CHAPTER 2

Beep beep beep.

My alarm screams for the fourth time in the past two hours. I grab my phone and shut it off again.

I put on my shoes and head straight into the bathroom for one last glance at myself.

I am wearing a blue kurti and jeans with white sneakers. My hairs are tied into a braid. Gold earrings that my father had gifted me a long ago adorn my earrings. I look like a typical Village-city girl. Or more specific, on-and-off sanskari girl.

I can’t believe that I am actually doing this. And to be speaking the truth, I dread this moment. I knew this time would come, but not so soon.

I sigh. There was nothing I could do about it.

My mother’s excited voice still rings in my ears. She is happier about the union than the bride herself. And something tells me that I am next on the list and it truly scares me to my very core. Gosh, what if I don’t ever get to work again?

My eyes are bloodshot red and I hope to get some sleep in the car before we reach Anu’s home. It scares the crap out of me that I am going to the place I have dreaded my whole life. And the funny thing is, I was born there and my ninety-nine percent family live there. I don’t even know the names of the people!

It’s a shame that I haven’t met my very big family a lot – except chachu and chachi who would drop by at our home any day. My parents had to shift to Gurgaon because of my father’s job and that’s why their connection with the family was almost broken off.

I am a city girl, and that’s why when I first saw Ananya I was shocked. But that was the least of my concerns. The people waiting for me back at Anu’s home were.

What if they don’t like me? What if I am too modern for them? What if they humiliate my parents by telling them that they are bad parents? What if…. well, there were a lot of what ifs.

But they were the least of my concerns.

My main concern was my sister. Ananya.

I know she hasn’t slept at all at night because when I got up to wake her up, she was already wide and awake, searching on her computer. Well, to be precise stalking her going-to-be-husband. And I don’t blame her. If someone called me on a random day to tell me that I was going to get married to some unknown person for business benefit then, I would literally jump off the roof of the hostel. Literally. As per my standards, she was handling it pretty great.

After the disclosure, she and I had a big talk last night. We both knew that we just couldn’t shut up about it.

“His name is Aman. He is the son of owner of Niharika. It’s a company that sells Tupperware just like my papa’s. Well, they were competitors… really bad ones and I couldn’t get it why papa will even consider that guy let alone his son. So this entire evening I searched. Trying to figure out the answer nobody wants me to know. I look at the company’s profit and then bam! There it is. My papa’s company AC Tupperware has suffered a huge market loss. Its demand has decreased nearly by 42 per cent. Then I looked at Niharika’s stock and I get it. Its demand has increased by 120 per cent. More than doubled. So, if I judge by it... papa’s trying to use Aman and mine marriage to combine AC and Niharika together and keep the money to himself. But that’s what I think… I am not sure about it though.” She had said last night.

I wanted to believe her but it was hard to tell. I mean, what kind of father would do that to his own daughter? Now if I look into my chachu’s ‘amazing’ personality, I am more and more convinced that he can pull of a stunt like that – he is the most greedy and selfish person I have ever seen. It’s a wonder how Ananya didn’t turn up like him. Although, her younger brother matches with his father’s personality quite perfectly.

She had then simply left the room after that. I am pretty sure she researched about stocks all night. Although I did hear a slam on the door last night but I am not sure it was her. It could have been anyone getting frustrated. I hope it’s not her.

The thing that I couldn’t simply digest was that she was too young to be married at this age. What if her husband and her family wanted her to just sit at home and look after the family and not pursue her dreams? She has a lot of potential. I mean, she scored more than me in every exam I can think off.

Seriously, I felt guilty.

I grab my bags and take a last look at my room. It was a bit messy but I am pretty sure that all my important belongings have been kept safely. I am not carrying any books because studying during your sister’s wedding was a very bad idea.

I walk outside and close the door behind me. It was six in the morning… half an hour before everyone wakes up. It felt weird walking through the campus, alone. It was never this silent as far as I could remember. Always buzzing with the energy of young girls who would be busy gossiping around rather than worrying about the fact that they had been sent here for some other reasons. They and I had no idea about what life was going to throw at us.

And the first victim was my own sister.