Flaming Sun Collection 2: Marriages Made in India (Box Set with 5 novellas)

by Sundari Venkatraman

  Ram was shocked. He hadn’t expected this. “But Pappa, why should we reject Sapna because they’re poor? Don’t we have enough wealth for both families? Do you really plan to ask for dowry?” He had turned pale under his tan.

  “That’s also true. And no, I don’t want dowry at all. But you don’t seem sure. While we all think that the girl is alright, what if we find someone better?”

  Ram looked at his family. While they were pulling his leg, they were obviously eager to know what he thought of Sapna. Well, she looked attractive, pleasing on the eye. But was that enough for a lifelong commitment? “I’d like to meet her again and talk to her in private. Do you think her parents will agree to that?” he asked, addressing his father while looking at all three in turn.

  Mohan nodded his head. “Why not? I’ll talk to Mishraji and see if we can invite them to dinner here.”

  Ram nodded, a smile on his face. He looked forward to meeting Sapna on a one-on-one basis. While Mohan called Mishra, Chanda and Ram went to their adjoining room. “Chanda, will you help me get Sapna alone?” Ram sighed. He wasn’t worried that his parents will stop him. But what if Sapna’s family objected?

  Chanda grinned at him. “You don’t worry. I’ll organise it. Just go along with whatever I say, okay?”

  Ram gave her a hug, “Righto, little sis. I swear I will.”

  8

  The Purohits were extremely hesitant taking up the offer to dine with the Maheshwaris. Getting two regular meals at home was an everyday challenge. How could they, from the girl’s side, agree to go have dinner at a hotel with the prospective bridegroom’s family? What would the Maheshwaris think of them? Chittaranjan asked Mishra outright.

  “The Maheshwaris aren’t very formal, Chittaranjanji. It would be disrespectful if you refuse this invitation. We need to change with the times. You all get ready and let’s go. Their car’s waiting for us.” Mishra was insistent. The marriage broker was keen that the alliance clicked as he stood to gain a lot—both monetarily and in reputation. Moreover, the Maheshwaris had three more sons.

  “Well, if you’re sure. I’ll go by your word. Let God’s will prevail,” said Chittaranjan. “Purnima, Sapna, get ready fast. We are going to have dinner at the hotel with the Maheshwari family.”

  Suraj and Shyam looked eagerly at their father and the guest. Would they get to tag along? They had heard about Gulaab Niwaas Palace from friends at school. It truly looked like a palace, they were told. And the food served there was out of this world. “Pappa?” said Suraj. “Should we…”

  Even as Chittaranjan shook his head, Mishra nodded to the boys. “The invitation includes all of you.”

  “Yay,” yelled Shyam as the two boys rushed to the single wooden almirah to pull out fresh tshirts. They took barely a couple of minutes to get ready, their hair brushed back neatly.

  While Purnima was aflutter as she wrapped a sari around herself, Sapna was a nervous wreck.

  It was lucky that she had a few sets of salwar kameez that she wore when she attended mehendi ceremonies. Though made of cheap cotton, they looked smart. She wore a set in brilliant green that made her glow. Applying a line of kohl to outline her eyes, she was ready. Going to the big hotel was a great excitement. But did she want to meet Ram again? He looked handsome. Only she hadn’t felt any “zing” on meeting him. She didn’t think he was the man for her. But what could she tell her parents? They were impatient to marry her off since twenty-five was way too old for a woman in their family. Her cousins had been married the same year they turned eighteen. She realised that she had no choice but to go along with them.

  The boys were too thrilled riding in the air-conditioned car. The adults’ silence went unnoticed due to their chatter. They reached the hotel in twenty minutes and were awed when a guard opened the glass door for them.

  Mishra escorted them inside, where the Maheshwaris were waiting for their guests at the reception. Chilled fruit juice was served to all of them as they settled down on the comfortable sofas.

  On Mohan’s prior instructions, a duty officer escorted Suraj and Shyam to a small room off the reception where a video station was situated. The boys hooted enthusiastically as they settled down to play games.

