"Yeh wala dekhiye Ranisa"One of the girls who had accompanied the designer said as she showed yet another color poshak to Iti.

"Nhi"Iti said as she saw the color and the poshak.

They had been trying to select Iti's outfit for Diwali,Dhanteras and Lakshmi Pooja.And because it was Iti's first Diwali here it was going to be grand for the couple and also for Udaipur.

"Bhabhisa aap inhe chodiye,hamare saath aaiye"Gauravi said as she too entered the living room which was full of dresses and jewelry.

"Pr Nanisa Hukum ne kaha h ki hame aaj hi saare outfits select krne honge Gauravi"Iti said.

"Haa ussi ke liye toh aapki help krne aaye h hum"Gauravi said as she finally managed to take Iti away from there.

"Pr kaha jaa rahe h hum?"Iti asked as they walked towards the left side of the palace where she hasn't visited much.

"Aaiye aap sirf"Gauravi said as she took her and they both stopped infront of a huge chamber.

"Yeh kiska kamra h?"Iti asked.

"Yeh hamari mumma ka kamra tha"Gauravi said with a small smile.

Iti stared at the huge door and then at Gauravi.

Gauravi opened the door and they both entered inside.

The chamber was huge and it seemed as if nobody visits it much because it had that dusty smell,though it was neat and clean but because it remained closed most of the time it had that smell to it.

Iti's eyes scanned the room and her eyes fell on the numerous photo frames which were hung on the wall.

Two lil kids were in each one of them with a young lady who smiled brightly at the camera.

She could easily make out who she was because of her eyes.The same ones which she encounters when she looks at her husband.

She was his mother.

Rani Diya Kumari Rathod.

"Yeh Pratap Bhaisa h,aur yeh hum aur yeh h hamari mumma,Veer tabhi paida nhi huye the"Gauravi said clearing her doubts and Iti nodded at that.

Iti's eyes scanned the other photos as well, mostly Shiv and Gauravi were in it but later in a few of them Veer was also with them as a small baby.

"Aaiye,aapke liye dress dekhte h"Gauravi said making Iti frown.

Here?

"Yaha kese?"Iti asked.

"Rukiye aap bas"Gauravi said as she pulled Iti with her towards a huge walk in closet and Iti gasped as she saw poshaks kept in huge glass cabinets,they shone as bright as gold.

"Yeh hamari mumma ke h,aapko inn mein se kuch pehenna chahiye,aakhir ek Rani pr Rani wale kapde hi jachenge na?"Gauravi said and Iti shook her head in denial at that.

How could she wear her clothes?

"Nhi,hum kese?"Iti said.

What if Nanisa Hukum didn't liked it?

What if Shiv didn't liked her touching his mother's stuff?

What if Iti messes up with the dress or ruins it?

They were worn a by a queen after all,how can she wear them again?

"Ab yeh sab aapke hi toh h bhabhisa!aap Ranisa h Udaipur ki,toh yeh sab aapka hua"Gauravi said with a smile but Iti still shook her head in denial.

"Nhi,aapke bhaisa ko bura lag sakta h,aur wese bhi hum kese aapki mumma ke kapde pehen sakte h?inpr toh aapka haq h Gauravi"Iti said.

"Ha toh hum bhi pehen lenge ismein se kuch,pr inpr aapka zyada haq h bhabhisa,aakhir aap yaha ki Ranisa h aur aap chinta mat kijiye Bhaisa gussa nhi karenge"Gauravi said but Iti was still not sure.

____________________________

"Iti aap ready ho gayi kya?"Shiv asked as he waited in the room while she was getting dressed in the walk in closet.

"Ji bas ek min"Iti said as she finally opened the door of the closet and walked out.

Shiv who was correcting his turban moved his eyes in her direction and stood still.

Iti walked towards him,the noise of her anklets and bangles jiggled in the silent chamber.

She waited nervously for his reaction.

Will he scold her?

Is he angry at her?

She shouldn't have come into Gauravi's words and wore this poshak.

"Wo....woh...

"Chaliye chalte h,sab hamara hi intezaar kr rahe honge"Shiv said interrupting her and she just nodded her head at that.

She moved towards the mirror to apply sindoor as he picked up his sword after fixing his turban.

As she was done both walked out of their chamber.

"Bhabhisa!!!aap kitni pyaari lag rahi h!!!humne kaha tha na yeh rang aap pr bht accha lagega!"Gauravi said as she spotted the couple as they entered the living room.

Shiv and Iti walked towards Nanisa Hukum to take her blessings.The elderly lady did stare at Iti for a min longer before blessing them.

