Chapter 1: chapter 1

 A wedding ceremony in process. Busy crowd. Pandit's chants are echoing through the hall while people are involved in all kinds of chatter. The groom’s family is excited. The bride’s family is going out of their way to provide hospitality. Among the guests, some are patient and some are anxious to see who the lucky bride is.The groom is getting ready in his room. His name is Surya Pratap Verma. True to his name, he is a six-foot tall greek god, shining like the Sun. He is the only son in a Zamindari lineage, born after four daughters. Everyone loves the prince. His father died young, and his mother Meenakshi brought him up with extreme love and care.He loves his mother beyond all barriers. Despite having excess wealth, he believes in making his own way in the world and does not dwell on his family money. He established a successful business and proved his own worth. He dreamt of a wife equal to an angel from heaven. But life, has disappointed him.Ravi, Surya's best friend is standing next to him. He had been patient since the morning, but he couldn’t bear it anymore. "Hey Surya," asked Ravi, "Why are you doing this? Are you even in your senses?.Surya looked at him and smiled a little, "Dude, I know why you’re asking this question. I’m getting married as my mom ordered me ", Surya told Ravi all the details of what happened in the past month.Meenakshi met a Swamiji for Surya’s horoscope. Swamiji gave her terrible news, "Dear Meenakshi, your son has a horrible flaw in his horoscope. He will die in a year’s time. " Her face was swollen red with fear. She said, "Swamiji, why would you tell me such a thing about my one and only son? Please tell me a solution to have my son live a hundred years. " And what followed later only shocked her more. Swamiji said, "Look Amma, you must get your son married to a widow. She should be born in Makha Nakshatra and under the Leo sign. And the wedding must happen within a month from now. If you get a girl like that, her good luck will be transferred to your son. His death flaw will be corrected and the bride will die instead of him. She will surely die in a year’s time from the marriage. You can get your son married to any woman of your choice once this girl is dead. Until then, this girl must be in your house as your daughter-in-law. This is the only solution."Meenakshi had tears in her eyes. "Swamiji," she lamented, "What is this test? Will a widow be ready for a marriage? And where would I find a widow with such a horoscope?"Swamiji gave her courage and said, "Keep trying, Remember that the Lord is there for everything. The marriage should be done within a month." She gathered some strength, and was selfishly ready to sacrifice another mother’s daughter for the sake of her son. She used all her money and might to find the perfect widow. She came to Surya and said "Look, son, you must get married soon."Surya looked at his mother in surprise, "Mom, what is this? And who cares about horoscopes in today’s time? It’s foolish. I won’t accept it. And me marrying a widow is total nonsense. I don’t believe in this mom. Some stupid Swamiji duped you. ""I told my mom those words, and she was hurt. She tried to convince me, but I wouldn’t budge ", said Surya."Look son," she said, "A son must be present at his mother’s funeral, not the other way round. I cannot see you dying. I’d be glad to die before you, so you could be at my funeral," and she drank some poison. "I saved her with great difficulty. I couldn’t say no to her anymore. " Surya told Ravi. "Don’t worry bro. Everything will be alright in a year. Then I’ll put an end to this drama, divorce my acting wife, find the love of my life and marry her. There’s no doubt about that", said Surya. Ravi is still confused. " Surya," he said, "Do you think it is the right thing for the girl?""No, don't worry, It has not even been six months since her husband passed away. She has a six-year-old daughter. She accepted to marry me for my money and property. It tells a lot about her character. Such a characterless girl doesn’t deserve our good will. People are waiting for me at the Mandap." Surya smiled at Ravi and left for the wedding. Ravi stood near the mandap, wondering whether Surya was doing the right thing. The bride hid her fears in her heart and accepted this wedding. Standing next to her were her mother Santamma, Father Krishnarao, and Auntie Parvathamma. The bride's name is Sandhya Rani. She was already married. It has only been six months since her husband passed away, and she is getting married again. "They think these things are normal these days". She could almost hear their gossip. But she doesn’t have a choice. Such is the situation. She squeezed all the sadness in her heart and got ready for  the marriage. Sandhya's father is a retired port employee. She is his only daughter. He put everything he had into his daughter’s wedding to a worthy man and with great pomp. They found later that the worthy man was actually an irresponsible drunkard.  