Chapter 1 : The beginning of everything.

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उसके हँसने की मिठास से महकते हैं रास्ते,

सादगी और मासूमियत में है उसके ख्वाबों के वास्ते।

सुनहरे धूप में, ठंडी शामों में,

उसके सपनों का बसेरा है उसके घर की आंगन में। ~

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If there would have been an award for “The most dramatic family”, it would surely go to my family.

Our family is purely that kind of family who has gone through hell lot of tragedies. We brothers and sisters keep on fighting, yelling and taunting each other, but when it comes to love and unity, no other family would top.

My mother says, it's in our genes. She says my father and his brother — my chote-papa have always had a great sense of unity and brotherhood in between them, although they were not born from the same womb.

Isn't that great?

To be honest, if it wouldn't have been about my family, I wouldn't have been alive today. My childhood snatched the biggest part of my life from me.

My ability to lay a child.

Long story. And the interesting part? I don't even remember what happened.

It's tragic. Papa says I'm a brave woman and was a very brave girl back then. In my childhood. Sometimes he jokes about it and laughs saying it’s completely dramatic — how my Maa and I went through the same situations.

I was kidnapped.

Yes, y’all.

I was kidnapped when I was merely eight.

And ironic that, my mother was kidnapped too, when she was pregnant once. Not with me, not with my Bhaiya, Rajveer. With her first child. When she was kidnapped, God took that child away from her. And when I was kidnapped, God took away my entire ability to give birth to a child.

I don't remember what happened, how I was kidnapped, or what happened during the duration of my kidnapping. I don't remember anything from that period of time.

Maa says I was kidnapped and kept away from my family for an entire month. That was the hardest phase of my family's life. She says I was playing outside with my little sister — Nayantara and went missing from there. They found Nayantara crying alone outside the house. My father searched the entire village. Even other villages. But I was nowhere to be found.

I didn't go missing alone. Many other girls from our village went missing too. I was rescued somehow and from there I got this ‘gift’ of an information that I cannot become a mother.

Papa says I'm his princess. He says these things doesn't matters. What matters is — I was rescued. They got me back. They found me alive. They hadn't expected me to survive with the kidnapper for an entire month. But I want to say to Papa every single time that IT MATTERS. It's a big big thing for a woman. Ask me. Ask a woman. Everytime I see a child, my heart goes numb. Everytime I hear about someone becoming a mother, my eyes turns wet.

And that's when the magic of family comes.

When my younger brother — Raghav jumps in and starts making weird faces in order to make me laugh. When Nayantara hugs me tightly and assures me that everything will be okay. That I'm stronger than I think I'm. And that she'll always stand by my side no matter what happens. When my elder brother, Rajveer Bhaiya shakes the entire village just to make me smile once. He is too protective of me. Way too much. Anyone who tries to taunt me gets a punch on his/her face.

But there's one thing my family can't do —

Find a man who wants to marry me.

It's valid though, who would want to marry a woman who cannot give birth to his child. Who wants to be childless their entire life?

Chote-papa says I am his princess and not every princess needs a prince. But I know it's not true.

My heart jumps up and down whenever I read a romance book. Leave all that imaginary world. I've examples in my family itself. My mother and father. The way Papa showers all his love, care and support upon Maa. The way my Choti-Maa scolds Chote-papa for little things and he asks for forgiveness cutely.

It melts my heart when I see the two most coldest men for the outside world turning into literal heartthrobs in front of their wives. How can I not want to get married? To be loved just like my mother and aunt are being loved by their husbands. To be pampered. To be taken care of.

— And that's another reason my family is in a rush today.

A family is coming to meet my family today, with my marriage proposals and I'm so sure this one's not gonna work too. Like seriously, why do they even prepare for all this?

I'll have to get ready. Wear a saree. Put on makeup. What for? Just to sit in front of them and get rejected later on, on the basis of how fertile I am?

But I cannot say no.