"Bht sundar lag rahi h aap Iti"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti tried to give her a small smile.

"Gauravi,jaiye jaakr Shaam se kahiye ki inn dono ki nazar utarne ke liye saaman le aaye"Nanisa Hukum said and Gauravi did as asked while Shiv rolled his eyes at that.

"Baar baar nazar utarne ki kya zaroorat h Nanisa Hukum?"Shiv couldn't help but ask her.

"Aap chup rahiye,yeh krna bht zaruri hi jaata h,aap dono pr sabki nazar hongi aaj,hum nhi chahte ki kisi ki bhi buri nazar lage aap dono ko"Nanisa Hukum said as she held the red chillis in her hand and rotated it anti clockwise around the couple who stood still.

She then did the same thing with Gauravi and Veer too who too stood still and let her do what she wanted.

"Chaliye ab bahar chalte h Panditji Pooja ke liye intezar kr rahe h"Nanisa Hukum said.

"Rukiye aapki nazar bhi utarni padegi"Shiv said and the elderly lady stared at him in confusion.

"Hamari kyu?"Nanisa Hukum asked.

"Kyuki aap itni pyaari jo lag rahi h,kyu Veer?"Shiv asked and Veer nodded his head excitedly at that.

"Wahi toh,aapko dekhkr koi keh hi nhi sakta ki aapke itne bade-bade nati-natin honge"Veer too said with a smile and Nanisa Hukum shook her head at their childish antics.

Iti and Gauravi smiled seeing the fun banter.

"Yeh mazak ka waqt nhi h Pratap chaliye Pooja ka samay ho raha h"Nanisa Hukum said seriously.

"Ha chalte h pr aapki bhi nazar utregi uske baad"Shiv said firmly and Nanisa Hukum was surprised.

Was he serious?

"Shaam,jaiye aur mirchi lekr aaiye"Shiv said.

"Pratap"Nanisa Hukum said but he ignored it.

Shaam brought the chillis and handed them to Shiv who looked at it in confusion.

"Aapko nhi aata h yeh sab,chodiye isse aur chaliye bahar"Nanisa Hukum said but Shiv shook his head in denial.

"Toh bataiye kese krna h,hum krte h"Shiv said stubbornly.

"Pratap kyu zidd kr rahe h aap?"Nanisa Hukum said.

"Aap zidd kr rahi h,acha rukiye hum khud se hi krte h"Shiv said and Nanisa Hukum sighed.

"Hame dijiye"Iti said softly just for him to hear as she forwarded her hand to take the chillies from him.

"Aapko aata h?"Shiv asked and she nodded.

Well Iti hadn't done it ever but her mumma,dadi and now Nanisa Hukum has done it for her numerous times so she has an idea as to what had to be done.

"Iti aap kaha apne Pati ki baaton mein aa rahi h?"Nanisa Hukum said as she was surprised that Iti took this seriously.

"Krne dijiye na Nanisa Hukum,aapko bhi toh log dekhenge"Iti said but but her tongue when she thought she spoke something wrong.

"Hamara... matlab h...

"Dekha inhe bhi samajh aa raha h ki aapki nazar utarna kitna zaroori h!ab aap bhi chup chap khadi rahiye yaha aur Iti ko aapki nazar utarne dijiye"Shiv said and Nanisa Hukum sighed then and let the kids do what they wished.

Iti stood infront of Nanisa Hukum and started rotating the chillies around her in anti clockwise direction from too to bottom as she had seen her mother do.

Once that was done she gave the chillies to shaam and asked him to burn them.

"Ab chale?"Nanisa Hukum asked and Shiv nodded his head at that.

They all walked outside together where the hawan for the pooja was organised.

They went and stood infront of the Panditji.

"Panditji yeh h Pratap ki patni Iti"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti and Shiv together bowed down to touch the Panditji's feet who blessed them.

"Akhand Saubhagyavati bhav"

"Yeh toh accha h,isbaar nav vivahit jode ke haathon Pooja hogi toh bht shubh hoga"Panditji said and everyone nodded their head at that.

There were a lot of people whom Iti obviously didn't knew.But a few faces were familiar,i,e Shiv's paternal side of family along with a few people she had met during the feast.

"Aaiye aap dono yaha virajmaan ho jaiye"The Panditji pointed out to the seats placed beside the hawan kund and Iti and Shiv walked and sat on it.

The hawan then started and Iti and Shiv did the aahuti of ghee as asked by the Panditji.

