The Taj Effect

Dear Readers, here I come with a surprise! This update is the product of a collaboration between Garima and me. I am very grateful and happy that she loved my idea and story so much to give her valuable contribution to one chapter that matters. So enjoy the SuRima collab for this #TheRoyalMatchmaking update! Review!❤

Jalal stared at the picturesque dome of marble that reflected the sun's rays falling on it. The sky has just cleared up after a spell of rain, and the water droplets shone in the sun's rays. The friends had all come to the Taj Mahal for the pre-wedding photoshoot. Despite Ajabdeh’s opinion, Jalal had managed to convince Rukaiya to have the photo shoot of her dreams by the Wedding Squad, their planner. There she was, standing in the distance, laughing over something Shakti had said. Her smile… She was the happiest bride in the world. He, the luckiest groom.

He smiled as he remembered Ruqaiya’s face as Ajabdeh spoke. Could he believe that he was about to marry the woman who had taught him to love again? With Ruqqaiya, everything was completely different compared to when he was with Salima. He couldn’t help thinking of that every time in every situation, Ruqaiya proved to him that the world had better people than Salima. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear his friend walk up to him.

“So you’re lost in thoughts of your bride, it seems”, Pratap teased him, patting his shoulder gently as Jalal shook his head and confessed.

“No. I was actually thinking about Salima."  Pratap’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the girl who had hurt his friend badly, but Jalal smiled, reading his thoughts.

“She was my first love,” he stared at the Taj Mahal in the distance. “I thought she was it…the One, my forever, but she wasn’t! Instead, she turned out to be my best lesson. She taught me that not all first loves are great and perfect; rather, some are downright messy and selfish. With her, I tried so hard to make sure she was happy, but you know, Kika…” He looked at Pratap with a smile as he frowned some more. “I’m thankful to her. “

“Thankful?” Kunwar Pratap suddenly seemed irked “That girl…”

“…Because if there wasn’t Salima in my life, I would have never learned to respect Ruqqaiya.” Jalal’s words silenced him as both of them now stared at the majestic monument.  “Ruqqaiya is everything Salima wasn’t, and with her, I don’t even have to try so hard. It’s like with Ruqqs, everything is so simple. Sometimes we need to be thankful for second chances, don’t you think?”

Pratap nodded his head as their gaze, like a reflex, moved towards the girls who were with the photographer. They were all dressed in pastel shades with elegant makeup and very light jewellery. From the looks of it, they were in some deep discussion that was being led by none other than Ajabdeh Punwar. Pratap frowned at the way Ajabdeh animatedly moved her head and hands. He took a deep breath and shook his head doubtfully.

“Something’s going to happen,” he told his friend, who smiled.

“I know,” Jalal told him, “my pre-wedding photoshoot”

“Jalal!!!!” Ruqqaiya’s voice was loud and nearly hysterical as she came running to her would-be husband, “I want to go from here”

“But the photoshoot?” Jalal asked, utterly confused, only to be pulled by his collar

“Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar, if you intend on having this nikah, then we will go from here. Do you understand? Photoshoots can be in a hotel or even at home, I don’t care. I don’t want labourers ka bad wish on for my wedding”

“Wait… what?” Pratap spoke as he looked at the scared face of the girl, who then pointed at none other than his fiancée.

“She said so…” Ruqaiya recalled the conversation!

“I don’t understand why people want to have their wedding shoots here, Ruqaiya.” Ajabdeh shrugged. “I mean the Taj Mahal… of all places in the world,” she told her friend, who had woken up her way too early for her liking, and now they were out in the open waiting for the perfect time to get the pictures clicked.

“The Taj is the symbol of love, no matter what we know, and Jalal thought it would be good,” Ruqaiya told her friend, smiling as she finished her make-up, only to see Ajabdeh frown.

“Symbol of love?  Do you even know Mumtaj Mahal died while giving birth to his fourteenth child, that too when she was in her late twenties, just imagine! Was that love? Then she should have been alive. Who knows if she haunts or cursed the place?”

Ruqaiya gulped down a lump, and she wasn’t alone as the photographer also looked scared from the discussion. Ajabdeh stared at her friend’s scared face as she placed her hand on her shoulder and said in a rather serious tone.

