Present day......
Chaya looked across the wedding hall at her husband Kush. He was talking to his twin brother Luv. She could not imagine two men more similar looking and more different in every which way.
Her neice, Luv's daughter Sujata was getting married, and this brought back a lot of memories of her own wedding day, so many years back.
Chaya's cheeks were burning with mortification. It was at the wedding mantapa that Luv her would- be -husband, walked in with Kritika, and announced that he was married to her. Leaving her Chaya, literally at the alter, with no where to go. Chaya's mother Daisy, burst into tears, her father Karumbiah wanted to kill Luv. Luv's parents were screaming at Luv, it was utterly chaotic, and every one had forgotten about the bride, sitting in all her finery, feeling utterly humiliated.
Chaya went into a daze, and sat there shocked. She looked up to see Kush walk on to the mantapa, and announced that he would marry her. There was a stunned silence. Chaya looked up and saw relief on her mother's face, aggression on her father's face . Suddenly Luv's parents started talking, and next minute, all Chaya remembers was that she was married off to Kush, her would- have - husbands twin brother.
Kush suddenly looked up to see Chaya watching him and gave her a slow smile. He left Luv and walked across to Chaya.
Kritika and Luv were child hood sweethearts, Luv's parents did not approve, because Kritikas father was only a manager on the estate and had no wealth to speak of. The girl had finished only matriculation and had been sitting at home. When Luv's proposal came to Chaya, the daughter of one of the top planters in Coorg, who had studied in Ooty, and then in Mount Carmel college in Bangalore, it was considered a good match of equals. The women could not be more dissimilar in looks. Kritika, was short, curvy and pretty, and Chaya was tall, slim and regal looking.
Soon both were pregnant, and Chaya gave birth to a boy- Kishen , and Kritika to a girl- Sujata. Chaya went on to produce a daughter Kaveri and Kritika misscarried three times and never conceived again.
Both Luv and Kush, were very hard working men, both busy in growing the practice. Their father had instilled in them that it was best for the business if they worked together and so the firm "Kalappa and sons" became one of the top firms in Bangalore. All of them lived in a joint family, in a huge house of St. Mark's Road in Bangalore. The house had three wings to it, added on by the far thinking Advocate Kalappa, who knew that he wanted to keep his brood under his watchful eye, and also keep the family unit together.
Kush nudged Chaya, and whispered " Where is Kritika? Luv cannot find her"
To which Chaya replied "Must be in the kitchen supervising the food ". It was a lie, she had seen Kritika go towards the back of the house and knew she had gone there to have a quick drink. Her drinking had started quite early, but slowly what was a night tipple had turned into a bottle a day, and now she was considered to have quite a serious drinking problem. Luv and she would fight practically every day, and Sujata had been brought up by Chaya and Kush.
When Sujata fell in love and announced that she wanted to get married , it was Chaya she told first, before her own parents, and it was Chaya who spoke to her husband and convinced her inlaws.
Kritika, got into depression. Her husband was a workaholic and she soon found that she had nothing in common with him. The distance was more than physical . It was believed that he was unfaithful to her, she had no proof and no way of confronting him about it. Initially she had felt triumphant about marrying Luv, but as she gotten older, a bit of jealousy mixed with intimidation seeped into her relationship with Chaya. She tried to imitate the way Chaya wore her clothes, her easy banter with her in-laws, her sense of humour, which got even the very serious Kush laughing. Sometimes sitting on the dining table, she would see the whole family laughing at a joke that Chaya had cracked, including Luv and she would feel a wave of jealousy.
Kritika started drinking, initially it would be a shot of brandy at night, that increased to a few shots of brandy with hot water, and then finally she became a full time alcoholic. The in- laws were very upset, Luv was indifferent, and the only one who worried about this was Chaya, because of the impact it would have on Sujata. Slowly she took over the reigns of looking after Sujata. The young girl loved Chaya, who told her stories during dinner, and read to her, and oiled her hair. She took her shopping, bought her makeup and went to see movies with. They would giggle over a common joke, and Sujata called Chaya "dodeavva" or big Mom. The child initially was rebellious, but with a firm hand and lots of love, she changed, and grew into an intelligent girl. Joining her Dad and Uncle in the practice, she specialised in patent law, a relatively new subject. Chaya wanted her to go to England and study it further and after much convincing, she was sent.
Chaya looked and Kush and said "Thank you for marrying me". Kush looked at her quizically, raising an eyebrow asked "All okay?" , to which Chaya replied "Just say you are welcome! Why do you over think things?" To which he replied " I am not over thinking anything, just trying to figure out, after 23 years, why did you suddenly decide to thank me! Besides, I should thank you too, its been a good ride ". He then reached over and kissed her on her forehead.
Chaya blushed, its very rare for Kush to display any affection in public. She loved him, and she thanked Lord Iggutappa for giving him to her.
