Mehul's POV
" Mehul, your dad called up. He wants to talk to you immediately. " Mom told me as soon as I came back after walking my friend Rahul and his wife Priya out.
Rahul was going to London for 2-3 weeks so he came to meet me. They are so cute and made for each other. I am really happy for Rahul, he has always liked her.
" Ok mom, I will call him right away, but can you tell me, it is regarding what? "
" How do I know beta, why don't you call and ask him? " Mom said.
I called up my father, he picked up the phone on the 4th ring.
" Hello dad !! Did you call me? Mom said you called up and you wanted to talk to me immediately. What is the matter? Dad, is everything alright? Are you fine? "
" I am fine son, I want you and your mom to come here immediately. Take the next flight and come to Surat it is very urgent son come fast."
" Ok dad, we will be on the next flight, but you are scaring me. Is everything alright? Why don't you tell me? Is everything alright dad? "
" Trust me, Son, everything is fine I just need you and your mom here. Please come fast. I will tell you everything once you are here. Okay now go and pack and before that just book your tickets. "
" Ok dad," I said but I was sure something was not right. What was it?
" Mom, dad is calling us there as soon as possible. So please pack, we have to be on the next flight. I am a bit worried... What is the problem? Why is dad calling us so urgently?"
" I have no idea Mehul now please go and let me pack for both of us. " I went to my room upstairs to get ready.
Though I tried not to think about it, I was still wondering why he was behaving in a mysterious way. Dad went to Surat all of a sudden about 3 days back. What was going on?
Why was he not telling me anything? I was missing Mudit bhai. He is just 2 years older to me but I am very close to him. He is my elder brother, friend, mentor and partner in crime.
He handles our dad very well. Much better than I can. He has this natural ability to make people confess. I wish he was here right now. He would have solved the mystery in no time. But he is on a world tour with his wife Sneha.
They got married last month. She is a wonderful girl. They make just a perfect couple... Cool, funny, witty...
Missing you Bhai. We reached Surat and drove to our ancestral Haveli ( mansion). Our family have been dealing in diamonds for many decades now. My father Mr Vipul Damodar Shah is the most famous diamond merchant of the country.
Most of the time he and mom are spending in Surat and Mudit and I work from New Delhi. We have our own jewellery houses all over India. I joined my family business only last year after finishing my MBA.
Bhai is managing the overseas orders and I am managing the store chains with him.
Gopal Kaka is waiting for us anxiously. He is the caretaker of our ancestral haveli in Surat." How are you Gopal Kaka?" I hugged him and he hugged me back.
He smiled brightly and said, " I have been waiting for you Beta Ji. " and then he asked a man servant to take our luggage to our rooms. He went inside to order the Maharaj Ji ( traditional chef or cook) to serve food for us and went to inform dad that we have reached.
Everything looked normal so what was the urgency? Let's forget that and enjoy food... I really enjoyed the Undhiyu - poori, khandvi, raita and shrikhand.
Dad came home after a few hours. I went running towards him and asked, "What is the matter dad? You seem to be very tense. Are you alright? Is anything wrong with the business? Dad, please tell me."
He smiled and told us to relax and get ready as we had to go to his best friend Suresh uncle's place.
What????? Here I was anxious that something was wrong somewhere and my dad wanted us to go to some dinner at his friend's house?? Seriously?
Mehul's POV" Dad, you wanted us to come as soon as possible to go and have dinner at Suresh uncle's place. Are you serious? I was so tense that something was wrong. We came all the way from Delhi to Surat to attend a dinner? Is it some kind of a joke dad.? "" Relax son, trust me nothing is wrong, go and get ready. We are getting late. We will talk once we get back. "I was irritated but got ready as I didn't want to argue with him. We all reached the uncle's haveli. It was as lavish as our's... standing there in all its glory.Suresh Uncle, I mean, Mr Suresh Mansukh Kothari is a very traditional man. His values are quite deep-rooted. He is one of the biggest exporters of Indian ethnic handicrafts. I was always fascinated with the beautiful artworks that increased the glory of their Haveli ( mansion).But this time I felt that it was looking even more beautiful... I used to come here as a child as uncle's son Vimal Bhai and Mudit Bhai
Mehul's POVShe bent a little to touch my dad's feet. My dad said, " God bless you beta. But please, don't do it you are like my daughter." She smiled and her face lit up like a bulb.I must have been staring at her as my dad coughed and said, " Mehul do you remember her? "I was not sure what to say... I was still thinking about how to respond to it. She was looking at me through her eyelashes." Come on Mehul how can you not remember her. You have been scolded so many times because of her. She is Megha, Suresh's daughter. " My dad said chuckling.My eyes widened, I looked at her again as if I was trying to find the similarity between this beautiful girl and that irritating girl with pigtails.I couldn't find the similarity but this beautiful Megha was smiling faintly as if she knew that I was comparing her with her little self.That little irritating girl used to frown at me all the time and this one was smiling shyly...
