Author's pov:
Haldi ceremony:
The next day it is the Haldi ceremony.
The ceremony began with full swing mode.
They made Aaru ready in a yellow lehenga and adorned flowers in the form of jewellery.
Arjun got ready in a yellow and white sherwani.
They made the bride and groom seated with cloth separating them.
One by one started applying haldi to the couple.
They are literally drenching them in haldi.
Slowly the haldi ceremony became Holi with all chasing after one other with haldi in their hands.
Aaru is chasing after Amu to apply haldi to her. They started running towards the house away from the garden. Arjun absorbed these two and started following them.
Arjun slowly pulled Aaru into a room without Amu's notice and locked the door.
Aaru got shocked by the sudden pull before she started shouting Arjun closed her mouth with his hand.
"shhh... I'm removing my hand don't make noise." He instructed her.
She slowly nodded her head.
He removed his hand and caged her in between the wall and him.
"Ar...jun, what are you doing?" Aaru asked seeing his actions.
"Getting my compensation." He said placing a small kiss on her nose.
"Arj..."
"Sh... I missed you so much." He said cupping her face and looking into her eyes.
They shared a cute eye lock.
"Arjun, we should not meet before our marriage. " Aaru said getting worried.
"Nooo. " Arjun said like a small kid.
"I think they are just teasing us. There made be no such tradition." Arjun said analyzing everyone behaviour these days.
"How can you say that? Maybe such tradition is there." Aaru said.
(Aaru also don't know the truth)
"I don't care." Arjun said with a pout.
Aaru starting laughing seeing his face.
Aaru laugh died when Arjun slowly started rubbing his cheek on her cheek transferring haldi on his cheek to her cheek.
Her eyes got wide and her heartbeat rising and many unknown sensations started creating inside her.
Their sweet romance got halted by hearing voices calling their names.
Aaru slightly pushed Arjun and ran towards the door.
She got few steps back and gave a quick peck on Arjun's cheek and rushed out and joined other.
Arjun smiled in himself touching his cheek and he also slowly joined others.
Haldi ceremony ended with lots of fun.
Mehendi Ceremony:
The next day is the Mehendi ceremony
All are hell tried with all the dances in the sangeet and Haldi ceremonies, so they planned the Mehendi ceremony in the afternoon after completing their lunch.
Kavitha and few other relatives from Arjun's side arrived to Aaru's house with Mehendi cones, fruits, sweets and all.
Kavitha started the ceremony by applying little Mehendi to Aaru's hand and later the artist continued the design.
All the ladies of both families got busy getting applied beautiful Mehendi designs to their hands.
The village atmosphere added more beauty to all these ceremonies.
The bright red colour of Mehendi beautifully adorned Aaru's hand and her life is going to take on a new colour.
Night:
At night Aaru is sitting in the chair in her balcony along with her laptop. She is in deep thoughts and didn't realize that someone is climbing to her balcony.
Her thoughts got halted by the sudden jump of someone.
" Arju..n what wha..t are you doing here at this time"asked Aaru being shocked by his sudden appearance.
"Came to see soon to be Mrs Arjun beautiful " winked Arjun making her blush.
"Arjun, stop your cheesy lines. I'm serious. Why are you climbing balconies like a thief? Why if you get hurt?" Aaru asked with worry.
"Don't worry Aaru. See, I'm good. You know I practised climbing well to see my beautiful bride." He said slowing taking her to get seated.
"But, why this? You will see me tomorrow right?" Aaru asked.
"Yes, but I want to spend some alone time with you as a boyfriend before leaving this title and becoming your husband." Arjun said playing with Aaru fingers and placing small kisses on her hand.
"Hey, no naughty things." Aaru warned him.
"Ok, my angry bird." He said.
"What are you doing in the balcony at this time without sleeping?" He asked seeing her laptop on the table.
"I'm just seeing something." Aaru said.
Arjun looked into the laptop.
"What is this about?" He asked.
"Umm... I'm seeing the meaning of all the seven vows we are going to do in our marriage. I want to do all those vows whole healthily." Aaru said.
Arjun got so happy listening to her words.
"Wow. It's wonderful. I too want to know the meaning of all the rituals we do in marriage. Can you please explain to your boyfriend?" Arjun asked affectingly side hugging her.
