It was a lazy morning after meeta's sangeet, we were all rather tired with the hangovers of last night except probably Meeta who wasn't really the one to drink! But sounds of wailing and sobbing woke me up, as I quickly skid down the stair case, Meeta's mom- Badi Maa looked at me accusingly,
"Did you know about it!?"
"About what?What's going on? Ma, what happened, where is Meeta!"
My mother gasped, she came to me and stuffed a letter in my hand!
As I read through it, I was distraught! I knew nothing about it and looked up to tell every one that but everyone was staring at me, accusingly as if I knew something about it!
After an hour or so of screaming in the highest pitches where everyone took turns to rant out all they had kept inside, I still stood with the support of the wall trying to call Meeta, texting her on every singly platform possible.
That's when the door bell rung, and Arjun's parents entered with a similar distraught vibe. Arjun wasn't there .
Did he even know?
We had spoken to almost all of Meeta's friends and even though they said they knew nothing about it, I had a hunch they did. Meeta couldnt have taken such a rash step without talking to anyone, she did everything with extreme levels of planning. She was perfectly happy with everything and there was no reason for her to run away except all she could've done is run away with Vedaant.
I gave my cousin Aryan a look, the first time we made eye contact after the entire mess. I raised my eyebrows to ask if he knew anything and he shook his head. Then I shook my head right and left trying to explain that I thought her former lover was the reason to which he replied with a nod indicating a yes!
In the mean time, Arjun's parents were still having a grave discussion with my father and uncles, when one of them came to call out ma and Badi maa. After a few moments of discussion, Arjun's parents came out with my father and uncle following them, as both of them folded their hands and bowed their heads to each other.
My mother was disturbed as she spoke , "How can you even think about it, how can my daughter replace Meeta!"
I screamed to that extreme revelation, "Did I hear that right!?"
Meeta's father replied "Try to understand dear, to ensure the maintenance of the respect and status of our family, this is our only choice!"
My father intervened, "Bhaiya but this is so.....I mean I don't think this is the right stage for Diya, she is not ready for this yet, marriage comes with a lots of responsibilities and I don't think she is ready for it"
My mother interrupted, "whether or not she is ready, this is certainly not accepted!"
I added my further surprise "Maa, baba, what's going on!?!" , My eyes met the eyes of my cousin who just nodded!
My uncle ordered me to go to my room as the adults discussed a grave matter related to 'my life', with too many shocks as of now, I just complied hoping that my mom would handle everything.
In no time, the matter grew serious and My mother as well as Badi Maa started almost quarreling and giving reasons on why or why not this alliance would be suitable, I could hear it all from the room. Unable to contain my emotions, I came back to that regressive 'debate and discussion'.
My mother asked with tearful eyes, "And what will people say, that she is a second hand choice!", to which Badi Maa replied, "oh don't worry about that, we'll say that Arjun and Diya loved each other, besides they have known each other for a longer time!"
Yes, I had known Arjun for a longer time because he was two years senior to me in school, that's it, we had no other contact until he came as a proposed alliance for Meeta!
"what will people say?" asked my mother
"we are trying to shut people's mouths by doing this, to prevent any ill reputation for our family" said my uncle
Amidst all this, my aunt ie Badi Maa blurted out, "Why weren't you concerned about what people would say when she goes partying every night! Drinking, smoking and what not! And what about when your daughter was living with that south indian boy, in Mumbai, why weren't you concerned about it when she got pregnant, woh toh, thank god it resulted in a miscarriage! where are you gonna find an alliance for her!"
I froze and everyone in the room was stunned. My mother knew that now nothing could happen now, My aunt realized what she had just said but also realized that it was too late to go back on her words. She looked at me in a sorry state, I looked down but remembered that I was a strong women who didn't do anything wrong. My father was the most struck by this fact, who came up to me, looked into my eyes and asked me in a stern voice, "what is she saying! Is it true ?".
I looked into his eyes and said confidently, "It is true and i am n-" when i felt a blow on my face and every one was shocked. He moved away and said indifferently, "PREPARE FOR THE WEDDING!". I started sobbing incessantly and tURNed to question my parents, but my mother just dragged me to my room followed by my aunt!