“Ruqs meri jaan! If you wanted a place to show love and acceptance, then you should have chosen the famous Mental Hospital. I mean that place accepts all fools and their eccentric natures, and we all know that Love makes one go and do crazy things”

“Jalal!!!!!” Ruqqaiya called out to her fiancé, scared, and ran to him. There was no way she was having her photo shoot at the Taj Mahal anymore.

Pratap frowned as he saw Jalal escort Ruqaiya out of the premises, only to be joined by the devil herself, grinning from ear to ear like she had won an award. Heer and Shakti had followed a scared Ruqaiya only after Heer shot a rather cold glance at her Jija, who looked away.

“Did you have to scare Ruqqaiya like that?” Pratap, at last, asked her while walking to their parked car.

“Well, she did wake me up way too early” She shrugged and then, after a minute of his staring at her, not convinced, she added, “I don’t understand where the love is here. Seriously.  I mean, yes, the ruler, a husband built this for his wife, but she was one of his many wives, and if he built this for her, does that mean the ones before her didn’t matter or were they just his prized possessions? Yes, Polygamy was a thing, but then, why prefer this one and subject her to this? She died giving birth to his child, and so he built her a marble mausoleum as a thank-you gift. I don’t know if he really did cut off the hands of the labourers, or those are just stories, but I know this: I don’t see the love here at all” She looked at Pratap, shake his head in silence beside her and smiled knowing that he seemed to understand her stance and did not question it.

“But it was their wedding shoot, Ajab,” he told her calmly once they reached the car “I mean, did it really matter that you couldn’t see the love. Maybe Ruqaiya did see something, and now her choice has been taken away, isn’t it?”

“I know that it was their wedding shoot, Princy, but I want her to take the pictures where the love exists between THEM. Wherever they take the pictures, one will be able to see the love that exists.” He shook his head in disapproval as she added,  “But yes, I get your point and I will apologise to her and make the arrangements for their pre-wedding shoot, Happy?”

Ruqaiya sat on the balcony when Heer called her out. She could feel the urgency in her voice, but she was in no mood to do anything. All she wanted was to capture some pictures with the man she was about to share her entire life with, but here she was stirring her coffee that had gone cold.

“Aapa…” Heer stared at her, concentrating on the coffee. “Chalo.”

“I… don’t feel like it, Heer.” She stopped with a sigh. “Ajab was right, this is all too much. I am turning into Bridezilla.”

“Ohho Aapa.” Heer took her hands together and gave a rather shocked look at how cold they were. “Aap jante ho na Jija ko? She says whatever she feels, and she doesn’t get that she…”

“I am not hurt, Heer, Ajabdeh is my best friend and what she said was…”

“Wrong!” Heer stopped her “It’s your wedding and your love, and you decide where you find it! Ab Chalo please.”

Heer dragged the moody bridezilla to the gardens that had been completely transformed, like the magic she read about in Enid Blyton. Ruqaiya stared gasping at the enchanted place the garden had been turned into… lanterns hung from the branches of the trees, and in the centre, a swing had been set up that was decorated with flowers, and twinkling lights hung everywhere, the pool carried the heart prop with their names – RuqLal and then came the wall of memories- filled with pictures of Jalal and her life story and love story.

“Bride to be”, Ajabdeh called out with a wave “It’s time for your photo shoot”

Ruqqaiya stared at her crazy friend and said in a rather serious tone, “I thought we were going to the mental hospital”

Ajabde smiled, “I tried! But the place is overbooked, you see. Way too many couples wanted to have their shoot there. So you’ll have to work with this, and we’ll take a few at the hotel with Taj in the backdrop, you know the cliché ones,” She shrugged with a smile.

Ruqqaiya hugged her friend tight with a soft “Thank you”

“It should be more like I am sorry.” Ajabdeh hugged her back as Heer hugged them both, and Maan joined with a soft “ Yay! I am calling the guys!”

"Call the entire family here. Say we have a photo shoot." Heer smiled as Maan nodded.

Half an hour later, the photo shoot was in full swing with Ruqaiya and Jalal taking pictures with their family and friends in their own home, the place where the heart belonged. The photographer smiled as he looked at the people, all smiles, directing each other with poses, couples fighting, friends laughing, siblings bonding, and cousins pulling each other’s legs.

