The Grasp of Nighttide (30 page)

It was the night of the Sangeet ceremony. The night full of music, dancing, colors and wild fun. Although the big day was three days away, it was Sangeet that Janice had been waiting for, for so long. She wanted it to be the best ceremony in history, so she gave Jacob free reins to plan out the wedding day, while she worked on throwing the best Sangeet party ever. Also working separately was good as it meant fewer rows between them. 

As Janice and Jacob, separately of course, pondered over flower arrangements and song selection and the hundreds of hassles involved in planning a wedding, Lance and Rave found a lot of time to spend with each other. They were exhausted from the previous happenings and were not interested in making a grand affair of the wedding, and mostly kept away. However, a wedding at local church would never have been approved by Lance’s parents, especially by Janice, who was bent upon creating an unforgettable event as her boy was to be wed. 

Rave arrived at Janice’s mansion in LA on the day of Sangeet. When she got out from the car she was mesmerized by the enchanting décor that covered the façade of the already elegant and intimidating mansion. Golden fairy lights adorned the walls and pillars; they were hung from the roofs and came all the way down to the grounds. All the trees in the sprawling lawns were alight with dangling lanterns with multicolor lights in them that made beautiful colorful shadows all across the manicured gardens. The walk from the main gate to the house had makeshift pillars on both sides draped in blue and black silks with fairy lights of matching colors. Large specially ordered lamps were placed near the pool and their reflection in the clear water was just majestic. As Rave hurried inside, she caught a mouth-watering aroma coming from the food marquee.

At the entrance of the main hall, once again Rave was stupefied. All the regular furniture was removed and the black marble floor was shining under the lighting from all sides. Thick blue mattresses were lined against the walls with black velvet pillows on them. The pillows were decorated with Indian embroidery and mirror work. In the center, was a large square low stage with huge disco lights hanging over it. This must be the dance floor, thought Rave. The windows were open and the silky sheer window panels blew gently in the breeze, as though inviting all to enter. Even though the place was not completely set up yet, Rave knew it was going to be fabulous. She found Janice surrounded by workmen waving her hands to each of them, telling them exacting what she wanted. 

It was work for her, no doubt, and she was occupied with her frustration getting things done.

“Hi,” Rave said to Janice, expecting a warm welcome. 

“You head upstairs. The make-up artist has arrived and so has your dress. I’ll be up when I’m done here.” With that said, Janice went over to a table at the side which had lots of trays. 

Somewhat taken aback, Rave smiled and climbed the stairs, which were draped in thick garlands, and bouquets of red roses making grand appearances after every two steps. Rave was busy admiring the flowers when she spotted a girl sitting on the steps, in a floor length traditional dress. 

“Rashi?” Rave said happily. Spotting a familiar face amongst everything was a relief. 

“Finally,” Rashi sighed. 

“You look very pretty,” Rave said 

“Thanks Alice. I mean Rave... I haven’t seen your dress yet but I bet it’ll be spectacular,” Rashi said. “You’ll rock in it.” 

“You are early.” 

“Lance wanted me to be here, especially because you don’t have anyone familiar. Just to make you comfortable. Come on now.” 

A dark blue and black colored dress, a lehenga choli, awaited her in the next room. It was beautiful. The black blouse and the flowing blue silk, floor length lehenga were both covered in intricate gold embellishments. Rave examined it closely, admiring the details of hand-beading and gold threads that ran through the fabric. She had not tried it on but Janice had taken measurements and assured it would be perfect on her. Rashi helped her get into the dress while explaining to her about ”Gota” and ”Tilla” work that was done on her garments which was what every Indian bride traditionally wore. She looked more beautiful than she’d ever seen herself.

Rashi fired another question, “what does Tujhe mean?” 

“You,” Rave replied. 

Rashi had been teaching her Hindi for the past two weeks and was now testing her to see if she remembered what she was taught. Rashi had tutored her for hours; Rave was terrible at grasping foreign languages. Rashi said it was best she knew some words, at the very least, for the ceremony and so Rave gave it as much attention as she could. Her mastery of Hindi was not upto the mark, but Rashi made it a point to successfully drill some phrases and words into Rave’s head. 

