Chapter 4 The meeting

    The   Khurrana family was all set to meet the Shekhawat. Adhya was in her room reminding herself of the tips that dadu gave her.

No. 1 Wish them in namaste (the Indian way to greet by joining your hands ),  she should also touch his mother's feet for blessings.

 

No 2 only answers when a question is asked and in a polite manner.

No 3 on the dinner table let the elders start first then she should start having her meal.

No 4 Answers confidently about herself whenever asked.

No 5 And the most important point is no PDAs in front of elders, she should maintain a distance with abeer.

Adhya for the first time in her life feels this kind of mixed emotions, she is feeling butterflies in her stomach and at the same time, she was scared of her mother's reaction. She was just praying that his mother should accept her wholeheartedly and she promised herself that she will never disappoint abeer's family.

   As the clock stricked 7 pm the shekhawats arrived at khurrana's residence.

    Garima Shekhawat wore a simple saree and abeer was dressed up in casuals. Holding the sweet boxes in their hand they were standing at the entrance of khurrana's house.

khurrana family gave a warm welcome to them at their  house,

    Abeer introduced himself and his mother to them.

Mr Ashish Khurana introduced himself, his wife, his father to them

  Abeer touched their feet for blessings, devrat was happy seeing this kind of value inside him. He already approved this alliance in his mind but he knows if he says yes then, as usual, his daughter in law will say no .so he decided to act accordingly.

   Ashish called adhya in the leaving room,adhya entered the room wearing a kurta with leggings, it was a very simple yet elegant outfit.

  Garima looked at her in admiration, she was impressed by her simplicity and her choice of the outfit too. Now she understood how abeer fall in love with her. Adhya greeted them in namaste on which abeer winked at her secretly.

Dadu signalled adhya to touch garima's feet for blessing, she did exactly what her dadu told her.

   Garima was happy seeing her respect towards elders and their culture too.

  "God bless you baccha " saying this she gave a warm hug to adhya.

    Seeing their outfit and behaviour drishti got confused, adhya told her that abeer is the owner of the Shekhawat empire. But now looking at their outfits and decency she was having second doubt in her mind. The old lady is wearing a saree it must be costly but not designer .she was also wearing diamond jewellery, but drishti was not impressed by them. The boy abeer was good looking and a decent guy, but he was too close to his mother. Drishti doesn't want her daughter to suffer in the same way as she was suffering as Ashish is too close to his father.

   So she started her inquiry

  " So Mrs Shekhawat adhya told me that the rest  family are living in India, so you live in a joint family there "

  "Yes when we use to live in Shimla, but our ancestors  are from  a small place near Shimla ."

  " So you have a big family, I mean more family members "

  "No, we are only 4 people in our family

My elder sister in law gauri didi and her son rudra, me and my son abeer  "

 " Ooh ok. "

  "  Rudra this name I heard somewhere," Ashish asked in curiosity

, "Uncle my brother is among the topmost businessmen in India "Abeer declared proudly.

 " What's his full name "Ashish asked again.

"Rudra Singh Shekhawat  "

 " Ohh ! yes I remember when I went to some conference arranged by some ngo for medical help to the poor in Mumbai, I think I met him there. I must say he is a great gentleman I still remember their hospitality towards  us "

"Can I ask you which NGO you are talking about? "garima asked in a curious tone

  " See its almost two years back but I think it was R AND R CHARITY TRUST "

Ashish answered her politely.

   "It is our organisation only actually it is on my husband and brother in law's name, Rajdeep and rishab. After their demise garima didi and rudra made this organisation help the poor   people in our society, giving them medical aid and education ."

   "If you dont mind, how they died, I mean ..' drishti asked bluntly.

  " Drishti what are you asking ha, MRS Shekhawat you dont have to answer that "   Ashish scolded his wife

  "Sorry if you felt offended but i .."

Drishti stated hurriedly.

"It's ok Drishti we are going to be  relatives  in future so I also want to clear everything before we proceed"

further ."

  

   "My husband Rajdeep and rishab bhaiya my brother inlaw were returning from a business trip

On the way from the airport to our home, they met with an accident. They both died on the spot  "garima said in a broking voice as she was on verge of crying.

  " I am sorry Mrs Shekhawat " drishti felt bad

   "Auntyji ' adhya offered water to garima. Adhya glared at her mother as a warning and requested her father by blinking her eyes.

  " Thank you beta," garima said taking water from her.

  "It's ok drishtiji after that accident I shifted with 11 yr old abeer to London at my parents' place.  Rudra was 22 yr old at that time and still handled the business empire of shekhawats efficiently. We are very proud of rudra ., as he took our empire to new heights of success. When abeer finished his studies rudra told him to take over the London branch of the Shekhawat empire.

So for the last 3 years, abeer is handling this branch successfully ."

  " you mean to say all the Shekhawat Empire is handled by rudra your nephew right  " drishti tried to enquire more.

    Before garima or abeer answered this question devrat announced, as he knows what is cooking in Drishti's mind.

"I think we should have dinner now as it's getting late and the rats in my stomach started playing hockey" on his comment all of them smiled making the atmosphere light again.

 

  Adhya escorted garima and abeer to the dining room and make them seated. on their respective chairs.  When drishti was going to enter the dining room, Ashish grabbed her hand and took her to the adjacent room and spoke in a threatening tone.

  "Remember drishti our adu loves abeer and they are nice people. I know what you are worried about so just I want to tell you that Shekhawat's are a famous name in the business world and dont you dare to mess this up. It will be better to stop your brain from overworking ."

Drishti made a dirty face but agreed to

him but in her brain, she was not convinced about abeer as she understood that his elder brother is controlling their business as well as their lives

  At the dinner table, garima was surprised to see the table which was full of all famous Indian delights.

She was impressed by the thoughtfulness and hospitality of khurranas.

  Looking at garima's smiling face, devrat understood that she liked it very much. He smirks at drishti who turns her face to another side.

  Adhya gave a grateful smile to her dadu,dadu blinked his eyes at her.

After dinner garima thanked the khurrana family " really mr khurrana I enjoyed the meal very much, we like  to eat Indian food in our home too .my both sons are fans of Indian food more than any other international cuisine ."

 "  Both the sons means you have one more ..." Drishti got confused.

  "No auntyji mom is talking about rudra bhaiya and me " Abeer cleared Drishti's confusion.

  "Ooh ! you mean your nephew "

  Devrat was getting irritated by drishti 's foolishness so he tried to handle the situation.

" nephew is also like son right, as daughters-in-law are more like daughter right Mrs Shekhawat. see I also treat drishti as a daughter, not as a daughter-in-law. Right drishti"

  "Yes papaji" she replied smiling sheepishly but she got the taunt in his father in law's statement.

" please call me garima as you are elder to me. And yes you are right "

Devrat smiled at that elegant lady, he understood now that garima Shekhawat is a pure soul with a naive mind. But still, she stood strong as a single parent for her only son. Adhya will be fortunate to get such a nice mother in law and a family who loves respects and care for each other, but on the other hand, drishti was not at all convinced with the Shekhawat family. She never wanted her only daughter to live in a joint family

Let's see what destiny has planned for Adhya and Abeer

   

.