Slow and Steady wins the love

1 - The Proposal!

RK Kalyana Mandappam (RK marriage hall)

The wedding venue was packed with guests milling around, all dressed up in fancy silk and sparkling jewels. The music was flowing, and kids were running around having a blast with their friends. The groom's dad greeted Sriram and Shailaja, one of the well-known families in town. They congratulated the couple and handed over the gifts they brought along.

After breakfast in the dining hall, the bride's mom, Sriram, and his wife settled into their chairs for a bit of relaxation. Sriram started chatting, saying, "Akka, the wedding went off smoothly, and I have to say, the food was incredible." as he smiled. The bride's mom responded, "Yeah Sriram, finally my daughter is married, and it feels like I won a massive prize. Getting our kids settled is no walk in the park." She turned to Shailaja, who nodded in agreement. "What about Nandhini and Vivaan, Shailaja? I thought I told you to bring them to this wedding, right?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

Shailaja gave a little smile and said, "No Akka, they're all caught up with their work. Nandhini has exams coming up and mentioned she has to study a ton, and Vivaan has to be at the office today and can't take too many days off.'" The bride's mother replied, "Ohhh, I see now. Well, at least try to get them here for the family pooja on Sunday," then after a moment she added, "I really hope those busy bees aren’t swamped with work on Sunday." Everyone chuckled, and that’s how the function wrapped up happily.

Nandhini's Home:

Sriram and Shailaja were chilling with some tea while watching TV when Sriram's phone buzzed. It was his brother Jayaram calling, so he picked up right away. Normally, you wouldn't hear from Jayaram unless it was super important, so Sriram answered quickly. But this time, there was no big emergency. After checking in on how the family was doing, Jayaram dove right into it. "Sriram, I think it's time for Nandhini to get married." This was a touchy subject for the family since they had other plans. Nandhini, 22 years old, was in her final year of law school and dreamed of becoming a judge, so Sriram wasn't letting anyone come forward with marriage proposals until she achieved that goal. But things had changed, and every time they attended functions, all relatives and friends kept asking about Nandhini, and we all know why.

Sriram really respects his brother and politely said, "No Anna, we aren't marrying her off right now. You all know how passionate she is; we can't make her give up on her dream. Sorry to say this Anna, I hope you don’t take it the wrong way." But Jayaram wasn't buying it and urged his brother to think again. "Look, Sriram, Nandhini's not a little kid anymore. Dreams matter, and I totally get that, but we have to think about her future too. Dreams can happen anytime, but marriage is a whole different ballgame that needs to happen by a certain age. I know the groom’s family well, and I can promise you won’t regret this decision at all." 

This hit Sriram right in the head, and he mentioned that he'd talk it over with his family and get back to him. He filled his wife Shailaja in on everything, and she agreed with Jayaram's perspective. They called Vivaan into the living room to discuss things privately. Vivaan said, "No need to worry, dad. Let's reach out to the groom's family first and tell them about Nandhini's goals. If they’re on board, great, we can move forward. If not, we’ll just drop it. What do you think?" Sriram liked this idea and decided to go along with Vivaan's suggestion. The following day, while Nandhini headed to college, Sriram, Shailaja, and Vivaan made plans to meet with Jayaram to talk about the proposal. Jayaram shared the groom's family name and background with them. What they didn’t realize was that they were related to the bride who had just gotten married a couple of days ago.

Sriram remarked, "It’d be nice to take a look at the groom's photo first," and his wife nodded with a smile. Jayaram extended his hand, presenting the groom's picture on his phone. "This is Kathiravan Shastri, an MBA graduate working at Bosch Company in Cochin. He’s the only son of the Shastri family, and you might have heard of 'Raghunath Shastri,' the famous businessman from Coimbatore," Jayaram shared. Sriram paused for a moment and said, "Oh yes, I know that name. His wife's name is Devika, right? We just went to his wife's sister's daughter's wedding last week."