Even so, Sandhya was very patient. She never told her parents about her problems. Sandhya had a kid. The husband vaporised all the money, got sick, and got stuck on the bed. His parents gave up on him. Sandhya’s parents even sold their house to save the drunkard husband. He died six months ago. Her sadness was beyond measure. There was never a single day when she was happy in her marriage. The husband never liked Sandhya in the first place. He was heartbroken after his love failed, and resorted to alcohol. His mother forced him to marry Sandhya for the sake of the dowry. He never even looked at her. But Sandhya endured.  One day, in his drunken stupor, he raped Sandhya. He had the honor of forcing himself on his own wife. She gave birth to a baby after that, and the baby became her world. The husband died, and she she thought she and her daughter were going to live happily ever after. Then came the bad news. Her daughter had four holes in her heart. The little girl needs an expensive heart surgery. Sandhya lost consciousness after hearing that. Auntie Parvathamma took Sandhya and her daughter to many hospitals. Everyone said the same thing, that the girl must be taken to America for a year, put under specialist observation, followed by surgery. It would cost 80 lakhs. Sandhya cried a lot for her inability to get eighty lakhs. In the end, she lost hope on her daughter and decided to die and attempted suicide. Just then, Meenakshi found Sandhya through Parvathamma and promised one crore rupees for the little girl. She assured that the little girl will be taken care of like a princess, like her own granddaughter. That’s how they convinced Sandhya to agree to this marriage. Sandhya would do anything, suffer all kinds of humiliation for her little girl. Surya misunderstood her because he didn’t know her predicament. The Sindoor on her forehead was erased once. Now they put it back again. She held fire in her fists and pain between her teeth and sat in the Mandap. Surya didn’t turn his head aside. He didn’t even try to see what she looked like. Sandhya too stooped her head low. She doesn’t need to see him. They sat beside each other without looking at each other. The Pandit gave Mangalsutra to Surya. Surya looked at his mother, his hands shaking, holding the Mangal sutra. She nodded, hinting him to do it. His eyes were reddening and, with great difficulty, he tied the Mangal Sutra around Sandhya. At that moment, Surya closed his eyes with sadness. Sandhya, too, closed her eyes as she carried the Mangal Sutra for the second time. They are married now but don’t mean anything to each other. Surya’s friends would’ve made some noise, but they walked out of the place silently. Only Ravi stayed till late, taking care of Surya. Surya’s sisters dreamed of having their brother married to a princess. But because of their mother’s superstitions, Surya is now marrying a widow. They had to attend the wedding, even though they didn’t want to. Everyone left early except for the elder sister, Shashikala. Surya’s elder sister and her husband stay with her mother, Meenakshi. They got the car ready to go to the bungalow. The bride is too beautiful. Her beauty makes her eligible to stand beside Surya, and Meenakshamma was happy for that. "Her beauty compensates for the lack of her status," Meenakshamma thought. The couple looked great standing beside each other, but fate had different plans for them. Surya and Sandhya sat in the car, far away from each other. They didn’t feel like looking at, or talking to each other. What irritated Surya is the sight of the little girl sleeping in the lap of his new wife. They reached the bungalow. Sandhya got down with her daughter and Parvathamma took the daughter, saying she'd take care of her. The people there gave Aarthi to the bride and groom. Surya was angry and immediately went into his room. Meenakshamma didn't try to stop him. She conducted some rituals concerning her new daughter-in-law.Sandhya’s life is like hell indeed. To go through the same rituals for the second time in her life. She didn’t want any other woman in the world to go through the hell she’s going through. Hands trembling, tears threatening to burst at any moment. Meenakshamma noticed all of it. Sandhya, who stepped in as a daughter-in-law of that house, should follow all the traditions for the sake of Surya’s life and Meenakshamma’s selfishness. Nine women prepared Sandhya for her first