The Great Indian Wedding Romance

Epilogue

Five years later

It was very hard to get an Indian crowd's attention at a party. It was never a matter of clinking your glass daintily at your seat like a movie scene. It took a lot of patience and a microphone. 

And that is what Siddharth was equipped with when he stood on a raised area among a huge crowd that had gathered to attend Meera and Angad's cocktail party. 

The couple had gotten married in an elaborate ceremony spanning five days at a heritage hotel. The wedding itself had wrapped up a couple of nights ago and this was the final night. Everyone was determined to get hammered and party the night away. 

Siddharth glanced at his friends who had just got hitched and smiled. Meera and Angad were both seated at the centrally located table in the garden, talking to each other and looking deliriously happy. Next to them, on the same table, were all the people he loved dearly. His friends seemed so happy and complete next to each other (and also with their significant others). 

He saw Jai trying to stop Yug from downing more alcohol. He let out a little chuckle, he was glad he would not have to handle Yug's drunk ass. Yug was Jai's problem now. Shreyas and Deepani had been like an old married couple since college so nothing had changed even after their actual marriage a couple of years ago. He caught them communicating non-verbally. They were probably planning an early escape from the night that was quickly turning into chaos. As always. 

He signalled to the DJ to cut the music off and cleared his throat on the microphone. After a few more attempts and one "Ladies and gentlemen, may I please have your attention," he was facing a crowd that was staring expectantly at him now. 

"I know everyone here would like me to shut up and let them get back to a night of partying but I have something important to say."

His friends were looking at him with big smiles on their faces. He went on,

"First of all, I want to congratulate the couple of the evening---Meera and Angad. I love you guys. You deserve all the happiness in the world and nothing makes me happier than seeing you together." 

He took a pause and turned to the rest of the crowd to say, 

"They make me believe that if marriage is one's doom then I think I know why people do it. To take the plunge with someone you love so much that you just don't care. You don't care about the million complexities that come into the picture."

He looked at Meera who nodded eagerly as if to give her assent. Angad smiled at him. They knew what was coming next because he had described his plan extensively earlier in the day. Siddharth's decision had only added to the happiness of their big day. 

"I know that is a very cynical take on marriage and something I should not be saying on a day such as this. Which is why I think I will make it up to everyone here by what comes after this. With the newly married couple's express permission, I want to say something."

That was when he looked at the woman who made it all worth it. The woman he was irrevocably in love with, had been in love with for the past six years. 

Chetna Haldar sat next to Deepani and smiled at him with so much adoration that he was almost breathless. 

"Years of watching failed marriages almost made me give up on the institution of marriage. In fact, I hurt and almost lost the love of my life due to this scepticism. There she is, in that gorgeous blue sari."

Chetna seemed taken aback by the call-out. She looked around and sure enough, people were staring at her. 

After calling off her engagement some years ago, Chetna had spent the year finding herself. The aftermath of this decision had been the ugliest phase of her life till she realised that she did not have to put up with this. She could simply move out.

Her parents cut her off and she had to find her own footing. She had taken the next flight to Delhi and found herself a job at a small law firm. The first few months were a struggle. She had never lived alone, especially in a new city. Veer and Chaarvi helped her where they could but she had never felt quite so alone in her life. She desperately wanted to see see Siddharth but she knew she could not. 

Siddharth, in the meantime, had learned of what had transpired at the Haldar Haveli but kept his respectful distance. He knew that he had to keep away from her and give her some time to figure it out. The ball was in her court this time. 

It was only when she had her five-year plan in place and her life together did she have the courage to reach out to Siddharth. 

The reunion that happened a year after their second goodbye at the airport was sweeter than anything either of them could have imagined. They had been together ever since then. 

"I think I should tell you that I have come around," Siddharth continued his speech from the present day, "I have rethought my stance on marriage, which is why I have a question for you ma'am."

Chetna gasped slightly, despite herself. She looked around with wide eyes and found Siddharth's friends, also her friends now, smiling at her knowingly. Her heart hammered in her chest as she realised what was coming next. 

Siddharth patted his pocket, pulled out a sparkly ring and held it up. "Chetna Haldar, will you take the plunge with me? Let's get married and get the government involved with our epic love story."

Cheers and claps filled the air as Chetna stood up to close the distance between them. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him after a breathless, "Yes!". 

Someone, probably Angad, whistled in the background. 

"I love you," Chetna laughed with tears of joy in her eyes as Siddharth slipped the ring onto her finger. 

"I love you," Siddharth replied with a smile of his own. 

Since the fateful day that they had crossed paths in that wedding, there was no other way their story could have ended. They had the kind of cosmic connection that was hard to overlook. 

Chetna knew she had found her home in Siddharth, the first man who had truly seen her for herself. He had recognised the spirit in her and if it wasn't for him she would've been tucked away somewhere in an unhappy marriage, suffocating every day. 

Siddharth was the reason she had fought every single day when getting out of bed was hard for her. She knew he believed in her and giving up would mean letting him down. She owed him everything and she would love him to bits till her last breath. 

The end.