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𝐑𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍, 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀

The sun was burning at its peak today, but the Bansal household was bustling with activity as people were busy decorating the house and arranging things for the marriage of their eldest daughter. Rishabh Bansal, the head of the family, was occupied with making phone calls and arranging extra money for the wedding. As a government school teacher, his salary was minimal. Meanwhile, the lady of the house, Mini Bansal, was busy receiving the guests.

"Jhanki, beta, where is Vaidehi?" Mini asked her youngest daughter.

"She's in her room, Maa," Jhanki said, irritated at her mother for interrupting her game.

"Ask Maithili to bring your elder sister here; guests are asking for her," Mini said.

"For what? So that they can taunt her about her skin color and body?" Jhanki asked in an angry tone, knowing how much her sister gets hurt by their comments.

"Don't raise your voice at me, or else it will be my sandals that are going to talk to you," Mini said, fed up with her attitude. But she too knows how much society judges her elder daughter for having a different skin color than her family.

"Maa, she's with Ayina Di. I think they're going to the temple," Janki said, her voice betraying her fear of her mother.

"Okay, tell them to hurry back after visiting the temple. We need to prepare for tomorrow's mehndi ceremony," Mini replied before heading off to make tea.

In the room, a girl in her mid-twenties donned in a white anarkali suit, which complemented her fair skin tone. After a final check in the mirror, she searched for her best friend, sighing in annoyance when she found her. This girl was none other than Ayina Sharma. She looked at her friend and asked, faking anger.

"Vaidehi?" Her voice was louder than intended, breaking the trance of the other girl in the room, who sat beside the window, gazing at the sun.

"Why are you shouting, Ayina?" The girl asked in her soft tone.

"What else should I do? I've been calling you for the past five minutes, and you weren't answering. By the way, why are you staring at the sun?" Ayina asked, pointing out her friend's strange behavior.

"Don't you see that burning sun? Look at it, it's so powerful yet kind. If the sun wanted, it could burn down the earth, but still, it's spreading its light for us. I want to be like the sun," the girl said, still admiring the sun.

"I always thought you had some problems, but now you've just confirmed to me that you're mad," Ayina said, shaking her head, and the girl smiled at her dramatic antics.

"Let's go now, it's already getting late for the Puja," Ayina said, and she nodded her head and went to change.

Vaidehi Bansal was the eldest daughter of the family. After getting ready in her dark red anarkali suit, the two of them went to the Shiv Mandir. The whole Bansal family were believers of Lord Ram, except Vaidehi. She was a staunch believer of Lord Shiva. From a young age, she started admiring and believing in Lord Shiva. That is one of the reasons she loves dancing and painting. However, her parents were against her passion. They wanted her to study and have a government job just like her father. That's why she's a primary teacher today at a government school.

She was always taunted for her brown skin and curved body by her relatives and friends. They even made jokes about her, which hurt her deeply, but as she grew up, she masked her emotions well. She tried to avoid any kind of public gathering to not make herself the center of everyone's attention. Her brown skin, brown hair, and almond eyes reflected her innocence, but she was not aware of her beauty. In the whole Bansal family, only she had brown skin, and her relatives joked that she was adopted, not knowing that it was creating a great impact on little Vaidehi's mind. She has always been on the shorter side, being 5'5", Janki was an inch taller than her. She had the perfect curves with thick thighs, so she was categorized outside of the "perfect" measure by our society. But she was only healthy according to her height and age. However, our society was not ready to understand this, which is why she has been rejected by many people for marriage. Indian society was a mixture of cultures and languages, but it was also filled with judgmental eyes.

After reaching the temple, the two went to perform the Aarti and then proceeded to pray. Both closed their eyes.

"Shiv ji, you know me better than I know myself. I'm about to embark on a big journey, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for this change. You've been there for me in every phase of my life; please keep your blessings on me this time too," Vaidehi prayed intently with her eyes closed.

After praying, the two went to sit on the steps of the temple.

"Now, tell me what's bothering you?" Ayina asked. Vaidehi could hide her emotions from anyone except Ayina. She was her best friend who had stuck with her since childhood.

"I don't know how I feel about this marriage. I'm not feeling the excitement, the blushing, and all the other things a bride would typically feel," Vaidehi said.

"Then tell me, what are you actually feeling?" Ayina asked, understanding her condition.

"I feel like I'm going to be freed from one cage only to be put into another," Vaidehi said, controlling her tears.

