*GoodBye_AshNi*Epilogue*p114*Jaane Kya Baat Hui - Page 44

Chapter 59: Prewedding jitters!

The two friends hugged each other as he welcomed Vermas in thr own house for a splendid dinner treat. Later the two friends excused themselves as thy went for some secret shopping. Rangnath and Rohan wernt allowed. Thy sat pouting as Angie pestered Trupti to reveal the secret of thr secret shopping. Trupti revealed it was to gift Nidhi on thr wedding nite! "oh my God!" Angie had cried. Nidhi had blushed bt she didn't let her run away. She shooed Rangnath and Rohan away and asked Trupti shamelessly wat she had got as her wedding nite gift. After refusing in vain, she finally let out tht she got a very sexy wedding lingerie! Nidhi and Angie wer literally shocked. Closing, thr dropped jaws, she gave Nidhi some quick wedding nite tips! Nidhi wasn't sure how to take it! And wen she and Angie wer left alone, she expressed her anxiety! "thrs something happening in my stomach already!" Nidhi cried. "Oh.. save it for ur wedding nite.. thr r still 4 days to go!" Angie remarked. Nidhi nudged her hard,"wat sort of friend r u..!" "a practical one!" she winked,"c'mon u r a doctor!" "so r v not humans.. am I not a bride!" "oh..bt u know all the technical stuff!" "eh.. does tht exempt me from having those jitters wen..wen.. oh hell.. I don't feel this nervous wen a needle pierces into my vein.. seriously Angie!" she bit her nails. "oh.. jst relax.. its jst prewedding jitters.. once these wedding thing commences u will forget everything..!" she comforted her. "R u sure?" "very sure.." Nidhi looked at her apprehensively. Angie took her hand and squeezed gently.

Looking at her extreme nervousness, Angie decided to sleep in her room to give her comfort, and tho Nidhi tried very hard to relax herself and get some sleep, everytime she tried to close her eyes, a strange anxiety filled her mind and she had to threw her eyes wide open. This wedding nite thing was seriously making her neurotic. She had even started biting her nails, for which Angie had reprimanded her severely! She gently got up from her bed and paced soundlessly in the room so as to not wake Angie up. Picking up her phone and inserting her earphones, she was jst abt to play some songs to ease her mind wen she got his call. And for some reason, she felt a bit relieved. "Hi.." he cried lovingly from other end. Jst hearing his voice was making her feel sooo much better and thn of course she cud jst divert her mind by talking to him abt something else. "So my lady luv.. wats up..u did hell of shopping today! Feeling good?"he teased. "huh.. at least I don't do secret shopping like u!"she complained rightaway. He laughed,"now wat did I do?" "u went for shopping for my wedding nite gift secretly?" "who revealed u tht!""thts not the point!""so u don't want one?" " thts not the answer!" He laughed,"seriously wat happened? U sound strange..sort of disturbed... agitated?" she blushed,"eh nothing!" "tell me..!""no..its..its nothing!" "eh..Luv!"he insisted. "please..its..its.. a girl thing!""oh..oh..oh..!" he coughed suggestively. "shut up..please'" "wat? r u advised to buy some sexy nitewear for wedding nite?" "nooo! and y wud I feel nervous for tht..!" "u wont?" he chuckled. "I mean' "she blushed heavily,"' I.. uhhh' can v please jst talk abt something else..." "okay!'"he sighed heavily and rolled in his bed as he called her out lovingly,"sweetheart'its jst not fair.. so v cannot meet..thts sad!"he said sadly. She sighed heavily as she looked back at a sleeping Angie once again. Angie was sleeping so soundly and here she was losing all her sleep! "so u miss me too?"he asked hearing her heavy sigh. She didn't answer. She jst wanted to clutch tht phone like tht and listen to him silently. Thr was a brief silence for a moment as he waited for her answer. "luv wat happened?" he asked gently and gave her some time to open up by herself, bt she didn't. So he continued,"u know.. u don't have to worry abt anything.. I have got it all.. I have gone through the method. We will go step by step. We will follow the whole process carefully and we will do it with a surgical precision.." he said confidentally. Nidhi held on to her phone and wondered. Wat was he talking abt! "and u know practice makes a man perfect..so I m going to learn, theorize, apply, and evolve.. u don't