Monsoon Wedding

मेरा यार हैं रब वर्गाः
दिलदार हैं रब वर्गा
इश्क करून या करून इबद्दत
इश्क करून या करून इबद्दत
एक्को  ही गल हैं
अलिफ़ अल्लाह
अलिफ़ अल्लाह
अलिफ़ अल्लाह हू

~prasoon joshi, bhaag milkha bhaag

Aman and Treya saw each other for the first time in a wedding. Technically they had seen each other years ago when they were kids, but neither remembered that and so when they saw each other at this wedding, it was almost like the first time. That day, on that mehendi ceremony, Bangalore was pouring and thankfully the ceremony was inside. People talk about Mumbai in the monsoons and how gorgeous she is. But monsoons throughout the country is beautiful. This was Bangalore's first rain this season. Treya still remembered the date : June 21st. It was her cousin sister's wedding and she was waiting for her turn for the mehendi.  Arundhati, her cousin was sitting patiently while the mehendi girls painted her hands and her feet.

The house was an old bunglow decorated with many strings of bright orange marigolds, the HAVE-TO-USE flower for Indian Hindu weddings. There were songs in the background, all the relatives from everywhere in the world had gathered and there was a sense of joy and peace and beauty in that moment. Treya heard the rain fall and rushed out and put her hand out and felt the first drops fall proclaiming the end of summer. She closed her eyes and took in the sound of the rain and the fragrant earth. It was almost as if the earth was opening itself to welcome the rain and also decided to bless those around her with her happiness with this perfume of rain - if only this fragrance could be bottled, Treya thought to herself.... and then she heard someone say 'Hey!' She opened her eyes, her face had it's lingering smile as she turned her head and saw a tall dark lanky boy call out to her from the gate.

He was drenched carrying a suitcase and holding a black coloured bag very close to himself. He was calling out to her to help him open the gate as he stood in that downpour. She looked around for an umbrella and couldn't find one and threw her hands up in the air to show her exasperation and ran out unprotected in the rain. She opened the gate for him and let him enter and closed it behind him. He ran and stood under the porch and stretched out his dripping hand  "Hi I am Aman, thanks for that" She tried drying her hands on her wet clothes and realised the stupidity of it and extended his arm to say "Hi,  Treya, you're welcome!" And at that moment she heard someone call her, it was her turn for mehendi. She sreamedlooked at Aman again and said, "Come on in, let me go grab you a towel." And turned to go in. And then she turned back and bumped into him, " oh Sorry, by the way, you are here for the wedding right?" He laughed a throaty laugh and said "Yes, I am Akash and Nalini's son" And then she looked at him and said "oh you are THAT Aman! yes yes, we've been expecting you" And turned around and led him indoors. Everyone inside knew who he was and rushed to greet him, someone ran inside and bought him a towel. Now that he was taken care of, Treya sat down for her mehendi. That was how they met. Aman's parents, Akash and Nalini were family friends from Delhi and that's how they were at the wedding.

Later that night, after the festivities, folks were returning to their hotels/homes. Treya was going back home and was trying to find her parents, only to find that they had already left. She was booking a taxi on her phone, when Nalini aunty caught her and said it's not safe to call for a taxi at 1 in the morning and that Aman can drop her. She didn't want to take anyone's favour, but she was obviously more comfortable with going with someone she kind of knew vs a cab. So she agreed and they started to drive to Indranagar. Aman switched on the radio to kill the awkward silence before it even began and Love Guru was giving his unique advice to some love-struck teenager. And both Aman and Treya laughed and said together " I love Love Guru" and then they laughed at how they said it together. That broke the ice.

Aman asked her what she does, Treya was a yoga teacher at a yoga studio in Bangalore and Aman blurted out a loud "wow!". Treya, used to the reaction, smiled. "And what about you" she asked, he was about to speak when Love Guru announced "and this song from Kuch Kuch Hota Hain is for you my friend : Tum Paas Aaye " and Aman, said "nice i like this song, sorry, I am a wedding photographer". It was Treya's turn to go "wow"  and tum pass aaye started to play. Treya asked Aman : must be a beautiful profession right and of course, it's a lot of money these days. Aman laughed and said, "beautiful yes, money hell YES! but i just love covering weddings, it's so blissful and people in Delhi have the money to pay, so thankfully the business is good, but it's even more special when you get to click pictures for family events like these".


So that's the black bag he was trying to protect when he was standing outside the gate waiting for someone to open it for him. They arrived at Treya's house and she thanked him and they bid each other goodbye and he left. Treya opened the gate and before she stepped in, she turned back. But the car had already sped off. Her parents and a few folks from the family were having an after party at home. And some of her cousins started teasing her about Aman dropping her. She rubbished the stupid comments and said "nah, he is not my type" and a voice in her head said "But he loves hindi music"  Treya was shocked that she was justifying Aman to herself. Her one rule in life had been to be with a man who loved Bollywood and Hindi music as much as she did. Unfortunately that was slightly difficult to find in Bangalore among south Indians. Of course, they were other folks from all over the country, but she hadn't met anyone interesting yet and quite frankly was completely ok with her parents choosing for her. Anyway, everyone eventually called it a night at 2:30am and Treya got to sleep a bit before her 9 am yoga class at MG Road.

