NOTE: All PARTS ARE POSTED TOGETHER IN PAGE 64.
Index
Part 1- Page 1
Part 2- Page 6
Part 3- Page 11
Part 4- Page 14
Part 5- Page 19
Part 6- Page 23
Part 7- Page 28
Part 10- Page 39
Part 12- Page 51
Part 13- Page 55
Part 1
"Maa, who marries a rockstar?", I retorted.
"Aren't rockstars human beings, Pragya?", my mother had made up her mind to have the rockstar as her son in law.
"Honestly, Maa, I don't want to marry. I am tired of going through these engagements, marriage preparations only to end up in disappointments and heartbreaks. Even my best friend Suresh betrayed me. You know what, I am happy single. I have a respectable job and I have my life. You survived without a man most of your life, why do you think I wouldn't?", I brought up my real problem.
"But I don't want you to survive, Pragya. I want you to live, to live and enjoy life, like most people do. Although I never complained about it, I am sure you have a fair idea of how much I have struggled to raise you and your sister without a father. But the only reason I could do it was the two of you. You were my hope, my everything", my mother got emotional.
"But Maa, had it been any other guy, I would have felt comfortable, but this rockstar, he is rich, famous and haven't you seen him on TV? He is from a completely different world. How do you think I will even fit in his house, in his life?", I still tried to explain myself.
"Didn't you see how humble was his Daadi when she spoke to us? Similar to how I know you and Bulbul inside out, she knows her grandson. And that's why I agreed to go forward. You don't worry, it will work out", my mother reasoned out.
"What if it doesn't?" I really didn't want to agree with her.
"If it doesn't, I will be with you. I will support your every decision and stand by you. I will not let you suffer in a marriage that does not bring you happiness. But believe me, my heart says it will work out. Your kundali matches almost 100% with his. You both are made for each other. Pragya beta, please, listen to your mother. Trust me. Trust God and destiny. It will all be good. I beg you beta...", my mother now had tears in her eyes.
And it wasn't in me to see her cry. After all, she was my everything. From the time I can remember, she was my hero. She worked two jobs to feed my sister and me. She gave us the best education she could, even if it meant her not buying new clothes for years. She hid her pains and cries to make us believe in the goodness of life. Moreover, her health was giving up on her and she didn't need to deal with emotional stress because of me. She still had to go through 2 sessions of radiotherapy for her breast tumour. I didn't want her to be upset about my marriage and refuse to continue with her therapy, which I know she could do. So I decided, I would marry for her. Like she said, I was going to hope for the best although I didn't have any hopes.
And when I finally agreed, my house was a happy place. My mother was relived but my grandmother and my sister were excited. Those two were fans of that rockstar for a long time. And the fact that they could talk to him, take his autograph, and have him as a relative had them over the moon.
Within an hour my house had already gathered a festive mode. My Maamaji and his family had arrived and they started discussing the wedding preparations. My mother asked me to try on a necklace that was sent by the rockstar's Daadi for me. It was surely the heaviest and perhaps the most expensive piece of jewel I had ever seen but my heart felt heavier.
Right then, the doorbell rang and I told my mother I was going to collect milk since it was the time for our milkman's evening rounds.
"Today, two liters, and these days you seem to be mixing more water than ever", I complained as I placed our milk can outside the door.
"Excuse me" I heard a deep voice that felt vaguely familiar and I froze as I looked up.
"I don't sell milk. If you need my introduction, I am Abhi Mehra and yeah I remember you, Pragya, Pragya Arora, hmm?", spoke the rockstar.
I could not mutter a word for multiple reasons. I called him a milkman, he knew my name, and he was right in front of me and that was intimidating. More intimidating was his piercing gaze that I could not hold.
And I was thankful that my family, excited to see the rockstar at the door, came running.
Abhi joined his palms in a namastey to the elders and even touched my mother and Daadi's feet, something that I did not expect he would do. He was taken inside the house and an excited Bulbul came out of the room and jumped around, making sure he knew she was his crazy fan. I just stood in a corner and saw the mela my house suddenly turned into.
