❝ Ishq saccha wahi
Jisko milti nahi manzilein ❞ - Humari Adhuri Kahani
It is the mid 50's, the time when Anahita Devi was a regular teen. At first, she was soft-spoken and an ideal child to her parents. Then her life takes a drastic turn opening her...
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As she walked, Anahita's saree unraveled for the fifteenth time. Dhani remained patient, but Iravati grew agitated now. The photographer would come soon, but here she struggled with the basic saree. Anahita kept insisting that the red leheriya saree had some personal vendetta against her. She tugged on the quarter sleeve of her puffing floral blouse, as Dhani did the pleats of her saree.
Iravati even repeated her dialogue of her daughter getting insulted in her sasural for not knowing to wear a saree, which will be her forever attire after marriage. She didn't counter mother, but she would surely be taking Dhani with her. Every morning, her companion will do her saree and everything.
With the saree done; an immense relief to all three. They set Anahita for make-up. She felt like a doll, with her hair being pulled and face powdered with strange creams applied to her face.
"Mother, won't this be cheating the prospective groom's family? I mean, this make-up is hiding my natural look."
Iravati smiled, placing her hands on Anahita's shoulder, - "My daughter is the prettiest girl in the whole of Rajasthan. This is just a formality." She patted her shoulder. Her mother's warm tone made Anahita super surprised. She and Dhani glanced at each other.
The photographer set up his camera and lighting in the living room. Iravati Devi chose the best floral printed lounge chair, placed next to the fireplace. Anahita's father, Prathuman had brought this piece of furniture from Bombay.
Anahita stiffened as she walked into the room. The photographer looked at her and passed her with a smile. She reciprocated with a poker face. Dhani followed her closely, frightened that her friend's saree might fall off. Anahita was dead scared, so much that she feared moving any part of her body. The photographer kept an eye on her, wondering if her mother forced her into all this. She seemed like a teenager, perhaps that is why she was nervous- he thought.
Iravati whispered Dhani to fix her hair, and she nodded, scurrying to Anahita. She collected a bunch of her hair and neatly placed it in the front, leaving the rest behind. Iravati smiled haughtily. The groom's prospective family must see her daughter's lustrous and long tresses. It adds to her beauty.
From a distance, she admired her daughter. Anahita inherited much of her father's features- the sharp aristocratic nose, cute bow-shaped lips with the upper lip slightly plumper than the lower and it had a natural pink look. She had made Anahita have anar seeds and beet-root juice rubbed against her lips since age five. Her fair complexion skin - smooth and spotless. Iravati was very passionate about making her daughter's skin blemish-free by applying the best of the best homemade face-pack; everything organic and homegrown, of course.
Iravati also worked hard on Anahita's hair, oily, washing and combing regularly and punctually. For three years, she has only been trimming the ends and no proper haircuts. Anahita had become a rebel when she had wanted shoulder-length hair like her friend Nausheen. Iravati turned bitter, thinking about her. She and her family weren't a good influence on Anahita, or so she thought.
