Prologue

Life is unpredictable,

usually never goes the way we plan it

or like it to go, but we have it and with life

anything is possible

The truth is you don’t know,

what is going to happen tomorrow.

Life is a crazy ride,

and nothing is guaranteed.

Nothing feels better than, a surprise

from the person you miss

“Byeeee girlsssss, Happy holidays!” I shouted happily to all my friends and everyone shouted the same to you. With a smile plastered, I went towards my father’s car that was parked a few feet away from the entrance. Seeing me he smiled and unlocked the door for me to take a seat, He signaled me to wait a few minutes as I got inside pointing his phone, I nodded.

“How was the exam?” my dad, Mr. Krishnan, a popular physician asked as he kept his phone down.

“I Will get a pass and guess what? Finally I am able to breathe without any exam tension.” He laughed at me, knowing how I hate exams. I had three weeks of sleepless nights for my second year final exam. Like me, my dad too hates exams. But, no one in my college will accept it. He is well known for framing difficult question papers. Being, Head of the department and senior professor known for having a strict exterior.

When people come home, Everyone will get astonished seeing him afraid of me, my mother and last but not least my brother too, he is the sweetest friendliest best father. My mom is best too but my dad is best of best!

Both My mom, Mrs.lakshmi, sweet and caring homemaker and my brother Varun get jealous of me for me being the princess of my dad. Even Though, they are jealous about it, I know I am their princess too, it’s just they won’t admit to me.

I really miss Varun, as he was doing his M.S in the U.S, he is twenty two. We are close to each other. It’s been six months since I last saw him face to face, We do FaceTime almost daily, But, because of my exam I haven’t spoken with him nearly for the past one month properly. Need to give him a ring soon.

“Wake up Ketu, we reached home” I came out of my thoughts and lamely smiled at dad, got out of the car and went inside the home opening the gate myself.

“Hi! Welcome”. I heard a familiar voice as I removed my slippers and turned back to see my brother smiling at me.

“Varun? What a surprise” I squealed and hugged him.

Slowly, I learned that it is just a surprise to me, while our parents know about his trip already, glared at them as I was in shadow all the while, too happy about his sudden visit to care about anything else, after all I like this surprise.

“what the sudden visit is for?” It wouldn’t just be to give me a surprise. He loves me but he also knows we are just an upper middle class people not a Bill Gates to fund frequent overseas travel without solid reason.

“Got a free ticket to meet you all and didn’t want to miss it.”he said as a matter of fact.

“free ticket?” seeing my confusion.

He confusedly said looking at all theee of us, “yash marriage”.

Yash? Like Yashwant, Ram uncle and Pooja aunt's son. Ram uncle was my dad’s best friend. Pooja aunty and my mother became closer friends than their partners, even though they were the reason for each other to meet, unbelievably she died a few years back in an accident. Somehow their sons yashwant and sushwant and my brother too clicked and became good friends.

As I looked confused, my dad updated me with the news that it’s true his marriage is on January thirty first. Filled me up saying, Ram uncle and sushwant came here and invited us all on the day I went to get my hall ticket. Since I returned late from the library, They left after waiting a long time as they got to invite others too. Mom teased me that they invited me too and said the last smirking at me as not to get tense, that none forgot me. I smiled, as Ram uncle is my favorite uncle.

Also they said sushwant/sesh was eager to meet you. But, left not to disturb me as I had exams saying time is still not meant from him to meet you. Something like this or other will always pop up, that I still didn’t get a chance to meet sesh and yash.

We all spoked a while and as the engagement is two days from now on January twenty sixth day in Chennai, We decided to start tomorrow evening, I want to sleep for the sleepless nights I had to study for exam and my brother is goal asleep from the jet lag, we left to bed earlier.

Next day we got up early by one in the afternoon. And had lunch and packed things for our one week trip and started to Chennai by evening. It was a four hours journey from our town. On the way, me and my brother called all our cousins and made a hangout appointment for tomorrow. All my cousins are working in Chennai. And we all had dinner at a motel, reached by 11.30 to our house in Chennai.

First time, we are staying in our house and not in our relations house as we bought one here last year, also They just finished building the house last month only. So, we thought we can use it first before leaving it to rent during my vacation. Don’t think vacation means a month, just a week. One of the many reasons, I feel sad as to why I passed the school. No more two months vacation, from feb third my college starts.

Knowing us, dad wanted us to settle first before going to bed because except my father no one is an early rooster, All of us were owls. It took time for us to arrange things and settle. When I reached my bed it was two and sleep came to me as soon as I hit the bed.