Abhi was treated to samosas and chai, but he was treated as if he was some celebrity, well, he was a celebrity. He refused chai but ate samosas. I was so busy observing every little thing that was going on like a silent spectator and my folks didn't remember me until he took my name again.
"Can I take Pragya out for sometime?", he asked my mother, and I tensed.
Had it been any other boy, my mother would have refused right away. But even she acted like a fan girl and told him there was no problem and it's very important for the boy and the girl to talk before marriage.
I did not want to go out with him. But there was no way I could have avoided it given my whole family was walking me out behind him.
The children from the whole of our colony had gathered outside our house to meet the rockstar. He gave high fives to some of them, autographs to others, before opening the door for me at the passenger's side and seated himself on the driver's seat. As he slowly drove, I felt all our neighbours eyes on us and I just wanted to disappear.
I didn't know where he was taking me, but the bigger question was why. I remembered that he mentioned remembering me. I also remembered that one time I met him at his concert venue.
Bulbul had wanted to go for his concert last year and due to mother's insistence to not let her go alone, I had to reluctantly tag along. When we reached the venue, the security guards told us we were supposed to get inside the hall half an hour earlier and didn't let us in. I had started yelling at them given we had spent a fortune on the tickets. Fed up of their rudeness, I had taken a dig at rockstar Abhi' saying he wasn't worth it. It had happened that Abhi, who had reached there just then, had witnessed it and he had gotten out of his car and interfered between us. Bulbul was hyper excited to see Abhi and she had begged him to let us see the concert. Abhi had offered her VIP seats and I had refused since I wasn't the one to fangirl him anyway. Bulbul was almost in tears and I had asked her to go in while I would come back and get her. She excitedly went inside and before I left, Abhi had stopped me and asked my name. When I told him my name, he wrote it on a ticket that he took out from his pocket and placed it in my hand saying if I found his music too boring, I could go hear an election rally speech for which he was given free VIP passes. He had also mocked that I could give my speeches in front of that politician and leave him and his fans alone.
"So, how was that election rally that night?" asked Abhi as if he knew what I just was thinking.
"Your memory seems strong", I commented.
"I don't forget my distractors", he said turning at me and raising an eyebrow.
Marriage between us sounded even more an impossible possibility and the idea itself sounded scary now. I wanted to know all the more why he had gotten me with him and I just wanted to get over with this.
After many minutes of silence, it seemed like we were on a highway that I did not recognize. He stopped and parked the car on the roadside.
"Sorry, there is no restaurant around here where I can get away without being noticed. I don't know about you politicians but a rockstar needs to worry about being mobbed" he let out a mock laugh.
"I am not a politician and please get to the point and tell me why did you bring me with you", I asked unable to be patient about this anymore.
"So the point is.. is it the 1 crore necklace? Is this why you agreed to marry me?", he turned towards me and kept looking.
That's when I realized I was still wearing his Daadi's necklace. I had thought it would be very expensive but hadn't realized it could be worth a crore. It must have been real diamonds, I wondered. The next moment I realized that he meant that I wanted to marry him for money, while the truth was I didn't even want to marry him. What was he saying?
I quickly unhooked the necklace and placed it in the cup holder between our seats. "I have enough money to feed myself and my mother has taught us not to salivate at someone else's money even if we didn't have a penny. So, keep this necklace to yourself", I burst out in anger and tried to open the door to get out of the car.
"Hey, hold on", he grabbed my wrist, stunning me. How could he just hold my hand like that? "I got you out with me and I will drop you home. And there are no special buses or taxis to take you home from here. It's a highway", he said letting my hand go.
I let out the breath I had held and was still thinking what should I be doing.
"There has to be something else if not the money. No one ever does anything without a motivation. What is it? Why do you want to marry me?", he questioned again.
"Can I ask you the same question? Why have you agreed to marry me?", I returned his question.
"Actually, I don't want to marry you at all", he said coldly.
That's exactly what I wanted but my heart felt pricked at his statement.
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