  Chanda got up suddenly and said, “Pappa, I think I’ll go for a stroll with Ram and Sapna.”

  Ram rose immediately to oblige his sister while a visibly pale Sapna looked at her father. When he gave a small nod, she got up to go with the brother-sister duo.

  The three of them walked out from a side door, into the huge gardens that surrounded the hotel. The grass verge beckoned to them as the three of them walked slowly. Chanda turned to Sapna and said, “Well, this is where I leave the two of you.” She waved to Ram and left by another door to go up to her room.

  Sapna gave a startled look towards her retreating figure before turning to look at Ram, her large grey eyes wide open. She didn’t quite know how to deal with the situation.

  Ram smiled gently. “I don’t bite. Would you like to sit down at that table over there?” It was set up in open air and was the one furthest from the reception. He would have preferred to take her up to the terrace, but he wasn’t sure she would go with him.

  Sapna gave a small nod as they walked over to the table. As if she had a choice. Ram pulled a chair for her and waited for her to sit down before pushing it gently, close to the table. He sat on an adjacent chair and looked at her, his black eyes glowing at the lovely vision in front of him.

  “Would you like to eat something?” he asked.

  “Water,” said Sapna, her voice a croak. Her throat was parched as her heart beat a strong tattoo.

  Ram beckoned to a hovering waiter and requested him to get water.

  “Sapna.” He waited for her to look up at him before smiling at her. “Are you really scared of me? As I told you, I don’t bite.”

  Sapna shook her head. “That’s not it.” The water came and she took a few gulps from her glass before setting it down. “Why are you playing with my family?”

  Ram frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  “You people are so rich and you can see how poor we are. I don’t think an alliance between us would ever work. You are from the city and Pushkar is a small town. And even here, we live on the wrong side. Why us?” Her face was red by the time she finished talking. She had been burning to ask someone these questions and she was finally glad that Chanda had given her an opportunity to talk to Ram in private.

  Ram shrugged as he took a minute to gather his thoughts. He had expected these questions to have been handled at the parental level and it hadn’t struck him that they were working so much on Sapna’s mind. “Do you object to us because we’re rich?” he asked.

  Sapna shook her head. “That’s not the point, is it? You have your life to lead and we have ours. I don’t think it’s practical for our lives to be tied together,” she said firmly. It was obvious that she had thought a lot about the situation.

  Not just beauty, but brains too.

  “I don’t see a problem. Money is the same as energy right? It’s best used when it flows from a higher to a lower level. If you don’t have money, then ideally you should tie up with a rich family so that your life changes for the better.” Now why had the conversation deteriorated to discussing their wealth and lack? “Forget that for now. Tell me about yourself.”

  Sapna stared at him. Wasn’t he autocratic? Here she was, genuinely worried if they could have a life together. And he had just told her to forget it. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she said, “I’ve finished school. I learned to draw mehendi designs and make a living out of it.” That was it. There was nothing more to say.

  Ram looked at her mutinous expression, his own amused. “Okay. Let me tell you about myself. I’m a graduate—though I just managed to get through—and later I pursued jewellery designing. I run my own jewellery shop.” He didn’t think it was the right time to tell her that his monthly turnover ran to many crores. She had a thing about rich peop
le, it seemed.

  Sapna looked at him with pained eyes. “I can’t speak English. You’re bound to feel ashamed when you introduce me to your family and friends.”

  Ram had to hold back his laughter. She was doing her best to dissuade him from marrying her. He wasn’t going to let her do that, unless she really disliked him. “I was almost fifteen when we shifted from our village to Jaipur. I couldn’t speak English to save my life. We all learned to, when the need arose. I’m sure you will, if you really have to. I don’t think that not speaking English makes you any less a human being. If you’re interested, you can always enrol in English conversation classes and learn the language.”

  “I hate to cook. Okay, I know how to since my mother gave me no choice. But I can’t stand kitchen work,” she said vehemently.

  “We have a Maharaj who lives in. Even my mother doesn’t cook all that much,” he said, a slow grin brightening his face.

