Roy Chowdhury House
"Here comes my bride", Rudra hugged Ruthira tightly infront of everyone when she entered the house with her family. "Ahem", Mohanraj cleared his throat.
Rudra immediately left her, who on the other hand was blushing. "Have y'all brought your outfits for the rest of the day", Maitra asked.
It was Ruthira's Mehendi ceremony today. According to her family customs, after the haldi ceremony, the bride and the groom were to not meet until the wedding strictly.
Thus, there were some changes in the arrangement of the programmes. Mehendi was first, followed by Sangeet and then the haldi ceremony.
"Yes, we did", Nila replied hugging Yeshna. "Come, let's have breakfast and about four we can start getting ready", Shaswat said.
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Henna Ceremony
Relatives from both sides of the families were pouring in as the clock hit 6 in the evening. "Neel, what are you doing here", Maitra twisted Rudra's ears.
She had caught him trying to sneak inside Yeshna's room where Ruthira was getting ready. "Go down", she shoved him aside and went inside the room.
"My daughter looks so beautiful", Maitra gasped. "I know right! The bridal glow is showing on her face", Yeshna took selfies with her.
"Bring her down in 10 minutes. Brinda ji, Shaswat's parents are downstairs, they want to meet you". "Oh sure", Brinda went out with Maitra.
After all the touch ups, Ruthira was brought down. As she walked to the backyard, she could hear the guests mummering. She sat in the canopy that was made for her.
They started the celebration. There were a handful of men who had settled down in the living room while the ladies got their mehendi.
"Aaru, this is Neel's paternal grandparents", Maitra introduced them. "Namasthe", Ruthira got up and touched their feet. "Bless you", both of them touched her head. "Such a beautiful girl, our Neel had found. How are you, dear", Rudra's grandmother asked.
"I'm fine, Thakuma. Rudra said that's how he calls you. How are the both of you", Ruthira asked. "We are very well", Rudra's grandfather answered. "I'll go join the guys, y'all have fun", he left.
Thakuma sat beside Ruthira, "how old are you"? "28, Thakuma". "You look so young", she gasped. Ruthira chuckled, "people think I'm 18". "You really do", she laughed.
"Didi, what name should I add", the henna artist asked. "Didi, add Rudra", Yeshna chirped, carrying a grumpy Butter.
"Yeshna, why did you bring him here? He might run around, messing things up", Maitra said. "He was the one whining, 'Aaluu, Aaluu'. He kept crying", Yeshna made faces.
"It's okay, place him here", Ruthira signaled the space beside. "Aaluu, I wob uh", Butter whined, placing his head on Ruthira's lap. "By the way, how much is it", Yeshna pointed to Butter's branded sweater.
"Uh about 13k", Ruthira chuckled nervously. "You did not just spend 13k for a sweater", Maitra was shocked.
"It was his birthday gift", Ruthira tried handling it. "His birthday is two months away", Maitra sternly said. "Now I know why this dog prefers her over me. She keeps pampering him", Yeshna pushed Butter's head playfully.
"Don't call him a dog, he's my baby. I don't mind spending all the money I have for him", Ruthira gave kisses on his head.
Before anyone could say anything there was a voice, "KAKI"! Nilav ran and hugged her legs. "How are you, Nilav", she asked in a baby voice. "I'm good", he gave her a goody smile.
"Here, Kaka was saying you might be hungry", he gave her a piece of chocolate. "Here take it". "My hands are not free", Ruthira pouted. "It's okay", Nilav said, extending his hand to feed her.
"Thank you, kanna", Ruthira ate the chocolate. Nilav blushed and hid behind his mom. He tapped Ayushi's leg and whispered, "she called me kanna". Everyone laughed at his antics.
4 hours later
Ruthira fell asleep halfway inbetween the mehendi process. Brinda fed her the food awhile ago when she started drying her legs and hands.
"Inta payanukku dhan numma Aaruvey katti vaikuringala", Vani nudged Brinda. "Ma", Ruben voiced out. "Yen, inta payanukku enna kuraichel", Brinda was offended.
(You are getting Aaru married to this guy)
(Why, what's wrong with this boy)
"Na onnumey sollulaiye! Summa ketta", Vani sarcastically answered. "Kalyana veedukku vanthu, inta maathiri ellam pesa theva illa", Brinda's words made Vani scoff and walk away.
(I didn't say anything! I just asked)
(There's no need to speak like this in a wedding house)
Maitra had noticed the tension between the two of them. She did not understand what was being said but she knew what probably happened. Another Malini, Maitra thought as she made her way towards Ruthira and Brinda.
Ruthira yawned as she looked around her surrounding. All the women had gotten their henna. "Oh, it's dried", she looked at her hands.
"Come, let's greet the guest off and we can head to bed. We need alot of energy to dance tomorrow", Maitra said. "Ahh finally! I'm so tired from sitting in the same position", Ruthira whined.
"Where's Butter", she asked when she could not find him anywhere. "He fell asleep too, so I put him inside", Rudra interrupted the ladies.