The whole area was filled with the chants of the holy mantras and the aroma of the fire from the hawan along with some holy oils and insence sticks.

Iti just held Shiv's wrist as and when the couple had to put ghee in the hawan kund.

The hawan continued and finally came to an end with the last chanting of the mantras.

The Panditji applied kumkum tilak on Shiv's forehead and asked him to do it for Iti as well.

Shiv dipped his finger in the kumkum water paste and turned towards Iti and applied it on her forehead too.

Shiv got up then holding his sword in his right hand and forwarded her left hand to her so that she could get up with his help.

The two then got up and went to meet the people who had come to be a part of the pooja.

The prasad was distributed amongst everyone then.

"Pratap ek kaam kijiye,abhi ke abhi Iti aur Gauravi ko jewellery store lekr jaiye"Nanisa Hukum said once everyone had left and they all have had their lunch as well.

"Uski kya zarurat h Nanisa Hukum?hum jeweler ko hi ghar pr bula lete h"Shiv said but Nanisa Hukum shook her head in denial at that.

"Nhi aapko hi jaana padega inhe lekr"Nanisa Hukum said and he frowned hearing that.

Why?

"Pr kyu?"Shiv asked.

"Aaj Dhanteras h,aaj ke din ghar ki betiyon ke liye kuch bhi chandi ya sone ka khareedna bht shubh hota h,isliye jaiye aur inn dono ko jo pasand aaye woh inhe dilaiye aur aaiye"Nanisa Hukum said and Shiv sighed but nodded his head at that.

The trio got ready and even Veer begged them to take him with them so the four of them settled in two cars which were followed by 8 more cars,four in the front and four from behind.

"Arre Ranasa,aapne aane ki takleef kyu ki hame hi bula lete hum Mahal aa jaatein"The owner of the shop said as he saw Shiv entering with his wife and siblings.

"Nhi,hum bas dhanteras ke liye kuch khareedne aaye the"Shiv said and the owner nodded and escorted them inside bringing chairs for them to sit.

He even ordered for refreshments to be brought for them.

"Aap dono dekhiye aapko kya lena h"Shiv said to the two ladies as he sat in the chair while the jeweler stood on his foot waiting to show them what they wanted.

Gauravi and Iti stared at eachother.

The jeweler started showing them all kinds of jewelry because the two didn't knew what they had to purchase.

"Woh dikhaiye"Iti said as she saw a beautiful pair of anklets,which looked elegant and light.

She wears anklets now that she is married but the ones she wears are too noisy and heavy for her taste.She could buy this lighter pair and wear them when she is at home,it would be less noisy for her and more comfortable.

Well she has been wearing anklets since she was a kid because her papa liked the melody it created when she walked with her tiny feet and soon enough her whole family started liking it and so she was asked to wear them always.

The jeweler showed her the anklets and Iti took it and saw the simple yet beautiful design.It also had lil bells which would make noise when she would walk.They were light and easy to carry.



"Pehenkr dekh lijiye Ranisa,aap pr bht acche lagenge"A sales girl said and Iti nodded and decided to try it first.

She got up and decided to keep her foot on the small bench which was kept for such purposes only.

Shiv moved towards her and took the anklets from her surprising her.

"Hum kr dete h"Shiv said.

"Nhi,aap mat kijiye,sab hame hi dekh rahe h"Iti said stopped him.

Everyone's gaze was stuck on the king and queen who seemed to be in a small disagreement.

"Toh dekhne dijiye"Shiv said but she again stopped him.

"Pr aap Raja h,aapko aise sabke saamne hamare pair nhi chune chahiye"Iti said.

"Raja h pr ek pati bhi toh h,toh pati toh patni ke pair chuu sakta h na?"He said the same thing she had told him a few days ago when she was tying his shoelaces.

Iti didn't had anything to say to it then.

Everyone was still staring at them as Shiv bent down a lil and placed the anklet on Iti's right foot.

"Wese bhi hame shoelaces baandhane nhi aate,yeh baandh dete h,phir equal ho jayega na?"He said as she had told him the same thing when he felt awkward about her tying his shoelaces.

Iti let him do it then and Shiv tied the anklets around her right feet and then the left one.

"Kese h?"Shiv asked as Iti walked a lil in them.

"Ache h"Iti said.

"Lene h aapko?"He asked and she nodded her head at

that.

"Thik h"Shiv said.

Iti was about to remove them but Shiv asked her to keep wearing them.

"Pehne rakhiye"Shiv said.

"Phir yeh wale?"Iti asked as she showed him the anklets she had worn earlier.

Shiv took them from her and kept them in his pocket.