PART 1

The wedding was in full swing. Ritesh and Rinku knew it as the culmination of love that went far back to their childhood days. The presiding pundit placed her hand in his and chanted slokas taking the ceremony forward and the couple then completed the obligated circumambulations around holy Agni and then she moved to his left side becoming a part of him and his life. Ritesh looked at her fondly, thinking back of the dreams he had of wedding her. One dream completed, the next lay ahead—that of living happily with her for the rest of his life. The ceremonies completed, the bride was given a send off and then received at his house with the proper rituals. However, the path to the wedding was not straight and true. There were the usual ups and downs and times when it seemed she would be wedded off to someone else and he would have to be satisfied with another life partner.