CHAPTER 29

MAANVI'S POV

*after the talk with Yash *

As soon as Yash shouts for me to stop I stand still in fear and before Yash could tell something he was cut off by his phone ringing and also I check my phone to see that jaanvi has messaged me to come.  I gesture Yash that I'm going and run towards the room to see what jaanvi needs. As soon as I go into the room jaanvi pulls me into the balcony and makes me sit on the sofa. We sit silently without saying anything. I look at her and see tears running down her face. I hug her and she starts crying harder.

She stops crying after 20 min. I take her hands in mine and hold it. "we have been living together for almost 6 years. When I go who will take care of you anu. " she finally has a small smile and she talks about all the fun stuff we did together " remember in college we were not allowed to go out and we had to sneak out and were badly caught" I laugh " ya I had to act like I was not feeling well " jaanvi rests her head on my shoulder and we stare at the sky both of us in our world. " I'm gonna miss you anu" I squeeze her hand " should I come and live in your's and Dhruv's house. In that case, you won't miss me" I say jokingly. She hits me lightly " you don't what to live with newlywed. Do you?" we both laugh and stay in each other's company cause we don't know when we will be like this.

In the night jaanu sleeps with her parents. I edit some footage and post some old footage as a vlog. I sleep at 11 as tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

*NEXT DAY*

I wake at 5:30 and go for a run. I was hoping to see Ishaan but I couldn't see him. I go up the hill so see an amazing view. I sit for some time to enjoy the view. I feel someone sitting beside and I turn to see Ishaan. I smile " morning" I wish him. We sit for some time enjoying the view and go back down for preparation. although the marriage doesn't start till evening. The preparations started in the morning only.

During lunchtime, I and Yash sit and eat together and for the past few days, Siddharth sir has not been troubling me which I'm glad. As we were eating Yash suddenly asks me " maanu can I ask you something?" I nod in response. " did someone lose their earring in the garden?" I think for a while  " yeah one of jaanu's cousins has lost it seems. She was searching for it. Actually I lost one of mine it fell down while dancing I guess" before he could ask something else I'm called and I rush " talk later" I say to Yash.

The first ritual before marriage is Ganesh pooja or Gauri pooja. The Puja marks the beginning of the wedding festivities. The bride is worshipped as Goddess Gauri or Parvati (consort of Lord Shiva), who is considered the perfect wife. After the pooja, everyone starts preparing for the wedding. the pooja starts at around 7 and the Barrat is set to come at 8:30.

After the pooja, the family members prepare for the baraat. The groom's procession leaves for the venue in all splendor, the groom carries a sword and is mounted on a mare. The band accompanies the groom with the families dancing their way to the venue. Earlier that day the groom's family had decided that they would come from the other side of the venue and divided the venue into 2 parts so it would feel that a real baraat.

The Baraat is welcomed by the bride's mother who takes aarti of the groom. After that, the groom enters the venue and the bride is called. The bride and groom then exchange garlands which are called Varamala. During this time before Dhruv could put varmala jaanu's cousins lift her so that Dhruv couldn't reach and all of Dhruv's cousins lift him for him to put the varmala. This happens the same with jaanvi when she tries to put the varmala.

Soon they sit on the mandap and the pujari starts with manthr. During this time I and jaanu's cousins sneak from the stage and try to go into Dhruv's room to steal his shoes. It is a ritual that the bride's cousins and siblings steal the groom's shoes and to get his shoes back he has to give money to the cousins. as we peek through to see if anyone is there or not. All of Dhruv's cousins are standing near his room like watchmen. I see Dhruv's mom going into the room and I go behind her. "aunty let me help you" I go inside the room as she was bringing things from the room. I help her carry things and I sneak his shoes into the pile and bring everything out. I hand the shoes to jaanu's cousins and give the boxes on the stage.

The marriage continues and I take some photos here and there. As I was taking the photos I secretly take photos of Ishaan. He wore a kurta that fits perfectly for his physique. Towards the ending both the bride and groom go around the home or the sacred fire seven times, this is called Saat Pheras. Bride's dupatta is tied to the groom's waistband. after the pheras, Groom then fills the center parting of the bride's hair with kumkum. Groom's sister braids her hair with mouli and fills the bride's parting with vermillion. A nose ring is gifted to the bride by the mother in law. Chuda or bangle ceremony is when the groom's mother gives her lac or glass bangles.

After all the rituals both jaanvi and Dhruv were made to sit on the special chairs and Dhruv goes to search for his shoes and as a ritual, he has to give money in order to get his shoes back. Everyone gathers around Dhruv and jaanvi and all the cousins discuss and state the starting price  " we want 10,000 each jija Ji" as soon as they hear the price they start fighting  " what is this? no way!" jaanu argues and I tease her immediately " jaanu already paati ke purse per kabza ( already hijacked your husband's purse ) " as she was about to hit I move aside and make a funny face at her. After a lot of discussions, they settle with 5,000.

After all the rituals are over it's early in the morning and currently, everyone is taking rest and in the morning we have Kanyadhan. I take a plate full of different fruits as jaanu was doing varth( fasting) I knock on the newlywed's door and open once they give permission. I cover my eyes with my hands " my eyes can't handle A-rated. keep it PG" I say jokingly and I hear jaanu shout "ANU! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" I remove my hand and go and hug jaanvi and hand over the plate to Dhruv " please feed your WIFE" I stress on wife and I could see jaanvi turning red like a tomato. " you guys deserve the happiness," I say and I go towards the door " don't forget to lock the door or someone might come in "I quickly close the door and I could hear jaanvi shouting from the room "ANU!" ITS VERY FUN TO TEASE HER.

The saddest part of the wedding came and everyone had tears flowing down their face. Even though we go back together in the evening but it is really sad. The last ritual i.e Kanya Dhan has come. It is where the bride's dad hands over his daughter to her husband and their family. Jaanvi starts crying seeing tears in her dad's eyes. She hugs her mom and dad and comes to hug me and I start crying. They make her sit in the car and they spent the morning in a hotel. Yash and Ishaan come and stand beside me I feel a hand on my shoulder and look to see it was Ishaan.......

MAANVI'S OUTFIT

JAANVI'S OUTFIT

ISHAAN'S OUTFIT

YASH'S OUTFIT

Hi guys. Here is another chapter of Inked With Love. It is a long chapter. I'm sorry if I got any ritual wrong as I don't know much about north Indian marriage's but I did get to know from one of my good friends. Thank you for reading the chapter. As always don't forget to vote and if you have any suggestions leave them in the comments.

And one more thing the book has reached 1.5k reads and I'm thankful to all the readers for giving this book a chance.🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

lots of love,

Ashley❤