Chapter 1

"Pandit ji", an old woman clad in a red silk sari called the head priest of the temple as her eyes were fixed at the beautiful girl serving the poor kids.

Clad in a white coloured kurti, Tanvi was indeed, looking gorgeous. Her ebony black hair tumbled down her shoulder that was covered by a red coloured Jaipuri dupatta. She was smiling at the little kids as they talked with her animatedly. She usually taught the underprivileged kids staying in the nearby slums in the evenings. Today as it was one of her little student's sixth birthday, she had brought pasteries and burgers for them. The little kids were forbidden to think about these things because they were costly but today, they were relishing the delicious food items while Tanvi was satisfied with the beautiful smiles on their faces. It was six in the evening and she was serving food to the poor, underprivileged kids with a gorgeous smile on her luscious lips. Dressed traditionally, she was truly looking like an epitome of beauty.

The old woman who had called upon the head priest was none other than Shikha Singhania, the old matriach of the affluent Singhania family of Jaipur. They had a sprawling family business dealing in textiles all over the world. She visited the temple daily in the evenings and everyday she saw this beautiful girl either teaching the underprivileged or playing with those unfortunate kids. Shikha Singhania had been in search of a granddaughter-in-law after all, her grandson was too occupied in his business to search a girl for himself. Whenever she saw this sweet girl, she used to wonder about her lineage and today she had decided to question the priest.

The head priest smiled and greeted the woman. With suspicion on his forehead, he asked, "Why, Amma ji, what happened?"

"Pandit ji, I am searching a bride for my grandson. I am just in love with this pretty girl who comes to the temple daily and serve the poor kids. Yesterday, I saw her teaching them. I want to know her background. See, the God has given everything to us, I just want a good bride. This girl appears to come from a good family and she is obviously given good upbringing after all, she cares for the underprivileged without being a snob. She seems to be inculcated with good values. " Shikha spoke her mind praising the young girl and the priest was elated. Smiling joyously, he turned his head away and bowed in front of the Lord Shiva deity while Shikha stood astonished.

"Amma ji, she is my daughter Tanvi. Teaching is her passion. She is an English teacher in the Gyan School." The priest boasted proudly to Shikha who smiled gracefully in return and just replied, "Pandit ji, I will consider it a yes".

"Let the kids meet", the priest said with glossy eyes and Shikha ultimately decided to plan a meeting at priest's house so the kids could meet and decide things for themselves. Thanking the Almighty, Shikha headed towards her house for she was sure, Tanvi was given good upbringing after she was the daughter of the head priest of the temple.

******

"NO", hollered Arjun at his wide-eyed parents and his grandmother later in the evening. Everyone was present in the contemporary styled living room of the beautiful Singhania mansion.

"Why?", Shikha managed to question her favorite grandkid who was screaming at everyone because he was asked to meet a girl for marriage. She was completely fed up with Arjun who was not ready to meet a girl yet. He was already twenty seven. Being a brilliant kid, he had finished his studies and was working in the family business. The work kept him busy day and night while he strived hard to take their family business to unimaginable heights. He was a perfect son, an impeccable businessman and a wonderful human being but the only problem with him was, he did not wish to marry.

"I can't", Arjun lamented as his past flashed in front if his eyes. He hated young girls as he believed everyone was after his wealth. He wanted someone pious enough to love him unconditionally so that he could reciprocate the same sentiment however, he knew it was simply impossible as his affluent family background attracted snobs and greedy girls. He was fed up of meeting the girls his grandmother suggested and rejecting them politely because most of them were either dressed seductively to please him or conservatively to please his family but none of them used to put his personality before his wealth.

"Is something... I mean... is anything, umm... wrong with you?", Vinayak, Arjun's father questioned. He was worried of his son. As the past flashed in front of his eyes, he wondered if Arjun had some drastic problem with his physiology.

"Stop this", Shikha bellowed eyeing angrily at her son. She was wise enough to understand that dislike towards marriage could be because of several other reasons than physiological issues. Like every other orthodox woman of the country, she believed her grandson was perfect.

"I guess you like someone else", Vandana asked her son with glint of hope in her eyes. She wanted her son to marry someone from his circle. She wondered if he was seeing some girl and had kept things under wraps, however her conscience knew that the chances were slim.

"No, for God's sake. I don't have any problem with myself. I don't like anyone. It is just that I don't want to marry anyone." Arjun screamed at the top of his voice startling anyone. He did not care if his grandma was asking to meet a priest's daughter or a businessman's daughter. He despised girls because of a certain someone who had made him realize that girls were just after his money. He closed his hazy eyes in frustration as the face of a certain someone flashed in front of his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fists. He wanted to shriek and cry. He wanted to holler at his grandmother and ask her to stop all this however, his upbringing did not allow him to disrespect elders.

