"Raghav, come downstairs, stop staring at Pallavi like she's a plate of biriyani." Amma pushed him out of the room, "Pallavi beta, your Aai will come get you in a little bit."
Downstairs, Saanki Baap was pacing, Raghav could tell that this Rambo jerk was trying to figure out some way to stop Pallavi from going through with this wedding. Raghav wouldn't be surprised if he already had divorce papers ready for Raghav and Pallavi to sign. But the best part was, Raghav knew that Pallavi wouldn't leave him, at least this was the one thing he had prayed for every day since he had realized how much he loved her.
Amma sat him down in a chair as Mansi's and Rahul's ceremony was just about to start, but all Raghav really cared about was when Pallavi was coming down the stairs. Seeing her in that sari had floored him, he never thought that someone would do something so thoughtful for him. Yes he had hoped his wife would one day wear that sari that he had chosen way back when he was a naive kid, but he never thought that Pallavi would give up so much of her Maratha background, every woman's dream of being a beautiful bride in a beautiful luxurious lehnga to wear such a simple sari just because his mother had saved it for all these years.
Then he saw her, Aai was bringing her down the stairs.
Pallavi may have been a perfect bahu for all these years in the Deshmukh house, but she had never felt freer than being a daughter-in-law in the Rao family. So instead of keeping her eyes down like a good girl; her eyes were looking straight ahead, and then they looked for Raghav. She dared a wink, and Raghav grinned.
God, what had he done to deserve such a woman in his life, and how could he make sure to never stop doing it so that God wouldn't take her away from him, Raghav thought.
As Sharda sat Pallavi down directly across from him, he heard a loud whisper from somewhere near him, it was that Bindi Waali Kaku.
"I know that Pallavi is nothing more than a keep for Raghav Rao, but she could have at least convinced him to let her wear something presentable at my own daughter's wedding, forget the fact that it's her second wedding. If this is what a famous jeweler makes his wife wear then I am glad I stopped Amruta from pursuing him." Sulochana was whispering to Asha Aunty and a few of her vampy looking friends. Asha Aunty smirked and nodded, "Pallavi looks like a beggar compared to our Mansi. Pallavi's jewelry is so outdated"
Raghav tried to calm his anger but he couldn't, she weren't just insulting his mother and father, but also his wife.
He stood up, and walked behind Sulochana and the other women, some guests turned to figure out what was going on, but neither Amma nor Keerthi were able to stop him, as they heard the 'whisper' from Sulochana too.
Raghav sat down right behind them and said, in an equally loud whisper, "First of all, that sari was one of the last gifts my now dead father gave to my mother. Second, as I've told to you before, asli khoobsurati ko dholat ya gaehne ke zaroorat nahi hai, my Pallavi would look like a queen coming down those stairs even if she were wearing nothing but rags. Third of all, since this is your daughter's wedding, you and your new samdhan should focus on her. If you remember clearly, Mansi, unlike Pallavi, threw a fit like a three year old for a new designer lehenga, which you and your husband could not afford, Sulochana. And then like the spoiled brat she was she continued to insist on jewelry and gifts from Rahul as if she were some queen from a bygone era expecting a dowry, Asha Aunty. And Asha Aunty, a fourth point, you know very well what it's like to keep up with a 'materialistic' woman, so I suggest you worry about keeping your own house in order. Instead ruining everyone's mood, why don't the two of you shut your pretty little mouths and let these weddings commence," the next words out of his mouth were an actual whisper, so that no one could here except the two women, "or I can decide to reveal everyone's truths right here. It wouldn't make a difference to me, or Pallavi, but poor spoiled Mansi might not feel that good after."
The two women looked like they had been slapped across the face.
Raghav smiled sweetly, thinking back to how Mansi had behaved over these past two weeks. Sure she eventually agreed to this surprise double wedding, but that was only after Rahul and Nikhil heard the idea and were elated at the thought. Mansi may act like Pallavi's sister today, but Raghav could tell that Mansi not only had Milind's naiveté inside her but also Sulochana's darkness and cruelty. It seemed that everyone in the Deshmukh family was out to ruin his wife's existence, then he looked to Aai and Nikhil, whose worried faces after these whispers reminded him that they were the exceptions to this rule.
Pallavi had heard most of what was said, even though the pandit had started his mantras right in between, and tried to catch Raghav's eye to silently tell him to cut it out and not make a scene. His anger, though attractive at times, mostly brought trouble.
Unfortunately, Baba also heard most of what Raghav had said, and as Raghav got back up to take his previous seat in between Amma and Keerthi, Baba took hold of his collar.
Baba did not whisper, "so yet again, you decide to insult my family, Raghav Rao."
Raghav anger bubbled up again, oh how he wished to punch this idiot until he was blue in the face, but then he saw Pallavi gasp and almost get up.
Raghav slowly took Baba's hands off his collar, and calmly replied, "Saan— Baba, I was just making clear to these wonderful ladies here that what's actually important is not the bride's clothes or jewelry, but their asli khoobsurathi, by which I mean the thoughts and values they bring into their marriage. And as you well know...Baba, Mansi and Pallavi have been raised as exceptional and independent women, with integrity, so this bekaar talk of my wife's clothes and jewelry bothered me. Because, it seemed that our pyaari Kaku and Asha Aunty didn't realize the true meaning of Pallavi's sari. That's all."
And without another word, Raghav turned away from Baba and took his seat again.
Vijay looked like Sulochana and Asha Aunty, as if Raghav Rao had given him a tight slap across his face.
When Raghav sat down, he gave Pallavi a wink, and gestured to the pandit to begin his mantra's again.
Pallavi was irked...but also slightly happy. She smiled inwardly at the thought of Raghav defending her like that in front of Sulochana and Asha, and even though she felt for Baba because of the confusion he must be feeling at all this, she knew that Baba was in the wrong as well. She looked down at her sari and her smile widened remembering Amma's sweet story about how she got it, and why she had saved it all these years.
She looked back to Raghav, and gave him a slight smile.