have to worry abt anything!" "u r going to do wat?" this time she voiced her curiosity. He coughed suggestively,"u know wat I m talking abt rite?""nooo.." she answered cluelessly! "Nidhi.."he sat up on the bed and moved his phone to his other ear,"I was helping u out.. u know..with ur.. with ur nervousness.." he whispered. Nidhi flushed and her hand went on to cover her mouth to stop her instant loud cry of "oh my God!" he heard an inaudible mumble, nevertheless. "luv I m here trying to help u out.. " he whispered again. "uh.." Nidhi didn't know wat to say. She silently moved closer towards the window and whispered back,"Angie is sleeping in my room!" "oh.. "he cried back,"sorry!" thr was a brief very awkward silence for a while and thn he heard her voice again,"bt thank u" "oh! u r welcome!""bt..bt.. how did u know wat I was feeling nervous abt..?"she whisphered curiously! "oh.. I read abt prewedding jitters of a bride b4 mrg and learnt the fact tht almost 80% of bride-to-b had those!" she was shocked,"u..u read girls articles?" He shrugged,"I was concerned abt u.. I was researching on this stuff u know.. abt mrg and prewedding things.. and I jst wanted to b sure and I needed information and this is really informative age..i luv this age of new advanced technology wer u can get almost any information right on ur lap or in ur palm!" She chuckled. She still cudnt believe he did all tht..seriously he sat and researched on these things... It was actually quite amusing! "and wat else did u learn?"she tried to tease. "tht..u don't need to feel nervous abt anything..i will try my best to not make u nervous abt anything!" she blushed slightly again, bt her mischieviousness was getting better of her,"And wat exactly did u think I was feeling nervous abt?" Ashutosh glanced at his phone to make sure he wasn't imagining things tht he jst heard. Did his Nidhi jst go tht bold? "eh.." he cried. He was rendered speechless. Nidhi cudnt stop her giggles. He seriously was very cute! "eh..not fair sweetheart..i was trying to help u out!"he cried back hearing her teasing giggles. "u know .. u r really very very cute!" she confessed. He sighed and again rolled on to his bed on his stomach, clenching his phone to his ear,"u know.. I want to adore u.. I want to cuddle u.. and give u a very very cute kiss!" she blushed and asked,"and wat is making my prince charming sooo romantic at this hour?" He sighed,"u know..its jst day one!" "bt v will b meeting for sangeet!""bt till thn no c.. u will not come to hospital either!" "bt u r not planning to go.. r u?"she asked. "of course.. wat have I to do..till haldi?""u too need to go to mens beauty parlor..thts wat grooms r supposed to do!" she cried. "men's beauty parlor.. r u serious?" "didn't Armaanji advice u anything?" "r u serious.. DO NOT give him such ideas!" "huh..thn I m not going to beauty parlor either.. I m going to cancel my tomorrow's appointment!" "Luv.. men don't go to a beauty parlor!" "thts an old thot..u claimed u have modernized!" "Luv.. wat wud I do in a beauty parlor.. cmon!""u know thrs something called groom's package..?" "seriously?" "Ashuji..ppl have advanced in every field.. and I want my man to b advanced in each and every field..including men's grooming methods!" He twitched his lips and frowned and remained silent. She finally gave up, sighing heavily,"okay fine.. don't do it if u don't feel like.." Bt he was still pondering abt it. Ashutosh shifted his phone to his other ear, yet again. Didn't he promise himself tht he was going to make Nidhi happy at any cost thru the mrg? He can give it a shot tho as awkward as it seemed. He sighed. His rational mind was arguing against this unreasonable demand, bt he told it to shut up! He was going to go with his heart! "okay!" he said,"I wud go!" "wat!" Nidhi exclaimed in surprise. "yeah..i wud go!" he reaffirmed. Nidhi chuckled happily bt thn suggested,"u really don't need to, if u don't feel like..jst for my sake.." "Nidhi..sweetheart.. let us b clear on two things.. one is tht v will not keep anything secret or hidden from each other.. and second is tht v will not afraid to speak or ask for anything from each other..forget abt the consequences.. I think v can handle them.. its time v shed our insecurities and hesitations. Let us trust the love tht v have to overcome thm together in our life!" Nidhi