Chapter 07 : From stranger to 'Our bahu'

After completing her morning routine, Anya emerged from the washroom wrapped in the glow of morning sunlight and her soft yellow saree. Her gaze swept across the room — a silent scan to find if there were any traces of Rayansh. She sighed finding none and walked towards her suitcase. She pulled out the small modest makeup pouch and made her way towards the dressing table.

Opening her pouch she removed the moisturizer, sunscreen and lip balm. Her eyes fell on the small canister of sindoor. It stared back at her like it knew it had a new place to live. She pulled it out too. She first applied moisturizer, proceeded by sunscreen and lip balm. She then, clipped her hair loosely with a  claw clip and let her wavy locks flow freely.

As she looked at her reflection, satisfied her eyes caught the sindoor. She let out a calm sigh and took a pinch full of sindoor and raised it in mid-air to put it in between the small parting of hair when the room door creaked opened, making her pause and look at it.

Rayansh walked in — drenched with sweat and a towel encircled around his neck and for her relief he was wearing a t-shirt.

Must be running marathon! She thought.

He stopped after taking few steps inside as his eyes met hers. They stared for a moment unable to push away the force that was attracting them towards eachother. Two strangers bound by holy matrimony and societal chaos. Yet lost into eachother.

She looked away as if it burned her and filled her parting with sindoor, steady but swift. He continued staring at her as his eyes trailers down to her attire as she was now fixing her pleats.

"I know I'm pretty but stop staring." She muttered, flatly continuing with her work. Not once looking up at him while her bangles clashed with each other. "It's creepy."

"I wasn't —" He muttered looking away and taking in a deep breath to calm himself. "And I'm not a creep."

"You can shift your things to closet. I have made some space." He said looking at her suitcase lying in the corner.

She just showed him a thumbs up while he pouted with the lack of response as it was really a big thing for him. Cleaning and making space for her things while his lie around carelessly wasn't something he would do unless yelled for it not ones, twice but more than hundred times.

"Wait for me. We'll go downstairs together." He huffed as she hummed in response and disappeared into the closet for some fresh set of clothes.

As they descended down the stairs together there was chaos filled in the room even though little trouble makers weren't present at that moment.

Entire family is filled with chaos. She thought as she recalled how still as water was her house back there, until Sayami filled in the chaos. Or her parents-petty-fights.

"Look whose here to grace us with their royal presence!" Shrija clapped her hands together dramatically and then pulled out her phone to click a picture of them.

"What's the occasion?" Rayansh jumped down from the third last step and purposely lunged over Shrija making her bare his entire weight.

"Post-wedding ritual." She answered as he now encircled his arm around her neck.

"Good morning bhabhi." She greeted her.

"Good morning, Shrija." She greeted back with a smile.

"Oh come, drop the formalities. And call me Shri or anything you like." She said as she stood completely infront of her.

"Call her stupid." Rayansh piped in only to receive a punch against his toned abs.

"What? You said anything and that anything can be stupid too." He retorted pushing her away.

"How dare you!" She turned and pushed him, pressing her hands to his chest.

"Like this." He flicked hard on her forehead.

"Subh hui nahi inka tamasha shuru." [It's just morning and they have already started with their flights.] Vrinda walked towards them and sighed looking at the duo.

"Anya, beta. Let's go." She waved her hand to come behind her while the duo was now smacking eachother.

Daksh appeared infront of them like a magician, holding a wide silver pot filled with milk, rose petals. He walked with it towards the living room.

Vrinda and Anya walked towards him as she frowned looking at the pot but somewhat got the idea of why there was this chaos. Sundari, Rajesh and Riya walked towards them. After almost scratching each other's face, Shrija and Rayansh walked towards them.

“It’s time to find out who rules the house!” Sundari said dramatically. And sat down on the sofa.

In the middle of the floor sat a wide silver pot, gleaming in the morning light. A few flower buds floated on top and a bunch of marbles clinked faintly at the bottom.

“It’s time for the ring game!” Daksh, beaming like a game show host, announced.

“It’s a tradition,” Riya grinned, joining her husband. “We drop a ring inside this pot and the newlyweds have to find it. Whoever finds it first wins.” She finished looking between the couple.

"Wins what?" Rayansh asked confused.

“Power. Dominance. Basic rights. And the last samosa.” Daksh added, flopping dramatically onto the sofa.

The word 'Samosa' made Anya to perk up. Till now she was just listening to them and thinking about going with the flow. But Samosa were her weakness. She could feel a different wave of energy. A feeling of being compititive filled her veins.

