Chapter 4B: One Stone, Two Birds

Payal knocked on the door, and they heard a few ragged footsteps approaching the door. Khushi opened the door and saw Payal there.

"Khushi, he wants to talk with you," Payal said stepping aside to reveal the man who had stopped her from falling at the mandir two months ago.

"Aap?" she said looking at him. (You?)

"Khushi this is Arnav Singh Raizada," Payal told her and stepped in with him into Khushi's room.

Arnav Singh Raizada? Khushi thought. This was the man who had a come with a proposal for her sister, and she had bumped with him a few weeks back. Did he find out that it was her and come to complain? Or did they have a problem with the rishta because of her? Khushi gulped at her thoughts, getting nervous just standing there.

"I''ll go downstairs," Payal said leaving them both alone.

 

"Dekhiye, mujhe maaf kar dijiye uss din ke liye, mujhe nahi pata tha ke voh aap hain," Khushi blabbered on making Arnav confused. What was this girl talking about? (Look, forgive me for that day, I didn't know that it was you.)

"Par humari Jiji ka rishta iss vajaa se nahi tootna chaahiye," she added.and murmured many other things under her breath. (But my sister's wedding shouldn't break because of this reason.)

 

"Main tumhe pasandh karta hoon, tumari Jiji ko nahi," Arnav said. (I like you, not your sister.)

"Par aap to humari Jiji ke liye rishta leyke aaye theh," she said. (But you had brought a proposal for my sister.)

"Main tumse shaadhi karna chaahta hoon," Arnav replied back. (I want to marry you.)

"Hum aapse shaadi nahi kar sakte," Khushi said. (I can't marry you.)

"Par kyun?" he asked. (But why?)

"Kuynki hum aapse shaadhi nahi karna chaate," she told him. (Because I don't want to marry you.)

"Likhin koyi toh waja hogi?" he replied. (But there has to be a reason.)

"Aap humare ateet ke baarey mein kuch nahi jaante," she said. (You don't know anything about my past.)

"Main tumse shaadi karna chaata hoon, tumare ateet se nahi," he told her. (I want to marry you, not your past.)

"Aap nahi jaante ke humara rishta kitni baar toota hai," she said looking up into his eyes. (You don't know how many times my proposals have broken.)

"Mujhe usse koyi farak nahi padta, kyunki yeh rishta tumare liye aakhri hoga, mere saath, hamesha ke liye," he whispered. (I don't care about that, because this will be your last proposal, with me, forever.)

"Aap humare baare mein kuch nahi jaante," she told him. (You don't know anything about me.)

"Jitna jaanta hoon, utna kaafi hai mere liye," he said. (How much I already know is enough for me.)

Khushi turned her face the other way trying not to meet his eyes. She was hoping that he would leave her alone and go, she waited a minute, two minutes, five minutes, but there was no motion of him leaving the room.

He finally broke the silence, "Tum kabh tak baagti raho gi?" (For how long will you keep on running?)

"Hum aapke liye bhoj nahi bahna chaate," she said turning around and looking back at him. (I don't want to become a burden on you.)

"Tum mere liye bhoj nahi ho gee," he replied. (You won't be a burden on me.)

 

Why did this man want to marry her? He could marry anyone in the world, someone who is the same standard as him, yet he was standing in front of her asking to marry her.

Khushi was going to say something more trying to reject him and make him leave, but there was a knock on the door. Sashi and Garima walked into the room to see both of them standing there.

"Beta, we would like to talk with Khushi alone for a few minutes," Sashi told Arnav. Arnav nodded and left to go downstairs, glancing back at Khushi before he closed the door.

"Khushi what do you think?" Garima asked.

"About what Mom?" Khushi said.

"That marriage proposal, what else," she replied.

"I don't know Mom, it's just too confusing. I thought that the rishta is for Jiji, but apparently it's for me now, and I'm really confused about it," she said honestly.

Garima quickly explained to her about what had happened downstairs. So he was aware of her past, and the fact that she walked with a limp, yet he still wanted to marry her.

"But what about Jiji, what will she think? The rishta was originally for her," Khushi said.

"That has also been sorted out," Garima said.

"What?" she asked.

"Devyani Ji proposed her other grandson, Akash's rishta for Payal," she said, "And both of them have agreed. So the choice is up to you."

Khushi looked between both of her parents with worried eyes, not knowing what to do.

"Khushi their entire family seems very nice and so does he. You won't find someone better than him who will accept you completely. Arnav will take care of you forever," Sashi said with complete honesty. For the amount of time he had seen Arnav, he knew that he would be perfect for his daughter. The perfect man he had imagined for Khushi. Someone who would accept her regardless of her flaws.

