ashu apprehensively. 

Parvati Gadodia saved him by asking everyone to start the rasam/ritual.

Ragini sat next to Sanskar. She was uncomfortable; both of them were. 

Ashu was their saviour. He refused to vacate his spot next to Sanskar – ending up sitting between them. 

As the ritual progressed, Ashu became very upset.

"Why are gifts only for Laddo and Kaka?" he asked.

"Don't worry I will get you something buddy," Sanskar told him

"What will you get me?" Ashu asked eagerly

"What do you want?" Sanskar asked

"I want Yo-Kai medals set and watch!" he said beaming.

Sanskar looked confused. "What is Yo-Kai?" he asked

Ashu's eyes widened; he put both his hands on his mouth before turning to Ragini. "Kaka doesn't know Yo-kai!" he said, causing everyone except Sanskar to break into a smile.

Ragini bit her lips to stop herself from busting into a laughter. "Don't worry I will explain it to him."

"Okay!" Ashu said satisfied for the time being

All through lunch, Ashu had stuck to Ragini and sat next to Sanskar. After lunch, Ashu demanded chocolate ice-cream and dragged Ragini behind him towards the kitchen.

"Ashu!" Aditi yelled as he whizzed past her. "Don't make your Laddo run so much. She was hurt remember!" she called out.

Ragini turned her head. "It's okay Bhabhi. You get some rest," she replied rushing behind Ashu.

Except she bumped into something solid in the way before she could follow him. She almost fell backward by the force of the impact.

The solid thing turned out to be Sanskar. He held her quickly and stopped her from falling down. Both of them straightened quickly. Ragini tried to rush off to the kitchen after a quick muttered thanks.

Ashu wasn't in the mood to oblige. He had found a new object of interest in Sanskar.  

Ashu signaled Sanskar to bend down so that he could talk. 

Sanskar kneeled down.

Ashu signalled him again to come closer to him. 

"Are you my friend?"

Sanskar nodded. 

"Has Laddo been eating chocolates without me?" he asked narrowing his eyes. 

Sanskar eyes widened, He looked around at other, unsure of what was going on. Finally he just shook his head.

"Promise?" Ashu asked him

"Promise" 

Ashu seemed satisfied. "Is Laddo taking her medicine and applying her medicine?" he asked; his innocent eyes wide with concern and seriousness.

Sanskar wasn't sure what this was about. He looked around for help. 

"Ashu, don't you want your ice-cream? I am going to eat your share as well now," Ragini cut in. 

Ashu's eyes widened and he ran towards the kitchen to secure the ice-cream.

"I will come and help you," Janki said following her into the kitchen.

Ashu watching Ragini intently, resting his head on the counter. His eyes stayed focused on his bowl, ensuring that she didn't put less ice-cream in his bowl. She was barely done when he quickly grabbed two bowls

"Ashu! Two bowls! Your Maa will be angry," Ragini warned him

"Only one is for me," Ashu told her even as he ran out.

"Who is the other for then?" Ragini asked, but Ashu was long gone.

Janki walked over helping her. "Are you okay there?"

Ragini gave her a reassuring smile and replied, "Everyone is really nice. Don't worry Maa. I am fine"

"And what about Sanskar. Are you happy with him?" Janki asked, worry etching her eyes

"Maa, we don't really know each other. We are getting to know each other now. But don't worry, we will be fine," She said, doing her best to ensure that she had put up the appropriate mask.

Janki looked at her more closely, "It is just that..." she trailed off, knowing her daughter would understand her worry. Ragini was always understanding that way.

"Maa, have faith in me. This is different." Ragini reassured her. 

Janki nodded, giving her a soft smile.

In the hall, Ashu ran out towards Sanskar and gave him one of the ice-cream bowls. He quickly climbed up on the sofa next to Sanskar and sat down with his ice-cream, swinging his legs.

His antics had left the Maheshwari family amused. He had become the focal point of the evening. Sanskar didnt object to it; he was more than happy about the development. 

"Ashu, what does your Laddo like to do when she is at home?" Annapurna asked him

"Laddo and I watch cartoons. Yo-Kai, Pokemon and Tom & Jerry," he said before making a face. "She makes me watch movies sometimes"

"You don't like the movies?" Sujata asked smiling

Ashu shook his head

"Why?" Sujata asked

"It has that stupid boyfriend of hers. When she is watching his movies, she forgets me!" Ashu complained

Maheshwaris were startled. Gadodia wanted to explain; it would never do to cause misunderstanding for their Laddo when she was just married into Maheshwari family.

Uttara beat them to this. "Who is this boyfriend?" Uttara asked while looking at Sanskar teasingly.

"That monkey Aditya Roy Kapoor," Ashu answered making a face.

Maheshwari laughed hearing him. Gadodia sighed – problem averted.

"Bhai, you don't look like Aditya Roy Kapoor, do you?" Uttara said.

Sanskar rolled his eyes. He had no interest in Ragini or in who she liked.

"Who are you?" Ashu asked her

"I am Uttara. I am your Kaka sister," Uttara explained. 

Ashu looked confused. Relationships were confusing! 

"You know how your Maa is Laddo's Bhabhi," Uttara explained. When she saw Ashu nod, she added, "Well your Laddo is my Bhabhi" 

Ashu was quite for a while – thinking and eating his ice-cream. "So when Laddo has a baby, you will become a bua too, like Laddo?" he asked innocently

Sanskar had been eating his ice-cream; avoiding getting pulled into any of these conversations. Ashu's comment didn't help. He choked on the ice-cream and burst out into coughs. 

