My Choice

Chapter 6

Here you are folks! I know you've waited for a long time for this. 

Chapter 6: 

I stared at my grandmother as she stood in the doorway. I had never seen that expression on her face before, so it confused me to no end. She looked me up and down, eventually staring straight into my eyes. I looked away, intimidated by the intensity of her gaze. I kept my eyes glued to the floor, but I could feel her stare burning into me.

Finally, she turned away from me to Laxmi and said, "You have done well, Laxmi. I will bring her back tomorrow for the wedding ceremony. Bear in mind that I expect the same results as today or better, but I will not tolerate worse."

Laxmi merely nodded and said, "Of course. I would love to dress this doll up again tomorrow."

My grandmother didn't even respond. She just walked over to me, grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of the room. She ignored my signs of protest; I was just trying to tell her that my dupatta was still set upon my bun, instead of a veil in front of my face like it was supposed to be. 'Oh well,' I thought. If she was choosing to ignore me, then let her face the embarrassment. I tried my best not to fall over while she pulled me along, but these 4-inch heels weren't helping my cause. How was she so strong? She was an old lady, for God's sakes! I focused all of my attention on staying upright, as the dirt roads provided a precarious pathway, and falling would not be a pleasant experience.

As we got closer to our house, her pace slowed down considerably, coming to a very slow walk. I could hear loud music blaring from inside our house, and I wondered where it was coming from, given that there was no electricity in the village. My grandmother and I walked through the heavily-decorated door, and my question was answered by the group of individuals playing drums and various instruments in the corner. The small house was filled with people; it seemed like she had invited the entire village. Murmurs rose throughout the crowd, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. My grandmother led me to a chair in the middle of the room and gestured at me to sit down. I did as I was told and sat down carefully, trying not to wrinkle the back of the lengha.

I merely sat there for about an hour, keeping my eyes lowered. I knew this was the time for the women to stare at the to-be bride and gossip about her looks and whether or not she would make a good wife. I didn't know how they could even hear each other over the loud music. Eventually, a couple of women came over to me and asked me questions. I couldn't understand them with the music pounding in my ears, so I decided to play it safe. Keeping my eyes down, I nodded and smiled at them. Eventually, they walked away, and I hoped I had done what I was expected to do.

A few minutes later, my grandmother walked over to me, followed by two women. She tapped my shoulder, and I took that as my cue to look up at her.

Seeing that she had my attention, my grandmother said, "Darling, these women will be doing your mehndi. They are the best in the village."

She left and walked towards another group of women, clearly intending to socialize for a few minutes. The two women she had left me with moved to either side of me and lifted up each of my arms cautiously, as if asking for permission to begin.

I nodded. It seemed like I was doing that a lot today, but I didn't know what else to do. I had to keep up the appearance of a shy bride, but I also couldn't ignore people when they were clearly asking me something. Upon receiving my approval, the two women began to pull off the rings, followed by the bracelets adorning my wrists. They stacked them on a nearby platter, taking care not to mix up the order they had been in. To avoid the chance of henna accidentally getting on them, they rolled my sleeves up to my elbows.

They were ready to begin applying the mehndi, but they hesitated, as if they were waiting for a signal. Their eyes drifted towards my grandmother, who, feeling the eyes upon her back, turned around to stare back at them. Seeing that they were in a position to begin, she ordered someone to pause the music.