Rayansh on the other hand braced himself to win like always. He quickly sat down near the pot, rubbing his hands together. She nervously brushed her hair behind her ear and sat down opposite to him.

“It's a fun family tradition.” Vrinda encouraged, placing a ring delicately into the milk. “You know — bonding and all that.”

Rayansh rolled up the sleeves of his kurta, as he looked at her. Avoiding his gaze, Anya adjusted the end of her saree and tried to ignore how everyone had suddenly turned into a live audience.

“No cheating.” Riya warned him as she herself took a seat.

“I don’t need to cheat, bhabhi.” he smirked. “My hand’s bigger.”

“Your brain's smaller. Evens out!” Shrija shot back sitting gracefully on the sofa chair.

"Start!" Before their bickering could escalate Rajesh exclaimed loudly like a referee.

Anya and Rayansh both dipped their hands into the freezing pot at the same time, and immediately flinched.

“Oh god—it’s freezing.” Anya hissed under her breath.

“Welcome to the ice age.” Rayansh murmured, his fingers brushing against something squishy. “Wait, was that a — rose or a frog?”

She glared at him making him shut up as she tried to focus on her goal; winning the last Samosa. Looking at her icy glare he could feel a chill through his body but was confused as to what was the actual reason behind his chill, her cold response or the chilly milk.

The family was watching intently like it was some spiritual event. Shrija had already pulled out her phone and started recording.

“No eye contact, no conversation, just two hands awkwardly digging in dairy. What a love story.” Shrija whispered to Daksh who nodded in response.

“I think I found—” Anya muttered. "nope. Marble." She shook her head after confirming it was a marble.

“Same.” Rayansh muttered, brushing her knuckles accidentally. Both pulled their hands back instinctively.

“Sorry.” He said followed by an awkward silence.

"Bappa!" She suddenly let out a startled squeak.

“Did you—” He paused his hand and looked at her.

“I think I touched your — wrist.” She muttered and shifted her gaze back on finding the ring.

“Ah.” He lets out and works to find the ring.

“Sorry.” She muttered a while later, as a marble brushed against her finger.

“No, no—it's fine.” He lets out awkwardly.

This time, Anya’s fingers clutched something hard and round. She could tell it wasn't just another marble as she could feel the metallic texture against her skin. She felt her heart skip a beat. At the same time Rayansh’s hand brushed the same object. As they felt something soft against the metal they both looked up at the same time.

“Let go." She muttered flatly.

“You let go.” He copied her tone.

“I touched it first.” She narrowed her eyes.

“But I need to win.” He said determined to pull the ring out.

“So do I!" She said determined.

They were now fighting through their eye language while their hands were dipped inside the pot and fingers tangled around the ring. Everyone thought their silence was intense focus. Knowing eachother's determination of not loosing, Anya did something, surprising herself too.

But everything is fair in war and for the last samosa. She assured herself.

She had winked at him making his eyes go wide with shock and his fingers loosened around the ring. Stealing the opportunity she forcefully pulled out the ring from his clutches and held up in the air.

The ring gleamed in her fingers like a trophy.

Everyone cheered and clapped. While Shrija captured the entire family moment, cheering loudest for her sister-in-law's win.

“Dekha! Our bahu won!” Rajesh clapped the loudest.

Anya gave a sheepish smile, tried her best to not look in the way her husband was sitting. Who was giving the vibes of shik-shak-shok.

“You’ve lost, beta.” Vrinda teased Rayansh.

“Someone note this in family records.” Sundari said, laughing. “Bahu beat Rayansh within one day. That’s a record.”

"That's cheating." Rayansh lets out pointing an accusing finger at his wife. “I demand a rematch.”

"Fair and square." Shrija said as she pulled down her phone. "Stop sulking baby boy."

Ignoring his tantrums and accusions the entire family cheered in the background. Someone cracked a joke about how the bride would rule the husband forever. Someone else took selfies.

But between the newlyweds, the win didn’t feel so sweet. Not yet.

⭐

After lot of brainstorming to what to prepare for her pehli rasoi ritual she came up with a pan full of Gazar ka halwa [Sweet dish made of carrots] as a desert and placed it in the middle of the table. Followed by a house help, Reena with one of the other dishes for the lunch.

Even though she didn’t have any problem to cook whole meal Sundari insisted to cook only dessert by herself and for the rest they would help her cook because, in her words, “Rasode mein pehli baar sabzi nahi, mithaas honi chahiye.” [Preparing something for the first time in kitchen should be filled with sweetness.]

