Dreaming.

She walked down the aisle in the loving embrace of her father, dressed in milky white gown,complimenting her skin tone and bedecked in jewels. She looked mesmerising. Her smile was contagious, her lips formed the perfect curve and her eyes, they appeared to twinkle like stars. It looked as if she was radiating happiness all around, with each step she was taking towards the man of her dreams.

Finally her day has arrived and she was going to get married to the guy she loves. She felt she was the happiest woman to have ever set foot on the Earth.

But when Father asked her if she takes him, as her lawfully wedded husband, a harsh realisation came rushing towards her. “I can’t be this happy”, she thought to herself.
Yes, it has been long since she was this happy.

She remembered how she had spent last few years trying to reason with everyone, trying to explain that she understands the importance of her decision,that she wasn’t ready for that big a responsibility, that she needs to find her centre before being the centre of someone’s else life and that she wants to know the guy, have feelings for him before she is married to him. But she assumed that was too much to ask for, as no one appreciated her ‘boldness’ rather labelled her as a clear case of parenting gone wrong.

Her relatives, who until now, didn’t care if she was living or dead, had suddenly started showing a great deal of her interest in her life. She was in her twenties, and so it was their prime responsibility to see that she gets married as soon as possible. According to them she was old enough to get married but not enough old to decide with whom.

No, no they weren’t forcing her or imposing their decision on her just convincing her to make the ‘right decision’. She had never taken any decision for herself, just meekly followed what others said but this time she had decided she was not going to let anyone intervene. A spineless creature stood up and that did hurt.

But she didn’t succumb to their wills. It was her life and hence her decision. When she wants to marry and to whom is going to affect her whole life and she is not going to let anyone ruin that for her. She tolerated everything and everyone until she came across him. And after that everything fell into place.

Standing in the middle of church, pinching herself, with everyone glaring in her direction, eagerly waiting for her to say ‘I do’ did make her look stupid, but she didn’t care anymore.
She was not sleeping. But it was indeed a dream.

Originally published at anyprachi.com on February 5, 2017.