Shikha was puzzled. She was desperate to play with her great grandkids. She was angry at Arjun. She had tried to set up her loving grandson with fifteen girls in the past and she was annoyed every time when Arjun rejected each one of them. She was concerned of Arjun after all, her grandson had drowned himself in work and he paid no attention to his personal life. Determinedly she announced, "Arjun, you need to get married to a girl as soon as possible. If you would not meet her or you would reject her on baseless reasons, remember the consequences would not be good. I am still the legal owner of all our properties and trust me, this time I will overthrow you".

Having threatened her dumbstruck grandson, Shikha moved away from the living room while Vinayak coaxed his son, "Arjun, meet her and get married. Ma does not want wrong for you. Trust me, she must have found the gem for you."

"Papa, but I don't want to", Arjun shrieked in anger. “Can you not understand what will happen if I get married to some greedy witch? Our family will be in shambles.” Arjun expressed his concern.

"Arjun, I worked so hard for everything. I cannot let things go in vain. You will have to marry her to be the new heir." Vinayak announced and walked.

"Ma", Arjun uttered hoping for some favours from his mother who just smirked at him and said, "Child, I cannot help you. Get married. I am dying to see your kids."

Arjun face-palmed himself at the mention of his kids with the girl who he had not even seen yet. He realized all he had to do was get married and have sex the girl till the point she gets pregnant but his conscience never allowed him to do son. Despite being wronged by certain someone, he respected dignity of a woman. He hated the customs and rituals of the society which were forcing him to get married just because he was growing old.

Arjun walked out of his house to clear his mind. He surely needed some alcohol in his system to think about what to do next. Igniting the engine, he drove in his black Mercedes-Benz to his favorite bar. On the way, he called his best friend Deepak and asked him to join him at the bar. A doctor by profession, Deepak was just like a knight in shining armour for Arjun protecting him from his family whenever he drank and passed out.

Since grade two, Deepak was the best friend of Arjun who was always there for him. Despite Deepak disliked alcohol still he accompanied Arjun to the bar so that he could take him to his place whenever Arjun passed out after all, going to the Singhania's mansion in drunk state was out of question otherwise his grandma would skin him alive.

******

At the humble abode of Pandit Madhurshankar Rao, Tanvi was serving food to her father who was grinning looking at her. After the death of Tanvi's mother Manorama last year, the two-storeyed house just had three occupants, Tanvi, her father and her brother, Abhishek. Tanvi called Abhishek to come for the dinner. Abhishek, who was at the verge of becoming a CA, was younger than Tanvi. He had his final exams in the coming month and he had completed his internship from one of the best CA firms. He was a diligent kid and a great support to Madhurshankar Rao. As soon as Abhishek took his seat and served himself food, their father spoke up, "Tanvi, I have a marriage alliance for you".

Tanvi could not meet her eyes with her father as a small, coy smile played on her lips. She knew her father wanted to marry her off soon. Though she did not want to leaver her lovely father, still the idea of marriage and a happy family always excited her. Having completed her studies, she was a teacher by profession as she was passionate about imparting knowledge to the young children who were the future of her nation. This was her small contribution towards building her nation a better to live.

"Are you ready, di?", Abhishek asked in a concerning tone. He could not imagine his elder sister getting married and leaving the house. For him, his Tanvi di was just the same five year old girl who played hide and seek with his three year old self.

"Papa, would not do anything which is wrong for me", Tanvi managed to speak with a blush on her face. She knew marriage was inevitable and her tantrums would eventually increase the tension of her father so she had readily accepted her father’s decision after all, she had complete faith in him.

"They are coming home tomorrow so get ready accordingly", Madhurshankar announced digging in his food leaving Tanvi scarlet-red. The dinner was completed in silence while Tanvi had lost her appetite. She was excited for the next day and she wondered if her groom would be dominating man or a soft hearted man like her father. She was both anxious and enthusiastic about the new chapter of her life. Washing the dishes after the dinner, Tanvi headed towards her bedroom and laid on her queen sized bed gazing the ceiling fan on the top after all, sleep was no where to be found.

All she could think was how her groom would be? Will he reject her or accept her? Will he keep her happy or not? Will he respect her feelings or not? Will he let her speak or will he order her around?

Thinking about unanswerable questions, she drifted to sleep.

*****

Late at night, Arjun and Deepak were sitting in one of the VIP clubs of Jaipur wherein Deepak was just sitting idle, observing the high teenagers dancing sensually while Arjun was drinking neat whiskey. Deepak enquired, "What is the issue?"

"Dadi is threatening to marry a girl otherwise she would expel me out of the properties", Arjun confessed in a slurred tone.

"Meet her and find ways to reject her", Deepak said in a chilled tone with a smile as he persuaded him to not drink anymore but Arjun was adamant.

Deepak, a doctor by profession was an amazing friend to Arjun. He respected Arjun's family and knew about the reason of current state of Arjun. Genuinely he wanted his friend to move on but unfortunately was badly stuck in his past. He wanted Arjun to get married and find happiness in his life but he also knew preaching him would just be unnecessary.

"Dee.... Deepak, she is.... serious this time. She has found a girl too", Arjun slurred while Deepak just tried to stop him from drinking.

Arjun drank till the point, he passed out.

*****