"Bhai please get ready or Mom will have my head in a plater for sure. I really don't know who is getting married, you or me because it feels like I am more interested than you. Come on, get up." This stupid brother of mine is so annoying sometimes. He is constantly nagging me to get ready for the wedding but maybe he is forgetting that there are still two hours left for the wedding.

"Why don't you get ready if you are so eager? I am not a child that I can't get ready by myself." I reply getting irritated.

"Okay, fine but if Mom asks me about you then I will tell her that you are doing office work." I try to stop him but he runs out of my room. Shit! I haven't done any office work in two days because Mom has ordered me but now this Lakshya will definitely lie to Mom and then Mom will scold me. So, I hurriedly start to get ready.

After twenty minutes I am completely ready. Just as I am putting on my shoes Mom and Soniya come to my room. They make me sit on a chair before doing some ritual.

"Look Auntie our dulhe raja is so eager to see his dulhaniya that he has gotten ready without your scolding." Soniya says Mom with a teasing tone.

"Let him be Soniya. Finally, my dream is going to be a reality to see him getting married to a very amazing girl. I know they will be happy together." Mom replies while kissing my forehead. I don't say anything to them although I want to tell them how much guilt I have inside me. Technically I am betraying them but I don't have any other choice.

Soon after that, they lead me toward the mandap where the wedding will be done. Dad and Aarav are monitoring everything while Lakshya is busy playing with the kids. I take my place in the mandap before the priest start to the rituals of marriage. Suddenly, there is a hustle and bustle around us so I look up to see that Ishita is coming towards the mandap in her bridal attire. For a second I lost my breathing by her beauty. I have never seen a beautiful bride than her in my life. The red color is looking so graceful on her proclaim skin that I can't take off my eyes from her. The shy smile that is adorning her face is enough to bring relief to anyone's heart. When she sits down beside me I want to touch her to know if I am dreaming or not because how can someone be so flawless.

The priest tells us both to stand up for the Jaimala. Lakshya and Aarav lift me on their shoulder before Ishita can put the jaimala around my neck. I am already taller than her but now I am like a mountain in front of her. Suddenly her brother and her Kaka lift her on their shoulders making her gasp in surprise but then a full-blown smile makes its way to her face. She successfully put the garland around my neck. I also put the garland around her neck before taking our seats in the mandap. After a lot of rituals finally, the time comes when I put sindoor (vermilion) between her hair and tied the mangalsutra around her neck.

Soon the priest announces us as husband and wife so we stand up to take the elders blessing. All the ladies of our families have tears in their eyes but still, they are smiling big. When we get near Vinod uncle, he doesn't let us touch his feet instead he pulls us for a hug.

"Always be happy together and take care of each other." He whispers before pulling away from the hug. I nod my head while Ishita is wiping her tears. He kisses her forehead before petting my back with a smile.

"We are so lucky that God has blessed us with a daughter like Ishita, right Archana?" Dad asks Mom who is standing beside him.

"Indeed we are both lucky. No one would have been a better daughter-in-law than our Ishita." Mom replies with a proud smile.

Finally, the time I am dreading the most come which is the ritual of Bidai. I don't like it when people around me cry without any reason. I don't understand the reason behind the crying in this ritual, if you know that you are going to leave your family after marriage so you should compose yourself from the start. I may sound like a selfish person but that's what I am and how I think.

However, seeing Ishita's crying face something tug at my heart. She doesn't want to leave her father because she is clutching his sherwani in both of her hands. Finally, after a lot of struggle, her brother is successful in separating them. I get inside the car and Ishita follows behind. Her brother and cousin push the car per ritual and soon we are on our way to the Delhi airport where we will be taking our flight to Mumbai.

Every one of us has changed our outfit because it will not be easy to travel with the heavy outfits we have worn at the marriage. Ishita is still crying silently beside me looking outside the window. For the first time, I want to console someone but my ego is not letting me. I know I have been very lenient towards her from the start but now I know that this girl beside me has some power to control me and that is something I don't want. So I think it will be better if I keep my distance from her or otherwise she will be able to make her way to my heart.

