Chapter 1
Maan stood in front of the huge glass mirror in his bed-room and looked at himself, seriously. He wondered why he could never say "no" to his Daadima, "Mrs. Savitri Singh Khurana". She knew this and took unfair advantage of the situations- And how much he hated it.
He stared at his image and thought about himself, "Maan Singh Khurana, is a master of his thoughts, and never does anything that he does not want to do. He has a perfect control of his heart, mind, and his emotions and no one can dare meddle with it- No one". His thoughts about himself were disturbed, when someone knocked on the door and told him, "saab, daadiji wait kar rahe hain".
He rolled his eyes, "Oh well, hold on Maan, you were thinking too much. Maan Singh Khurana only bows before one woman, in the entire world and that is daadima. But this one woman is equal to a million, to make you do stuff that you hate".
He put on his suit and turned away from the mirror and was about to walk away but looked back into the mirror to make sure, everything on his body was okay. He walked down the spiral marble staircase and glared at his Daadima all that while. She only smiled at his anger and waited for him to come down.
He took the couch opposite to her, shot her a look, and turned away.
"Maan, aapko change kar lena chahiye", said Daadima.
Maan replied angrily, "Main aa raha hoon. Wahin bahut hain".
"Maan!", said daadima raising her voice a little.
"Aur nahin tuo kya daadima? Kamaal karte hain aap. Main, Maan Singh Khurana kisi ke shaadi attend karne jaa raha hoon? Log hasenge jab sunenge aur dekhenge!", he shot back.
"Aapko logon ki fikr kab se hone lagi, Maan beta?" asked Daadima politely.
Before Maan could answer, Naintara interrupted them. She walked into the living room, draped in a green color sari that had black beadwork on it. Her blouse was a black sleeveless one. She had one black necklace that was more like a choker. In addition, had some simple black earrings to complement the black work on the sari. Her hair was tied into a bun. She smiled at Maan and Daadima.
Maan did not smile back but she did not feel bad. She knew her Veerji seldom smiled and she wondered if he knew what a "smile" is.
She sat beside daadima and told her, "Dev's getting ready. Abhi aa jaega".
She then turned to look at Maan and said, "Veerji, I had shopped for both Dev and you, for this wedding. Did you not like the attire or did you not see it?"
"Naintara, there are two things- first, I am not wearing it. Therefore, the question of liking or not liking does not arise. Second, I have not seen it and even if I did, I don't think it would make any difference".
Naintara knew he was angry and decided to leave him alone for sometime. She continued to talk to Daadima, who said, "This is the last wedding in Savita's family. All her grandchildren are married and settled", and turned to look at Maan at that point. Maan simply ignored her and continued to check his email on his phone.
Savita Mehra was Savitri Khurana's younger sister. Savita Mehra's granddaughter- Shruti was getting married.
"Hmm. Bahut din ho gaye daadiji, hamare ghar mein koi function nahin hua, meaning shaadi waadi types", said Naintara, looking at Maan.
She then saw Dev coming and said, "Lo Dev aa gaye. Veerji, please jaake change kar lijiye na. Please", she requested.
"Haan Bro, aap koi meeting mein nahin jaa rahe hain. Why do you always carry that serious office look on your face", said Dev, smirking.
"Face waisa hain, kuch nahin kar sakte Dev. Maan jaeye change karke aaeye", said daadima.
"Haan Veerji, jaldi jaaeye. Hume jaldi bhi tuo wapas aana hain", added Naintara.
"Tum aurate" retorted Maan but was cut by Naintara, "Veerji, aap aurton ke bare mein bhashan baad mein dena. Please pehle change kijiye. Hume waise bhi 40 mins lage ga, before we reach the venue. Therefore, save the lecture on women for the car. Hum sab aaram se baitke sunenge aur inputs bhi denge", she said.
Dev and Daadima busted into laughter, Maan shot one glare at them, and both of them stopped immediately.
"I'm think I'm looking perfect and I'm not changing", said Maan.
"Maan", said Daadima, in a loud tone.
Maan got up, ran up the staircase without looking at anyone in the living room, and ran down in like ten minutes, dressed in a white colored sherwani.
"Good Job, Bro", said Dev.
Maan snatched the cars keys from him, said, "Whatever", and walked away.
The rest of them exchanged smiles as Maan Walked towards the car.
They reached the venue after 40 minutes and Maan while driving thought of every possible way to keep himself busy at the wedding. He thought of checking his email, replying to them, talking about his meeting schedule with his secretary, Shreyasi, and clearing some confusion that Sasha and Adi had over accounts and designs.
"Perfect!", he thought as he drove into the parkway of the venue. He looked around at the crowd as the car came to a halt.
"Gosh! How jobless can people be? Har Function mein aur har jagah shamil ho jaate hain. Inhe koi kaam nahi hota kya?", he thought while handing over the keys at the Valet.
Before the Khurana's could walk in, he cleared his throat loud enough to catch the family's attention. The three of them turned to look at him and Maan said, "Get out of this mess as soon as possible, especially you ladies", he said, specially addressing Naintara and daadima.
Naintara nodded, while Daadima said, "You've got to learn to wait and be patient, Son".
"Maan Singh Khurana does not wait for anyone, people wait for him", said Maan, with utmost pride in his voice.
"Lets see!", she said, turning and walking away gracefully, with Naintara following her. Maan stared at his Daadima. Dev smiled and said, "Chaliye Bro. Andar tuo chalte hain".
"I don't believe this. Tum logon ko in saare stupid functions attend karne mein bada mazaa aata hain", said Maan grumbling and saw Dev smiling. "Haan Haan, tumhe tuo bada mazaa aata hain na, yahan itne saare ladkiyon ko dekh kar".
"Haan Bro!", said Dev, while staring at one young beautiful girl pass-by. He suddenly realized what his bro had said and corrected himself, "No Bro. what are you talking?Main Naintara ke ilawa kisi ke bare mein soch nahi sakta".
"Yeah Right!", said Maan, knowing his bro was lying outright.
Dev got a call from Naintara asking him where they were and Maan decided to walk in beside Dev, very reluctantly. Heads turned as Maan Singh Khurana walked into the venue and women whispered to each other, "Yeh hain , Maan Singh Khurana. Shaadi nahin hua. Sexy and Rocking. Most Eligible Bachelor etc etc".
Maan rolled his eyes and thought, "yeh aurtein' get so influenced by riches, looks and name and fame".
However, he was immediately proved wrong, when he heard a loud husky voice say, "Agar woh Maan Singh Khurana hain, tuo main kya karun aur Nahin hain, tuo bhi main kya karun? Woh bhagwan hain kya, ki tum log itne ghoor ghoor ke dekh rahe ho?"
That's it for the time being. Do read it and let me know, what you think of it.
Thanks!
Soumya
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