Everything was going well for Siddharth Kashyap till he decided he would come back home during the short break in his national tour with Red Wagon, his band. It was a four-person band. Angad was the lead vocalist, Yug was the drummer and Shreyas was their guitarist. He was a vocalist, alongside Angad, and the bassist.

Things were great, fantastic even. 

They had just won the Battle of the Bands in Mumbai and had travelled all the way to New York for the International Battle of the Bands. 

He was living the dream of every Indie musician out there. 

They even got close to winning the title and got placed in the top 5. But they were eliminated just before the finals. 

And yet they were ecstatic. Making it to the semi-finals was a huge deal. No Indian band had done it before them. The moment they stepped foot in the Delhi airport they were flooded with contracts from labels and offers for tours and sponsors. Yug, one of Siddharth's best friends and the band's drummer, had gotten his father's legal firm involved in the deals and they had accepted a tour spanning six major states. 

They had performed in Bangalore, Chennai and they had just wrapped two shows in Mumbai. They had been having so much fun in this wild ride that he had sort of overlooked his mother. 

His mother was obviously very happy for him but she had no one but her sister to keep her company when he was gone. 

Siddharth had flown back to Delhi on the first plane he could get a ticket for. 

They had a month-long hiatus before they resumed with shows in Jaipur, Kolkata and finally Delhi. He would be spending that time at home making it up to his mother. 

There was no one more precious to Siddharth Kashyap than his mother. She had been his pillar of strength throughout his shitty childhood. She was the one who had paid for his music lessons in secret because his father didn't believe it was a manly enough activity. He owed his career to his mother because she had risked it all for him. 

The familiar smoke-filled air and the traffic of Delhi greeted him as he made his way to his house. He paid the taxi driver and walked into his lawn. It bloomed with flowers thanks to his mother's green thumb. 

It was late and his flight had gotten delayed by a couple of hours. He rang the doorbell and waited for his mother's smiling face to greet him.

The door was opened by Hari Bhaiya their house-help. 

"How are you Hari Bhaiya?" he asked cheerfully stepping in. 

"I am fine Siddharth Babu. How was Amrica?" he asked laughing. 

"It was very good!" Siddharth replied walking into the living room that wasn't empty. 

He knew something was up when his aunt was at their place. She usually didn't stay the night because she had her own family that needed taking care of. 

"You're here!" his mother exclaimed as she walked into the living room. She gestured for Hari to take Siddarth's bags in. He declined Hari Bhaiya's help and dragged the bags in himself. 

He went up to his mother and kissed her. 

"How are you Ma?" he asked smiling. 

"Lonely without my son. Your aunt is here." 

"Yes," he said, "Namastey Damini Mosi." 

He bent to touch her feet and as per usual she gave him her blessings. 

"Our Rockstar is back huh Yamini?" she laughed. 

Siddharth smiled politely. 

"How was it? Tell me everything," his mother said seating him down on the sofa. 

Siddharth was getting ready to start his tale of adventures when his eyes fell on an elaborate box of dry fruits and a gaudy invitation card on the table nearby. 

"What is that?" he asked getting up to take a look at it. 

"That's nothing. You come back here and tell us your story."

Siddharth ignored her and read the invitation card. 

To Mrs Yamini Rajput and Family.

Mr and Mrs Sooraj Rajput invite you to grace the wedding of their son

Veer Rajput 

to 

Chaarvi Haldar

Daughter of Mr and Mrs Nitin Haldar

Siddharth gripped it with cold rage. 

"I don't know why they bother sending the invite at all," he murmured.

He should have known who it would be. The over-the-top decoration and the fancy box. Of course, it was his father's family. 

"We'll talk about it later," his mother said frantically and snatched the invite away from him. 

"There's nothing to talk about. Send it back. They needn't waste their money on us. We are not going obviously." 

"Siddharth..." his mother said.

"What?" he demanded, "Don't think for a second that this invite means anything. We are still the branch of the Rajput family they're ashamed of. We killed their precious son right?" 

Flashes of his father's malicious face ran through his mind as he closed his eyes. The feelings of fear, hatred and hurt cloying at his throat. 

"That was years ago son." she reasoned, "This invite means they're trying. They are extending an olive branch and we need to take it." 

"This means they are trying to save face. How would it look if his brother's family didn't show up at his only son's wedding? People talk." Siddharth said clenching his teeth. 

"Like I said we can talk about this later," she said. 

"No. Let's talk about this now. I don't want any talk of this wedding from this day forth." 

"Siddharth please, you know we need to go," she said weakly and sat back down. 

Siddharth felt guilt knot his stomach up. He never liked to argue with his mother. Especially when it made her this upset. But this was non-negotiable. He wasn't going to be around his father's side of the relatives. 

They were the same people who had known his father abused his mother regularly and continued to worship him. They stood at the sidelines keeping mum. When that monster finally died they blamed his mother for killing him. They called her all kinds of unsavoury names even when they knew the death was of natural causes. He hated them with a passion. 

And here the same woman abused at their hands was begging him to spend time with them. He had distanced himself from that family years ago. In fact, he didn't even go by his father's surname. He had taken his mother's maiden name when he entered college. 

He wasn't Siddharth Rajput for the world. He was Siddharth Kashyap and he wasn't going to pretend to be anything else for anyone. 

"Ma, we don't need to do anything," he said softly, sitting next to her. 

He took her hands in his own and said,

"We do not need to rekindle this family bond or whatever it is that makes you feel obligated."

"You don't understand these things son," she said wiping a tear from her eye.

"She is right Siddharth," his aunt piped in. 

Siddharth just shook his head and sighed. 

"Fine, I understand. You don't want to go. That is alright. But I will be going." his mother said finally.

Siddharth groaned.

"You're not serious, Ma."

"I am one hundred per cent serious. Now you can come along or not. I won't force you."

"You know I won't let you go alone," he said defeated and slumped back.

His mother smiled at him and brushed his hair affectionately. 

"I know it's hard for you. It's hard for me too. But we can't just turn our back on family this way. It will be over before we know it. And if we don't go then they will talk about this event for years. They will all gossip and I don't want that. I don't want to give them an opportunity to talk behind our backs."

Siddharth wanted to tell his mother that he didn't consider them family and he didn't care what they gossiped about. But he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he leaned on his mother's lap. 

"Now then we have to get ready for this. We have clothes to buy and gifts to get. We will also need tickets." she listed. 

"Tickets?" he sat up straight.

"Yeah, didn't you read? It's in Jaipur."

"It's a destination wedding?" Siddharth asked with a sinking heart. 

Not only will they be attending the wedding with his relatives they will also be sharing the same roof. No escape. 

This was the worst.