"Wow, I didn't get to see you the whole evening. You are gorgeous", Rudra caressed Ruthira's cheek. Brinda and Maitra smiled seeing them.
"Mothers, please help us take photos", he gave his phone to both of them. They clicked some pictures before going back to send off Ruthira's relatives, who were going to be staying at Ruthira's house together with Mohanraj, Adhi and Aran.
Shashank's and Sheela's family were staying at the Roy Chowdhury house.
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"Damn! It's so dark", Esha gasped, seeing Ruthira's hand. "Obviously it has to be dark! I literally had this on my hands and legs for about 14 hours", Ruthira said.
The girls laughed as Brinda, Maitra, Sheela and Pooja walked in. "Show us", Brinda asked curiously.
Ruthira signaled the girls and kept a sad face. She shook her head with a pout. "It's not an issue. It's normal for mehendi to not show up dark. Something could have been wrong with the mehendi", Maitra consoled Ruthira. "But Jyethima, ours are dark", Esha said.
Pooja glared at her daughter, making Esha shut her mouth. "Show us beta, we can always put Vicks", Sheela rubbed her shoulders.
Ruthira looked at everyone before pulling her hands infront. "It's so beautiful and dark", Maitra gasped. "Did you just lie", Brinda glared at Ruthira.
"Come on! There's no fun without some prank", Ruthira tried justifying herself. However, she received a smack from all four ladies. In a short period of time, Ruthira had grown close to Pooja and Sheela.
"Get ready and come for breakfast", Maitra walked out of the room. "Boudi, you can use this shower. I'll use the one in Ma's room", Yeshna said to Ayushi, taking her clothes with her.
Since Ruthira had already showered, she was getting ready for the day. Esha sat on the bed using her phone, waiting for her turn.
As Ruthira was clipping her wet hair, she noticed her rings were not on her fingers. She quickly took the three of them and slipped it in one by one.
She smiled and ran her finger over the diamond of the ring on her left ring finger. Her memories were transported to the day when she got that ring.
Flashback
"Happy birthday, Ruthira", Rudra leaned forward and placed a kiss on her. Ruthira was celebrating her 28th birthday at a restaurant with him. "Thank you"!
The waiter placed the cake Rudra had ordered on the table. "Oh my god! It's red velvet", she gasped.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ruthira... happy birthday to you", Rudra clapped his hands lightly.
Ruthira made a wish before blowing off the candle. "Here", she fed him a piece of the cake. He thanked her and fed her back. "This is your gift from me. The rest are from Ma, Pa and Yeshna", he passed her a paper bag.
Ruthira thanked him and kept the bag beside her. "Arrey, open the gifts". "No, I'll go home and open", she answered. "Atleast open mine, please", Rudra whined.
"Okay", she sighed. "This is so beautiful", Ruthira mumbled, running her hand across the yellow saree. "This is the perfume I use everyday", she pointed to the Dior perfume he gifted her.
"I remember you saying your Polaroid spoilt, so I got you one". She looked at him and smiled sheepishly, "actually... I already bought one and it was the same black one". "Oh", Rudra's face slightly dropped.
"Since I have two now, I'm going to put this safely so that no one except me touches it. I'm not going to use it so that it doesn't spoil", Ruthira claimed proudly.
"You do realise that at the end of the day all gadgets spoil. If you don't use it once in a while also it will become faulty", Rudra laughed. She rolled her eyes and closed the box.
"There was another gift inside", he pointed to the box. "Huh? I took out everything", Ruthira put the box on the table to open it. "Wait, I'll help you find", he stood up and walked to her.
Rudra then removed a jewellery box from his back pocket and sat on one knee infront of her. He opened the box and showed it to her.
Ruthira gasped in surprise and covered her mouth with her hands. Since there wasn't anybody sitting near them, there was privacy.
"I know we are getting married in three months but my woman definitely needs a proposal. When I first met you at Queen Mall, something had struck me. Maybe Cupid.
I was thinking about you for days until I saw you at home. I felt so happy that day and that happiness has not dropped till now. Won't forever!
I can't imagine growing old with someone else and nor do I want to. You are the only one I want to spend my whole eternity with. With you, I have the confidence to overcome any difficulties in life.
Ten years from tonight, I want to tell our children the story of our love. When I look into your eyes, I can see a reflection of the two of us and the life I hope we'll share together.
Shall we dance at our Sangeet, Rudrani"?
Ruthira was crying on hearing Rudra's speech. "Whether you say yes or no, I'm going to need your help in getting up", Rudra chuckled. Ruthira laughed inbetween her sobs. "We shall", she nodded.
Rudra removed the ring from the box. He saw both her ring fingers occupied with their engagement ring and the promise ring.
Ruthira chuckled as she shifted the promise ring to her right index finger, and the engagement ring to her right ring finger.
Rudra slipped the ring in her left ring finger and kissed her hand.
He got up, pulling her up in the process. "I love you", he hugged her. She wrapped her arms around him even tightly,
"I love you more".
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DD