Mehul's POV" Many years ago your dad and I decided that we will get you and Megha married once both of you completed your education and start your career. Now that you and Megha have done well with your life, we want you to get married as soon as possible. "" What ???? " I was shocked beyond limit." That means you were betrothed to her and she was to you for the last 18 years. And now you are getting married very soon." Said my dad glaring at me as if daring me to deny this marriage.I wanted to deny immediately, as who gets betrothed in this century. But I couldn't react as fiercely as I wanted because of Uncle, aunty and Dadi Ji." But... How can we get married? We don't love each other, in fact we don't even know each other properly. " I said controlling the anger that was about to surface.They were not bothered. Uncle smiled at me and said, " You will get enough time to get to know each other. We all got married like this and see we
Mehul's POV" I am s-sorry but I can't h-help you. And p-please leave my hand you are hurting me." She was sobbing now. I realised that I was still holding her wrist tightly. I left her hand as if it was a live wire.She ran away crying the moment I loosened my grip on her hand. I felt very bad for her. I did not want to scare her. I was just too angry with my own parents that they tricked me to come here.Now they wanted me to marry a girl I was betrothed to. I didn't even know about it. I behaved rudely because I wanted Megha to refuse to marry me.What have I gotten myself into? I would not agree to this stupidity. Were they all insane.We all went back to our mansion. I didn't utter a single word during the whole drive. My parents were surprised by my behaviour but they knew that I am going to react once we reach home... and I did." What is this dad? Betrothal?? Seriously?? Is it some kind of prank you are playing with me? It is n
Megha's POV" Ma, what is the matter?? I don't think there is any festival today. Is Bhai coming today? " I was curious like anything." No beta, Vimal is not coming today... but someone else is. He will come and take you away from us. Today he is coming for dinner with his parents. We are planning for you to get married by the end of this month."I was curious about this man who was going to be my husband. I still remember the day when ma told me about my betrothal. I was shocked. I didn't know anything about the man with whom I was going to spend the rest of my life.Last year during Navratri, when I was doing Garba ( Gujarati traditional dance) with my friends, one of my classmate Sachin came and asked me for a dandiya dance.He was a good friend of mine so I agreed. We were dancing with the famous dandiya songs. He was smiling like anything. I always had this feeling that he used to like me.He caught my hand while dancing and was
Megha's POVIn the morning when I came downstairs, I saw that my parents were having tea. My mom called me and said, "Good morning beta, your wedding is in 1 week, so we have to do lots of shopping. Get ready fast Sita Ben is also coming, we will go together. She is also very excited, how are you feeling? "" I don't know ma, I am a bit confused. Mehul seemed to be upset about it. What if, he is not happy about this? What if, he can't deny his parents but don't want the marriage as well? Will we be happily married then ma?"" You are thinking too much beta, he was just shocked, just the way you were.. when I told you. You don't need to worry about anything. You both will be comfortable with each other very soon and will fall in love eventually. We all got married like that only."" But ma, papa(father) .... "" Don't worry beta... he is a good man. I know you will be very happy with him, it's just a matter of time. He is a modern guy and and he th
Mehul's POVBhai and bhabhi went to their room. They were so much in love. I would never have what they have. I went out of the house.I wanted to see Rahul desperately but he was in London. If only that girl had refused to marry me, I would not be in this situation.Dad and bhai were discussing as about business and the marriage arrangements. They invited many people like friends, relatives, clients, employees etc.But I didn't want to invite anyone. I didn't want to be a laughing stock. I was not ready to share this with my friends that I don't even like the girl and I am going to spend the rest of my life with her.Only Rahul would be able to understand. I wish he was here but he is in London for the next 15 days for. I don't want to bother him with my problem while he is there.Bhai brought an outfit for me to wear for the engagement. I was lying on my bed with my head buried in pillow."Oh come on Mehul, don't behave l
Megha's POVI got engaged to him today and I really don't know exactly how I was feeling. I knew that he didn't want to but still we are engaged now.I felt some kind of jolt when he touched my hand. I didn't even look at him as I was scared... what if, he is still angry with me. Even he didn't say a single word. Oh god what kind of a marriage is it going to be.Everyone was enjoying. The soft romantic music was flowing in the air. Mudit bhai and bhabhi went to thedance floor and Vimal bhai and Sejal bhabhi followed them. They were dancing beautifully. They were in love with their partners. Their moves were simple but looked amazing because they were in love and shared a blessed life with each other.Would I never feel this way?.... I felt bad for myself.... Don't I deserve a beautiful life like them?I can't even talk to my parents about my apprehensions.It was a beautiful evening, everyone enjoyed except the two o