smiled,"okay.. very well thn.. tell me abt my wedding nite gift secret!" "nooo..tht is different kind of secret!" he exclaimed. She giggled,"thr r no diffrnt kinds of secrets.."she retorted. "thr is.. this is sherwani kind of secret" she chuckled at his smart answer. "okay..thn wat r the other kinds of secrets tht u want me to share.." "the kinds tht u bury deep into ur heart and r afraid to speak up.." he said seriously. "i..i don't have such secrets.." "u do.." she nodded her head,"and u know?" "yes.." "like?" "like abt these 3-month extension of my trial study abroad." Nidhi fell silent. "u seriously thot I wudnt know tht u wud know tht I lied wen these things wer making rounds in KGH so generously.." she remained silent. "y didn't u confront me sweetheart.." he asked tenderly,"u have every rite.. u know tht!" Tears appeared in her eyes,"i..i ..didnt want to bother u.." "and u thot I wud let this mrg thing happen with something so huge hovering over ur head so heavily.." He sighed,"i luv u sweetheart and I want to give u every happiness in the world' and I hate wen u do such things!" She smiled. "okay.. I am sorry.." "u better b!" She chuckled. "now ask?" he cried. "wat?" "uh' the reason behind my 3-month extension..obviously" he cried in exasperation. Nidhi cudnt stop her laugh. She laughed for a while and thn she asked,"okay.. tell me!" "oh tht!.. tht is a surprise sorry!" he chuckled. Nidhi exclaimed,"tht is sooo not fair!" He laughed,"sweetheart.. it's a surprise!" "huh..how can separation b surprise!" "well.. sometimes it can b!""stop beating abt the bush and tell me the secret..!" she cried impatiently. "oh my sweetheart.. let the things unfold one by one.. I want u to enjoy ur surprises..!" "so.. is our honeymoon a surprise too!" He laughed,"I am not going to say anything abt honeymoon!" "oh.. u r cruel!" she cried. "wait for my surprises..my sweetheart.. honeymoon is a surprise u wud like!" he beamed happily. She smiled delightfully,"really?.. it seems like a slowly secretly unfolding adventure!" she said excitedly. He chuckled. "so all ur grievances resolved?"he asked. "No!" "okay.. tell me!" "the 6-month seperation" "sweetheart.. I didn't c it coming.. I mean.. the patient wasn't expected till nxt month!" he said ruefully. She sighed,"I know! so does tht mean u didn't actually deliberately plot it to coincide with my internship period?" "u thot I plotted..?" She hesitated to answer. He sighed heavily,"uh.. I m to b blamed if u think tht way.. I did plot once and y wudnt I do so again..its not ur fault!" "I m really sorry for tht" she felt bad. "sweetheart.. y r u saying sorry.. I had been a complete jerk with my obessession with ur career!" "u r not jerk'"she retorted,"don't ever call urself tht!" he chuckled. "Sweetheart.. I m not tht grt a person.. I don't deserve ur blind devotion!" "I don't know abt these things.. bt I know u r not a jerk!" "really.. thn who gets so obessessed with someone's career tht he starts invading thr life and influencing thr decisions abt career.." "u have every rite.. I gave u the rites..""not to this extent! I was caging u!" "thts.. a really harsh word to say!" she cried. "bt its true.." "bt I knew u wer jst concerned abt me.." "overconcerned.." he corrected. She remained silent. "u know Nidhi.. I have a fear tht I mite lose u, like I lost my baba. If I don't take rite action at rite time, tht it mite hurt u and I mite lose u. I jst wanted to protect u from everything, bt I forgot tht u r a free bird. I mst learn to set u free to explore this world. I cant cage u and burden u under obligations like I did to myself. I felt obliged to achieve my baba's dreams and I burdened myself with those obligations and guilt-ridden heavy sense of indebtednesses to my baba's sacrifice of his daughter and ur mother's dream to achieve wat she cudnt for ur nana. Nidhi, the very free will of urs tht I fell in luv with, I tried to chain it, restrict it, confine it in a very narrow space with my very narrow and overprotective mindset." "u r being too harsh and judgmental on urself.." she cried. "no.. sweetheart.. these r facts.. tht I learnt..tht I needed to learn.. and I learnt from u.. tht any ambition or goal shud b free of any sort of obligation or obsession, thn and thn can it serve its true purpose.. I can only achieve tht height if I get rid of myself