The Caged Bird – Chapter 9

The Chavan family welcomed their new bride wholeheartedly. The moment Sayi put her feet down from the palanquin, they landed on a cushion of thornless roses. She looked around the place, it was not even half as big as her house, but unlike hers, it looked lively! Decorated beautifully with lights the ‘Chavan Nest’ was ready to welcome the new birdie inside it.

Sayi performed all the rituals as instructed, beginning from kicking the rice pot to putting the feet inside red alta and then lastly leaving her hand impression on a wall, which had two impressions already.

Pranjali had slept in her dad’s arm and Prachi and Karishma had now surrounded Sayi.

“Sayi bhabhi, you won’t be able to go to your room tonight” Karishma teased

“Yes, the priest asked you both to stay away from each other tonight” Prachi added

“So we decided to not let you get bored and….” Shivani bua joined them

“Parttyyyyyy” 3 of them said in unison

“I also want to party” Devi came in rubbing her eyes

“Look at you already sleepy, you have your exams coming up, and have already missed enough classes, you won’t be spared tomorrow, so go and sleep” Prachi ordered

“But….”

“No buts, now go and sleep like a good girl”

Karishma closed the door after devi left

“Guys, don’t you think, this lehenga is too heavy for Sayi to party considering the fact that she might be tired after the wedding??” Shivani questioned looking at Sayi from tip to toe.

“We can’t actually do anything, she can’t change till we finish all the rituals tomorrow, but we can at least remove all the jewelry, they seem heavy too. Also, I bought this (Showing a bottle) from Ranbir’s collection”

“Prachi bhabhi, Sayi bhabhi can’t break her fast and won’t Ranbir bhai get angry?” Karishma questioned

“I know how to deal with him, we’ve been together since 10 years now, I know his every weakness. But on a serious note, he has gained courage since the time he married me by going against his family, but everything is managed!” Prachi replied.

Karishma : “I was always curious about your love story, since we are already not sleeping tonight, why don’t you tell us?”

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Ranbir and Mohit entered Virat’s room

“What are you both doing here?” Virat asked raising a brow

“Why can’t we be here?? Were you expecting someone else? She won’t come as the priest had asked you both to stay away for a night and Prachi bhabhi and Karishma have already surrounded her” Mohit teased.

Ranbir : “Don’t worry. We won’t let you get bored and will enjoy the last day of your singlehood.”

“Bhai he is already married now”

“Then we will celebrate the last day of Virat being alone in this room”

“Are you both done? Where is Samrat? I haven’t seen him since he took away the reporters” Virat questioned looking around

“Duty calls” Mohit said shrugging

“Now?”

“Yes! The border situations aren’t that good, they are expecting a war, so he was asked to report immediately. They even landed a helicopter in Joshi mansion for him.” Ranbir said in a serious note

“Okay! Can you both please get out now? I feel tired and sleepy”

“No, we won’t sleep tonight” Mohit said jumping over him

“Fine! What are we gonna do? Watch Netflix?” Virat asked throwing himself on the couch

“Are we on a date?” Ranbir said giving him the ‘are you serious?’ expression.

“What?”

“No seriously, who watches Netflix on his wedding night”

“It’s…..not….my….wedding…night”

“But still”

“Then are we gonna play jenga?”

“You do one thing, you go and sleep, tera kucch nahi ho sakta (nothing can be done of you/ you are impossible), you literally are a hopeless case”

“That’s what I’ve been saying since then, I NEED SOME SLEEEP”

“But we won’t let you sleep” Mohit interrupted

“It’s no use talking to him, if we stay here for another minute, I bet he will make us play some weird couple game. Let’s do one thing, let’s go to the bar, he won’t be able to eat anything anyway, since he is keeping a fast.”

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Sayi was now free from all the heavy jewelry that were no less than chains to her. The thing she always hated the most in her wardrobe were jewelry, and it looked like her parents took a revenge on her for rejecting every jewelry they had ever gifted her by making her wear over a dozen of them!

“You don’t need to feel awkward among us, you can relax.” Prachi commented seeing Sayi nervous

“I like her” Shivani said making all 3 of them look towards her

“I mean” she continued “just look at her, she is so cute, shy and…sophisticated, even the way she sits screams elegance and perfection.”

“Bua, you’re making her more nervous” Karishma said rolling her eyes

“Uhhhh…. Prachi weren’t you going to narrate your love story? I missed everything, since I was in London back then” Shivani said winking

“It’s already been 10 years, why you want to listen to it now??”

“Then do you want us to wait for Samrat bhai to bring his bride? Of course!! Because we have to stay up all night and are restricted to enjoy because of Sayi bhabhi’s outfit, plus we can’t even drink!”

“Since Sayi can’t drink right now, and we have to welcome the new addition to our group, I bought orange juice as a replacement” Karishma proudly said taking out orange juice cans and Prachi made faces seeing it.

“Prachi bhabhi, I know you are eager to drink something else, but neither any of us is going somewhere nor is your beer. So for now, let’s adjust with this, we have countless nights to spend like this. Okay?” Karishma said throwing a can towards Prachi.

I will try to focus more on the younger gen, so the parents won’t be seen that often, they will only come in the picture occasionally. Tbh, I find the elder generation of daily soaps really annoying, especially the ones in this serial.

I realized while watching, that in a serial, 25% problems would be solved or won’t occur if the elders don’t interfere in every matter and give the next gen couples some space, the next 25% if the lead actress minds her own work and don’t poke her nose everywhere, another 25%, if she stops hiding things from her partner by going to do everything on her own secretly which often leads to misunderstandings she doesn’t even bother to clear and the last 25% need not to be counted as the producers won’t be able to digest the fact that they are happy even for a single episode, they have to be on the move till the last episode!