PART II
Shweta was wearing her favorite blue frock and sitting quietly on the chair next to her mother. Bored she kept telling her she wants to go home. Her mother replies, "Just a little while dear, why don't you go play with your cousins?"
"But I don't want to, they keep telling me to wait on the side and that I'm not old enough to play with them"
She was only six and all her cousins were a decade older who preferred playing their own games that would not include a kid.
"Its going to end soon I promise, its the last part of the wedding. Go get a plate of ice cream from the counter" She comes back with vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce poured all over it. Shweta decides to wait until it melts a little because it tastes better.
The bride is now leaving the hall and a group of people are around her, some crying, some consoling each other.
"Ma, why are didi and maasi crying?"
"Didi is going to her new home"
"Whats wrong with her old home?"
"She is going to live with Shreyash jiju"
"Will maasi go to the new home?"
"No, maasi will live her in her old home"
"Why is she going if she doesn't want to go?"
"She is going because she loves Shreyash jiju and wants to start a family with him"
"So why is she crying?"
"Because she will miss her ma"
Shweta is quiet for a while. She decides she doesn't want to eat the ice cream anymore and puts aside the plate on the chair next to hers.
"So will I have to go like Divya didi?"
"Well, if you get married you would"
"But I dont want to go! I want to stay with you!"
"We'll see about that when you're Divya didi's age"
"Will you let me go? You don't even let me go to Anuja's house"
"That's because she lives far and you're still a little small to travel all alone"
The mother then stands up to meet the bride the last time. When she comes back to her chair, she is wiping tears off her eyes.
"Ma, did you cry when you got married?"
"I did not, your pappa had a bet with your mamas that I wont cry. So I didn't" She smiled.
"So you don't miss your ma?" She went silent. Stood up and hugged her. "Until I got married, I couldn't imagine life without her. Wouldn't you miss your ma?"
"I'm not going anywhere ma. I promise. I love you soooooooo much" She said with her arms open wide.
Shweta's mother kissed her on the cheek as she fell asleep on her shoulder.
Shweta was wearing her favorite blue frock and sitting quietly on the chair next to her mother. Bored she kept telling her she wants to go home. Her mother replies, "Just a little while dear, why don't you go play with your cousins?"
"But I don't want to, they keep telling me to wait on the side and that I'm not old enough to play with them"
She was only six and all her cousins were a decade older who preferred playing their own games that would not include a kid.
"Its going to end soon I promise, its the last part of the wedding. Go get a plate of ice cream from the counter" She comes back with vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce poured all over it. Shweta decides to wait until it melts a little because it tastes better.
The bride is now leaving the hall and a group of people are around her, some crying, some consoling each other.
"Ma, why are didi and maasi crying?"
"Didi is going to her new home"
"Whats wrong with her old home?"
"She is going to live with Shreyash jiju"
"Will maasi go to the new home?"
"No, maasi will live her in her old home"
"Why is she going if she doesn't want to go?"
"She is going because she loves Shreyash jiju and wants to start a family with him"
"So why is she crying?"
"Because she will miss her ma"
Shweta is quiet for a while. She decides she doesn't want to eat the ice cream anymore and puts aside the plate on the chair next to hers.
"So will I have to go like Divya didi?"
"Well, if you get married you would"
"But I dont want to go! I want to stay with you!"
"We'll see about that when you're Divya didi's age"
"Will you let me go? You don't even let me go to Anuja's house"
"That's because she lives far and you're still a little small to travel all alone"
The mother then stands up to meet the bride the last time. When she comes back to her chair, she is wiping tears off her eyes.
"Ma, did you cry when you got married?"
"I did not, your pappa had a bet with your mamas that I wont cry. So I didn't" She smiled.
"So you don't miss your ma?" She went silent. Stood up and hugged her. "Until I got married, I couldn't imagine life without her. Wouldn't you miss your ma?"
"I'm not going anywhere ma. I promise. I love you soooooooo much" She said with her arms open wide.
Shweta's mother kissed her on the cheek as she fell asleep on her shoulder.