Aman got home after dropping Treya and his parents were at an after party themselves. Finally when it was time to go home, he sat in the driver's seat and found a gold coloured pouch on the seat next to him, he picked it up and put it in the dashboard. It was obviously Treya's, he would return it to her when they met tomorrow at the evening party.

Treya finished her yoga classes for the day and was about to go in for a shower in the studio when her phone rang. It was Arundhati. Her wedding clothes were in and she wanted Treya to come home immediately to see it before anyone did. The two sisters, not too apart in their age were best friends. So much so that when Arundhati decided to marry a Bengali, she confided in Treya. It was Treya who went around rallying for her and finally when all the close relatives were onboard, Arundhati broke the news to her parents, who protested initially but calmed down when the family spoke to them. And of course Varun was a lovely person and he won their hearts they day they met him.

Treya rushed to Arundhati's place. The lehenga was beautiful and the two sisters looked at it and then at each other with tears in their eyes and hugged. And suddenly they heard a click. They looked up and saw Aman hidden behind a BIG camera, he had captured that moment and strode across the bedroom to show it to them. It was a beautiful picture when both the sisters sitting on the bed and hugging with their eyes closed, but tears streaming down their face and the lehenga between them flowing down to the carpet. The girls looked at each other and smiled and then Arundhati said, don't you think my arms look too big? And before the usual girl conversation ensued, Aman exclaimed and left the room. The girls laughed behind him. He peeped in and threw a pouch towards Treya and said "by the way you left this last night". She had almost forgotten about it. She also forgot that Arundhati was closely observing her as she went into a reverie as she recalled the drive last night. "So Aman,..", Arundhati began and Treya stopped her immediately with a "come on now, you too!". Arundhati defended with But I haven't even said anything" but her giggles gave away her intention and were enough reason for Treya to softly wrestle with her in fake indignation.

In the following functions and days, from the cocktail party to the wedding ceremony Treya and Aman became good friends. Their impromptu performance at the cocktail party on "Subah hone Ne De" from Desi Boyz was much applauded. Treya really liked him, but only as a friend. Aman, enjoyed Treya's company : she was a no nonsense girl and was a joy to spend time with. At the wedding ceremony, when the pheras were on and Treya was standing next to a mandap pillar, Aman clicked a picture of hers. And when he looked at the image, for a second the world around him stopped. She looked beautiful. So perfect. Her face was a mixture of sadness and extreme happiness and somehow that picture captured the feelings. Her hands were joined in a prayer as if she silently asked God to bless the couple. He stared at the picture for a long time and noticed that the earring on her right ear had twisted backwards. He walked over to the other side and tapped her shoulder, she looked at him and asked with her eyes" What's up?" and he reached out and straightened the earring on her ear. She kept looking at him, and in that moment, they both were lost in their own little worlds. The priest rang the bell and asked for the bride's sister to come forward to tie the bridal knot. She wrenched herself away from this dream of hers and stepped onto the mandap. In that moment, Aman was back to his senses and got busy with his camera again. But his mind was clearly elsewhere.

That night, at the reception, Treya was sitting on a large round table having dinner with all the other cousins, when Aman came and stood behind her and touched her right shoulder with his right hand while he held his glass of whiskey in the other. Treya looked up and their eyes met. There was something there, but neither said anything. The cousins were too busy with some story that someone was narrating and no one had noticed it.

Aman was leaving the next day. It was a Sunday. Treya was sitting in her house with a cup of coffee at 11 am lost in her own thoughts. Something was troubling her, but she couldn't quite her put her finger to it. Her father was sitting next to her and his phone rang. He put down the paper he was reading and picked up his cellphone and held it as a distance to read the name. He picked the call and said "Hey Akash, calling from the airport is it?" It was Aman's dad calling to say bye. They were leaving for Delhi. And Treya felt her heart sink. Her father put down the phone after about 5 mins and looked at her face and knew something was wrong. He asked her what it was. She smiled and said "nothing dad, just exhausted and I can't believe Arundhati is married!" Her father smiled and said "yes, it was so good to have everyone here no?" Treya smiled sipped coffee while dad picked up the paper again. And it began to pour in Bangalore. Somehow the rain that had always calmed Treya's heart down, wasn't helping one bit this time.


(to be continued )

मैंने इश्क इत्तर पहना
मैं खुशबू खुशबू
अब वोही  मेहेकता हैं
मेरे भीतर हर सू
मेरे पैरों में भंगड़ा
साँसों में टप्पे टप्पे
मैं इश्क तारने गाऊं चप्पे चप्पे
इश्क करून या करून इबद्दत
एक्को ही गल हैं
अल्फ अल्लाह अल्फ अल्लाह अल्फ अल्लाह हू