My brother woke me by seven in the morning and asked me to get ready, but sleep took over me as I pulled the blanket back seeing it’s just seven.

I opened my eyes to see my dad sigh and shout for varun.

“Didn’t I ask you to wake her up?” asked Varun angrily, who nodded his head at my dad

“I woke her up by seven itself, didn't I ketu?" As he saw me still in the bed.

“Yes,... you woke me up by seven...and I slept again as only by 11 we planned to go out.." I asked like what’s wrong now as he looked irritated.

“Uhhh, I woke you up and said we are going to have breakfast in Ram uncle's house and said you to get ready soon" oh?

“I heard only the get ready part and not about the breakfast part, very sorryyyy..."

Dad and varun sighed, my mom who came in and laughed on hearing what happened just now, they decided that it was already late as it takes one hour to reach their place, left telling me to get ready and delay again.

After they left, I done my morning routines and got ready, had biscuits as my breakfast as I realised no one prepared food on the kitchen yet and saw the time as 10, called varun to know where he is, who said on nadan will come and pick me up and he will come directly to spot.

I called nadan, he asked me to lock the house and come out as he will be here in another 10 minutes. Nice thing mom and dad took an extra key.

Nadan is my mother's sister's

Maha

son. He is my parallel cousin, 25 turning 26 years old in a few months, He did his M.B.B.S in my college and now, he is specialising in surgery here. We both are like tom and jerry, we both like each other but we fight for anything and everything when we were younger but now not that much but still we pull each other as we get a chance. His father Baskar loves me too much like I am her own daughter and let’s say more than his son Nadan, makes nadan roll his eyeballs at me time and then, as he does almost everythings if I asked until now that my mom and Dad glares at me to stop using him.

Nadan’s duster car came into my view, and I got into the shotgun as he stopped before me.

“You are five minutes late"

“hello ketu! how are you?" Nadan sautés his greetings with sarcasm

“I was about to say....after pinpointing your mistake1” I said, smiling a little with him.

"oh…?”

"I am fine and u?" He laughed.

“Good! How did you write your exams?"

“I will pass" and nadan smiled at my answer "were we going to pick others or they will come straight?"

“Unlike you, Everyone knows their way to come.” He replied smirking cockily

“It could have been better, if you told ‘everyone is coming on their own’, why pull my leg?" See everyone knows the chennai city well as they pursued their college here or working here. But, I come here only during my holidays to meet these idiots and how can he say like I am an idiot?

“ It’s fun seeing your reaction" And so I decided to give him my silent treatment, but my luck he got a phone and unlike my father he uses Bluetooth to which I am okay.... But I don't like attending a call while driving.

Which made it look like, I have to keep my mouth shut as he ended the call only as we reached express avenue mall by 10.45 a.m.

“ketu, you seem to have lost a lot of weight for the marriages? Looking great, Have you started lifting weights?” Nadan asked as we started walking towards the escape theatres from the parking lot.

We all cousins are trying our best to get into our fitness. We even joined gyms, as my cousin sisters are getting married next month to look great in the photos. But, as usual our everyday two hours gym workout resolution we all took four months got changed to thrice a week or once a week thing too at times. Only the brides are the one that’s trying to hit the gym regularly and when it comes to dieting, we are doing it improperly that our sisters said to stop telling them what we ate as they are following their diet regimen with at most sincerity from last month as the marriage is nearing. Marriage preparation is fun.

“thanks! But, it's all thanks to sleepless exam nights, i try some days to get in perfect shape too, but i like floor exercises better than your weights guys!” Lucky guys have height, he is 6ft also handsome like varun, just an inch shorter than my brother varun and my brother is 6'1" and both are Indian fair with slim features they are trying to build arm muscles, not 6 or 8 packs muscle as they are happy with the fan following they have and knows well that we can't sacrifice on our food to that extent.

“ wait here and don't move! I will go and check whether others came or not?" I gave a thumbs up as I got it here.

Nadan already booked the tickets for yevadu, we don't have a tamil film that we all haven't seen, planned to watch Nut jobs, animated English movie, but couldn’t able to get tickets for 7 people in a row. So, our next option went to a yevadu telugu movie, see we were reddiars and we all know telugu to speak and understand but not to write and read. I even think we got tickets to this film, because it was a morning special show on a weekend as not everyone knows Telugu in Tamilnadu.

