A Miracle That Changed My Life

13. A birthday to remember

Khushi

It was finally the day my wedding rituals were officially starting. The first ritual to be held was the mehndi ceremony. In our tradition, mehndi held a cultural significance. People even believed that if the colour of a bride's mehndi (henna) turns out dark, her husband loves her immensely. I didn't need to rely on this conception because I knew how much Adi already loved me.

As a child, I used to love applying henna a lot. I used to apply it on my hands on every festival or occasion but after a certain period, my fascination for mehndi died down. During my teenage years, the damage to my self-esteem and self-confidence was so bad that I stopped enjoying festivities altogether. But now, I would love to continue my childhood traditions and enjoy every single moment of my life because I discovered my reason for happiness.

I was getting ready for the evening function in my room with only pleasant thoughts running in my mind. My friends were also getting ready in my room. They saw me smiling and smirked at me, wiggling their eyebrows at me. I shook my head at them giggling and concentrated on the task at hand.

For the mehndi function, my dress was a turquoise blue blouse with golden printed designs over it and a sea-green long skirt with small flower prints embroidered with thread. I draped the dupatta around my body so that it doesn't come in the way when mehndi is being applied. I applied very little makeup because I wanted to be comfortable if I had to sit for hours. When I saw my accessories, I immediately fell in love with them. My earrings were made to match my dress in turquoise blue and golden shade. When I got ready, I twirled in front of the mirror in excitement. My naturally straight hair was curled for the occasion and they bounced when I twirled.

We made a pact in school that we would enjoy every function of each other's marriage and try to be the most gorgeous brides and bridesmaids. Looking at us now, I think we were fulfilling our pact honestly. For me, my friends were the most beautiful bridesmaids.

Preet was wearing a golden net lehenga and black velvet blouse with a golden and black dupatta hung to one side. Misha wore a printed silk blue lehenga blouse with a pink dupatta draped around it. Avni wore an all golden floor-length net and georgette dress with the matching skirt. Swasti was wearing a black puffed out gown with designs sketched in the middle of it. Every one of them was donning a straight-outta-ramp kinda look.