"O ... we are so happy for you. Now should we call you bhabisa (sister in law) "laughed Vasundhara.

"O I never knew you and bhaisa..."teased Gayatri wiggling her brows towards her brother.

I was still in a state of surprise at the sudden intrusion and blushed to my toes at their teasing. The blush was more due to being teased in front of Rudra rather than at the words themselves. Rudra seemed to have gone stoic as well and didn't react to the teasing.

He said in an emotionless voice" You girls talk. I have things to do."

In a way I was glad to get rid of his conceited presence, but then why did I feel hurt. Though I was still young to get married but like all girls even I would have like to have respect and liking in a marriage if not passionate love. I turned my face the other way so as not to let my hurt show, especially to Rudra.

"What ... bhaisa how can you leave so soon. We have not even had time to felicitate you both together. And what work can be more important than this or tell me are you feeling shy." said Gayatri with her hands on her hips.

"Moreover everyone is coming here to give ashirwad (blessings) to you both. We just rushed in before them ,despite maasa forbidding us as we could not contain our excitement" said Vasundhara.

I didn't know how he was taking it all behind my back but his "Alright" sounded very resigned , as I heard him move away towards the other end of the room.

"Now tell me... bhabisa... when did you fall for bhaisa or was it the other way round?" said Gayatri putting her arms around my shoulders trying to look at my bent face.

I myself was slowly coming to terms with the proposal and with Rudra standing there my creative juices took a hike, as I couldn't tell a lie about him and especially in front of him. I stood mute there unable to pass this test.

"Come on ... don't test our patience. We are dying to hear the story while wondering when we missed it all" said Vasundhara in a pleading tone.

I was just about to utter some kind of pacifying remark when Rudra said" Don't pester her. I had proposed not her."

I was shell shocked as Rudra took the whole onus on himself and then again I was confused too at his sudden change in behavior. I realized that maybe he was doing it all for maasa .Was this the story maasa had asked him to narrate to others. Well till the time I was off the hook who was I to judge.

Now the girls were upon Rudra barging him with questions.

"When did you get time to meet bhabisa? We never saw you talking to her" said Vasundhara.

"Near the temple" said Rudra in a monotone , hardly sounding like a person in love.

"So you fell in love with her ... like love at first sight" prodded Gayatri.

"Yes"

"Did bhabisa know you fell for her?" asked Gayatri, almost sounding like cop interrogating.

Here Rudra paused a bit and took a quick glance towards me "No".

"O ... so this is the first time you are confessing your love and look Gayatri we interrupted the love birds" snickered Vasundhara not at all sounding remorseful.

"Go ahead. We can close our ears and stand in the corner or do you want us to go out" teased Gayatri.

As I looked up towards Rudra it seemed he was regretting staying here.

"When will everyone come? I don't have time to waste on your silly girl talks" barked Rudra completely irritated.

Well done I thought, go ahead and blow up your cover. Men could be so stupid sometimes. It would have been better if I had come up with a tale of my own.

The door opened again , this time bringing in the smiling taisa and maasa, saving us from the flop show Rudra was on the verge of unleashing.

"Lekha dear I am very happy as Mahadevi just informed me that you have agreed to marry my son. I had lost all hope of him marrying..."

"Jeejasa (elder sister in law) let the bygones be bygones. We should instead concentrate over their happy future" interrupted maasa making me curious as to what was being hidden from me. I would ask Gayatri later I thought.

Maasa gestured me to touch taisa's feet as she would soon be my mother in law. As I bent down to touch her feet taisa said "Wait... Rudra now that you are going to get married to Lekha both of you should touch the feet together as a couple."

I felt Rudra standing next to me and then we both bent down together to touch her feet. I turned my face sideways a little to look at him but was discouraged by his impassiveness. Tausa had also come in by this time with bapusa so we again touched his feet too in unison.

As I tried to touch baapusa's feet he stopped me by holding me by the shoulder's "Daughter's don't touch their parent's feet as they are to be given as daan(gift) in a marriage to the groom's side. You are their amanat(keepsake) with us. We can only be custodians of our precious daughters only for so long."

As he put his hand on my head lovingly, I was teary eyed.

"Now don't make the girl cry. I have already talked to jeejasa that Lekha will stay with us for another two years till she reached her age for her gauna(* explained below).I will have plenty of time to pamper her and teach her all things she missed during her wandering days" said maasa.

Rudra touched both their feet. Though a groom who is considered higher in relation than the girl's parents doesn't touch his in-laws feet but he was now related two ways with them, both as a son and a damad(daughter's husband).

"Now that we are trusting you with our daughter, hope you keep her happy always Rudra" said maasa looking into his eyes. I blushed deeply at this farce of .

"I will work hard towards it kakisa" promised Rudra in a sombre voice.

A servant brought in ladoos( Indian sweets) to commensurate the happy occasion.Both of our mouths were stuffed with sweets as all tried to feed us because it was a custom where the sweets were a way to shower sweetened blessings on the 'happy' couple.

The elder men soon left the room to let others continue their celebration. I and Rudra were made to sit next to each other forcefully by the girls as they both took their place on each side of us. I felt awkward at the situation, not because I was shy of him but because of the knowledge I had as regards to his thoughts where I was concerned.

It kind of helped me to look coy according to the trend of the day, as otherwise if I would have got engaged to a person I loved I might have had a difficult time controlling my excited emotions. No such control was needed here , in fact I was a bit depressed.

Maasa being a mother might have sensed something of my unhappiness so bade all the youngsters leave laying my emotional turmoil at the door of my absent real parents.

"Lekha do take some rest before lunch. It has been quite a surprising afternoon for you and you seem to be overwhelmed by it. Your taisa and I are in the next room, if you need something. I will call you when the lunch is ready."

I simply nodded my head. Rudra seemed to have made the great escape as he almost jumped up from his seat and left the room in a hurry. 'His actions promised towards such a bright future' I thought sarcastically.

The girls I could hear outside the door protesting against being deprived of my company. Though they promised not to disturb me much, I could hear the elderly ladies shooing them away.

I seemed to have got exhausted all over again with all this drama sprung on me. Even though I had slept part of the way in the carriage, the coolness of the room and my disturbed mind lulled me to sleep.

(*)It is associated with the custom of child marriage. The ceremony takes place several years after marriage. Before the ceremony the bride stays at her natal home. Marriage is considered only as a ritual union and conjugal life begins only after gauna; that is marriage is consummated only after the gauna ceremony.

Hope you guys liked the chapter.