It was past midnight. Most of the houses in their locality had turned their lights off. A few adhoc streetlights were casting some long shadows.

One's perception of the night can change so much based on the circumstances.  Lovers who are together look forward to it with anticipation, lovers apart with longing and hope that a night will soon come their way when they will hold their beloved close to their hearts and for those who have lost all hope it reminds them of the constant darkness they are enveloped in.

Preeti gently knocked on the bathroom door again, trying to ensure that she did not wake up her parents. Naina had locked herself in there for almost an hour now and all the while Preeti could hear her making whimpering noises. Preeti didn't know whether to feel scared by this constant crying or take some reassurance that she was still alive and breathing.

It had been an absolutely dreadful day! Bela and Preeti had got Naina ready for the Teej celebration with her to-be-in-laws, as Naina stood there like a lifeless mannequin. Taiji then escorted her to the mandir and later dropped her off at the college.

Meanwhile Sameer had shown up in the college in his bearded Babaji avatar. Before Preeti could get a chance to talk to Naina and check what had happened at the mandir or warn her about Sameer's state, the two heartbroken souls had landed in front of each other and things had just spiralled off from there on.

Naina had reacted with pain and worry seeing him, and Sameer had reacted with pain and anger seeing her all decked up. Preeti still could not make any sense of his 180 degree transformation following that over the next hour or two. Suddenly he was back to his old stylish self, singing and dancing in the canteen and then announcing his love for Sunaina. In that instant Preeti felt like she saw whatever was left of Naina's broken soul leave her body too.

On the way home Naina sat in the rickshaw without uttering a single word. Preeti had thought that she would talk to her in the privacy of their bedroom once they got home. But neighbours and relatives kept pouring in with their congratulations and long list of questions about the prospective groom and his family. Naina had to sit through all of that with a stoic expression.

At one point one of the girls visiting with another family had looked at her mehendi and teased that Jijagi must already love her a lot seeing how bright red it had turned. When she had asked what the S stood for Naina had instinctively started to say Sameer and then stopped almost as she started. The visitors had then teased her about how she was already so shy of saying Jijagi's name. Naina had only looked around her blankly trying to emotionally distance herself from her reality.

When the visitors were about to leave the girl had reminded Naina how they used to play with their dolls when they were younger and have pretend weddings for their dolls. The elders happily observed how the girls were now getting married themselves.

Naina had somehow managed to swallow a couple of morsels of food for dinner before retiring to her room pleading a headache. Chacha-Chachi had no words to comfort her that day.

As Naina got ready for bed in the bathroom, something that her childhood playmate mentioned earlier suddenly brought a long-forgotten memory to her mind.

She had been about 8 or 9 years old.  The school holidays were on and the children were trying to stay occupied with different games every day. One of their favourite had been getting their dolls married. A lot of preparation would go into it. They would choose and sometimes even make the wedding attire and prepare tiny versions of their favourite food. They would consult the adults to decide on an auspicious time for the wedding.

That year Naina had been gifted a pretty doll by her Mamaji when he last visited. She had named the doll Rani and all the other girls who had boy dolls and some even with girl dolls were very interested in forming an alliance with Naina's Rani. Everyone had approached Naina giving reasons why they felt their doll would make the best groom for Rani. Some had shown her their other toys like cars or train set, while some had promised her an extra share of sweets.

As Naina had deliberated on all these prospective alliances she had felt a little uncertain. She had quickly disregarded a couple just on the basis that they were missing a few limbs or an eye. And then she had suddenly announced that she would take some time to decide as she wanted to talk to Rani and understand what Rani wanted.

Everyone had looked at her incredulously! Consult Rani? Was she out of her mind? Naina had tried to explain that after all it was Rani's marriage and she would like to know if Rani was happy with the choice of groom.

One of the older girls had pointed out that as Rani's mother she had every right to choose for her and that there was absolutely no need for asking Rani what she felt. One of the Mausi's who was overhearing this conversation had laughed and stated that when it was time to find her a groom her elders would decide for her and that none will want her opinion.

Though not completely convinced Naina had chosen a Gudda that she thought best suited her Rani and proceeded with the wedding.

Naina felt like she could no longer comprehend what was happening around her. Decisions were being made for her without any input from her and then she was being judged for those decisions by others.

As much as she tried to block out Sameer's behaviour today recognizing his anger, a small voice kept wailing at the back of her mind asking how could he choose to hurt her so?

Naina looked at the face in the bathroom mirror and felt a surge of anger. She wanted to scream at herself and ask her younger self why she had not consulted Rani.

On some level she knew that this was illogical, Rani had been just a toy and did not care who she was married off to. But Naina cared. She felt like Rani wanted her to know what it felt like when people made huge decisions for you without consulting your wishes.

Naina started crying uncontrollably praying for forgiveness from Rani, hoping that they would not be witnessing another Gudiya Ki Shaadi.