Dil Dhadakne Do.....Keesh

Chapter 1

It's a hot day in Udaipur. The daily wage laborers are looking for shade and the young girls there are travelling with their faces covered. The city of lakes and historical places is a delight indeed. In the beautiful state of Rajasthan, Udaipur rests on the base of the Aravali mountain range, near the border of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Being the historical capital of the Mewar Dynasty, Udaipur has it's own charm, which only the residents can experience. It is nothing less of a metropolitan city as it's modern with all of it's aspects with a touch of traditional values. Amidst of all the hustle bustle in the city, there is a mansion which is both secluded and peaceful. It is made of traditional white marble and covered with traditional Rajasthani art showing scenes of the Ramayana.

The house had a name board engraved in wood. It said "The Singhania's". The elder women in this house are busy making ladoos, an Indian sweet dish made of miniature boondi which is made of chickpea flour. They looked genuinely happy discussing the hot weather of the city. A young looking woman, dressed in a sari, walked up to them handing them a tray which had Aam Panna in it. One of the ladies started talking "Thank you, Keerti Bahu. Wah Kaveri ji, you have won a jackpot getting such a good daughter-in-law. Otherwise, who has such good traditional daughter-in-laws these days?

Keerti smiled. She was dressed in a traditional meenakari sari, a mangalsutra with 3 small diamonds in it, a few bangles on both of her hands, and sindoor on her forehead. The ladies continued gossiping about the daughter-in-law of the Maheshwaris in Jaipur. They proposed a match with Naira, the grand-daughter of this house, for their son Vikas. But they gently denied, as Naira and Karthik, Keerti's younger brother, fell in love. A week ago, Vikas eloped with a madrasi, and married her. In reality she is a Kannadiga, who as usual was stereotyped for a Tamilian. Keerthi wanted to say something, because she had many South Indian friends, some of them whom she was very close with but she couldn't afford to insult her grandmother-in-law.

Soon a middle-aged man walked in placing a hand on Keerti's shoulder gesturing her to let it go. She smiled knowing, her father-in-law was right in such situations. She left the living room to go to her room. Since she got married, she felt better. Her maiden house was much more stereotypical and prejudiced, which made her feel out of place. Her previous in-laws were no less, always asking her when she was going to start a family. It bothered her that they didn't give her the freedom to choose the right time, which she talked to Aditya about. He didn't bother, instead he insisted that she complied. But when she met Naksh, he wanted to be friends first. She was quite fond of this idea, as she always felt that any relationship is based on friendship.

As soon as she sat on the bed, she got a phone call from her sister-in-law Naira. She smiled. Naira always made every effort to make her feel at home. Being her sister-in-law twice (she is the sister of Naksh, Keerti's husband), she had been supportive of her irrespective of what happened. She called her everyday to make sure she was feeling good. She accepted the call and started talking.

Naira: Hello Keerti Di! How are you?

Keerti: I am fine Naira.

Naira: Okay so..I was thinking of a good surprise for Ma and Papa on their 25th anniversary.

Keerti: But that was 2 years ago.

Naira: Oho Di, Suwarna Ma and Manish Papa.

Keerti realized she was talking about her parents. After her mom Soumya died, Manish got married to Suwarna, his assistant. She took care of Keerti every step of her way, be it puberty or her marriage. Karthik respects her now, but internally he never gave the place of Soumya to Suwarna. 

Keerti: What about a vacation?

Naira: Good idea, but going by train, or plane, or car is so boring.

Keerti: How about a cruise?

Naira: Superb idea. I will find out the details. Thank you, Di. Got to go, Bye.

Keerti started musing about the cruise. It wouldn't be too bad to travel the world on sea. Maybe she will get to know Naksh better.

Glossary:

sari: the traditional clothing of Indian woman. It is a long length of cloth which is draped around your body.

mangalsutra : an official sign of marriage. It varies from place to place. A typical north Indian mangalsutra is a necklace with  black beads on both sides and a pendant.

Aam Panna : Aam pana is an Indian drink renowned for its heat-resistant properties. It is made from raw mangoes and is yellow to very light green in color, and is consumed as a tasty and healthy beverage to fight against the intense Indian summer heat .

 Bahu: The Hindi word for daughter-in-law.

ji : A term of respect in Hindi.

meenakari: Meenakari is a Persian art of colouring the surface of metals by fusing brilliant colours. 

Sindoor: Sindooram is a traditional vermilion red or orange-red colored cosmetic powder from Indian Subcontinent, usually worn by married women along the part of their hair.  

Jaipur : Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, a state in Northern India.

 madrasi: It is a derogatory term, referring to Tamilians and South Indians.

Kannadiga : A resident of Karntaka, a state in South India, and speaks Kannada.

 Tamilian: A resident of Tamil Nadu, a state in South India, and speaks Tamil.

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