Marrying my mistake

23. Ishani's POV

I cheerfully dressed into a white and purple anarkali my mother yelled from downstairs, "come on Ishani we are getting late. Neil's parents are also coming along. They are waiting outside. Are you dressing for your wedding already?" I went downstairs grabbing my bag and phone. I greeted Neil's parents by touching their feet, bahu duties. (Bahu is daughter in law in Hindi)

"Come Ishani we are all heading to this mall which only has wedding wear. So you can pick all your outfits from there. They also have designer wear if you want beta" said Neil's mother. "The men can go to my friends son's showroom he makes great men's wear," she added. Her know it all will make this easier but I wanted my wedding lengha to be a surprise and did not want to shop it with Neil's parents. We all fit into their car and off we went. Neil's mother was telling me what all her friends daughter in law's wore on their functions. "See you need 7 wedding outfits. There is pooja, then mehendi, then the cocktail, chooda, haldi, wedding, and reception," she explained calmly. 7 was a big number I was going to be annoyed shopping so many clothes. "Plus we want to give you 11 ethnic and 21 westerns as a part of your waari. We are modern you know. That's why Neil has asked us to send you to Singapore," she added proudly. I was going crazy or maybe she was then my mother added her two cents of craziness, "we also want you to take the same number as a part of your trousseau." What did they all think I would do with so many clothes. I felt miserable. 50 pair of Indian wear and the same number of westerns seemed foolish. "Maa can I decrease the number?" I looked hopefully. My mother looked aghast at my comment, "why lesser? This is a norm beta."

We reached and we started with suits. I picked up a basic yellow and orange anarkali with some pink flowers and Neil's mother said, "that's too light. Pick a heavier one." No ways, they would drive me mad. I looked at Neil's father and he understood, "let ishani pick t she likes. I think you all need to understand she is being sensible. So many clothes will be a waste," he had a finality in his voice that made everyone agree.

I picked the yellow orange anarkali for my haldi. A few more basic suits but with big price tags for my trousseau. We then headed to saree's and I picked a plain red saree. Then a swaroski laden grey one for the cocktail. A net saree in pale pink, another in champagne gold. Some silk sarees as my mother said they are evergreen. I also picked a pretty pink saree with a golden zari border which had an OM made on the shoulder. I decided this would be my dress for the Pooja. We then went to the shawls section and I picked a ruby red one, a grey one, a pink one and a yellow one. I kept on dividing the clothes in equal bundles. The sales assistant seemed happier than me. Im sure he was going to earn his monthly commission from just one client. He took us to the gowns section and I fell in love with a huge midnight blue lace gown. The work was delicate. It had a soft neckline with small crystals adding a sparkle. This had to be my reception gown, i called the assistant, "I want to try this one," he called the helper who took me to the dressing room. The gown looked beautiful. I felt like a princess much like the way Neil treated me. Someday this mistake of marrying him shall rectify and I hope we will have a great married life or else we will learn to live as friends.

I clicked a photo in the mirror and sent it to Neil. My phone buzzed to life thinking it was Neil I picked, "heya," I said softly as the assistant helped me remove the gown. "Ishani I'm going home for a few days please cover for me," it was Reet. "Reet I have been worried. Just where are you? What's wrong? Are you alright? I have meant to call you," I offered feebly. I felt guilty in my happiness I had forgotten a friend in need. "Reet I'm going to Banglore to my parents for a week. " I need time to sort myself mentally and make the decision," Reet's tone spoke volumes about her stress. I did not know how she was managing. "Before you keep the phone down please tell me does Sid know?" I prayed he was going to be there for her. "Ishani I can't tell him. Plus I was stupid. He never committed to me." I heard the airport voices of last call for passengers. "You take care princess." Reet said and kept the phone down. I wanted to call Sid and blow his cover but my friend wouldn't want that. Suddenly the shopping looked like a task. I was thankful that even though I was not pregnant by mistake, Neil was kind enough to stay with me in through the ordeal even though he was in Singapore.

I went out and told my mother that j was tired and did not wish to shop more. Neil's mum called the attendant and ordered tea and coffee. We sat in a special area which had opulent red velvet sofas, white carpets and a huge chandelier. It was an exclusive place for high spenders. The servers got us hot coffee, tea, water, sandwiches and pastries. The food was tasty. I gobbled up the sandwiches and pastries. I was hungry. We started discussing the clothes as I wondered why had Neil not called me despite the photo I sent. After tea Aunty took me to the lengha and there was a junior designer waiting for us. He helped me pick lengha for my Sagan and a shorter green one for mehendi. Now the most important bit came, my wedding lengha. As much as I wanted to dress up as a bride with all those heavy lengha and jewelry. I did not want to wear the usual red lengha. So I sent both the mother's away. There were planning their clothes and I interacted my thoughts to the junior designer. "So you are having a Gurdwara wedding? I'm Rajeev. Your mother gave us that much brief only," he sounded interested in me. "Yes, but I do not want to wear a lengha. You see it's too mainstream. I wanted a comfortable and stylish wedding suit. Its a Gurdwara wedding and a lengha isn't what I had in mind. Ooh! And I'm Ishani," I look at him, smile but he is already taking out the sketch book. "One last demand Rajiv," I said as he looked up from his sketching, "it should not be red."

He looked at me dumb struck. "But how will it look like a wedding dress?" "No issues you just imagine it to be a party dress." Over the next half an hour he showed me many designs and finally we reached a consensus. "I was going to wear a huge heavy gown-like anarkali with the heaviest chunni. It will be a dull gold and lavender anarkali with fuchsia accents. The sleeves would be a modest 3/4th but made of exquisite lavender lace and filled with dull gold work. He gave me samples of the materials so that I could select my accessories accordingly.

For my mehendi I decided to wear a lungi and kurti. The stylist was shocked but agreed. "How about a green velvet and red one?," he asked. "Done," I said looking at a sample. "For other functions get me plain red lengha and a copy of what Shahid Kapoor's wife wore on her reception." Finally I was free. Agreed this was not the most sensible bridal shopping but it was quick and easier than becoming bridezilla which I had seen many of my friends become. I called Neil to tell him about my wedding outfit so that he could console both the mothers before they reacted, "hey Neil! Where are you?" "In my room Ish. Where else. Some possessive wife you are," he teased. I smiled and explained that I did not want a lengha for the nuptials and handling both mothers about this decision would be a task.

"Neil how did you like my outfit? I have finalised it for the reception," I confided. Suddenly I knew his approval mattered. "You look lovely Ishani," I smiled as he said this. In fact I blushed as he added, "I can't wait to meet you Ish". I wanted to hear him a bit more, open my heart to him but I was scared. He had become much more than I could be to him. In times to come I might be want he is for me but right now this held me back. After some more shopping we all headed to have some dinner. I could not believe it was already late evening and since we had spent the while day in one shop. My mother was discussing the next week plans and decided that I needed to be there for the jewellery shopping and I was free. They would work out the rest and wanted me to relax and enjoy my wedding. The talk shifted to setting up our house and thankfully Neil's mother told me the decorator would love to meet me one day after office hours. All I needed to do was fit in my choice and the decorator would do the rest. I relaxed as we all finished dinner. My parents and Neil's decided that I could go the next weekend so that I could catch up with Neil and shop. I was happy. Meeting on a neutral ground with no parental pressure would help us decide where our relation actually stood.