1. At the Temple

CHAPTER 1

At the Temple

It is Shri Balaji Temple. Siddartha and his friends are standing with folded hands in front of god’s statue. Swami brought the mangalarthi (sacred light) near them.       

Looking at Siddartha, Swami said, “Tomorrow morning 5:30 is a very auspicious time. You can get married at that time. It will be very lucky for you. You must bring the bride to the function hall at 4:30 am.”

Smiling, Siddartha said, “Swami, I will come with the bride tonight itself and settle down in the function hall.”

Swami laughed. Then becoming serious, Swami said, “That girl is an orphan and you too are an orphan. That is why I have arranged couples to sit with you both during the marriage.”

Happily, Siddartha thanked swami and the boys moved towards the door.

Siddartha came out of the temple with his friends Praveen, Arvind and Rajesh. Looking at Siddarth, Arvind said, “I will bring men to decorate the hall in the afternoon itself and we will finish by tonight.”

Looking at Praveen, Siddartha asked, “What about you, Praveen?”

Seriously, Praveen said, “I have informed the cooks of Rich Food Company. They will start with supply of hot coffee and give idli, wada, sweets and other items to the guests. They are going to prepare 30 items for lunch.”

Happily, putting his hands on his friend’s shoulders, Siddartha said, “Very good. I have given the invitation cards only to the very important people. Around 90 to 100 people are expected to arrive.”

Arvind was excited to hear this. “You say that you have given cards to all important people but have you given a card to the anti-terrorist task force commando Ranjit?”

Siddartha scorned angrily on hearing the name of his enemy.

“I will never give to that person in this life. Do you know how much he has insulted me? I was so proud of him. My body blood boils whenever I think of him.”

All look at him seriously. Giving some advice, angrily Praveen said, “This is where you are making a mistake, Siddartha. You must call the very person who has beaten you in public and disgraced you as the chief guest for your marriage. Then he will know what you are.”

Siddartha looked at Praveen in surprise. All were excited.                 

Thinking for a while, Arvind said coolly, “What he is saying is true. You know why? The girl, Reshmi you are marrying is more beautiful that his daughter. We want you to invite him just to show him this and to make him jealous.”

Siddartha said coolly, “Eh! Amrita is just opposite to her father in character. Her father is retched and rude. But she is nice and gentle. She is my close friend. That is why I have invited her. But I do not know whether her father will send her.”

Praveen was not ready to agree. “We have to do one thing. Let that commando Ranjit come or not. But you should give the invitation card to him. You know why?”

He pointed to Reshmi’s photo on the invitation card. “His stomach should burn looking at your bride’s photo.”

Arvind took the invitation card in his hand and looked at the photo. “Yes. I am sure that he will become very jealous seeing that these two are made for each other.”

Siddartha took the photo and touched Reshmi’s photo. In a dreamy state, he said, “This dream girl of mine will be my real life girl tomorrow by this time.”

He took out his cell and tried to call Reshmi. But it was switched off. Disappointed, Siddartha said, “Che! She gets up only one hour after the sun rises daily. Not only that, she switches off her cell. She forgets everything once she rolls on the bed.”

Siddartha thought, “I must not allow her to sleep tonight otherwise she will miss the auspicious time.”

Friends get ready to leave. Praveen said, “Eh! We are all going for our duties. When will you meet us again?”

Siddartha said seriously, “You all look after your duties. I will go to Reshmi’s room at 8:30. From there we will go for shopping and then taking the clothes from tailor, we will come directly to the function hall.”

Praveen became alert. “Ok. By the time you arrive; we will have started decorating the function hall.”

Boys took their motorbikes and left to complete the various jobs given to them by Siddartha.

Siddartha went to his room.

Reshmi got up in the morning and switched on her cell. As soon as it came on, it started ringing. Reshmi wipped her eyes and looked at the number. It was Siddartha. Her face brightened up and she smiled romantically thinking of her lover.

With the cell at her ear, Reshmi said, “Good morning, darling.”

Smilling happily, Siddartha said, “Very good morning, my love. It is already 7:30. I have been trying to talk to you since yesterday. Why do you keep your cell switched off at night?”

Reshmi smiled romantically. She was used to Siddartha scolding her for switching off her cell every night. But she never listened to him!

“Don’t worry. From tomorrow we will be in the same bed. So the problem will be solved very soon.”

Siddartha was excited. “Yes. Tomorrow is our first night. From late night to early morning, you will be in my arms. But now you have to be ready by 8:20. I will come at 8:30.”

Reshmi nodded and said, “Ok. I will be ready in an hour. Come soon.”