night with Surya. They all knew her situation. They gave Parvathamma a room, and she’ll sleep there with the little girl. "Don’t worry now, start with your new life," Parvathamma told Sandhya. Sandhya’s mother said a few things too, and left. The nine women pushed Sandhya into a room and locked the door from the outside. Sandhya was trembling. It felt like stepping into the doorway of hell. It felt like it would be better if she died right there. But she has to be alive and suffer for the sake of her daughter. She stepped forward, but the courage wasn't enough. Her whole body is trembling like a leaf. She was standing there with her eyes closed. Ten minutes passed and there was no sign of her husband. She opened her eyes and saw the man sitting on the balcony working on his laptop. She took a sigh of relief. Didn’t even notice his appearance. Her heart full of fear, she slept on the floor in a corner of that room. She felt relieved when he didn’t seem interested in her. She was tired and dropped dead into sleep. Surya entered the room after a long time. Sandhya was sleeping in one of the corners of the room, facing the other side. “Thank god!” Surya thought, sighing a heavy breath. He sat on the bed and thought, "I should warn this woman strongly. I have to warn her to maintain distance from me or else I wouldn’t spare her. She shouldn’t be involved in any of my work or anything related to me at any cost. Anyway, there is no use talking to her. I will write a letter and shove it in her face,” he came to a conclusion.He wrote a letter that included all the thoughts he had in his mind and put it beneath the pillow she was sleeping. He didn’t look at Sandhya. She was sleeping on the other side. Surya did what he intended to and fell asleep on the bed peacefully. He was feeling relieved then.Sandhya jolted awake at 4 in the morning. Her mother-in-law informed her that there was a kum kum pooja. She was about to rush to bathe and pushed the pillow aside. Her eyes looked at the letter which Surya had written and she opened it, wondering what it would be.“Hello, I don’t know you and  have no intentions to get to know you. It was my fate that I had to marry you because of my mother’s superstitious beliefs. She believed that I have a threat in a year which probably won’t occur. When all of her doubts are gone, which is after a year, I’m going to divorce you.In the meantime, I won’t spare you if you try to get close to me or anything. The farther you are from me, the better you will be. One more thing, if you have any plans to tell my mom about this letter and start a fight, I won’t spare you, mind it! Mom shouldn’t know anything. So, stay away from me”.Sandhya was uncontrollably angry, “What is this man? What is he even thinking?’, she felt a little happy. “Whatever! He wants to stay away from me, that is enough! However, it would take a year for Maggie’s operation. As soon as her operation is done, I will take the girl and go far away from all these humans,” she thought and finished her bathing and reached the prayer room. Surya woke up and got freshened up, and went outside shortly after she went out. Meenakshi saw him leaving and didn’t force him to stay as he was facing a lot of difficulties already. And that’s the reason she didn’t want to bother him.She made Sandhya sit in the prayer room for the kum kum pooja and everything was arranged to perform the Pooja with the utmost will. Sandhya sat for the pooja and did it with dedication. She finished the pooja and prayed to her mother-in-law’s feet. She guided Sandhya to rise, “Dear Sandhya, I know under what circumstances you agreed to this marriage. Whatever the reason might be, you are now the daughter-in-law of this Zamindari family. There shouldn't be any stain on our family because of your behavior, remember it!” she said. Sandhya nodded her head as okay.Meanwhile, Krishna Rao came there. As soon as Sandhya looked at him and said, “Father!” she was full of happiness. Sashi who was present there, out of no other choice, “Come in, Uncle” welcomed him in. Meenakshi went to him and asked, “Come in, brother. What’s the reason for your arrival?”“Greetings, Sister,” he greeted her humbly, ”You are sending the little girl to America today, right? I came to take my daughter and her little girl home this day,” he asked with a lot of anguish and was waiting for her answer.Meenakshi understood his pain, “Of course! It would be painful to not see your granddaughter for a year. Sandhya, go dear. But remember, you have to straightaway return here from the airport. Now you can leave,” she permitted.“Sure, mother-in-law,” Sandhya replied humbly and walked out with her father, taking her little daughter and her aunt Parvathi. Â