Dilkash

(v) husn

(Oh, dear Aunt! What is the matter of diamonds in this? It is my duty only.)

They all chuckled a little, maybe even blushed. I faked a little shyness too and then all of them started walking away. When all of them were gone, I looked around to make sure no one else was around either.

"Thought I'd thank you, so thanks. Waise, acting acchi kar lete ho." I whispered sarcastically, looking at the grass.

(By the way, your acting is good.)

"Yeah, I know." He replied nonchalantly and started tapping his legs. He's trying to annoy me.

I was gonna say something else but then my father came and asked us to come to the living room for sometime. Maa, Chacha, Chachi, Jiju, Didi, his parents, Kabir, Meera, and the Pandit were already there when the three of us entered. The Pandit was reading something from two different booklets. They're probably our Janmpatrikas.

(Janmpatrika— a sheet including the impact of movement of planets in one's life according to the time of their birth.)

"Panditji, inn dono ke vivah ke liye iss saal sabse uchit tareekh kaunsi hogi?" Badi Rani Sa enquired.

(What would be the most appropriate date for their marriage this year, respected Pandit.)

"Inn dono ki janmpatrika dekh ke toh iss saal ki Margashrish ki Shuklpaksh Chaudashi yane ki December ko hi uchit rahegi." The Pandit announced and the color on my face faded. I looked at Kabir and he gestured to me to take deep breaths.

(Looking at both of their Janmpatrikas, it seems that the fourteenth day of the darker fortnight of the Margashirsh month, that is the fourteenth of December would be appropriate.)

That's— that's too early. That's just— just fifty-two days from now.

Everyone around me started becoming happy, except him and Kabir, of course. I tried my best to hide the horror on my face as my parents hugged his parents. I kept breathing deeply as Kabir suggested but it wasn't helping.

My grip around the end of my Saree tightened and it felt like the room was suffocating me. I had little tears in my eyes, but luckily they hadn't fallen off yet. And luckily, time was right and Vaidehi called me right at that moment and I excused myself immediately. I let out a sigh of relief as I walked out of the door. It felt like a lot of weight was off of me.

After lunch, the so-called royals and their guests were back to the premises of their palace for the evening's event. I had changed into my favorite pair of clothes, a loose baggy t-shirt and a black pair of shorts. I had been in the living room for two or three hours now, all alone and munching on a Snickers bar. Snickers bars always help with tensions, I've never tried it with stuff like weddings before but let's just hope.

Everyone else was in their respective rooms and Vaidehi had gone back home. Pranay and Yashvi had also left to meet Pranay's parents who lived next door. They were surprising them. I was surfing on social media while munching on the Snickers bar so I had no clue if any one had entered the room.

But then, I heard the sound of a foot tapping and my eyes went there. It was Yashvi, she was standing right in front of me with crossed arms, probably expecting an answer to all the questions I left unanswered in the past few days. I gestured to her to sit down and Pranay walked in just then. I did the same with him.

"Why him, Inayat? Didn't you say you cared about your post-work Friday night fun?" Yashvi enquired.

"I have my reasons, Yashvi. I swear it's not because of anything stupid. Give me a chance to explain." I tried to elaborate.