The Wedding Planner

"I said small mirrors. Don't you understand simple instructions? Do you want to get fired?" The intern looked scared as Ajabdeh Punwar grilled him. "It's on your list. Take it back. Now."

"But Ma'am. We didn't find…" He stopped at her stare. "Then you haven't looked everywhere. Find it." She said. "I don't work with excuses. I want everything to be perfect and exactly like the bride wants. Got it?"

She sighed as he left in a hurry.

"Hello, boss." Shakti's words made her turn as she checked the watch.

"You are five minutes late." She reminded him.

"But the traffic." He frowned.

"When Dad told me to treat you like the others he meant it Shakti. Now off you go. There is a truck loaded with gifts for the kids at the NGO. Take them there." She pointed at the driveway of the Punwar mansion.

"But I was supposed to work in the accounts department of your…" he stopped at her stare.

"First learn to be on time." she reminded him. He walked away towards the driveway, checking off the items as they were loaded on the truck.

"I hate weddings." He murmured to himself.

"Don't say that. She will kill you." He turned at the familiar voice as Heer smiled at him.

"Let me help you." She offered.

"Thank you. You are my saviour." Shakti smiled.

"Just don't tell Jija. She will fire you." Heer laughed.

"So you are moving back here?" He asked.

"Dadabhai offered me the job to do the interiors of the farmhouse. I think I will take up the project." She agreed.

"You will have a better boss than me." He made her laugh.

"How do I look?" Rukaiya checked herself in the mirror.

"Like a bride?" Pratap said unsure, making Jaivanta stare at him with a warning glance as Rukaiya's mother laughed.

"Humour Ajabdeh that way and she will kill you." Rukaiya frowned at him.

Khan Uncle blessed the bride and turned to Pratap.

"She is in a bad mood over some mirrors. Some poor soul may get fired today." Pratap and Rukaiya looked alarmed at his words. "You want Jalal to talk to her?"

"I will." Pratap nodded reassuringly. "Let Jalal have his moment."

"Poor he must be tired babysitting all of you." Jaivanta's words made Pratap stare as Khan Uncle laughed.

"You are not new here. Why are the mocktails not ready yet?" Pratap walked up behind her as she snapped at Jacob. He gestured at Jacob to leave and that made her turn to face him.

"What? You are not ready yet? Is Rukaiya ready? Where is Heer? Why is nobody bothered?" She looked irked "This way nobody will be ready on time."

"Calm down." He took her hands in his. " Or I will book an appointment with Doctor Sekhawat again." He warned her.

"I am not anxious." She snapped. "I want the wedding to be perfect for them. You know how much Jalal and Rukaiya mean to me. I don't want to screw up their best day."

"You are Ajabdeh Punwar. You are the best in the business. You can't screw anything up. Just relax. It's your friends' wedding. Enjoy it a little. Laugh with them. They will remember that and not if the mirrors were small. Give me some attention. I will look super handsome in that sherwani." He made her smile.

"Coming from someone who thinks it's a scam industry that mirror comment is offensive. Because some people do cherish attention to detail." She retorted.

He pulled her by her hands towards him and held her waist. She looked a little surprised and wide-eyed.

"What are you doing?"

"I just realised in between hating weddings and stopping some, I happened to fall in love with the queen of that scamming industry."

"Oh, how very flattering." She taunted. "People are watching. Let me go."

"Only if you promise to be calmer, and not fire anyone." She rolled her eyes at him. "Fine. Next time you are agitated before the annual general meeting I will pop into your office for some romance and see if it calms you down."

"Try that." He smirked. "I always fantasized about it on the office couch…"

"Stop that." She slapped his arm making him laugh. "Go and get dressed. I will be there soon."

"Coffee Ma'am?" He asked, letting her go.

"Can always use a cup." She nodded.

