The Summer Of Love

THE SHEKHAWATI PALACE

*Two weeks later*

"Mishti! I asked you to pack your bags two hours ago, and you're still here, reading that book? Read it later. COME. HERE. AND. HELP," my mom says trying her best to look angry. She's so cute even when she's angry. Oh, but she cannot pretend to be angry for long. She smiles if I make a puppy face, breaking her angry stare as she calls it. I reluctantly tear my face away from the novel- it's the first day of my vacation and I have nothing better to do. I mean, there's nothing better than doing this so..

Sushant and Chirag, my not so adorable brothers are shouting as usual. That, accompanied by running around, making the earth shake is what they call playing. Sometimes, I wonder what it'd be like, playing with them? It's always been like that, them in their own world and me in mine.

We have the flight from Chennai to Jaipur in the evening. Guess I really need to start packing. It's not that I'm not excited, of course I am, I haven't been there since ages, but I'm equally nervous about it. Rajesh *dadu might be wrong in marrying his daughters all of a sudden, but he's not cruel. The grooms' are royals. He wanted a good life for both of his daughters.

Huh. I have to start the work now, I think dreadfully. If there's anything I ever hated, it's packing.

We reach the airport after what feels like an hour. And what in the universe is happening? There's media all around. There are very few families here and it definitely looks like the media is around us. I mean, we are rich, yes, but not that rich. Is it because-

"Mom, why's there media around?" I turn around asking my mom.

"I don't know but I think someone does.." she says narrowing her eyes towards my father. He already knew. So did Sonali and Sakshi's family, and my other uncles who came with us. There was a man with a few others who led us towards the flight after asking us to not answer any of their questions. This is what I hate. I hate the attention. It makes me uncomfortable beyond my senses.

I can feel my whole body shaking. But I still go ahead and grab Chirag's little hands and move with him, while the parents are busy managing the crowd and Sushant is busy talking to Kairav, Sonali's *bade papa's son, and Kairav seems to only talk to him, though he's a year elder to Sushant. (He's one of the cousins with whom our relations haven't been great) But seriously? Sushant's a 16 year old kid. Yes. Chirag behaves better though he's just 10. And he's just as nervous and on edge as me. He looks at me and smiles the same adorable smile he gives me when I do something for him.

All the three families board the flight. There's one missing- Rajesh dadu's family- but they'd already gone there a month or so ago.

We all sit, the adults worrying about the paparazzi and the young adults worrying about their followers.

"Have you seen Ananya's pre wedding shoot?" Sonali asks, sitting beside me. "All the GPs have already seen and I HAVE NOT. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? I'm so sure even the LGs haven't seen them yet." Sonali loves using short forms. She has kind of divided our family into GPs - the grandparents, LGs - the last generation (to have arranged marriages by getting blackmailed emotionally) and the OGs - the original gangsters, us (and we are, by no means, gangsters). I find it cringe but, well, it's a rather creative way to refer to them than having to explain who we're talking about.

"That's because all the GPs are with Tanya and Ananya. They'd have to show them the pictures if they ask before us, nothing about it we can do," I say shrugging.

We were so invested in chatting that we don't realise we have reached Jaipur after 3 hours. Yeah, 3 HOURS OF CHATTING WITH THE GIRLS.

If the media was a lot for me to take, back home, then I could have choked to death here. Are the Shekhawats that famous and rich? I knew that they had a family business and the Shekhawati Palace, but didn't realise how serious it was back home. I'm relieved to see my mother walking with Chirag and Sonali and Sakshi beside me.