Forever Connected

Chinkankari

AUTHOR
When they came back from New York the next day, the wedding prep was coming to end but one thing was still left. Aisha and Aadvik's outfits for their own wedding. Lucky for them, her own cousin was the one to style them. Right after the flight landed back in India, and a quick nap, Aisha, Ruhi, Niya as well as Rachna made their way to Aashi didi's store.

"Hello! Welcome to A, The Label's flagship store!" Aashi perked up when she saw the woman enter. Aisha's Badi Maa stood beside her with a proud smile.
"Hi, di, Badi Maa" Aisha hugged them briefly and then went on to introduce everybody.
After some introductions, they went into a large room full of lehengas, an array of colours set up ranging from the lightest of pink to the darkest of reds.

"Okay, so we'll start off by all going through these racks. Whatever you like for Ishu pull it out and then they can be shortlisted to try on." Aashi instructed and everyone began sifting through the racks full of beautiful, intricate work.

Everyone chose about 3-4 lehengas each and then joined in on a private trial room.
"Oh that is my favourite piece, maa! I regret not coming here for my wedding now." Ruhi exclaimed inspecting a hot pink lehenga chosen by Rachna.
"This is seriously beautiful, didi." Niya shot a genuine smile to Aashi.

"Thank you, guys" Aashi held each of their hands in hers in appreciation.
Aisha came back in after a call, examining the moment she had a smile on her face. "Ishu, bache go through these and pick what you like" Badi Maa told her and she nodded as she moved to the sofa in front of the selected lehengas. She had to choose one from everyone's stack to ensure she's tried all the best styles before making a choice.
Aashi's assistant began showing her the pieces one by one. When a simple cream chikan kari work lehenga was in front of her eyes, her breath hitched at the work. Her mind played a picture of her dadi's photo wearing a cotton chikan kari saree on her wedding day.

Flashback
"Laadoo, ye dekh meri shaadi ki photo" a 5 year old Aisha sat in her grandma's lap examining a photo, while she sifted through a pile of old pictures. It had a beautiful young woman clad in a pure red cotton saree embellished by tiny red gems and detailed thread work. "Dadi, ye kya hai? Bohut sundar hai!" She squealed in her baby voice. "Chikan kari. Lucknow ka famous kaam hai. Tere daddu mere liye laye the humari shaadi pakki hone par." Despite an arranged married her grandparents were the og love birds. "Dadi mai bhi pehenugi ye apni shaadi par" the little girl promised as she kissed her grandma's cheek. "Mai select karwaugi! I can't wait to see you as a bride, laadoo" Her dadi also smiled like a kid.

A week later
"Ma'am, please send Aisha Arora. Someone is here to pick her up." The little girl heard her school's receptionist say.
The next hour she spent in the car with her babysitter, Neha Didi.
"Didi, where are we going?" She asked.
"Bache, dadu dadi ke ghar par" Neha didi replied with a loving pat on her cheeks.
But why were they going back so quickly? She just visited them a week ago. It's their turn to visit now! She thought.

As they up to her grandparents' house, she saw people walking in and out, tears on their face. So many people are never here? What happened? Aisha was as confused as ever.

When she entered into the main door of their house, several other people met her with teary eyes and then Neha didi sent her to a room at the enterence of the house. In the room Sidharth bhaiya and Aashi didi's cries were piercing through her ears.
"Didi! Why are you crying?" She went up and hugged her sister who sobbed even harder. No one told her what was happening. Why everyone was crying. She knew there was something wrong but she couldn't figure out what. Until she opened a small window that looked over into the backyard. On the huge patio, on a white chaddar, lay her dadi. Her face was the only thing left uncovered and it was pale and lifeless. Suddenly she realised what had happened. Her daddu sat cross-legged beside the body, staring at it with a expressionless face. He reached under the cloth covering her and took our her hand and held it in his. Her dadi was no more. The cries joined in three cried pleas of help.