Manoj had returned from his office after a hectic day of work. Despite being busy on a very hot day, he had a smile on his face after all, his son had returned home for the weekend. Since the day Atul shifted to Delhi, the old couple seemed lonely and looked forward for the weekend visits of their son which had decreased over some years.

Manoj was enraged at his wife when he heard his son shouting. Controlling his urge to snap at Vandana, he asked Atul, “How was your journey?”

“Papa, journey was good”, Atul replied with a fake smile. He hated when his father blamed his mother for every small mistake. Though he was angry at his mother, he did not want the old lady to be humiliated by her husband.

Giving his bag to his wife, he plopped on one of the accent chairs and began a small talk with his son, asking him, “So, how is your job?”

“Perfect”, Atul responded composing himself as he too, took his seat. The cozy ambience of the Bansals abode suddenly changed into a formal one. Vandana stood beside Atul with a welcoming smile. Not that she could not sit but she wanted to ask her husband if he wanted to have tea or lemonade in the evening.

“You came after a long time”, Manoj chortled admiring the physique of his son. He realized Atul had lost a bit of weight and looked somewhat younger than his age.

Manoj was excited to meet the Goyals over Sunday. Finally his son would get a bride, he deduced. Riya Goyal, the daughter of Sushil Goyal was not a beautiful girl. Given her 4 feet 5 inch height, she was certainly not someone Manoj would have liked for his son under normal circumstances but Sushil Goyal had agreed to offer something which had blown his mind and hence, the old man was wanting to fix Atul’s marriage with Riya.

“Yes, he finally came to invite us at his wedding”, Vandana snapped angrily breaking the reverie of her husband.

“What?” Manoj demanded glowering at his son while all the negative thoughts crossed his mind. The idea of Atul marrying someone else especially when Riya's father had offered a lucrative deal was not welcoming at all.

“He loves a girl”, Vandana revealed glaring at his son while Atul sighed exasperatedly. He was quietly watching the drama unfolding in front of him.

“What am I listening, Golu?” His father thundered in anger. Manoj was not okay with the idea of love marriages after all, he had an orthodox perspective. The old man did not take a minute to label his son's beloved into a desperate girl who trapped young men for money and physical needs.

“Papa, I want to marry Amaya”, Atul announced calmly much to the dismay of his parents and he felt relaxed as if a burden got lifted off his chest.

“No love marriages happen in this family”, Manoj hollered much to the annoyance of Atul.

Dropping another bomb, Manoj announced, “You are marrying Riya, the daughter of our new neighbours. She is in first year of her B.Com.” Atul was baffled while his mother had a broad grin on her face. Having met Riya, she realized that young girl was responsible enough to fit in the role of a daughter-in-law and a wife.

“Are you even listening to yourself?” Atul objected. He wondered how could his parents stoop so low that they are planning to get him married to an eighteen year old teenager.

Banging his fist on the coffee table to display his anger, he told them, “She is a kid, just eighteen for God’s sake while I am in my thirties. How could her parents think of such thing?”

“Her father is ready to offer 50 lakhs to us. Though she is chubby and short-heighted, you both will be a good match and this is my final decision.” Manoj countered and Atul was beyond irritated.

Being brought up in a male dominant society, Atul had come across many parents marrying their girls by paying dowry but he was surprised that his father was accepting someone’s offer despite he had been against dowry since the very beginning. He was disappointed at the pathetic mindset of the girl’s parents who were ready to spend their hard-earned money in search of a stupid groom instead of spending that money on something worthwhile, like education of Riya to make her self-dependent.

“I am no beggar to demand dowry. Goddamit, this was the only condition I had imposed when I agreed for an arranged match.” Atul hollered as he got up to leave the room and perhaps, his house too, for a while, because he needed some time to calm his anger. The rage in his red eyes attracted attention of his parents who blamed his love interest for the same.

“Golu, you are a CA for God’s sake. You earn well. Any girl who would marry you will be a lucky one.” Manoj coaxed his son. He did not want to ruin his plan of investing 50 lakh in real estate, after all.

“It is not dowry, child. It is something which they are gifting to their daughter. It is meant her future, or I should say your future.” Vandana reasoned with sly grin and greed in her eyes irritating Atul more.

Despite, arguing with his parents was fruitless, he could not help but mumble, “If they are so concerned of her future, they can invest that money on her education instead of a stupid groom.”

“Papa, I am against dowry and this is my only condition”, Atul tried to explain his father that dowry is not just a social evil but a crime too.

In reality, Atul despised the idea of dowry in a wedding. For him, marriage was a union of two souls instead of an opportunity to encash a better future or a better standard of living. He had seen his friends as well as cousins demanding SUVs, gold and cash from the brides' side. He had also seen the families of their brides gladly fulfilling those shallow demands.

Atul hated this idea of dowry. He was happy driving an Alto of his own money instead of a SUV gifted in dowry. Being a man valuing his self-respect, he had opposed his tradition every time his parents tried to convince him.

“Meet Riya before going back”, ordered Manoj while Vandana smiled. Though she did not find Riya beautiful yet, she was glad after all, Riya was a down-to-earth traditional girl who could meekly follow her orders without questioning her.

♥️♥️♥️

Hi everyone

Please don't kill me.

And yeah! throw only tomatoes, no eggs. I am a vegetarian. 🍅

Dowry is the worst social evil normalized in our toxic society.

Because of dowry, many girls are killed/beaten/burnt alive. Many girls lose their lives because of people like Atul’s friends and cousins demand dowry like greedy beggars while people like Riya's parents fulfill their demands because for them, girl is a mere responsibility.

Pick up the newspaper or search the news on social media and you will realize such people do exist. 🙁

Now let's see what would Atul do?🤨

Will he meet Riya?🤦‍♀️

Will he be able to something to help Riya?☹

Will he able to convince his dad to meet Amaya?😅

Let's see, where this journey takes him?🤔

I will be back soon, till then, do hit the ⭐ button, share your views on the chapter and share this story with your friends.🌷

Love you all
💜