from the tag tht I m doing it bcoz its my baba's dream.. No.. I mst do it coz I want to do it for wat it stands.. for the betterment of humankind..! and tht u mstnt b a good doctor bcoz it was ur mother's dream.. bt bcoz u want to b one..! In these 6 months sweetheart, I want u to discover urself.. ur true potential.. realize ur true talent.. without any external influence from me.. I don't want to push u around with my ideas.. my plans.. my way of doing things. I want to forget tht u r my junior..tht u r 18 yrs younger thn me.. I will remember tht u r my wife.. u r my life partner.. and u r my equal in every footing.. and u deserve tht!" He paused and sighed. "u know.. I luv u.." she said softly after a while and a sweet smile appeared on his face. "so will this boost up ur morale in these 6 months of separation?" "professionally yes.. personally no.. it cannot make up for the way I m going to miss my hubby!" "wat did u say.. I liked tht!" "wat?" "the hubby thing!" she uttered shyly,"bt thts gonna b aftr mrg.." "yeah.. bt u know.. u don't have any affectionate nicknames for me..!" he complained. "I do have..!" "like wat?" "i'uh'"she felt shy. "come on.. I deserve atleast one loving nickname!"he cried,"I have hundreds for u!" "its.. its my king..!" "doesn't tht sound too dictatorial!" she laughed,"no..its short for the king of my heart.." "oh..oh!" he exclaimed suggestively. She blushed. "so say it!" he requested. "Wat?" "say it luv.. jst.. say it!" he cried impatiently. "r u rolling impatiently on ur bed for it like a kid!" "yes.. I m..now.. jst say it!" he cried. She laughed. "is ur heart pumping wildly in anticipation like a 15 yr old teen?" "yes.. it is.. now can u jst say it please!" she chuckled shyly,"okay'" "I m waiting!" "my king..my king I luv u..i luv u soo very much!" she uttered lovingly. "say it again.." "my king.." "again.." "my darling and loving and very adorable king.." "and very loudly!" she chuckled,"nooo'.its 2 a.m. in the nite..!" "okay..with a kiss thn.." "Nooo.. Angie is in my room.. I told u.." "uh.. turn around and give me one.. please.." she pondered. "please'jst one" he urged. "okay.." "oh.. please.. please.. make it fast.." she chuckled,"u r behaving like an eager puppy u know tht.." "oh.. I don't care as long as I get my kiss.." she blushed and brot the phone to her lips and wisphered.."ready?" "very much.." she applied a very gentle kiss on her phone and uttered a soft,"my king!" "oh.. I m in seventh heaven!" he squealed. She giggled, rather heavily.

"Wat r u doing?"Nidhi heard a sleepy voice from her bed. She turned to see an awakened Angie rubbing her eyes. Angie got up and came to wer she was standing and demanded again,"wat r u doing Nidhi awake at this hour?" Nidhi hid her phone behind. "nothing!" she cried. "uh.. I know!" Angie pulled her hand infront and glared at the phone. "give me tht!" she cried. "noo.. its.. its.. Ashuji!" "I know.. let me talk to him..please.." "nooo..!" "give it to me.. !" she cried. Reluctantly, Nidhi gave up. Angie put the phone on her ear and barked politely,"jeeju its 2 a.m. in the middle of the nite.. do u want ur bride to have some beauty sleep or not? Or u want to have her looking like a zombie with dark circles under eyes on the wedding day!" Ashutosh sat up and frowned,"Angie!" he protested. "nope.. I m not going to give in to ur anger jeeju.. for me its very important tht ur to-b-bride doesn't lose her sleep over her romantic talks.. I wud request u to not bother her after 10 for remaining days.." Nidhi squealed a protest, Angie ignored. "I wud sincerely hope tht u wud follow my request for sake of ur bride!" Ashutosh gave in,"fine!" "thnk u.. u will b rewarded with a beautiful stunning looking bride on wedding day for ur such huge sacrifice'good nite jeeju!"she teased and hung up the phone! Nidhi pouted. Ashutosh smiled at his phone and rolled down on his back in his bed. He felt utmost relaxed and relieved. Finally, thy had a talk. A very fine.. heart to heart talk. He felt satisfied and content and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Nxt day morning at the breakfast table, Armaan did bring up the topic of men's saloon! And wen Ashu gave in readily without any protest, he was very much surprised! "y do I get the feeling tht someone has coaxed u very cutely into doing this!" he eyed at Ashutosh