"So where are you going for a vacation?" It was Shakti who popped the question to Jalal at the dinner party. "I was thinking of Switzerland." He said. "What do you say?" He turned to Pratap. "You two take so many vacations nowadays."

"Trust me you wouldn't want to know if you don't want to spend your honeymoon trekking or your entire life in adventure sports." He made Jalal laugh.

"He's just saying so because he's scared of what Ajabdeh might try next." Shakti stopped at his cold stare.

"Come let's dance." Rukaiya dragged Jalal away. As Shakti went to ask his mother for a dance and Jaivanta redirected him to Heer, Udai and Pratap shared a glance across the room.

"You are doing that again," Udai said almost in a murmur to his wife.

"Doing what?" She asked.

"Setting up Heer with Shakti," Udai said in a warning tone.

"So? It will be perfect. The sisters won't fight like most sisters-in-law do." Udai shook his head at her words.

"Leave them alone. Let's dance." He took her to the dance floor.

"I am just trying to be a good mother" Jaivanta reasoned.

"Sure you are." Udai agreed "But definitions have changed. Leave him alone."

Pratap smiled knowing what his parents were talking of. He looked around. His wife was missing. Again.

He made his way through the staff-only entrance to spot her waving her hands and instructing the waiters.

"That's enough now." She turned at his words. "Come with me."

"But … I have to be there when they serve…" He made her stop with a stare as they stood in the empty corridor.

"Let's dance." He gave her his hand.

"Here?" She asked.

"Yes. Knowing you will never dance in public at a wedding you organised." He said matter of factly. She smiled sheepishly.

"But I am wearing heels." She shrugged. He went down on his knees as she looked around the empty corridor alarmed that someone spotted them. He took off her shoes and put them away placing her feet over his shining boots.

"There you go." He held her by the waist as her hand travelled to his shoulders. "Anything else?"

"I don't know the song."

"Oh shut up." He snapped, making her laugh as he adjusted her pasha right beside her vermillion-clad hairline and kissed her forehead. They matched each other's rhythm in perfect sync staring into each other's eyes. The music played on.

Tu ne jo dekha hai, tu ne jo jana hai

Hu bhi nahi bhi hu main woh.

Chahoge tum jaisa ho jaunga waise,

Chaho toh vaada ye le lo…

The End

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Of Faith and Fate

Series Announcement! Historical Fictions are special, so here is one, short but special tale close to my heart after a really long time! This story is a special one because it is completely historical fiction with very little connection to the fan fiction I have written previously. However, I have maintained the sequence of events, reading history books on the context. This is not a story of a man and a woman, their love and trust. This one is about the tests time often puts people through, forcing them to change. My protagonists in this one are hence, two princesses of the same age. Ajabdeh Punwar or Ajbante Kanwar Baisa, as she is locally called is the princess of a very significant district of Bijolia in Mewar. Bijolia lies in the seat of political events, at the border of Bundi and Mewar. Having her lineage from the mighty Chauhans, her forefathers once ruled Mewar. Her father is an officer in the army of Mewar under Rana Udai Singh and she is a lady of princip...

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It has been a tradition since time immemorial in the face of the earth that the men marched to war, seeking glory for their states and kings, adorning their bodies with bruises no less gaudy than the most precious gems of the land, while the women waited and prayed for their safe return. No war was easy or certain. At least that is what they grew up learning. But does it stop the war? Or the need for power? Absolutely not. The royal blood demands shedding it. Kumar Viraj could have left Maanwari as a child but Maanwari had not left his veins. That was perhaps why he was braver and more skilful than men his age. When Adhiraja Ishaan Dev offered him Neelambargarh’s mighty troops to capture Maanwari, he knew they would surely outnumber his uncle’s one by hundreds. But he made sure he refused Adhiraja's personal help. Battles made Ishaan Dev’s adrenaline rush. He wanted to lead Kumar Viraj to victory. But when Kumar Viraj said that it would only demean his claim to be ready for the thr...

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