Chapter 36: chapter 36

Author's POVNext day,  in the early morning Meera went to the temple. She firstly took blessings from God and then spoke to the priest regarding the auspicious time and date for engagement and wedding..He asked for a boy's and girl's birth chart, quickly made calculations and gave the date and time..She thanked him and gave him  honorarium and left from there.. when she was about to  descend the temple steps, she felt dizzy and was about to fall down..Luckily, a girl  in her twenties who was passing by , held her arm and made her sit on the floor,  otherwise she would have  fallen down  from the  stairs..She quickly ran to bring some water for Meera  and asked her to drink..When Meera stabilised, she asked, " Aunty are you alright??""Thank you beta, I am alright now, as I have BP issues I feel dizzy sometimes.."The girl thought for a while, took out a banana from her basket , gave it to Meera and said," Have it, you will feel better..""But beta, looks like you have brought this to offer to god, how can I eat it??""Aunty for me,humanity comes above god and in fact god says to help the needy..So just don't think much and eat it, you will feel better.."Meera smiled at the girl and said, "no beta I can't eat it, I am fine ,you offer this to god.. "The girl stood up  and said,"oh! god ,you are as stubborn as my mom.. Ok wait, I will come back.."She quickly ran towards the temple and came out within a few minutes..She sat beside Meera and said," Aunty,you can eat now, I have offered it to god now it has become prasad( offering to god).. will you eat it now??Meera smiled and took a banana from the girl's hands , Peeled it and started eating.She really felt better after eating a banana.."Aunty, I have never seen you here??are you new to this place?? ",The girl questioned..Meera smiled and said," Yes beta , I have come to my brother's house recently, had a little work with a priest so visited this temple today...So do you come here every day?? Meera asked.."Yes aunty, I do come at least thrice a week and let me guess ,is your daughter or son getting married?? Girl asked.Meera smiled and said," How do you know??Because, this priest is very famous here and this temple too.. People have a belief that , if you fix the marriage dates in this temple from this priest , marriages last forever.. even if the couple breaks up in between, they will definitely reconcile and lead a happy life..And many people even come along with their children's birth charts to know when they will get married. The priest performs some calculations and gives some dates of  few months and the marriage happens within those days.. the girl replied.." being this generation kid, you believe all these?? " Meera asked..The girl smiled and said, yes aunty I believe in God and believe in science too..Astrology is a science.. calculations of all the planets in our birth chart..  so I believe it..Meera got interested in her and looked at her feet, there were no toe rings , which means she is not married..She felt there is something special in this girl and is a good choice for Aditya..The two spoke for some more time and decided to leave.. The girl helped Meera to descend the steps slowly.. "Ok aunty, take care of your health, I will leave now",the girl said..When the girl was about to leave, Meera held her arm and asked ," What is your name ???"The girl smiled and replied," Sanjana"..*******Meera reached home and told everyone that the engagement date is fixed 15 days from now and the marriage is one month from today.."Oh my!! So early,  will we have time for all the preparations?? ",Aditya's Grandma shrieked.."Don't worry mom, we are all there to take care..Once Aditya comes  back we  will decide the venue.. ",Mamta replied ."Mamta, I think we should start shopping  from today", Meera said.."Of course Meera, we all will go after lunch.."After lunch all the ladies started shopping...They first went to buy sarees for the bride and for them too..They were exhausted when they came back..Aditya was back before all the ladies had come back from shopping.."Looks like my beautiful ladies have bought the entire shopping mall", Aditya teased.."Oh bro, still a lot of shopping is left, we did like 10 percent of the shopping", Kriti pouted.."Then I think this house will fall short of space for your shopping bags, I have to buy another house for your bags..," Aditya teased.."Aunty,  see how brother is teasing me, '' Kriti hugged  Mamta and complained about Aadi.."It's ok beta , your brother is very rich, even if he buys a new house, that doesn't make any difference in his wealth.. "Aditya,  go buy another house adjacent to this ,so that it will be convenient for us.." "Mamta replied"Aadi, remember  to live  a peaceful life, never argue with ladies when it comes to Shopping and in argument we can never win them", Vinod replied this time."Take some lessons from your father", Mamta teased Aditya..The atmosphere in the house was very  delightful, with chuckles and smiles.At the dinner table, Meera  said, "Aditya , Kriti's in-laws said that they will also come with us for   jewellery shopping tomorrow""Ok Meera maa, take them to Alankara jewels tomorrow and get whatever you like". Aditya replied..The next day, all the ladies went to Alankara Jewels, it was indeed an exquisite showroom with extraordinary designs...Meera received a call from Kriti's would-be mother -in- law that they are on the way, and will reach in 10 min..Soon a white Audi stood in front of Alankara jewels and two ladies, one in their early fifties and one in early twenties got down from the car..One is Hardik's mother  Gita and the other is his sister , Priya...Two families greeted each  other and went inside the Showroom..As the manager knows his boss's family is coming ,he already made his  best salesmen ready to take care of them.The whole day, ladies started choosing the jewellery..But Kriti looked confused. Looking at her worried look , grandma asked "what happened Kriti?, why do you look so dull?? you didn't like the designs??""They are really beautiful grandma, but I want my wedding jewellery to be very unique like the one which was launched on this showroom launch day.."then why don't you ask your brother to give that to you??", Priya asked.."No, No I can't ask for it, Brother  already said that he has reserved it for my future sister-in-law..", Kriti replied.."It's ok Kriti, once  we go back home, we will ask Aditya to ask his designers to give more designs , don't worry", Mamta said.."Of course Kriti beta, my daughter in law will wear the best one on her special day,so don't get disappointed", ' Rekha said..."Oh wow!!,if that could happen aunty please ask the designer who designed for the launch to design Jewellery for me too..I have become a big fan of hers. I will  be really happy if she can design something for me too..", Priya said.."Of course beta, Mamta replied.."