••••••••••••

Marriage is believed to be the most sacred union between a man and a woman by which they bond with each other for the whole life. It does not only establish a new path for them but also create new hopes in their lives. Nothing can separate them from each other besides death. But when the marriage is only a lie to show the world that the husband and wife are happy with each other, it becomes suffocated to live with each other.

I haven't lie to my family in my twenty-one years of life but now I have to live with the biggest lie of my life that I am happy to be married. I will not say that I have done a great job of lying to them because they would have stopped the marriage as soon as they got to know about my real feelings. However, I don't want to trouble them any more, they have already suffered a lot because of me in the past. Now they will get to live in peace and that's the least I can do for them. Also, I need to be independent and have to face my fears by myself.

"We have reached the airport." Rudra says from beside me. I nod my head and get out of the car. This is my first time flying on a plane so I am kind of nervous but hopefully, I will not scream when the flight takes off.

Soon enough we are sitting on our respected seats on the flight. Archana Auntie and Rudra are sitting beside my both sides so I am feeling a little less scared. But soon as the flight takes off I realize how wrong I was. However, Archana Auntie links her hand with mine and gives me a wink that makes me surprise but soon I am grinning like a fool. It has only taken two hours to reach the Mumbai airport.

The whole time I talk with Archana Auntie who shares a lot of gossip about Rudra and Lakshya when they were little. She has also promised me that she will show me some interesting stuff when we reach their house. However, she lightly scolds me when I refer as Auntie. She has ordered me to call her Maa or Mom and Sachin uncle Dad.

When we come out of the airport three cars are waiting outside. Between them, a white Rolls Royce Phantom car is allocated for Rudra and I. I am not surprised to see the posh car because we are talking about Mr. Rudra Bajaj. Maa inform us that she and Dad will take another car with Lakshya. After we get inside the car, Rudra tells me that they live in Pali Hills so it will take a maximum of twenty minutes to reach there.

"I have something to tell you." I tell Rudra who is scrolling through his phone.

"Hmm, what is it?" He asks without looking at me.

"I want to do a part-time job. I know it is a very sudden request but I want to stand up on my own feet." I answer him while fidgeting with my fingers.

"Okay." My head snaps towards him because he doesn't seem to have any problem with me working. He puts his phone away before looking at me with a look of assurance.

"You don't have to look at me like I have said something unexpected. You are an educated person so it is the right thing to do and I am not someone who will stop you from being an independent person." He replies before going back to look at his phone. I have never thought that he will accept my request so easily but I am thankful that I don't need to think about his reputation or status to be spoiled by me. After some time the car pulls in front of a heavily secure gate but when the gate open my mouth hang open seeing the big modern house.

After getting out of the car we start to walk towards the house. There are a lot of people standing in front of the main entrance and Maa is standing there while holding a plate full of things. When we get near the main door Maa does our aarti before telling me to push the rice full pot lightly with my right feet. After that, I put both of my feet in a dish of Alta and start walking inside the house.

"Welcome home bhabhi." Lakshya bhaiya greets me with a smile.

"Thank you bhaiya." I reply shyly. A lot of games have been played after that. While I am enjoying playing the games, Rudra is surely getting irritated.

"Ishita beta you must be feeling tired. Let's go, I will show you to your room." Maa says to me. I get up from my place on the couch before following her.

"Maa, does there any more ritual left for today?" I ask her with hesitation in which she only smile before taking my hand in her.

"No beta, there are no rituals left for today but tomorrow you will need to perform some rituals. But for now, you should take a rest. Also, you don't need to wear a saree for tomorrow's rituals. I have selected a pretty Salwar suit for you, I hope you will like that." She replies with a warm smile.

"I know I will like anything you chose for me Maa. I am just glad that I don't need to wear a saree. I am not very good at wearing saree." I answer with a sheepish look in which she chuckles in return.

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So how did you guys like the chapter?

I hope I haven't done any mistakes while writing about the marriage rituals. I am not a married person so I don't have any idea about the rituals and all.😁😉

By the way, from now on you guys will be getting updates twice per week.

For now, bye bye.

Love you all💗