"Yes, I'll agree for the rishta," she told them and both of their faces lit up with a smile. They hugged and Sashi said, "I'm really happy for you."

"Let's go downstairs and tell them," Garima said.

They walked down the stairs, Sashi helping her while she held onto the railing with the other hand. They walked into the living room, and everyone's attention turned towards her as their voices died out.

Arnav had first saw her walk in. Had she agreed or what?

"Devyani Ji," Sashi began and they all turned to him, "We agree with both of the alliances."

A wide smile spread on everyone's face as they heard the news and they congratulated on another.

 

"That is great Beta," Nani said and turned her attention towards Khushi. She got up and walked over to her. Khushi greeted her and Nani hugged her saying, "I'm very proud of my Chotte's choice." and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Buaji had come in with the sweets and Khushi distributed them. Khushi went to Arnav and offered him a piece but Anjali interrupted.

 

"Chotte is actually diabetic," she said.

"But I can have them once in a while," Arnav said picking up a piece of barfi and eating it.

Khushi finished giving them out and sat down. The Raizada's were getting ready to leave when Arnav turned around to Sashi and Garima. Everyone else had left go in the car and leaving to go home.

"Uncle and Aunty, if I have your permissions, can I take Khushi out to dinner tomorrow?" he asked.

"Sure Beta," Sashi replied. Sashi and Garima left the doorway, leaving only Khushi and Arnav alone there.

"I'll pick you up at seven," he said.

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Chapter 4A: Memories of the Past

Everyone was waiting downstairs and the heard footsteps coming. Garima came in with Payal and had her sit down, "This is my daughter Payal."

Everyone had a smile on their face, except for two people. Arnav looked up and was left surprised. Anjali, who was sitting next to him looked at him and noticed his expression, this wasn't the girl that he liked, she thought.

 

"Di this isn't her," Arnav said telling her, "Are we even at the right house?"

 

"Yeah Chotte we are, Mrs. Sharma had told me this is where the Gupta sister's live," Anjali said.

"Sisters?!" he said.

"Is there a problem?" Garima asked noticing both of them talking to each other silently.

"Yes Anjali betiya, is there something wrong that you both are muttering to yourself?" Nani also asked.

"Nani yeh woh ladki nahi hain," Anjali whispered leaning into to Nani. (Nani, this isn't the girl.)

"If this isn't her, then who is she?" Nani asked.

"When I had asked Mrs. Sharma about the girl Chotte liked, she was also standing there, so maybe it's her sister since Mrs. Sharma had said the Gupta Sisters," she replied.

"Auntyji," Anjali said talking to Garima, "When I had talked to Mrs. Sharma at the mandir this morning, she had pointed towards two girls, saying that they both were your daughters. And we have actually come for the rishta of your other daughter."

"You mean Khushi?" Payal asked them.

 

Khushi, so that was her name, Arnav thought. The name suited her perfectly, just like how he had seen her. She was always wearing smile on her face, and making those around her happy. When he had seen her outside the mandir for the past two months, she would greet everyone with a pleasant smile, making them smile them smile. She had been his Khushi for the past two months also.

 

"Sorry for the confusion Aunty, but Chotte had originally liked your other daughter," Anjali said to Garima.

 

To say that Garima and Sashi were surprised would be an understatement. In the past, they would always have to out and try to find a rishta for her, but today there was one that had come for her.

 

"You do realize that she has cerebral palsy in her legs right?" Garima asked hesitantly.

"Matlab?" Nani asked. (Meaning?)

"She walks with a limp on her right foot," Sashi added. An eerie silence filled the room as the Raizada family took time to comprehend this.

Arnav was the one who broke the silence after a few minutes, "And I would still like to marry her." Nani also nodded and agreed, if Arnav was happy with the alliance, no one else in the family had a problem with it.

Garima and Sashi looked at each other with questioning looks, they weren't sure what to think of this proposal. The Raizada's were a highly reputed family, and well known. Why would someone liked them want to have an alliance with girl like Khushi. Throughout her entire life, she had been taunted and behaved rudely with because of her handicap. Was the man in front of them even aware of what he was getting himself in?

"Before we continue with this risha, we'd like to tell you about Khushi's past," Garima said. They would have to clear everything up with the family before they agreed to anything.

"But...," Nani said and was cut off by Sashi.

"We need to make sure you guys are aware of everything," Sashi said and Garima began talking.