suspiciously! Ashutosh shrugged,"its wat today's groom do rite?" he mentioned as a matter of factly! Armu smirked,"yeah.. definitely! Didn't know u wer so much into this!" Ashutosh sighed deeply,"okay.. yeah.. I wanted to do it for her!" he played with his toast and replied. Armu lended an attentive ear,"y suddenly.. a change of Ashutosh?.. the Ashu I knew wud never give in to such demand even to his lady luv!" Ashutosh smiled derisively at himself,"so u too thot.. I was very rigid and dominating..!" "it isn't tht true Ashu!" "I know Armu!" he sighed. "Armu.. I saw fear in her eyes..a fear tht I wud get deeply hurt by her frank words.. and she hesitated.. she hesitated to open up to me.." Ashu looked straight at Armaan,"u don't know how shocked I was to see tht.. to see how badly my rigid.. overconcerned.. overprotective.. overpossessive.. and overdominant personality was doing to her.. " "wat happened.. did u guys have another fight?" Armaan asked worriedly and glanced back at his wife. Trupti intervened,"I hope everything is alrite.. Nidhi did seem a bit distracted.. u know.. a bit disturbed of late!" Ashutosh sighed,"no.. bhabhi.. everything is alright now.. I had a talk with her last nite.. a gud talk!.. Its jst tht I m surprised tht I didn't see all this earlier.." "Armu' she felt I had no faith in her abilities!" Armaan looked back at him alarmingly. "and all the while I thot I was supporting her.. encouraging her.. bt No.. I was jst pushing her.. and making her insecure.. I wasn't helping her.. I was jst making it difficult for her..!" "Ashu..its done with.. u learned from ur mistakes!" "no Armu.. I realized how close I was to losing her.. merely by not talking to her! I..I wanted to give her a surprise.. with this honeymoon thing.. with this.. extension thing.. bt I realized not talking, not involving ur partner can create lot of unwanted misunderstandings..however, understanding she mite b, I was a fool to have taken her for granted.. and frankly, I never held her my equal. I always saw her as a young thing tht I adore and love.. as a bright junior who I want to succeed by any means.. as a ward, who needs my protection and guarding in all walks of life.. bt never as my equal worthy partner..somewer I lost my track.. I began changing her.. manipulating her..the way I wanted her to b.. and not the way she wanted herself to b.. I tried to mould her the way my baba had molded me.. instead of jst being a guide, I was damn busy steering her ship wer I wanted it to go!" Armaan was listening attentively. Ashutosh scoffed at himself,"I was going to do the biggest mistake of my life.. Armu.. taking her as my wife and not considering her as my equal..i wud've been betraying the very vows tht I wud've taken!" "u know u r a very nice man.." Trupti said,"its hard for a man of ur stature, ur influence, ur personality to realize such mistake and to accept it this graciously! I have seen.. it takes years for some ppl to realize it.. and thn it creates huge problems later on.. and ur rship is based on variety of disparities..of age, of social position, of maturity, of wisdom, of experience.. its easily takes shape into an inequality-based relationship which later on takes toll on the such r'ship as the person who is giving in more to this r'ship feels discontent and utilized in long run and a time comes wen tht person is no longer able to provide, while the other person marches ahead in life leaving thm behind! Thrs a very wide gap betn u two.. not jst 5 or 10 yrs, its nearly 20 yrs.. So its very essential to bridge such gaps.. it is hard bt u two r trying and want to help each other out tht is commendable!" Armaan sighed,"yeah.. I m going to tell Nids some day how finely she has changed my best friend for good!" Ashutosh chuckled,"yeah.. u wud tht..i know!" "u bet!" Armaan chuckled. "so I m going to take an appointment for today at a men's saloon for u.. and I m going to SMS this news to Rohan and Rangu!" Ashutosh almost barked,"no u r not going to do tht!" Armaan chuckled,"u bet!" "Armu.. I will seriously kill u if u do tht!" Ashutosh threatened. "okay.. fine.. I m letting u go.. bt its not bcoz u r my best friend.. its bcoz u r my Nids to b husband.. I HAVE to respect him!" "huh! so of much friendship" "relations comes first my dear friend.. she is my little Nidhi!" "FYI'u met her thru