"Then why did you say yes to the marriage?" Ayina asked.

"Maa and Papa were really happy that finally someone said yes to marry me after the constant rejections, and I didn't want to ruin their happiness," Vaidehi said, looking down.

"Oh... then what about your happiness? And what about Shravan? Have you guys talked to each other?" Ayina inquired worriedly.

"I've tried to call him many times, but he always had an excuse of being busy, so I stopped bothering him. His calls or messages haven't come through yet," Vaidehi said with a sad smile.

"That jerk! I'm going to kill him for making you sad," Ayina cursed Shravan Kumar, Vaidehi's fiancé.

"You don't have to. I'm already experienced in this. I think I can manage some ignorance," Vaidehi said while clutching the Rudraksha pendant in her palms.

" I hope someone kidnaps you and the marriage breaks, then you don't have to marry that idiot,'' Ayina exclaimed angrily.

'' I don't want anything like that to happen, you know papa; he would die of shame if something happened to our family name. His pride is very important to him. And I have two younger sisters. And why would someone kidnap me?'' Vaidehi asked.

'' Because, girl, you are stunningly gorgeous. If we were in a historical era, the king would have fallen in love with you the moment his eyes met yours. And more than that, you have a heart of gold. If I were a man, I would marry you in the blink of an eye. It's just that you are not acknowledging your worth,'' Ayina tried to reassure her best friend.

''Hey, don't curse while we're still inside the temple,'' Vaidehi scolded her, to which Ayina rolled her eyes.

''Now let's go, I need to buy some bangles for myself,'' Ayina exclaimed suddenly excitedly.

''Yes, I also need new anklets,'' Vaidehi said.

The two left from there and were crossing the road when suddenly a car came in their direction. Vaidehi pushed Ayina out of the way but was about to move when the car neared her. She closed her eyes tightly, expecting a hit, but the car stopped abruptly beside her.

"Hey, are you okay, child?" Someone asked, making her open her eyes.

"Tum pagal ho kya? Aise kaun karta hai, agar kuch ho jaata toh?" Ayina, who reached beside her, scolded her for her ignorance before checking her for any injuries and then hugged her tightly.

(Are you crazy? Who does this? What if something had happened?)

Vaidehi broke the hug as she noticed the man who asked her earlier was still looking at her.

"I'm okay, don't worry," she replied politely.

That's when Ayina noticed the man properly, who was the driver of the car.

"Aankhen nahi hain aapke ,dekhkar nahi chala sakte ho kya? Agar isko kuch ho jaata toh?" She was scolding the poor man for not driving properly when it was their fault for not crossing the road without looking. But the man didn't say anything and just stood there.

(Do you not have eyes? Can't you walk by looking? What if something happened to her?)

Vaidehi, who noticed the turban and lion symbol on his dress, understood that he was the driver of the royals. She looked at the front and found that there was a row of cars stopped in the middle because of them. She pulled Ayina by her hand and whispered in her ear.

"Stop scolding him, we are stopping the King's driver, let it be, more than that it was our fault not his. Let's go."

Ayina stopped as she heard about the King. Her heart started to beat fast, but she didn't dare to look towards the car. Holding Vaidehi's hand in a tight grip, she went from there.

She left her hand as they entered the bazaar. They went to shop for many bangles and anklets. As they were passing through a shop, Vaidehi stopped there, looking at the art supplies. She loves art and painting, but her parents never allowed her to pursue her dream. Neither did they allow her to dance. These two were her passions, but she buried them because of her family who never encouraged her.

Ayina, who noticed her sadness, brought two ghungroos from the shop and said in excitement, "Let me make you happy, my Vedu." She placed the ghungroo on Vaidehi's palm, who smiled brightly at her.

"Let's go," Ayina said, and Vaidehi nodded her head in agreement. Then the two best friends started running towards their destination. It was not so far. After running for some time, they reached beside a lake which had a beautiful fort.

They looked at each other and nodded in excitement. Wearing the ghungroos on their ankles, they stood in the middle of the fort and started dancing to the song 'Ghar More Pardesiya'. Their each step was smooth and filled with grace, captivating. Vaidehi enjoyed dancing, a beautiful smile on her face.

The two beauties danced to their heart's content, not knowing that they were being admired by two kings. One who is the king of Udaipur, the other one was the Mafia

King, whose eyes held a determination to win the beauty in red.

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To be continued...