Walking in the corridor, she wondered whether he was one? Suppose someone else was out there, waiting for her, and he was her prince. Maybe she still had to kiss the frog and he would turn into her handsome prince. Rahul, hoped he wasn’t being a jerk in rushing into this, she could be a terror and she could ruin his life. The horror stories he heard about how lousy these girls could be, they showed their true colours later on and asked for unheard of divorce settlements. He didn’t know whether he was doing the right thing and proposing out of the blue. His mom would think he is mad and lost his marbles for rushing into her after an hour. He just felt she was the one. The one to grow old with and have kids.

They walked into the other room and looked at their parents and the look was priceless. They were waiting as if they would be announcing the Third World War. Rahul spoke and said, I’ve asked her to be my wife, it all depends on her and she can tell me what she answers later.

This broke the quiet and suddenly everyone spoke at once. Simran was so confused, this was not what she had thought. This had her all flustered from the inside, she didn’t know what to do. He was supposed to be obnoxious, she didn’t want to settle down and become the reluctant memsahib. She knew the euphoria would settle and the routine life would seep in and they would start snapping at each other; stuck in a marriage that was for more appearance’s sake than real love.

Did love even exist? It was elusive just like the fragrance of the musk deer who spent all his life searching for the fragrance never realising it was within him all this time. She didn’t need to be philosophical at this moment, nor did she a sorting hat but just some clarity that was missing.

She smiled at everyone and started mumbling. And here, she was supposed to have the sharpest retort and quick answers. He held her hand at that very moment and she calmed and said yes. It fell all right and his sensitivity came through.

Chaos at Sec 8 Gurudwara 5:30 am

The florist had messed up; he was behind schedule and on top of it his team wasn’t working as it was too cold. It was really cold, the tits of the witch could fall off! Mrs Sandhu, wondered how was the canopy hoping to complete, and the pathway? She just wanted it right for her, a whirlwind of saying yes, the courtship and the marriage. It was finally a D day. She had to rush back home after checking on the arrangements and get ready, the makeup artist was waiting for her. So many emotions and mixed feelings and the stress of hoping all went smoothly.

Everything had been done on the expert guidance of the best wedding planner and the intimate marriage ceremony had somewhat spiralled out of control. The number kept on increasing. It was the talk of the year and across continents!

She knew it.

We all think we are going to slay the dragon and save the princess but in reality, we are trying to save ourselves.