Ashu kept his bowl aside and stood on the sofa next to Sanskar. He patted Sanskar's back. "Look up," he advised Sanskar and then gave him a glass of water that was nearby.

After his coughs subsided, Ashu commented,"Kaka! You don't know anything!" Shaking his head he asked, "How will you take care of Laddo when she has cough when you cannot do it for yourself"

"Correct!" Adarsh cut in. "How will you, Kaka?"

Sanskar shot him a look. 

***

Ragini and Sanskar were back in their room by the afternoon for a short siesta. 

Mooh Dekhayi* rasam/ritual was supposed to happen that evening, and they had been asked to be in the living room by 5:30pm at the latest. 

Sanskar had gone back to his side of the bed and indulged in a small nap.

Ragini had taken the opportunity to respond to some of the messages she had received. 

Half way through it, her phone rang. She saw the name on the screen. She should have expected this call after her messages. She looked at Sanskar. He seemed to be sleeping. Not wanting to disturb him, she walked to the other end of the room, by the window before answering the call.

"Hello." She kept her voice down.

"Please don't be mad. Calm down," she said 

Sanskar hadn't really been able to fall asleep. The call and the voices roused him enough so that he could hear what was being said, even though he did not open his eyes.

"It is not a joke. I won't be coming back. I got married" Ragini said softly into her phone

"Yesterday" 

"Everything happened really fast. There was no time for it. You know I would have if I could" 

"What can I do?' Ragini asked. Her voice cracked.

"I don't know what to do." 

"I don't think they will allow that" 

"How?" 

"That would be cheating, Mark. I cannot ask you to do that" 

"But I am not okay with it" 

"But will that work?" 

"Will you check that for me? I don't want to lift my hopes up" Ragini told him softly

"Are you sure?" Ragini asked. Her voice feeling hopeful

"Okay. Thanks Mark. Talking to you had made me feel so much better" 

"Bye. Talk to you soon!" 

"I will!" Ragini said before cutting the call.

Ragini looked at Sanskar. He still seemed to be asleep. She sighed. She hadn't disturbed him. She didn't need that with everything that was going on. She walked to the bed and placed her phone on the side table before slowly lying on her side of the bed.

"If you want to make calls, do it without disturbing other person's sleep," Sanskar commented annoyed, without turning to look at her.

Ragini jolted up and sat on her bed looking at his back. "I am sorry I didn't realize I had disturbed you. I tried to be quiet"

"Try harder next time," he shot back

Ragini stayed quiet. 

Seeing that she was quiet, Sanskar got up and turned to look at her. 

She met his eyes but didn't speak.

He sighed after a while.

"I am sorry. You can make all the calls you want," he said 

Ragini nodded.

After a few minutes, Sanskar asked, "Is everything okay? You seemed a bit upset on the call."

"Yes, it's all okay," Ragini said. She didnt think he would want to know or really care.

Sanskar looked at her critically. "Are you sure?"

Ragini wanted to stick to her previous response but held back. They were far from husband and wife. They weren't even friends. But they were stuck in this relation – stuck together. Was there any reason to hide something as simple as this from him?

She sighed. "Actually that was one of my friends from the uni," she said, "I was in the final year of my undergrad studies before I had to come back. I haven't been able to complete my final year group project, individual project and internship"

Sanskar nodded. "And you won't complete your education and get the degree without those," he completed for her

She nodded. "Mark said he thinks I could work on the projects from India and sent them through. He thinks uni will still consider those along with any internship that I do here."

"What were you studying?" he asked

"Architecture" 

Sanskar eyes snapped up at her hearing this.  "What uni did you study in, again?"

"Cambridge" 

"That is a good uni for Architecture." He was quiet for a while as he looked at her. "So what are going to do now?"

"Mark is going to check on whether I can really do all of it from here for it to be considered by the uni. If yes, I will need to finish my projects. I had already started working on them before I flew home. All my things are still back in Cambridge, since..." Ragini looked at him. 

Sanskar nodded. He didn't need to be reminded of what happened. It was etched in his mind – etched for life.

"Ranveer bhai arranged for it to be shipped back when the marriage was fixed, but it is yet to be delivered. I will call Bhai now, he was to get my laptop flown over separately anyway"

Sanskar nodded

"But I still don't know what I will do about the internship," she said resigned

"Why don't you start with this project first? I am sure something will turn up. When do you need to submit this by?" Sanskar asked

"In about 3 week's time for the projects. I have to submit the internship certificate within 3 months from that" 

 "Look, if you want, you can use my laptop to start working on some of your projects while your own laptop is being flown in," he offered

"But I will need AutoCad and some other software programs to work on the projects" 

"I have them," Sanskar explained pointing to the laptop sitting the coffee table.

"Can I?" Ragini asked. 

Sanskar nodded. He was observing her closely. There was another reason he had offered her the use of his laptop – a reason that went far beyond her current predicament.  

Ragini sat on the seatee and opened his laptop. As it powered on, a girl's photo popped up on the screen. Ragini assumed she was the girl he was in love with.

"She is really beautiful," Ragini said sincerely

Sanskar narrowed his eyes. "You don't know her?" he asked. 

He looked at Ragini carefully, but could see no sign of recognition on her face. If anything she looked confused.

"You don't recognize your own sister, Swara?" 

*Mooh Dikhayi rasam: Post wedding ritual involving introduction of the bride to the new family.

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