You know why? They are the first family who's coming to meet personally with my family. Before this one, my father would get marriage proposal, he would mention my secret inability in the letter and send it to them and later on they used to take their proposals back.

But this one's different.

Chote-papa got this marriage proposal actually, since he has his business in the city. They were someone known to him. Chote-papa conveyed this to us. He said he had already told them about my problem. But I was insistent. I cannot take such a big decision in my life without confirming it myself, right?

Usually the man and woman are not allowed to meet before their marriage at any cost ! But my case is different. So I kept a demand that I want to meet him and confirm whether he really wants to marry me or not. Or whether he has any problem with MY problem.

And they agreed. It was unexpected. But they agreed.

I know, people in my village would talk. Would make fun of the fact that I met my groom before my marriage. They would taunt my family. But Papa said none of that matters to him. The only thing that matters is my happiness, because I'll have to live in that marriage later on. The villagers will not come to face any kind of problem, if arises later on in my married life.

I seriously wouldn't have got a better father than him. A better family than mine.

“Didi?” Nayantara shouted from outside our room, “Taiyaar hui aap?”

["Are you ready?"]

I looked at myself in the mirror.

Blue saree, going perfectly with my complexion. Light makeup. Jhumka. Bangles. Perfect.

“Haan, Nayan.”

She opened the door of our room and entered inside, holding a plate of snacks in her hand. Then her eyes fell on me.

Her jaw dropped, eyes wide.

“Didi… Aaj toh jija-ji ko lattoo banaegi aap apna.”

["Didi… Today, you're going to make brother-in-law completely fall for you."]

I laughed aloud. “Hey bhagwan! Tum bhi na, kuch bhi bolti ho, Nayan.”

["Oh God! You just say blabber, Nayan."]

“Nahin, didi. Sach-much, itni pyari lag rahin hain aap. Kajal laga lijiye jaldi se, warna aapko aapki Nayan ki hi nazar lag jayegi.”

["No, didi. Really, you look so lovely. Put on some kajal quickly, or your own Nayan's gaze will cast an evil eye on you."]

I stepped forward and hit on the side of her head, taking the plate of snacks from her hand,

“Pagli. Kuch bhi bolti hai. Behen ki nazar nahin lagti behen ko.”

["Silly girl. You just say anything. A sister's gaze doesn't cast an evil eye on her sister."]

She laughed as I picked up a samosa from the plate and started eating.

“Aapne kaha, Isliye toh hum le aaye saara uthaa kar.”

["You said it, that’s why I brought everything along."]

I smiled, “Bohot accha kiya. Unn logon ko kyu khilana hai yeh sab? Humara toh kehna hai, mehmano ko chitthi mein likh kar bhejna chahiye, ‘Kripya khana Ghar se hi kha ke aaye, humari Maa aur choti-maa ko pareshan na karein.’”

“Well done. Why should we feed them all this? I say we should send a note to the guests saying, ‘Please eat at home before coming and don’t trouble our mother and aunt.’”

She smoothed her hair, “Hum bhi yahi keh rahe the Maa se. Humari didi se milne aa rahe ya khan—”

"I was saying the same thing to Maa. Are they coming to meet my sister or just to eat—"

“Nayan? Vaidehi? Yeh kya ho raha hai?”

"Nayan? Vaidehi? What is happening here?"

Maa came inside and I immediately placed the samosa back on the plate.

“Hum nahin Maa, Nayan hi kha rahi thi.”

"It’s not me, Maa, Nayan was the one eating."

Nayan’s eyes widened as she turned her face in surprise to look at me,

“Jhuthi, jhuthi, jhuthi.”

"Lier, lier, lier."

She looked at Maa, “Badi-maa, didi ne hi mangwaya tha. Aur keh rahi thi, unn logon ka bhi hissa utha kar le aana. Woh kya karenge kha kar.”

"Badi Maa, it was didi who had asked for it. And she was saying, bring some for them too. What will they do, just eat and leave?"

