The mehandi was done and the jewels and saree arranged and packed for the wedding.
September 3rd: I woke up at 4:00 AM and we headed straight to the wedding hall. The beautician was late by two hours. She came in by 6:00 AM. I was nervous – not thinking of the wedding. This was a life changing day for me, the day I would be an independent free bird.
The beautician was drowning me in make-up. She made my hair beautiful. Oh, it looked amazing. She draped me in a blue silk saree. I went over to the stage, for the initial function - when the groom’s family would give the new saree to change into.
I received the saree and came over. Nothing had happened yet. I was waiting nervously. What if I had to live with him all my life? What if the wedding gets over?
No way. I thought of Hyderabad. Nadhiya would never let me down. I waited nervously for magic to happen. I went and sat myself near Kannan. The priest was offering prayers.
It was then that some commotion started brewing at the entrance of the hall. After ten minutes (that seemed to me like an hour), the police came in. They arrested Kannan, his father and his mother, and walked out of the wedding hall. A beautiful pregnant lady I had never laid eyes on before was accompanying them.
I lost myself in the commotion. I was excited. Wow! I was going to escape the dreaded marriage life with a backboneless moron. The word “Escape” brought me back to reality. I had Nadhiya’s key in my purse. I ran to the bride’s dressing room. Women were wailing around me, waiting to pacify me.
“Looks like Kannan is a womanizer. He has promised to marry that woman, and had demanded a lot of dowry from her, a car, a house – all registered in his name, an LED TV, the latest refrigerator, washing machine, all brand new. That apart, he has demanded 20 lakhs in cash. Initially, the girls parents thought they could talk the guy out of the excess dowry, and didn’t raise the issue. Kannan has even slept with her promising to marry her. Later when he realized that her parents will be unable to pay all the dowry, he has refused to marry her. The girl’s name is Sowjanya. As his daughter’s marriage was stalled, her father has committed suicide in grief, and her mother became mentally unstable. All these days, she has been silent. Suddenly, today, she has given a complaint against him, after she got to know that he was getting married to our Karthika. The girl is now pregnant. Oh, she saved our daughter. Poor thing. Sowjanya is so beautiful, look how much she has suffered. Look at what this Kannan is capable of doing!! An educated man, joins with his uneducated parents, and runs marriage as a business. He deserves to be hanged. And what a pity, our Karthika had to fall prey to his plan. Thank God, she is saved now. God is great!!”
I was so happy that people around me were so naïve. While they were wailing about what had just come to pass, no one, for once stopped to think, how she had got to know that Kannan was getting married today. Well, I was secretly thanking Nadhiya for the prank well played.
Another two to three ladies came wailing in..
“Look, look, this seems to have been their engagement photo”
“First Aravind ditched you, now it’s Kannan. Oh. Lord shani is torturing you. Don’t worry darling. He will come back soon. There won’t be any issue. You will lead a happy life…...”
I grabbed my purse and fled.
“Where are you running dear?”
“Aunty, dad will need money to bail out Kannan. I am going to give this to him. If anyone asks, tell them I am waiting near the gate”
“Oh Karthika. Why do you have to do the running around with the make up, hair-do, saree and all? Get someone else to give it to dad”
“No. no problem.” I didn’t wait.. I ran, ran as fast as my legs could carry me…
I checked my mobile. Nadhiya had messaged me the cab driver and cab number details, and Gokul’s number. I called and spotted the black swift Dzire waiting two buildings away. Wow!! My favorite color. I ran for my life. As I drove to Nadhiya’s house I was thinking of all that I had heard. How did she manage to cook up such a beautiful story? She even got the police into believing it. Looks like she runs very good business.