Beep

Rajendra's phone buzzed with the notification from the weather app.

Heavy rains likely to continue

Rajendra sighed, adjusting his spectacles that were hanging on the bridge of his nose. He pulled his armchair further and stared at the main door, waiting for someone.

The aroma of tea filled the place as the drizzling raindrops started to dance. A screeching sound of the horn of a familiar scooter rang in Rajendra's ears. He stood up and walked toward the entrance and opened the gate as the scooter ran up the slope. Mudita parked the scooter as Rajendra closed the gate. He covered his head with a towel, protecting himself from the rain, and walked inside. Mudita followed him carefully, hiding the box wrapped in gift paper behind her.

Rajendra's wife Swarajyam bought tea for everyone and settled on a chair beside Rajendra. Sipping tea, she glanced at the photo album on the teapoy.

Mudita placed the gift on the teapoy and went to hang her raincoat. Her parents looked curiously at the gift awaiting for her to answer. She came back beaming and took her tea. She settled in front of her parents and urged them to open the gift. She eagerly anticipated their reactions.

Swarajyam took the gift in her hands and raised an eyebrow at her daughter as she unwrapped the paper. Rajendra leaned in to take a good look at the precious gift.

Two happy and shy faces welcomed them, the couple looked back at their younger selves with the same smiles adorning their faces along with the beautiful aging lines.

A photo frame capturing their wedding day, a young couple looking at the Arundhati Nakshatra as the stars reminded them about the marital journey of the ideal couple Arundhathi and Vasishtha.

Rajendra took the photo frame, admiring it, and hung it on the center of the wall along with Mudita's art works.

"Happy anniversary, Amma and Nanna!" Mudita wished and hugged them both.

"Nanna, you've got to smile more! Do you know how hard it was for me to find a single photo where you both were smiling?" complained Mudita.

Rajendra chuckled at his daughter's silly complaint.

"Tch Nanna, you look good when you smile. All your wedding photos you looked frustrated and unhappy except this one," she said, pointing at the photo frame.

Rajendra smiled and shook his head.

"Come on, Nanna, those are lifelong happy memories, so why not smile more?" suggested Mudita, and she went to help her mother.

Rajendra sighed at his daughter. He took the photo album and reminisced about the beautiful memories of his daughter as a child as he flipped through those moments. From when she started to crawl till receiving the school pupil leader batch. Each of her milestones were captured by his lens. Soon that was replaced by her phone. In which not all moments had stories to tell, just a few blurred photos that might end up in trash due to storage problems.

He stared at the photo of him holding his dear daughter in his arms as she flashed a gummy smile to her mother holding the camera. He silently took that photo and decided to frame it later.

A year later

Rajendra's house was bustling with people and echoed laughter and happiness. Despite Rajendra's stubbornness of him wanting to photograph his daughter's engagement, they hired a photographer, urging Rajendra to enjoy the big day. At last Rajendra gave up after realizing that he may miss living the moment if he was busy clicking the pictures.

Mudita was in her room getting ready. She was dressed in a gorgeous yellow mysore silk saree with a contrast green blouse. She was adorned with a simple long Mango Haram with red stones, complimenting her dusky skin, dark hair, and her attractive dimple smile. She brushed back her black, wavy hair, braiding it. She styled them traditionally with jasmine flowers. She heard a knock on her door.

"What are you doing here, Yash?" She asked her fiancée, surprised to see him.

"You look beautiful, Mango," he teased her.

Mango was her nickname, as she is known for her fondness of mangoes. He started calling her since he saw a photo of younger Mudita around four years old, squeezing the pulp out of the fruit and relishing it. She got the pulp all over her hands and dress. She gave a huge smile to the camera as she posed, enjoying the mess.

"Yeah man go," replied Mudita.

Before she pushed Yash out of her room, he captured the annoyed yet shy Mudita slightly smiling at him with his handheld camera.

Mudita and Yash exchanged their rings, and the ceremony was concluded. It was time for the photo session. Everyone gathered near the dias and posed one by one with the couple. At last it was a family photo. Rajendra stood beside Mudita. His face had the same expression from twenty five years ago. The same frustrated and annoyed look, this time accompanied by sadness that his daughter is stepping away.

The photographer focused the lens and asked everyone to smile.

Smile please

Those words reminded him of moments a year ago.

Nanna, you look good when you smile. Those are lifelong happy memories, so why not smile more?

Rajendra smiled heartily, reaching his eyes as he welcomed the new beginnings. 

Glossary 

Nanna - father 

Amma  - mother 

Arundhati Nakshatra  -  A ritual in Hindu weddings where the constellation is shown to the bride and the groom.  It is a twin star system, they revolve around each other unlike the other twin star systems.