Nadan is currently asking everyone to come fast as no one has shown up yet, while he did an overnight shift to compensate today’s shift, when we are all on Saturday holiday.

His professor made him do a night shift to get leave today, because he and his professor have this mutual understanding to not like each other and made each other's life a living hell.

“come out of your thoughts, preethi is here” I glared at him as what do you expect me to do when the other person you know is speaking with someone on the phone, you have your own thoughts right?

“where?" He pointed his phone sarcastically, smiling a little, I looked around and found her walking towards us as I waved my hands for her to catch us.

Preeti is my dad's sister's

shavatri

daughter. My cross cousin but I call her sister too, actually I call all my brother or sister with their names except when I want them to do me a favor. She is 23 years old, working for British Airlines as something like maintaining their database as a software engineer. She Finished UG and is not planning to do PG for now and interested in starting a family. We have a good sister sync.

"hi ketu! Hi Nadan.."Preethi greeted as she reached us

“Good to see you, Preethi! how r u?" Nadan said as I welcomed her with a hug.

"fine! You guys?" She said as I stepped back.

“excellent.." I replied to her the same time nadan replied to her, "was marvelous till I met this" pointing me, earning a smack on the head from me.

“where are others?"

“on the way" nadan sighed.

“Ketu, you are looking good, I Wish i had exams too?" She looked at herself making us laugh.

“You are looking hot as usual, and by the way nice Kurta" she has got a good amount of followers on her back, that we all laughed reading her love letters or messages she got in the college.

She is getting married in May, while Bhanu is getting married in April. I know her fiancé from my childhood, He is my dad's friend’s son Chandrasekhar or chand. He is a senior to Nadan, also had done his UG in my college, has been a good bro to us even before the arranged marriage.

He is an emerging orthopedist, Yearning well and working in Bangalore that both are trying to shift their working place, she is step closer than him.

“ guess, thanks"

“bhanavi and Gokul are here too"we watched the direction nadan pointed, as they came we exchanged greetings.

Bhavani and Preethi joined hands, saying they definitely needed to hit a spa. As the brides, they look duller than me, I looked at them like really? I was inside home for the past month and I got a shade brighter. They sighed as they wanted to stay at home, but they got a wedding shopping to do.

Soon, they settled, they didn't want to get anymore fairer as they pulled my legs by rewinding preethi’s engagement, where i tried to excitedly do the makeup to my already fair tone, ended up as a ghost for halloween party.

We all felt it's really been six months, we all had a hangout together, last was at bhanu's engagement? We met when Varun took off his flight too but it was every short time, then we all got busy with our life to hangout like this.

Bhanavi and Gokul are my dad younger sister's

Radha

children, They are also my cross cousins.

Gokul is the elder one, he is 24 years old and became an architect and right now doing some specialisation in his field, i have no idea what it is. See in hindu religion, there is a practice of marriage happening between cross cousin, when I was younger, the grannies used to speak as we are pair, both of us don't have any ideas like that and I think that didn't let us have a good communication between us, we don't share great bonding like I share with Nadan, he smiled at me as greeting, he and nadan started speaking.

Bhanavi also known as bhanu is 22 years old, 3 months older than varun and 4 months younger than Preethi. varun, bhanu, preeti all were of the same age.

She and Preethi went to the same school, while Preethi is the hot girl of the class, she is the cute girl of the class, both my athai transferred the beauty gene they got from our grandma to them, got our grandma gene. she has a curly hair unlike preeti whose hair is straight, while mine is wavy

She has finished Bachelor in economics and M.B.A, She is so good at studying that she was the topper in her school, colleges. She IS working for a private company as some consultant head, she is going to resign from her job next month, reasons: 1. she doesn't like working, 2. Her fiance doesn't want her to work too but will adjust if she wants to work, so she decided to quit before her marriage.

She is now engaged to Praveen, a 25 turning 26 year old chartered account. It’s an arranged marriage two months from now, he is a good person and okay with me calling bhavani, bhanu itself and don't want me to say bhanu vathina

vathina is a term to show respect to elder cross cousin sister in telugu

. He is also supposed to come here today but due to some client issues, couldn't come today..

wait! there is still half an hour of time and why didn't Nadan cancel the ticket yet? stupid, I have to let him know, we could get refund ..

"nadan! Praveen Anna is not coming, go and cancel the ticket we could get a refund..."

“Varun said me to buy an extra ticket and I shipping that ticket to this"

“for whom?”

"for him" heard Varun's voice coming from my back and turned.....

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