Arranged Roommates

|10| An Exhausting Wedding

Meanings of Hindi words are in the comments!

If I had even a sliver of idea about how exhausting the marriage rituals are going to be, I would have never agreed to put myself through this agony.

The fire blazing from the Agni Kund made the sweating worse as I tried to breathe properly through my tight-fitting traditional wedding dress.

The crimson lehenga was voluminous and coupled with the heavy makeup which caked my entire face, I had this intense urge to scratch both my face and my itching body like a cat to get rid of this torture. I was not a big fan of heavy clothing or even casual makeup, it always felt like a burden. The smell of henna and smoke made me dizzy and I prayed for this to get over.

The grand palace where the wedding was organised was decorated with a pastel pink and yellow theme, and the flowers enveloped every inch. It looked simply beautiful with the glowing chandeliers illuminating the regal location.

I could see my relatives enjoying every bit of the extravagant wedding.

At least someone was enjoying.

The buzzing sound of the chatters reminded me of the number of people who were present there.

Guess how many people had been invited by both families.

It was more than three freaking thousand!

Yes, you read that right. And even then, many of my distant relatives, who my mother wanted to include in the guest list, were excluded. Because the venue administration prohibited the entry of more than two thousand people but finally agreed to settle on three thousand after a lot of negotiation.

My mouth watered as I saw my aunt gobble almost all the hundred varieties of dishes that were available in the buffet. How unfair!

I can't even eat the food that 'I' had paid for my 'own' wedding!

Remembering the food, I suddenly felt all exposed with my outfit which showed half of my bulging belly. Shouldn't have binged on that chocolate ice cream last night.

Tucking my stomach in so that it wasn't much noticeable, I sat up straight.

The wedding was taking place according to Sindhi rituals even though Aryan's family was Punjabi. But my family insisted on following the Sindhi way of wedding and his family didn't oppose it. And Sindhis love bling, colour and luxury. Hence, the lavish celebration.

The priest drew the symbols representing the Nav Grah with rice and Sindoor. He then instructed us to start the ritual of Palli Pallo where my dupatta was tied to Aryan's scarf with a few grains of rice inside.

As my cousin struggled to tie the knot of the scarf, I glanced towards Aryan who was surprisingly already looking at me.

He bent near my ear and whispered, "You look like you are going to throw up. Please don't do it on me." The vibration of his laugh and breath rose goosebumps on my neck as my cheeks grew warm at the effect his voice had on me.

"I am just too tired. Feeling a little dizzy. My feet ache and I will definitely puke on you now." I murmured grumpily.

After that, the priest instructed to tie our hands together with a sacred red cloth.

Great! Just what I needed right now.

I was already sweating like a swine. Now my disgusting clammy hands will be cramped with his for two hours or more throughout the remaining wedding.

I calmed myself and suppressed the surge to shout at the videographer for the blinding camera flashes.

As the priest was busy performing some ceremony with our parents, Aryan tapped his shoulder. Our parents were still exchanging some necessities when I saw Aryan sliding two big bundles of two thousand rupee notes towards the priest and whispering something in his ear. The Pandit nodded.

OhmyGod!

I can't believe this man.

I reached up to him, and whispered harshly, "Please tell me, I didn't just see you bribe the priest."

His nose scrunched, "Bribe is a pretty harsh word. I did provide him with an extra offering, yes." His eyes crinkled with laughter as he looked down into my eyes.

It was definitely a bribe.

Sigh. This man...

"But why?"

"Don't worry about that. Just know that this will be over in the next half an hour and then we can go to our home."

There was so much wrong with the single sentence that I don't know where to even begin with.

Firstly, I still couldn't believe that he would bribe a priest.

Secondly, how can the two-hour traditions be completed in a mere half an hour?

Thirdly, OUR HOME?

I had never even been to this 'our home'!

My mom had helped me shift my things to his apartment through the mover's company, a couple of days after the pool party, but I had never visited his apartment owing to my never-ending workload.

Miraculously, the wedding got completed within the next twenty-five minutes and I sighed in relief.

The bribe works.

And at last, when Aryan was asked to fill the red vermillion on my forehead and tie the pious mangal sutra around my neck, I felt a little bad for deceiving the divine rituals with the sham of our marriage. But finally, now that I was officially married I felt some sense of relief too because I could now live peacefully without the daily conflicts with my parents.

I silently said a little prayer of thanks and forgiveness to the lord above.

I heard Aryan saying, "I don't like it when someone else takes credit for my work."

"Who took credit for your work?" I asked confused.

"You should be thanking me for relieving you of this torture. Not the god." He said haughtily.

I rolled my eyes and just ignored him, "I don't have any energy left for bickering. So shut up."

"This is the way an obedient wife talks to her husband?" He questioned with narrowed eyes and an amused smile flickering on his lips.

"Shut up!"

"What my wife wishes, she gets." He bowed his head in fake reverence and placed a finger on his lips as if silencing himself.

But the smug look on his face made me want to yank him down and slap that annoying dimple on his cheek.

I gritted my teeth and stifled the impulse to act on it.

***

Hope you all liked the chapter,

Do Vote ⭐, Comment💭 and Share❤️!