I hit my shoulder harshly against hers,

“Nayan! Humne kab kaha aisa? Atithi toh ishwar ka roop hote hain, hum aisa kyu kahenge?”

"Nayan! When did I say such a thing? Guests are like Gods, why would I say something like that?"

She moved away from me, moving towards my mother and said dramatically,

“Aur jab hum le kar aaye, toh bhi inhone kaha ki Mehmano ko chitthi mein likh kar bhejna chahiye ki, Khana ghar se kha kar aaye.”

"And when I brought it, they still said that we should send a note to the guests saying, 'Please eat at home before coming.'"

My mother held her ear and twisted, and that wasn't enough. She moved towards me, still twisting her ear and held my ear as well, twisting it more.

“Tum dono behne! Dono bhaiyo se jyada badmaash ho.”

"You two sisters! You’re both more mischievous than the two brothers."

“Maa,” I cried in pain.

“Badi-maa, humne kya Kiya?”

"Badi Maa, what did I do?"

I hit Nayan’s head again,

“Tumne hi saara sach ugal diya. Pet mein nahin rakh sakti kuch.”

"You spilled all the truth. You can't keep anything in your stomach."

Maa twisted my ear more,

“Badi behen ki har baat manna humne sikhaya toh tha, magar galat baat manna toh nahin sikhaya, Nayan beta. Aur tum,” she turned to me, “Yahi shiksha deti ho chhoti behen ko? Itni badi ho kar bhi. Kya sikhegi woh?”

"I had taught you to listen to your elder sister, but I never taught you to accept wrong things, Nayan beta. And you," she turned to me, "This is the lesson you give your younger sister? After all this time. What will she seek?"

“Maa, dard ho raha Hume,” I cried in pain.

"Maa, it's hurting me."

Just then, Choti-Maa walked inside and saw us. Then her eyes fell on the plate of samosas.

“Wahin socha humne, abhi abhi samosa nikal kar gaye the hum, kaun bandar aa kar le gaya? Bilkul sahi didi, bahut badmash ho gayi hai dono.”

"That's exactly what I was thinking. I had just taken the samosas out, and who came and took them? Absolutely right, didi, both of you have become very mischievous."

“Choti-Maa,hum toh aapki sabse pyaari beti hai na,” I cried.

"Choti-Maa, I am your most beloved daughter, aren't I?"

Maa laughed, “Ek humare pati, aur ek tumhare pati. Inhi dono ka haath hai humare dono betiyo ko bigadne me. Sirr par Chadha kar rakha hai dono ko.”

"One is my husband, and the other is your husband. Both of them are responsible for spoiling our two daughters. They’ve raised them like royalty."

Probably Chote-papa would have heard our voices as he entered inside the room and saw us,

“Arey, arey, kyu daant rahin hain humari dono betiyon ko, bhabhi?”

"Oh, oh, why are you scolding my daughters, bhabhi?"

Maa immediately left our ears and we both rushed towards him and hugged him.

“Dekhiye na chote-papa, Maa hume badmaash bol rahin hain.”

"Look, uncle, Maa is calling us mischievous."

Nayan spoke, “Nahin, Papa. Maa ne toh bandar bulaya hume. Hum aur didi bandar hai kya?”

"No, Papa. Maa called us monkeys. Are didi and I monkeys?"

He laughed and I hit on her hand,

“Tumhe bandar bulaya tha Choti-maa ne, tum le kar bhaagi thi samosa rasoi se. Hume apne mein shaamil mat karo, hum alag hai.”

"Choti-Maa had called you monkeys, you were the one who ran away with the samosas from the kitchen. Don’t include me in this, I am different."

She broke the hug and formed a pout on her lips,

“Magar laane toh aapne kaha tha na.”

“Magar humne yeh toh nahin ka—”

"But you told me to bring them, right?"

"But I never said this—"

“PRIYA,” Papa shouted from outside, “Priya, Abhisar. Aa gaye woh log, bahar aao.”

"Priya, Abhisar. They have arrived, come outside."