Indian Wedding Tales

H A R S H : part I

For the people who have been recommending this book to their friends. Thank you and I love you🥺

I read each and every of your comments and I love them all. It encourages me to write more. :)

Here we go with story seven.

H A R S H

If anyone had told a thirteen year old Harsh that one day he would marry the girl of his dreams— the girl for whom he came super early in class, kept his shirt neatly tucked and walked a kilometer each day to ensure she safely reached home— he would've laughed openly.

Aarti.... was more than a crush for me. She was a distant dream I didn't know I could have. Her shiny eyes were the highlight of her face, light brown and truly magnificent. Even when people hushed behind her back or talked about the nasty scar on her arm, she was the most beautiful girl I had laid eyes on. For me, she carried the entire universe when she walked.

She and I stayed three lanes away and were almost in the same class each year. By ninth grade we had mutually agreed to walk back after school together. We would laugh about teacher's accent, the petty fights during break and predict what amount the next player would take home in KBC.

At times we would have Aloo Chaat by the corner of the street and I would watch her relish the taste while she closed her eyes. She would also tell me about her favourite flowers and the meanings associated with them. She never liked Roses, she found them overly used.

Those were the most treasured moments of my school life.

We parted ways in college, her parents had insisted to take admission in a nearby college where as my parents wanted me to travel and go the best one in city. I saw less of her each day but when we would accidently run into each other-her buying a shampoo at the shop and me buying sugar- I would have the most delightful slash awkward conversation with her. Sometimes her eyes would sparkle while she narrated how her viva with professors went terribly yet she managed to get passing grades. Those meetings would put a smile on my face for the rest of the week.

After much deliberation and courage from my mother, when I put forth my proposal of marrying her to her parents after securing my first stable job, I was half expecting them to throw me out of the house. They surprised me saying that they would like to discuss it with Aarti herself.

Who knew she would've said yes?

I smiled as I thought how I was luckiest man on this bus. With her head on my shoulder, Aarti was snoring beside me and I had to bite my lip from smiling so much. Aarti's hands looked so soft and delicate almost tempting me to warm them for her and intertwine them but I resisted.

Ever since the wedding preparations began, Aarti played the role of the shy bride perfectly. My heart would ache in my chest from beating fast but she wouldn't lift her lashes and look at me. She hid behind tight lipped smiles making it difficult for me to breathe.

I yearned for her to narrow her eyes at me and tell me how I wrong I was about today's prediction and how chachaji's choice of playlist for disappointing in all its glory.

So today when she let all veils lift and her excitement and happiness surfaced, I was a goner. She smiled so wide and was practically jumping in her boots when we went to play in the ice. She slipped so many times on the ice like a baby deer and pouted, I laughed to my heart's content and pulled her up. We went for rides and enjoyed like we were children back in playground.

Once, she even tried to attack me with a snow ball but when her poor aim ended up being a woman behind me, her cheeks turned red with embarrassment and she hid behind me. God, she was adorable!