The Eid engagement, and other weddings # 32

COVER STORY

“It’s about time you and Gohar made up,” Amani said. “We barely have any time left for dance practice, as it is.”

“It doesn’t take any time to practice a dance,” Hina said, tossing her hair behind her shoulder. “Let me show you.” She pulled up her laptop and clicked her way through to the video she wanted. Playing the video, she said, “Watch this.” She stood up in the middle of the floor and began trying out dance moves. See? Easy enough.”

“If you want to be humiliated in front of everyone, yes,” Amani said, getting up to join Hina in the middle of the floor. “You do it like this.” She did a graceful move. Gohar cheered. Hina frowned. “Do it again, slowly, so I can see what you’re doing,” she said, tapping Amani on the shoulder.

“Really? You’d agree to learn from me? Gohar, what kind of mood is Hina in?” Amani asked.

“Very agreeable,” Gohar said, joining the other two.

“Now, do it again, and slowly.”

After a good dance practice, the girls were ready to drop where they stood.

“Maybe doing so many songs wasn’t such a great idea,” Hina said, panting.

“It’s a lot of work, for sure,” Gohar said, holding her sides.

“We can do it if we just practice!” Amani threw her hands in the air.

“We don’t have any more time for practising,” Gohar said. “Now we only have time for doing!”

The time for doing had certainly begun. Hina was so caught up with dance practice with Gohar and Amani that the days flew by. In no time, the wedding itself was upon them. The house was decked out with wedding lights, the house was full of guests, and soon it was time for the first event: the mehndi.

The first order of business was getting Gohar through the door for her bridal makeup appointment. Hina held Gohar’s arm on one side, Amani held her arm on the other side and they walked her up to the bridal section of the beauty parlour together.

“I can’t do this,” Gohar said, shaking between them.

“Of course, you can,” Amani said. “You go in there and you sit in the chair and you get your makeup done.”

“What if I don’t like it? What do I do then?” Gohar said, tensing up.

Hina shook her by the elbow. “Just tell her you don’t like it and want to get it changed,” she said.

“Then I’ll be wasting their time!” Gohar said.

Now it was Amani’s turn to shake her. “You have paid for a service; you are going to stay there until you get it according to your liking,” she said.

“That’s fine but ...” Gohar slowed down. “What if I don’t know what I like?” she said in a small voice.

Hina and Amani stopped dragging Gohar by the arms and stopped to look at her.

“You’ve gotten dressed up all your life,” Amani said. “Surely you know what looks good on you.”

“You’re just nervous,” Hina said. “When you get there and focus, you’ll remember what you want.”

Gohar nodded.

The two of them proceeded to take her up the steps to the bridal section. The door opened and the receptionist called the bride inside, leaving the other two standing by the door. Hina looked at Amani. “Our turn,” she said. The two of them went back to the party makeup section of the beauty parlour.

Hina looked over her shoulder at Amani. Both of them were sitting at opposite stations at the beauty parlour.

“Gohar looked like a nervous wreck,” Hina said to Amani as the makeup artist dabbed at her face with a powder puff.

“It’s a miracle she agreed to go in there alone,” Amani said.

“She had to go in there in the end,” Hina said. “I’m just glad she went happily.”

“Happily enough,” Amani added.

“Ma’am, I need to do your lips,” said the makeup artist, and Hina stopped talking.

After the makeup station came the hair station. Hina sat there getting her hair pulled into curls, studying her made up face and how much it transformed her appearance. Amani walked in a little while later. Hina gasped.

“You look amazing!” Hina said.

“I know,” Amani said, twirling on the spot. “See you after I get my hair done.”Later, Hina and Amani met after they were done with their hair.

“I’m going back home,” Hina said. “I have to do sister of the groom duty.”

“Sure, you go on ahead,” Amani said. “I’m here to do friend of the bride duty. I’ll collect Gohar after she’s done getting ready and take her back home. See you tonight.”

The words sent a thrill through Hina. Tonight! The night was finally here, the one they had planned for so long. On the way home she counted the night lights, ending with the wedding lights on their house as she arrived home.

Ammi was busy making last minute checks on everything. Abbu sat in the living room, for once in his life not reading the newspaper. Ray was nowhere to be seen. Hina rushed up to his room and knocked.

“Come in,” said Ray.

Hina entered his room. Ray stood in front of the mirror in his room, smoothing down the front of his kameez. Hina, swelling with a sense of pride, went up to get a better look at him. “You look awesome,” she said.

“You think?” Ray asked, fixing a stray strand of his hair in the mirror.

“Yes, I think you look great,” Hina said, shooting him a meaningful look.

Ray picked up on her message. “Why, let me look at you,” he said, turning to face Hina. “You look absolutely dashing,” he said.

“Aww,” Hina said, brushing his sleeve lightly.

“Really,” Ray said. “You look beautiful.”

Hina smiled. “Thank you,” she said.

The sound of Ammi calling them both came into the room.

“Time to leave,” Hina said. Ray remained standing, staring into the mirror.

Hina shook him. “You’ll be fine, everything will be fine,” she said. “Come on.”

The family got into the car after Ammi had taken one last assessing look at each of their clothes. Ray’s collar was slightly crooked, Hina’s makeup was too loud, and Abbu had some dust on his sleeve. They did what they could about the men’s clothes, but Hina smiled to herself; there was nothing Ammi could do to make her change her party makeup. In the car, there was silence. Hina looked out the window, counting lights again.

At the wedding hall, Ammi connected with their relatives who were already there, greeting them all in turn. Hina followed her in greeting everyone. She walked into the women’s section of the hall which was lit up and decorated beautifully with flowers. Hina’s eyes shone. A few of her cousins ran to her. “When are we bringing in the mehndi?” they asked. “I need to ask Ammi,” Hina said, adding to herself, “Knowing her, she is just going to say ‘now’.”

The verdict from Ammi was indeed ‘now’, and the girls and women of the family gathered, holding the mehndi platters in their hands. Hina looked ahead into the hall, where people waited to receive them. She had the biggest platter, being the groom’s sister, and she strained her arms to hold it up. The walk into the hall began, the girls and women walking slowly with the candles in their platters glowing softly. They made their way to the front of the hall and set their platters down in a circle. The candlelight fluttered as they walked past.

Then it was time for Gohar to make her entrance. Amani was with her, holding the dupatta up over her head. The other three corners were taken up by her sister and cousins. Hina thought Gohar looked happier than she had when they had taken her to the beauty parlour. Maybe it was seeing everything look so real around her, the wedding hall and the people and the decorations, that just brought her out of herself and made her happy.

Hina was lost in her thoughts about Gohar, so she was startled when Amani came up and tapped her on the shoulder. “Come on, Hina, it’s time to dance,” Amani said. Hina’s eyes widened with shock. The pleasant atmosphere and people all around were no longer there.

“Hina, what happened, come on, let’s start?” Amani asked.

Hina stared at Amani. “I think I forgot all the dances,” she said.

To be continued...