Sundari walked towards the dining with a lady who was maybe in her 40s followed by a girl around 18 – 20 years. Anya frowned looking at the unfamiliar face but shrugged off as she turned to walk back inside the kitchen for other dishes.

“Bua is here.” Riya voiced out irritated as she walked inside the kitchen after post-checking if Shivanshi and Shivansh changed their school uniforms to something comfortable. Anya looked at her and frowned.

“The lady who was with dadi is her daughter; Dolly, Daksh ji’s bua. Accompanied by her only daughter Disha.” Riya informed as she saw confusion on Anya’s face to which she just nodded positively.

“Anya, bahu.” Sundari called out making her rush out before Riya could add anything further.

“Ji.” She almost stubbed her toe to the counter on her way but her waist took the hit making her winched as she walked out, tugging out the end of her saree.

“Anya, bahu. She is my daughter, Dolly.” Sundari pointed out to Dolly who was sitting with her crossed arms across her chest at the dining table, adjacent to Sundari. Dolly scanned Anya from top to bottom from corner of her eyes making her nervous with her stare.

“Namaste.” Anya joined her hands together to greet her because she was told not to touch feet in the morning. Dolly gave her a smile which anyone could decipher to be the fakest one.

“And that is my granddaughter, Disha.” Sundari points out to Disha who was sitting beside Dolly engrossed into her phone. Later looked up as she heard her name.

“Hello.” Anya said looking at her with a smile.

“Hii, Bhabhi.” Disha smiled at her as she kept her phone aside. "You’re even prettier in real life." She added making Anya confused.

“Di, called me saying Ray bhai got married and just got lucky with the prettiest wife which his ugly ass could never.” She informed leaning on the table as she kept her elbows on it and face in her palms.

“Language.” Dolly smacked her daughter’s head while she was busy admiring Anya.

“Offo, Mummy. There are people around going on doing inappropriate things and all you care about is my language.” She pointed towards something basically someone making them to look in the direction and saw Riya straightening as she swatted away Daksh’s hand.

“Bua dadi.” Shivansh and Shivanshi came to their parents rescue as they run towards Dolly to hug her.

“Shiv, Shivi. Look, what I have?” They turned towards Disha who was showing them big bars of chocolate as they went to hug her as well.

“First lunch.” Riya told them sternly as she took the bars from their hands who were now sitting occupying chairs next to Disha.

Slowly everyone settled on their places and self-served themselves. Rayansh looked at the desert and controlled his smile after all it was his favourite sweet dish.

Anya was peaking like a bird on her food as her gaze was more on plates of other people at the table. Everyone was having food with small talks but she was lost in her own thoughts.

Kharch ka yaa saglyani majya sati sutti ghetli? Mala comfortable feel karayla? Or is this some group performance of ‘Let’s Pretend’? [Like really they all took a day off from their respective works. Just to make me feel wanted?] Was a question stuck at the back of her head.

She felt a light tap on her right hand which made her step out of her thoughts. She looked up at the source who was looking at her with frown hatched on his forehead. He raised his eyebrows as soon as their eyes met to which she shook her head negatively. Their silent talk was witnessed by two teasing monsters who were sitting opposite to them; Disha and Shrija with twins in middle as they shared ‘did-you-see-that’ look with each other.

She turned to look at her plate again as she eats a spoonful while her eyes fell on Dolly who was eating her food with straight face, now taking a morsel of sweet dish.

She felt Dolly didn’t like her and she wouldn’t blame her because she would also do the same thing. One can’t suddenly start liking a stranger. Even though other family members had accepted her she herself wasn’t sure if they really liked her or pitted her.

“Ma. Who prepared this?” Dolly asked directing towards the sweet dish in her plate while everyone turned to look at her making Anya nervous and prepare herself for the worst.

“Why? What happened?” Sundari asked frowning.

“Just eat. You’ll know.” She gestured others to eat too. Everyone eats and looks at each other before turning their gaze to Anya.

"You don't deserve to be our daughter-in-law." Dolly said as she looked Anya with distasteful gaze. And no one said anything to retored or support her they just ignored her and feeling of being unwanted started creeping inside her.

What can she even expect when she was the one who forcefully entered their lives without acknowledging their feelings.

"You deserve to be our daughter." Dolly said after a long pause with a smirk and everyone at the table bursted out laughing making her breathe hitched.

"Don't look at me like that." Dolly said after having a good laugh wiping off her tears while Anya was the only one didn’t laugh trying to find answers.