"Khushi isn't actually our daughter. She is my sister's daughter, who is no longer alive. But we have always treated her as our own and never given her chance to think that she is adopted. When my sister was going to have Khushi, there were many complications in the pregnancy. Khushi was born with a cerebral palsy, and her husband left her because he didn't want a handicapped daughter a few months after her birth. My sister would always hope that he would come back to live with them again, but he never did. Till today, we still don't know about his whereabouts or how he is. My sister went into depression after his absence, and died in her sleep due to overdose of the medicine she had been taking," she said and paused for a few moments remembering the old days.

"My husband and I adopted Khushi when she passed away and she fit in perfectly with our family. There were many challenges she faced growing up because of her disability. Going to school, she didn't make many friends because everyone always made fun of her. She wouldn't go out of the house because people would tease her, she didn't have many people to talk with. Khushi would busy herself in her studies as a way to go beyond it and forget it.

In the past when we've tried fixing her rishta, there would always be a no from the other side. But they were right on their own part, what kind of family would want their son to marry a crippled girl? Two years ago, her rishta did get fixed with a boy. They had at first agreed to the rishta.The boy's grandmother was suppose to come from Canada on the day of the wedding to attend it.One the day or the wedding, the grandmother saw that Khushi walked with a limp, she she stopped the wedding right there and the baraat left because they no longer wanted the alliance,"Garima said with a few tears making their way down her face as she remembered that painful day.

"Khushi has really closed herself up in a shell, and doesn't let many people get close to her because they always end up hurting her. This was her past and if you don't want to agree to the rishta after hearing it, we have no problem with that," Sashi said looking at the Raizada family.

"Sashi saab, we have absolutely no problem with the rishta, as long as Khushi bitiya agrees to it," Nani told him.

"Can I talk to her?" Arnav asked and everyone looked towards him.

"Uh...," Garima said looking at Sashi who nodded towards her, "Payal go take him up to Khushi's room."

"Ji," Payal said and got up leading him towards her room. They walked up the stairs and she stopped outside the room that was in the corner.

Payal knocked on the door, and they heard a few ragged footsteps approaching the door. Khushi opened the door and saw Payal there.

"Khushi, he wants to talk with you," Payal said stepping aside to reveal the man who had stopped her from falling at the mandir two months ago.

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Chapter 3: Misunderstanding

"Oh they are the Gupta sisters, and the youngest one with them is a girl that they babysit," Mrs. Sharma said, "Why do you need to know about them?"

Then Anjali explained to her how they wanted to fix a rishta with them for her brother and needed to contact them. Mrs. Sharma gave Anjali her phone number and said that she would talk to them about it and call her in the evening.

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Garima was cleaning the kitchen when she heard a knock on the door and went to open it. Opening the door, she found one of her neighbors, Mrs. Sharma standing there.

“Sat sri akal, please come in,” she said and stepped aside to let her in.

“Sat sri akal, Bhenji,” Mrs. Sharma said.

Garma went back to the kitchen, with Mrs. Sharma right behind her.

“Do you want anything to drink?” she asked.

“No, I just wanted to come and tell you some great news,” Mrs. Sharma said.

“And what is that?” she asked.

“This morning I was at the Mandir and met Anjali,” she said.

“Kaun Anjali?” Garima asked. (Who Anjali?)

“You know, Arnav Singh Raizada’s sister,” she said, “She said they wanted to fix her brother’s alliance with your daughter and asked me to talk with you guys.”

“An alliance with their family?! But they are so reputed, why would they want to fix an alliance with us?” Garima asked.

This isn’t the time to think about that, rishta’s like this rarely ever come,” Mrs. Sharma said, “She said if you guys wanted to, they could come over tomorrow and talk over it before taking it any further.”

“It is very hard to find a good rishta these days, so maybe we could talk to them,” Garima said.

“So should I tell them that it’s a yes for them to come over and talk about it?” she asked.

"But did they tell you which one they wanted to fix the alliance with?" Garima asked.

"No they didn't. But it's Payal I think, who would want to fix a rishta with Khushi?" Mrs. Sharma said her name with disgust.

"Mrs. Sharma!" a bellowing voice came from behind them, and they turned around to see Sashi standing there, "You can come into my house that is fine, but you have no right to disrespect my daughter."

"She isn't even your own daughter," Mrs. Sharma muttered under her breath.

“Some relationships are stronger than just blood relationships,” he replied back.

“I know that Sashi Saab, but you know how society is? It’s hard to find suitable matches for girls like Khushi in today’s world, so I was just stating the facts,” she said.

“I know that Mrs. Sharma, and one day I will find my Khushi a suitable husband that will respect her and accept her for who she is, regardless of her flaws,” he said.

“Till then ,should I agree with Anjali’s offer and tell her that they can come over tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yes, you can tell them that we’ll meet the tomorrow,” Garima said. Mrs. Sharma said by to them and was about to leave when she bumped into Payal and Khushi who were just coming in. They greeted her and then she left.

