Beyond The Horizon!

Chapter 13: Halad and Mehendi!

(Mature Language 18+; Mahima's attire pic above!)

As decided his parents reached the next evening and to say they were super ecstatic meeting Eric and Mahima would be such an understatement.

Of course, Eric told them everything that had happened in the past 10 days. How he and Mahima met, what she did here, what kind of sick parents she had and how they used to torture her, how they both fell in love and what a great cook she is.

To be honest they were completely thrown off-guard learning how cruel her parents were. They promised to keep Mahima happy and safe in the future.

Of course that night, Kulkarni kaka and his wife Revathi visited them to talk about marriage and its rituals. Ruby who clearly knew the importance of cultures asked them to continue with the Indian rituals and once everyone would be back to Canada, there would be another wedding.

Yes, even though they would be getting married here as per Indian Culture, Ruby wanted them to get married again in Canada where they could call all their friends and family.

And why not? She has been dreaming about her son's wedding all these years and now that the time has come, she wanted to go on full swing.

She understood how important such things were for Mahima and she didn't want to snatch away this girl's happiness in any way. Plus, by doing this her little Eric would be married twice. Her heart danced in joy seeing how the man who ran away from the word 'marriage' was now going to get married twice. She couldn't thank Mahima enough.

After all this was the magic of true love!

Surprisingly, Eric didn't oppose his mother's decision because come on; this man is madly in love. Leave it to him then he would get married to Mahima every single day for the rest of their lives.

However, poor man was left majorly irritated when Kulkarni kaka took Mahima to his house for that night saying, now she was his responsibility and he would take care of his daughter.

Oh you big baby Eric!

The next two days were spent in shopping and inviting people.

* * *

Finally it was the day of their wedding.

As decided, this morning Kulkarni family was awaiting the arrival of Salvatore family at their house where they would be conducting 'Halad Chadavani' and 'Mehendi' rituals.

These are pre-wedding rituals and held a special importance in Indian weddings. The word 'Halad' means turmeric and is considered one of the most auspicious things in India. In this ceremony, the bride and groom families get together at one place and conduct the ritual.

Turmeric powder is mixed with oil and water to form a thick paste. This holy paste is applied on the bride and groom's cheeks, arms and feet after offering prayers to the deity. This mixture is believed to bless the couple before their wedding.

Every member of the family applies this paste on the bride and the groom and wishes them all the good luck for their prosperous future. It is often believed that the bride and groom are not supposed to leave the house premises after the 'Halad' ceremony is completed. They can only leave the premises when it is time to get married.

'Halad Chandavani' is usually the first function in any wedding followed by 'Mehendi'.

* * *

Revathi rushed towards the door when she saw Ruby and Rowan standing at the door step. With a wide smile playing on her face, she welcomed them joining her hands politely in front of her chest while Ruby and Rowan imitated her gesture ever so politely.