  Sapna got desperate. “What will I do after marriage? I can’t stay idle. Here in Pushkar, I have regular customers for mehendi. I keep busy twenty days in a month. I don’t think I’ll have much to do in Jaipur.”

  “How will you know unless you find out?” asked Ram, his voice gentle. He could understand that she wanted to be occupied.

  Sapna got up in a rush, pushing her chair back, thoroughly irritated. “And how the hell will I find out? After our marriage? What if I don’t like any of the options and it’s too late by then?” She knew she was being rude. But the fact was that she was extremely scared of losing her identity. Here, in the small town, everyone knew her and vice versa. What if she got swallowed up in the big city among rich people?

  “Why don’t you visit our home along with your parents this weekend? You can find out a little more about our lifestyle.” He raised a hand to stop her from voicing another protest. “Look here Sapna, I like you and am interested in marrying you. I don’t think money is a big issue. We don’t take dowry and we can bear all the wedding expenses. Jaipur has a lot to offer, more than Pushkar can. There is no dearth of opportunities if you’re ready to learn. You can learn to speak English. If mehendi designing is your passion, you can take it a step further and set up a beauty parlour after learning the trade. You’ll have all the freedom you want. After all this, if you still don’t like the idea of wedding me, then well, I can accept that.” Ram turned and beckoned to the waiter. “Get a plate of mixed bhajjias, a strawberry milkshake and an iced tea.” Once the waiter left, he looked at Sapna and said, “Sorry about that. I’m hungry. Do tell me if you want something else.”

  Was he for real? Sapna’s grey eyes turned stormy. “No, I’ll have the strawberry milkshake. I can’t stand iced tea,” she snapped, making Ram grin. If they got married, there won’t be a shortage of entertainment. He had to admit that she was gutsy.

  He nodded, his black eyes studying her red face, his gaze lingering on her mouth that was pouting just now. “Glad to know as I dislike both strawberries and milk,” he said, his eyes alight with laughter.

  Sapna glared at him. “Very funny.”

  Silence reigned as they both attacked the plate of bhajjias hungrily, while slurping on their chilled drinks.

  “So, will you tell your parents that this marriage won’t work?” she asked him.

  “Why should I? I think we’ll get along like a house on fire, once you see how well we both are suited,” he said, only half joking.

  “Don’t be crazy. I don’t want to get married.”

  Ram shrugged. “Fine, so tell your parents that. You should’ve done so even before we came down to Pushkar actually. It would have saved us all a lot of time and money.” He stressed the word “money” deliberately, just to rattle her. “And give me one reason why you don’t want to wed me,” he challenged. “Are you in love with someone?” he asked, a sudden thought crossing his mind, even as he paled. He hadn’t thought of that possibility.

  “Of course not!” she said, without thinking.

  Tch! She could have used that as an excuse. Why the hell didn’t she think of it before? She glared at him some more as a grin split his face. She refused to admit that he looked stunningly handsome. The man of her dreams would fall in love with her on first sight and be totally loving. Not like this man with his devilish grin. Ram drove her to anger with a mere smile. She won’t marry him and be under his control. No way!

  Ram shrugged. “There you are then. I don’t think you’ll get a better match than me. So many girls find me hot and they fall for both, my looks and my success,” he said, his voice matter-of-fact. Well, if she couldn’t see his plus points, he had to point them out to her. “I don’t see what your problem is.”

  He saw her pearly white teeth biting into her lower lip in vexation. He wondered how long it will be before she drew blood. His hands fisted as he controlled the urge to free her lip with his hand. “Maybe because I’m not like ‘most girls’,” she snarled. How dare he flaunt his attractiveness to other women? And why would she care?

  “Exactly the reason why I’m keen to wed you.”

  Sapna got up again to pace the area furiously, as she felt the situation slipping out of her control. If she couldn’t convince him to refuse the alliance, how the hell was she going to sway her parents to her way of thinking? Will they understand that her only objection to marrying Ram was that he didn’t seem like the Prince of her dreams?