me!" "haa.. I wonder y still I place her higher thn u!" Ashutosh fumed,"this is not fair! U jst met her a month or two ago!" "and the way u r trying to become a favorite child of her baba!" Armaan cried. Ashutosh exclaimed,"she complained u tht!" "huh.. she doesn't need to.. I can very much see with my very own eyes and infer with my little brain.. u break every news to him first.. u discuss each and every important thing with him first.. b it ur career or Nidhi's matters.." "yaar.. Armu..i miss my baba..u know how I always turned to him!" he sighed. Armaan looked at him sympathetically,"I know.. its most important day of ur life.. I wish he cud b here..!" Ashutosh sighed heavily,"we've been searching him all around.. he jst seemed to have vanished.. Armu.. I fear.. I fear tht.." quick worrying lines appeared on his forehead as he looked apprehensively at Armaan. "don't worry yaar.. I m sure wherever he is.. he is fine.. u will find him soon.. u have been thru all unclaimed bodies till date.. u have been diligently following every lead given by ur detectives for 15 years now.. I m sure he is alive and well.. and God will definitely listen to u.. " Ashutosh nodded positively and sighed,"Nidhi keeps telling me the same thing!" "huh.. u r damn lucky man!" Armaan cried. Ashutosh chuckled,"yeah.. I m damn lucky!"

The two days passed in a jiffy. Ashutosh was forced to take leaves of 4 days equivalent to Nidhi wher he was subjected to do a number of weird things tht he had never done in his life before in a saloon, except for a haircut and to his horror Armaan had also booked a makeup artist for him for his wedding day! Seriously, makeup artist for him! When he had relayed this news to Nidhi, she had laughed and hadn't spared him with her teasing. The nxt day had been kept for practicing for the sangeet, partying in the evening, and preparing for the D-day as all the four rituals wer gonna take place one by one the next day, the mandap muhurat, griha shanti puja, haldi, and the sangeet in the evening jointly at Nidhi's house. The whole sangeet event was organized by Rangu-Rohan-Angie. Thy had planned and coordinated the whole event. The evening's so-called bachelor party was organized by Armaan for him and bachellorette's party for Nidhi by Angie. Bt the bachelor party wasn't so bachelor-ish as Armaan had wanted it to b with all the booze, DJ, and crazy partying men! As apparently, Truptiji had his agent on board thr, kaka, who was strictly ordered to keep any eye on Armaan and boozing! Rohan and Rangu were allowed their beers, bt he wasn't even allowed the beer! Armaan had grrrd at tht bt apparently he cudnt do anything against his lovely wife's orders! Rohan and Rangu had quite a fun teasing him as thy boozed on the beer and swayed on the heavy loud music.

Ashu and Armu sat silently on the sofa staring at thm.. "yaar.. I hate it!" Armu cried. Ashu chuckled."u regret marrying.. warning me at wrong time!"he joked. "yaar its good bt I hate it wen she gets this strict.. c'mon yaar.. its my best friend's wedding and I m not even allowed to drink.." "stop howling and confront her!" "have u gone mad.. I don't want to turn dead meat!" Ashu laughed,"is this life of a man once he becomes a husband!" "huh.. u r going to join the same club day after tomorrow!" Ashutosh chuckled as he drank his softdrink,"oh! my Nidhi is very sweet.. plus I don't drink.. I wud have no problems!" "huh.. v will c.. bt have u planned..u know.. for ur wedding nite?" Armu asked. Ashutosh blushed,"u know u don't need to tip me on anything abt THE nite.. I prepare well.. u know me.." Armu nudged,"yeah' I know.. u prepare urself well beforehand.. always.. in everything' bt.. its Nids.. she is young.. probably very frightened.. she is my sis yaar.. don't.. don't.." For the first time Armaan didn't know how to put it! Ashutosh glared at him,"Armaan.. I know it' okay.. u don't have to worry abt tht.. okay!" "yeah.. I guess.. u've gone too far already.." "Armu.. I jst wanted us to b comfortable with each other.. thts it.. coz u know.. its.. its pretty complicated.. this thing.. its new.. for both of us.. and.. and.. u know.. these feelings undiscovered.. unexplored..and it involves her.. Gosh! I have prepared myself well theoretically bt I don't know how it wud all go practically.. u r making me nervous Armaan.. I need to take