"Sure." Aaru said giggling and started explaining the things she has learned till now.
They talked for some time about all these new feelings, excitement, anxiety and all they are feeling for their big day.
.
.
"Ok. My soon to be wife. Good Night. Have a peaceful sleep. I don't want my bride to be tried on her wedding day." Arjun said kissing Aaru's forehead with love.
"Be careful. Good Night." Aaru said in a sleepy voice.
Arjun carried her to the bed, made her lay down properly and went back kissing her forehead one last time.
Marriage Day:
Finally, the day arrived.
The marriage hall is beautifully decorated with different kinds of flowers and lightings.
Elders are busy welcoming guests.
All the younger generations are busily roaming here and there checking some arrangements, helping the bride and groom to get ready, teasing one another.
.
.
.
The ceremony began.
Arjun is seated on the mandap along with the Pandit Ji (priest) who is chanting mantras and doing pooja following the instructions of Pandit Ji (priest).
The auspicious time arrived and the girls brought Aaru as a beautiful bride to the mandap and made her seated beside Arjun.
Pandit Ji made then do Pooja and later they exchanged floral garlands.
Next Aaru's parents performed Kanyadaan.
Later Arjun and Aaru stood up to do saptapadi.
Pandit Ji tied Aaru's veil and Arjun sash together and they started to circle the sacred holy fire which is burnt in the centre of the mandap making seven vows.
The first vow states that they will share the responsibility of household together support each other in every step and agrees to fulfil their respective role.
The second vow states that the couple seeks union on emotional, mental, and spiritual levels. They will stay as strength for protecting each other through all phases of life.
In the third vow, the couple would pray together for wealth and prosperity. They also seek blessings for the ability to educate their children and look after their needs. It also states that they are promising physical and spiritual loyalty towards each other throughout their lives.
In the fourth vow, the groom declares to his bride that she has made his life complete and promises to respect her. The couple vows together to strengthen their family together and also vows to be responsible parents to their children.
The fifth vow states the importance of loyalty and dependency on each other. The groom expresses his gratitude and calls his bride, as his best friend and well-wisher. The bride in return promises to love and cherish their relationship forever.
The sixth vow gives the groom an opportunity to tell his bride the depth of his happiness to be able to find her and the bride affirms her affection towards the groom and promises to stand by him forever. They together pray for health, peace and prosperity.
The seventh vow states the completion of their holy union as a wife and husband.
After completing their vows, they again got seated in their respective places. Arjun applies sindoor on the partition of Aaru's hair, giving her a new status of married women. Aaru closes her eyes enjoying the new feeling of being complete.
Next, finally, Arjun tied the magalstura around Aaru's neck.
All started showering flower petals on then as a blessing for the new couple.
Arjun and Aaru started taking blessing from all the elders of both families.
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.
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After their marriage, Arjun, Arun and all other Arjun family members started their journey back to their place.
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By night, they reached their house.
Arjun's mother welcomed her daughter-in-law into the house following all the traditions.
"Wait, you should carry your wife in your arms to your room. It's a tradition." Kavitha said.
Aaru blushed listening to her words. Before she protests, Arjun happily lifted Aaru in his Arms and started walking towards his room.
He carefully placed Aaru on the bed. He can see her nervousness.
"Aaru, you can go and fresh up. Your luggage is already placed here." He said.
Aaru nodded her head and moved towards the mirror and started removing her jewellery. She removed all her ornaments and placed them safely inside the cupboard.
She started struggling with her hairpins.
Arjun is observing all her actions. He slowly moved towards her and started helping her removing the hairpins and finally, he set her hair free.
He moved her hair to a side and started placing feather kisses on her back.
.
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The night went long seeing the beautiful moments of them.
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Hope you all are going well.
What do you think about the Epilogue?
I hope you all enjoyed the journey of the story along with me.
I thank all my readers for making this book as a beautiful memory for me.
I will post a few bonus chapters on Yash and Amu's story.
I have seen in the news that the covid cases are still increasing in some states of India. Please be careful. Follow all the safety precautions while going out. Take Care.
Bye. See you all in the next bonus chapters. Take Care.
Keep Smiling.