  9

  It took a lot of convincing, but during dinner, Mohan persuaded Chittaranjan and Purnima that an alliance between the two families would definitely work. “Please don’t look at this as your daughter’s wedding. It’s a wedding between our families. We need a good wife for Ram. I think Sapna is perfect.” He looked at Meera, Ram and Chanda, as they nodded their heads in agreement.

  Ram didn’t miss the mutinous expression on Sapna’s face. It looked like only he could see it. Was he making a mistake? Well, if she was so keen on stopping the wedding, she’d find a way. He mentally shrugged. He was convinced that he wanted to marry her and none else.

  “If you have a serious objection to it, you are welcome to tell us what it is,” said Mohan in conclusion.

  Chittaranjan cleared his throat, taking a sip of water. While he wasn’t ashamed of his monetary status, he was only worried not to take so big a bite that he couldn’t chew it in comfort. “Mohanji, to tell you the truth, it would be an honour to have Ram as our son-in-law and you as our sambandhi. The main issue is that I have saved but a few thousand rupees for my daughter’s wedding. I’m not sure if that’ll be enough to do justice to a wedding with a family such as yours. I…”

  Purnima’s eyes were damp with tears that she refused to let fall. Her daughter would be so lucky to be married to this boy and into this family. She would never face ‘lack’. But will the alliance work?

  Mohan raised a hand to stop the other man from continuing. “If that’s the only reason, then please don’t worry about it. Ram’s keen to wed Sapna. Please do ask your daughter if she’s also interested in marrying him. Once we are clear about that, let me get back to Jaipur and consult Vidyasagarji about a suitable date for the wedding…” He felt a touch on his shoulder and turned to look at his son. “You have something to say, Ram?”

  “Yes Pappa. Why don’t we invite them all over to our home for the weekend? Won’t it be better if Sapna gets to see her future home before making a decision?” While Ram spoke in a soft voice, everyone could hear him clearly.

  Sapna held herself in check when all she wanted was to poke her tongue out at him. The man and his dumb ideas! She felt herself being caught in a net that was closing up on her slowly and steadily. Why the hell couldn’t he find himself another woman to wed? She couldn’t understand that his attraction to her was fast becoming absolute fascination, what with her “attitude”. The more she pulled at the bit, the harder he was falling for her.

  Chittaranjan and Purnima were startled by the idea. Though it was unheard of in their circles, what Ram said actually made sense. They looked at M
ohan and Meera expectantly, wondering what they thought about their son’s suggestion.

  The Maheshwari couple nodded their heads in unison. “That’s perfect. Tell you what? We’ll arrange for a car to pick you up on this Friday, in the evening, after the boys finish school. It will take you less than three hours to reach our home. You can spend the weekend with us and get back to Pushkar on Sunday evening. In the meanwhile, if Sapna beti is agreeable to marrying Ram, we can also visit Vidyasagarji and fix a date for the wedding.” Mohan rubbed his hands in pleasure, satisfied with the way things were working out.

  Chittaranjan had no reason to say ‘no’ and hence nodded. There was a niggling worry at the back of his mind. But he decided to leave things to providence. There wasn’t much else he could do at this point. Looking at his wife to see if she was alright with the arrangement, he replied, “As you say, Mohanji.”

  Sapna’s grey eyes spat fire at Ram, endearing her to him all the more. She felt that she was on a roller-coaster ride to infinity.

  10

  Ram paced up and down the garden, on pins, waiting for Sapna to arrive. It was late Friday evening. The rest of his family was inside the house as he had told them severely off for teasing him mercilessly. And she had still not said ‘yes’.

  Chanda had shushed her other brothers while taking Lakshman into confidence. Bharat and Shatrughan were convinced that the wedding was already fixed.

  Ram stopped for a minute, staring down at a rose bush unseeingly. After all this effort, will Sapna agree to marry him? What if she said ‘no’? He shook his head in denial. No, he wouldn’t think of that option.

  Just then, he heard the purr of a car engine and turned towards the gate that was 500m away. His heart beat hard. She was here—the woman he had been dreaming about since the past few days. He was going to do his best to impress her.