“Love is everywhere”

Ajabdeh stared at the mess of a crowd she called family around her. Dheer blushed at Bairam’s compliment, Udai Singh staring at them coldly while Jaivanta nudged him, amused. Hansa helping Ruqs' Mother with her hairdo, Heer and Jalal discussing serious matters, and Pratap, Maan and Shakti pulling each other’s legs. She smiled at them all before eyes met, and he frowned, only to make her smile the brightest, and he returned it as the photographer smiled, capturing the best candid ever!

Pratap walked up to Ajabdeh, who now sat on the edge of the roof, her feet dangling, phone in hand. 

"Maan was looking all over for you."

"Hmm..." He frowned at her quietness. 

"What's wrong?"

"What's a happy ending?" Ajabdeh stared at him like a challenge as he placed down the two cups of coffee on the edge of the roof between them and sat facing her.

"Depends on who is asking, I think." He shrugged, making her frown.

"Matlab?" She stared back as he looked at her with a smile. This was no less than a victory, confusing the writer herself.

"Like... what is it that one seeks? That is where their happiness lies."

"Deep!" She took her cup and stood up "Too deep to handle in all this!" She shivered and took a sip "Where is Maan?" Before he could answer, though, she had left him with his coffee and thoughts.

"Dekho beta." Dheer had put on the 100th dupatta on her daughter's head. "This colour will suit you." Shakti stood amused as Maan's stare screamed for help. 

Jaivanta agreed, "Our Maan is so pretty, everything suits her like a bride."

"But I am not the bride!" She stood up rather frantically. "I am not!"

"I am looking for a groom for her," Dheer spoke sternly. "Royals should marry young."

"Which rule book says that?" Maan retorted.

"Stop answering back like some shameless, unroyal girl you meet!" Dheer stopped, realising that Shakti and Jaivanta had shared a disapproving glance. 

"Her friends, I tell you..." she quickly added.

"Whatever you call me, I am not getting married," Maan spoke on an impulse, running out of the open door and into the corridor. 

"I will check on her." Shakti followed her out while Jaivanta stared at the rather bothered mother of the girl. 

"Don't worry." She tried to soothe.

Maan ran in a rather rushed manner, with the pink dupatta and mang tika still on her head. Her sneakers screeched against the marble floor, and the shirt made it difficult to run, as did the blurred vision as she held back her tears. Ever since her dad died, it seemed as though her mother's only aim was to marry her off to a suitable groom. 

She didn't see the luggage trolley that stood in her way and tripped on it, and her head soon met the floor.

" Are you all right, Ma'am?" Someone extended his hand to her while she frowned at him. The man looked rather handsome in formal wear, and he wore a drop-dead gorgeous smile. Shakti stopped at a distance as Maan took his hand "Yes. Sorry, your..." She struggled to stand. He had by now noticed her mang tika and dupatta and frowned at it. She realised that quickly, tugged it away, and stood looking away.

" Shallavan?" Ajabdeh's excited voice made them turn as she almost spilt her coffee and managed to walk up to him 

"Hi!!!!"

"Hello", he spoke rather formally, making her frown "Ma'am."

" Areee No No!" Ajabdeh shook her head. " Please. Ajabdeh! Welcome to the Shadi!"

"What is he doing here?" Jalal frowned as Pratap barged into his room like an emergency.

"Who?" Jalal frowned.

"That... Shallavan...Flirt!" Pratap looked irked.

"Flirt?" Jalal smirked that his friend was irked at his own quality. 

"Whatever." Pratap got his friend's smirk.

"I called him coz he has become a good friend over the last two projects."

"Who else are you calling?" Pratap frowned, shaking his head.

"Umm... maybe Hakim!" Jalal chuckled.

"What can be worse?" Pratap sat down, imagining Ajabdeh's happy face when Hakim sang for her. 

"Umm... Dadabhai." Shakti knocked as both of them frowned at him "I think Maan likes Shallavan!"

Pratap stared at Shakti like he was seeing a ghost, and Jalal stood in a minute's silence before chuckling at Pratap's face, and Shakti joined him.