"I was just trying to be that evil bua in everyone's life. I just wanted to feel it." Dolly informed her as she continued eating. 

"How was my acting though?" She asked further on.

"I got scared for a good minute." Anya lets out still thinking about what happened few minutes ago.

" Mission accomplished." She grinned while Sundari and Vrinda shook their heads.

“Shaadi hogayi hai teri. Ek phool jaise beti bhi hai. Bua dadi bhi ban gayi ho phir bhi in harkaton se baaz nahi aaogi.” [You are married. You have a beautiful daughter. You even became a grandmother atleast now you should stop giving people heart attacks] Rajesh said looking at his sister in disbelief. 

"Aap se hasi majak nahi hota iska matlab yeh nahi hai ki main bhi na karu." [Just because you can't prank anyone doesn't mean I should stop spreading joy—of chaos.] She informed and one could say from where Disha had got all the sass.

⭐

It was evening time when the entire family was in the lawn where elder’s watched Shrija, Rayansh, Shivansh, Shivanshi and Daksh playing dodge ball. Riya and Anya walked towards them with tea and snacks.

“Eat something. Play later.” Riya said to the group as they heard her and continued playing.

“Aajo sab.” [Come on everyone.] Vrinda yelled looking at the group who was still engrossed in playing.

“Should I come there?” Vrinda yelled again looking none of them giving her head making them stop playing and walk towards them.  

"I wanted to say something." Pulling herself together Anya puts forward once everyone settled down on the ground while the elders sitting on bench encouraged her to say.

"Even though I am married now. I want to keep going to college." She said as everyone looked at her with wide eyes.

"Bhai. What the hell?" Shrija screeched while Rayansh choked on the air.

"Don't tell me you married her, who is literally around my age?" She pushed him who was sitting beside her who himself was shocked by his wife’s words.

"Bhabhi, we need a serious talk about this. How could you even think about marriage at such an age?" Shrija turned towards Anya horrified while twins kept munching on the snacks.

" I'm older enough —" Anya tried speaking only to get interrupted by her again.

"Let me tell you — older enough doesn't have to be twenty to twenty-five at least. We are literally kids. Adult is not at all adulting at his age. We are still like fifteen-year-old teenager. Teenagers with paychecks basically. Aap kaha, shaadi waadi ke chakar mein fas gaye yaar?" [How did you get stuck in this wedding mess?] Shrija lets out her thoughts regarding the current situation.

Even though she was happy finding such a kind sister-in-law after Riya, she didn’t want her to sacrifice her dreams. If her family says something against it then she had made up her mind that she will fully support her sister-in-law.

"Bhai! Chill." Anya told her as she kept stressing herself for her situation.

"I'm around nearly twenty-six as per you still a kid? Yes. But ghar wallon ko kon samjha ye?"[Who will convince the family?] Anya ended dramatically while others looked at her with confusion.

But a wave of relief washed over Rayansh as his thoughts went wild; thinking he married a literal — teenager. Looking at her baby face; would make it believable if she said she was just sixteen years old.

" And I want to go to college for job and not to study." She informed as she passed two cups of tea towards Daksh and Riya.

" I'm a computer science professor." She further added as they just listened to her without any interruption.

“Professor? Ma’am? You give vibes of someone who binge-watches K-dramas and argues over filter coffee.” Daksh grinned.

“That too.” Anya chuckled.

"We don't have any problem with that. We are just upset that we couldn't do anything for you." Sundari said as Vrinda and Rajesh agreed with her.

"When will you start working?" Vrinda asked as she sipped on her tea.

“Next to next week.” Anya answered while they nodded.

"So we have plenty of time to prepare." Suddenly Shrija said as she thought of something.

"We can keep a reception party, then?" She chirps excitedly with each word as she looked at Sundari.

"That's a great idea." Riya flashed her thumbs up as Sundari nodded positively.

"Let's book a venue first." Daksh said with the same excitement as Shrija’s.

"Vrinda, Rajesh, invite every relative and let them know about it." Sundari informed them.

"Daksh, Rayansh and Shrija invite your friends. Riya you also invite Advik." Rajesh informed his children to which they nodded positively.

"And Anya, invite your side of the family and friends." He further added to which she nodded positively.

"Let the world know how happy we are to have you." He said making Anya smile in response but there was a pinch of guilt tug at her heart seeing everyone happy. Somehow — she had stolen the happiness of their son's wedding away from them.

Glossary:

Bahu: daughter-in-law

Bua: father's sister

Note: If you want any more translations please feel free to ask!

A/N

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