Chapter 1

raindropsroses

@raindropsroses

[NOCOPY]
Shiva ki Gauri 

Index:

Part 1 - Below

Part 2 - Page 4

Part 3 - Page 7

Part 4 - Page 10

Part 5 - Page 13

Part 6 - Page 15

Part 7 - Page 18

Part 8 - Page 20

Part 9 - Page 25

Part 10 - Page 28

Part 11 - Page 33

Part 12 - Page 39

Part 1

It was late in the evening and Dhara was smiling widely, busy with preparations for the next day. It was her eldest devar, Dev’s haldi. Everything had been decided that day and preparations were in full swing.

“Dhara, aaj mein dukhaan pe ta toh mujse milne Sharma ji aaye te,” Gaumbi said taking both of Dhara’s hands to get her full attention.

“Sharma ji? Unhe dekhe bahut saalon ho chuki hai na, unki beti kaisi hai?”

“Vahi toh baath hai, vo bata rahe te ki Shilpa ko hamara Shiva bahut pasand hai. Dono ki shaadi ke baat lekar aaye te,” he said, Dhara’s expression morphed into one of excitement.

“Ye to bahut achi baat hai, Gaumbi. Par Shiva ko kaise manaye? Vo toh shaadi ke baat sunte hi baag jayega.”

“Vo teri baat kabi nahi taal sakta, usse tumhi samjaana. Aur agar vo maan gaya toh un dono ki shaadi bi Dev aur Raavi ke mandap mein hi kara denge,” he said squeezing Dhara’s shoulders gently.

Dhara nodded at him smiling and ran out to find Shiva. 

_______________________________________

Shiva was just parking his bike outside the house, his mind full of thoughts about his brother’s impending wedding. Everything had happened so fast. The chipkali had talked to his bhabhi, that Maami had come to talk to his mother, and everything was fixed. 

Yes, she had been going on and on like a tape recorder that she would marry Dev, but he’d brushed it away. After all that his maami and maama had done to their family, Shiva never thought that his mother would ever forgive them, forget about taking a girl from the family. 

But alas, the haldi function was scheduled to happen the next day, Shiva’s heart squeezed in pain. He had lost his heart to his maami ki behen ki beti long ago. But each time she came in front of him, each time she stood up for his family, hell, each time she was in the same room, his heart would threaten to jump out of his chest. 

But all thanks to his childish deeds ages ago, she had latched on to Dev. He thought back to years ago when he first saw Raavi at a local fair.

She was wearing a white frock and looked like an angel with her hair flowing behind her as she came running towards them.

“Hi,” she said smiling and it seemed as if his world had come to a stop. Gaumbi had told them that their Mami’s niece would be coming to play with them today. But he had left out how angelic and beautiful she was.

And before he could recover and say something, “hi Raavi,” said Dev, “ice cream khayegi?” She nodded. And they both ran off holding hands to a nearby stall. 

Looking at them happily talking to each other over ice creams was something Shiva could never get out of his head. Call it jealousy or something else. So the next time she spoke to Dev he threw ice gola all over her dress.

And thus began the infamous Shiva-Raavi rivalry. Anything that would get her attention to him. His day wasn’t complete without arguing with her, hearing her witty comebacks and seeing her nose and cheeks get red in anger. And she was no less, she gave it back to him like no one else. She could stand toe to toe with him and tell him off.

He always regretted not opening his mouth on that first day, only if he had, she’d be mad about him now. And he hadn’t seen anyone so crazy about someone as Raavi was about Dev.

Initially, Shiva had tried to stay away from her. But she had made that impossible. It seemed as if she knew exactly where he would be, exactly what to do get a reaction out of him.

When ignoring her didn’t work, Shiva resorted to being rude towards her. He hoped that at least that way he’d be able to convince himself to accept that she wasn’t meant for him, to try to forget this crush that turned him into an adolescent.

And so years passed and Shiva had perfected the anti-MamiKiBehenKiBeti facade. Everyone believed that he hated Raavi from the bottom of his heart. So much so that even before Dhara told Dev that his marriage had been fixed with Raavi, she had told him. She had spent an hour explaining and trying to get him to accept Raavi into the family.

Shiva let out a dry laugh at his unfortunate fate. In three days, the girl he loved would become his bhabhi, he thought angrily and kicked his bike. It fell on the floor with a thud.

Dhara had just then come outside searching for Shiva and witnessed him kick the bike to the ground, “Shiva! Kya kar raha hai?” She asked concerned, forgetting about Shilpa and the proposal.

Shiva immediately put on a fake smile and turned to his bhabhi, “bike ki stand thodi lose hai, isliye gir gayi.”

“Shiva, tu ro raha hai?” her voice turned concerned as she walked toward him.

Shiva touched his cheek and sure enough it was wet. 

“Vo- vo allergy hai, bhabhi,” he tried to cover up.

Dhara took his hand and pulled him towards the steps at the entrance of the house, sat him down and sat down next to him. 

“Apni Dhara bhabhi se kya chupa raha hai,” Dhara asked gently holding his face in her hands.

Shiva turned and hugged her sideways. “Mann teek nahi hai, bhabhi.”

Dhara was genuinely worried now, Shiva almost never cried. Before she could ask him further, he wiped his face with his elbow, got up and jogged inside.

Dhara sat there wondering what the problem could be.

“Dhara diii, aap aisi yahan kyun baiti ho?” came a curious little voice.

Dhara looked up to see Raavi with a big parcel in her hand. 

“Raavi, tum yahan iss waqt?” she asked getting up.

“Mein bahut bahut bahut khush hoon di, aur iss khushi ki vajah aap hi ho. Mujhe cake kaane ki mann thi, toh socha ki aap sab ko bhi khiladoon,” she said with a big smile on her face.

“Chal teek hai, undar aaja,” Dhara said laughing.

As they entered the house, Raavi looked around for Dev, her fiancé. “Dev, bahar gaya hai, kuch kaam ta uska,” Dhara said noting her.

“Oh,” Raavi said disappointed, “teek hai, Shiva kidhar hai. Uski training mein aaj hi start karungi,” with a mischievous smile on her face.

“Kya training?” Dhara asked apprehensively.

She beamed, “How to love Raavi 101!” She shouted pleased with her idea to get Shiva to love and respect her.

“Patha hai Dhara di, saari books and movies kehte hai, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach! Aur mein humare Shiva pe yahi technique use karungi,” she said her eyes glinting.

Dhara laughed. “Please aaj tum dono jagdna math, mujhe kal haldi ke liye kuch kaam hai, mein jaake dekthi hoon,” she said and left to the kitchen.

Raavi looked around searching for Shiva, when the door to the bathroom opened and he stepped out with just a white towel wrapped around his hips.

♥️

Part 2 - Page 4