Match Made in Wedding | Rajvardhan Hangargekar ✓

Of neighs and novelties

"Neighhhhaaauuuuu"

I turn in my sleep. Weird dream where I don't see a horse but just hear it neighing.

"Neighhaaauuuuuuu" I hear it louder this time. It is accompanied by a lot of human noises too. I can't understand them exactly but it seems like there's a mixture of laughter and annoyance. They grow louder with every second until I manage to open my eyes and realise that it's not a dream. What in the name of God is happening in this house?!

I rub my eyes in order to make them open. Never works. Still it's like slurping Maggi down even when you know it's so hot that it'll burn your tongue. There's a word for it right? Counter productive. Gotcha.

Yeah, now that thought makes me reach for my phone to look at the time. It's definitely not morning. And I'm definitely sleep deprived. It's 12.45 am in the night. Arghhhh that makes sense.

As I descend the stairs, the voices become clearer,

"What the hell were you thinking Jaddu?! How are we going to manage with a horse in the house for 9 days???"

A horse in the house????? So the voices were real too!!???!!

"I didn't think she'd arrive so soon!!! She was supposed to come on the day of your Sangeet!!!"

Wait a minute. Is she who I think she is.

Being the excited kid I am, I yell on top of my lungs when I finally see her,

"Shaaalimmaaarrrrr!!!!" All heads turn in my direction. I see a distressed Amma, an amused Akka, a touched Rutu, a trying very hard not to laugh Sai, a sleepy Anmol, an angry Appa, a scared uncle, a handsome Raj. Nope. I didn't think that. Nobody heard that. You didn't read that. I'm half asleep so I'll stop thinking now.

"Shalimar, you beauty! I've heard so much about you from daddy. Oh my gorgeous girl. You're going to have the honour to ride the most handsome man on this earth to his procession." I hear Appa clear his throat.

"Second most handsome man." I correct. My silliness makes him laugh.

He's kinder to Jad now when he speaks, "You really keep promises don't you?"

"Yes, Sir. Plus when it's someone as pretty as Devi concerned, I do my best to live to my words."

Awwwwww. Jad baby. I run to give him a bear hug.

"You're the best, Jad. You're the best."

He pats me on my head.

"Yeah Devi we all agree that Jaddu is the best, now can we talk about some logistics here?" Says Amma. All I care about is how she has started calling him Jaddu after 4 days of awkward Ravindra rubbish. Must have gotten tired of the unresponsiveness. Kya kare bichara, when you're so used to being called Jaddu all the time, suddenly koi Ravindra bulayega toh thodi na strike hoga ki tumko bula raha hai.

I close my eyes in Jaddu's embrace and hear faint voices discussing how many times a horse shits in a day, will Shalimar stay put for 9 days or will she have to be taken for walks, if yes, how.

"How did she get here, Jad?" I mumble.

"She came via a ship with her best friend Jignesh bhai, who told me that they had to prepone the trip because there had been forecasts of some storm."

"Niceeee. I meant I'm glad that she's here and not about the storm thing obviously. Will you let me ride her?"

"What kind of dumb question is that? Of course I will. But you'll have to start building a rapport with her if you want to take her riding. She's usually generous but with you, I don't want to take any chances."

I have the urge to remember when my last period had been because that gentle statement brought signs of thunderstorm in my eyes. No matter how conflicted I feel about this wedding, it has given me a family I never knew I would call my own.

To know that I have a protective, handsome, big brother in Jad, a little sister in his daughter, an old aunty who never misses a chance to tease me in Sai, and a.... My eyes fly open after the thought takes birth.

A partner in Raj.

A/n - 👀