Indian Wedding Tales

M A N S I : part III

I couldn't shake off the thoughts my father had sown in my head. Would Yash really turn out the way my father said he would? Were people really this money minded and status conscious?

It was no breaking news that our worlds were so different when we began dating. He was used to the pizzas in café's and I had grown up eating vadapav from stalls outside my school.

Our schooling was also different. He came from a school where they had crisp, fancy uniforms and a teaching method that competed with the ones in London. I went to a school where I had to hang my head when the teacher called out my name for late fees. I passed my tenth on passed down books from seniors.

I had put in extra efforts for my studies knowing very well I had to carry the burden of my family since I was the eldest. I didn't just have to look after two aging parents but two younger siblings as well: Riddhi, the one who loved dressing up and Nimit who couldn't concentrate more than ten minutes on a book.

I never let any of this affect my spirits. I was determined to give my family a better lifestyle. I didn't anticipate falling in love along the way.

Yash came in my life silent as like a breeze but wrapped me in a bubble fell of light. There was no going back from there. I had never in my life imagined that I would fall in love with a man wore cap backwards and mimicked my walking style to annoy the hell out of me. With every cell of my body, I knew that I loved him. I love him.

But was love enough to make this marriage last?

How long before he realizes that I'll will never fit into his social group? That I would not spend hours getting nose jobs to look like a trophy wife.

"Madam, dhoodh!"

A flash of red passed by me and I snapped back to reality. The smell of burning milk reached my noses causing me to wince.

"Sorry, I didn't realize it," I mumbled as I walked towards the stove to inspect the damage. I grimaced when I saw that a good portion of the milk had gone waste.

"Why don't you go rest, madam? You don't look so good" Shalini commented. I gave her a slight nod before walking to my room like a zombie.

I sat on my bed and my eyes fell on the bedside table that had a photo of me and Yash. I picked up the frame and cradled it in my lap feeling a golf ball inside my throat.

The photo was of me and him at our college festival.

I was the volunteer for the set production and he was the extra volunteer whose sole purpose was to annoy me. Back then I hated it when he flirted with me every chance he got and followed me around pulling pranks on me. He would hide my hoodies and make me trip by sticking out his leg in front of me. But he never let me fall, he always caught me.

By the end of the fifteen day festival, I was used to his antics and found myself upset over the idea of never seeing him again. But yash?

He was one step ahead. He was already waiting by my zoology class with a smile that said he wasn't done with us. That was just the beginning of us.

I wiped the glass surface covering the photo clean with the edge of my dupatta and turned around when I heard some shuffling behind me.

Yash watched me as he took a sip from his coffee mug. A moment later he cursed and I noticed that the billows of steam coming out from the mug.

"Did you just burn your tongue?" I asked, my voice wasn't normal but Yash didn't comment anything on it. "Where was your attention?"

"At the right place," he said while placing his mug on the table nearby and sitting beside me.

"I didn't want to say it like this but Mansi I don't like you going to your parents"

I widened my eyes and leaned back to get a proper look at him. He wasn't joking me.

"Excuse me?"

He rolled his eyes, "Everytime you come after visiting them, you look like you've been told your husband is going to die"

"What?!"

"You're always sad and watch me with me with those big eyes as if I'll vanish any moment"

What was he even....

"Tell me, Mansi, am I dying? Do I have cancer?" He ranted on.

I bit my lip from keeping a smile to creep up on my lips. He was nervous and looked so concerned that it made me forget the problems for a minute. Because being nervous wasn't Yash's style.

The ever confident, clumsy and sarcastic Yash was never this bothered by anything.

"I promise I'll haunt you after my death so you don't feel alone. Where would you like my hiding spot? Here in the bedroom or will that be too scary? The balcony?"

I broke into laugher after that. I threw my head back and let my muscles shake due to the laugh. I clutched my stomach and fell back on the bed while feeling tears gather in the corner of my eyes.

"Stop it" I said between gasps.

When I finally gained my composure and looked at him, he was smiling down at me. All the hints of seriousness gone. Warmth radiated from his body as his smile grew wider and wider.

"Mission to get Mansi laughing, successful," He smirked. I shot up from the bed and frowned at him.

"You should be looking after that burnt tongue of yours," I said flipping my hair and getting up.

But before I could walk away, my hand was tugged back and I fell straight into the lap of my husband. I shrieked and felt my cheeks burn.

"Yash!" I said swatting at his shoulder.

"What's bothering you?" He asked with a straight face. All humor vanished and was replaced with seriousness. I avoided his gaze as I played with the fabric of his shirt and looked down.

"If this is about my friedns being assholes and not eating what you made, you don't have to worry. They won't be doing the next time we meet since I've gave them quite a earful after the dinner"

"You did what?!"

"You don't have to know that," He shushed me. "I want you to know that they're just being silly. You don't have to change yourself just so you can be one of them"

"I..."

"Promise you won't change a thing about you?" He looked deep into my eyes that made my stomach clench.

I gulped and nodded.

"Good, because I like the stubborn, hot headed, always-irritated girl who I fell in love with"

He pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear and pulled me close, burying his face in my neck. Like heated wax, my body instantly melted at his touch. His few words were enough to shatter chains of insecurity that been holding me back. If there was one thing I was very sure in this life, it was this: My father was absolutely wrong.

****

I need a Yash in my life.

:')