“Why was Mrs. Sharma here?” Payal asked.

“Well there is some great news,” Sashi said.

“What is it?” Khushi asked sitting down at the table.

“A rishta has come from a family for your sister,” Garima said.

“Kya?! Sachi?! That’s great news!” Khushi exclaimed and hugged her sister.

“They said that they will come here tomorrow to talk about it, so you both need to help me clean the house,” Garima said and they both agreed.

“But who is the rishta from?” Khushi asked curiously.

“Arnav Singh Raizada,” Garima said.

“The businessman?!” Khushi exclaimed. She had heard a lot about it him in the news and often people spoke about his great success.

“Yeah him,” she replied back.

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“Hello?” Anjali said picking up the phone.

“Hello, can I speak to Ms. Anjali?” the voice on the other line said.

“Yes, that’s me,” she said.

“I’m Mrs. Sharma speaking, we had met earlier at the Mandir in the morning,” Mrs. Sharma said.

“Oh yes Mrs. Sharma, how are you?” she asked.

“I’m good. I had talked to Mrs. Gupta this morning and they agreed for your family to come to their house tomorrow morning and talk about the rishta,” Mrs. Sharma told her.

“That’s great news, thank you for talking to them for us. Could you give me their address so I can write it down?” Anjali asked and Mrs. Sharma gave it to her.

Hanging up the phone, Nani noticed that Anjali had a big smile on her face.

“What happened Bitiya?” she asked her.

“Nani we have to go see the girl for Chotte tomorrow,” Anjali said excitingly.

“Really?!” Nani asked.

“Yeah, they agreed to talk about the rishta tomorrow, so we have to go over tomorrow,” she said.

“That’s great news, I’ll tell Hari Prakash to get sweets for the Takha,” Nani said.

In the evening time every tone was eating dinner and Arnav came down the stairs to join them.

“Chotte do you have any important meetings in the morning tomorrow?” Anjali asked.

“No I don’t,” he said sitting down.

“Okay, that’s good,” she said.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because tomorrow morning you’re not going to office, we’re going to the girls house to meet her family and her,” Anjali said and then they heard a coughing noise coming from Akash who had just choked on his water.

“Bhai you’ve already chosen a girl? That was fast, under 24 hours,” he said looking up at him.

“Akash it wasn’t just under 24 hrs but--” Anjali started off but was interrupted by Arnav who asked her for some more sabji. Of course he didn’t need anymore sabji, he was just trying to avoid the topic, Anjali knew.

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The next morning Garima made sure everything was ready and cleaned. Would the other family want to straight away do the Takha or would they just want to talk about it today? She thought. While she was lost in her thoughts, there was a knock on the door.

“There here,” she said to herself.

“Don’t worry Garima, everything will be fine,” Sashi said and went to open the door. The Raizada’s walked in and settled down on the sofa. Garima was about to close the door, when Anjali told her that Arnav and Akash went to park the cars, so she left them open.

Buaji brought in the refreshments and offered them to the Raizada’s. Both families introduced them to each other and right then Akash and Arnav both came. Nani asked Arnav to come isit by her and Akash sat by Anjalis.

“As Mrs. Sharma had probably already spoken to you, we have come with a proposal of my grandson Arnav for your daughter,” Nani said.

“Yes, Mrs. Sharma did speak to us about this. But we can’t--” Sashi was talking only to be cut off my Anjali.

“Beta we don’t want any money or dowry for this rishta. Yes we might be a high reputation, but we still stick to what is morally right. My grandson likes your daughter and she is the only thing we want. No other unnecessary things,” Nani said.

Sashi and Garima were both happy that they didn’t want anything else, this was the kind of family they wanted for their daughter to get married into.

“Now if you could please call her so we can see her and talk about it with her also,” Anjali said

“I’ll go call her,” Garima said and left to get her daughter.

“Payal let’s go,” she said entering her room.

“Ji,” Payal said and got up then turned around, “Khushi you come with me also.”

“No it’s fine, I don’t want for them to say anything about the rishta because of me,” Khushi said.

“But Khushi,” Payal said.

“Payal just go by yourself, I’m not going to let you ruin this moment because of me,” Khushi said and Payal agreed on her insistence.

Everyone was waiting downstairs and the heard footsteps coming. Garima came in with Payal and had her sit down, “This is my daughter Payal.”

Everyone had a smile on their face, except for two people. Arnav looked up and was left surprised. Anjali, who was sitting next to him looked at him and noticed his expression, this wasn’t the girl that he liked, she thought.

 

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