control of things in thr okay.. how wud I b able to make Nidhi feel easy if I myself feel so uneasy.. so don't make me nervous and break my confidence!" he cried. Armaan laughed,"its funny to see u nervous Ashu" Armaan patted him encouragingly"its gonna b alrite..my jaan' its jst the initial hesitation.. dbt.. reluctance.. apprehension ..nervousness' thn everything falls in place.. u'll c..!" Ashutosh sighed,"I hope so! It now feels easier to appear for an MBBS exam or perform the most difficult surgery! I had never so dreaded any results!" Armaan laughed heavily. Bt as the nite approached and he had a light talk with Nidhi, he felt easy and relaxed. She was as nervous as he was, bt wen thy talked the nervousness did seem to go away. It seemed tht thr was no such awkward thing betn thm. All was so normal and so much in place. May b Armaan was rite, everything wud fell in its place by itself and thy shud stop worrying abt it and concentrate on the most important events, the wedding rituals, which commenced from tomorrow.

It was mandap muhurat and Ganesh puja at both houses in the morning! The marriage venue had been Nidhi's house as both dadi bua and her baba wanted a wedding at thr house rather thn at some hall. The lawn infront of Nidhi's house had been big and the arrangements wer made jst fine. The society had been more thn helpful to thm and everything was taken care of perfectly well, a bit expensive for tht matter due to various rituals taking place at the same venue, requiring quite a bit of shuffling in and out, bt it was all managed and organized well! Armaan-Trupti thn did the Griha Shanti puja for the couple at Ashu's house wer as for Vermas, it was done by Solankis. Thn came the haldi ceremony, both Ashu and Nidhi wer made to sit on a big traditional wooden stools for the ceremony in their respective houses. Nidhi was draped in a beautiful bright yellow green saree and she adorned herself with matching light jwellery, not forgetting to wear the payal tht her Ashuji had gifted her. To make it more fun, the two events were relayed at each other's house live thru cameras and laptops! It was one of its kind haldi ceremony wer both the familes cud enjoy and participate in each other's ceremony and most importantly dadi bua cud keep a close watch on the rituals tht wer going on at Ashu's house to make sure everything was followed traditionally! Ashutosh had worn a white T-shirt over faded shorts. A nice paste of haldi, rosewater, and sandalwood powder had been prepared. Mango leaves wer dipped in the paste and applied to feet, knees, shoulders and finally on the forehead to start the ceremony ritually. Trupti commenced the ritual for Ashutosh and Solanki aunty for Nidhi. One by one, other friends and relatives joined in and on the backdrop of haldi wedding songs, the ritual was completed. Thy wer thn doused with water and sent to scrub off the remaining paste from ther bodies.

It was Nidhi's mehendi ceremony thn at her house and Ashu cud relax for a while till he was called for the sangeet ceremony late in the evening at her house. And before he got ready for the ceremony, video and pics of Nidhi's mehendi ceremony were already downloaded by Armaan and thy sat over tea to watch thm. Ashutosh cudnt get his eyes off of Nidhi's glowing face. Trupti informed him tht his name will b secretly inscribed in the intricate design of mehendi on her palm tht he wud need to find! He looked at her mendhi design. It already looked pretty complicated! Her whole hand till elbow was adorned in mehendi. She had worn those kangans gifted by him and her legs adorned the payals which he had gifted her on thr engagement day as per the ritual! Her legs too wer full of mehendi. And she had worn a beautiful pink-orange saree for this occaision. And at the end of it, she actually started looking like a bride with her smile getting wider and wider. And she even swayed on a mehendi song as Ashutosh looked at her recorded video and grinned.

Aangna mein aayi bahar, Mehandi rang layi'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va6ThJ6ywoU

he festive mood was so in the air at her house! And Nidhi was dancing in all merriment. Her chirpiness was at its highest pitch. The song playing for her mehendi ceremony added to her gaiety mood. And suddenly he was too eager to see her for their sangeet ceremony!