Almost an hour passed before Janice came to call Rave downstairs. She had changed into- what Rashi whispered to her to be- a saree. It was a light pink and she let her dark hair loose- there was an elegance and grace she carried with it.

“See, I told you it would be perfect,” she said, admiring her. “The color suits you so well. You look stunning!” 

“Thanks.” 

“But there is still one thing missing.” Janice inspected the contents on the table. 

Rave looked herself in the mirror again. She had the ‘kundan’ earrings and necklace on, even bangles. Nothing looked missing to her. 

“Here,” Janice showed a small dot sticker, before she set it on Rave’s forehead. “Now, you are done.” 

“Right Aunty.” Rashi stood behind Rave looking over her shoulder at the reflection in the mirror. “With the bindi, she looks perfect.” 

When she headed downstairs, flanked by Rashi and Janice, the hall was unrecognizable. The lighting had done an amazing job. From the tiny mirrors on the pillows to the beautifully designed glass pieces on trays of flowers and henna, everything reflected light making the hall glow in a deep shade of gold. There were hundreds of colorful diyas, traditional Indian clay lamps, along the stairs and walls. About a hundred people in Indian attire had their eyes set on Rave, making it feel it every bit her wedding day. Rave felt butterflies soaring in the stomach and her knees felt like Jell-O. 

“Stop fidgeting,” Rashi ordered. “You do not need to do anything other than enjoying yourself down there.” 

Rave scanned the hall for Lance. Where was he? 

“Lance had to be ready down there to receive you. I knew Jacob would not let him be on time.” Janice said in anger. 

“That’s okay he’ll be here soon,” Rave tried to reduce her stress and anger, forgetting about her own uneasiness. 

“Well let’s hope he hasn’t caged my son,” she sighed. 

What Rave knew about Lance’s parents was that they were popular and reputable people, very sophisticated. However, when the topic came to each other, they’d fight and argue and accuse like little kids. Lance was right in wondering how they ever got married. She wondered as well. 

When Rave sat on the mattress which was golden in contrast to all the blue mattresses there, all the people took their seats. Her mattress was covered in a canopy of thick marigolds, and flowers of every color adorned the wall behind her. The fragrance coming from the flowers wasn’t overwhelming as Rave thought it would be. Janice might’ve used some of her tricks to get a right scent balance going, and had done a wonderful job at that. Rave felt like a princess on her throne, only her prince was missing. Janice, who had been sitting next to her, was replaced by a lady- Anita- who was going to draw mehandi on her hands. Rashi had mentioned that to Rave. The crowd was being served drinks and most of them were chatting with each other. 

The smell of henna and spirit of womanhood filled up the room where women of all ages and sizes had gathered, sitting cozily with each other, admiring each other's mehendi. Further away in the room, the younger ones- boys and girls- took to the makeshift stage, performing solo, duet and even group dances on innumerable wedding themed Bollywood numbers. The men stood at the bar and near the stage, considering it none of their business to involve in girls’ stuff.
 

“I’ve included Lance’s name somewhere along this design.” Anita said.
 

“Oh,” Rave looked as Anita pointed to where it was.
 

“You don’t know about this. Do you? Let me explain.” She said as she started drawing on Rave’s other hand. “The wedding mehendi designs usually include the hidden inscription of the groom’s name on bride’s palm. It is believed if the groom fails to find his name within the elaborate patterns, the bride will be dominant in conjugal life. Oh here he comes.”
 

Lance entered the door and was instantly greeted and teased by the men gathered there. They were blocking the way so that he could not get to Rave, but they eventually pitied Lance and let him go. 
Lance took a seat at her side.

“Hey, you look amazing,” he said kissing her. 

“You look amazing as well,” she gestured to the dress that he was wearing. It was what all men were wearing there -except Jacob- but Lance’s was grander than the rest. It complemented the colors of her dress, but while her dress had more blue, his had more of black. 

“This is called a shervani,” he said.

“Right! Shervani.” she smiled at her handsome fiancée. 

Then Janice announced, “Let’s hit the dance floor people.”

The lights around the hall were dimmed and the dance floor came under full glow. The DJ had specially been flown from a top club of India. He changed the tone of music from the slow background instrumentals, which had been playing till now, to fast paced, disco numbers. 

As soon as the music started, people started performing to Bollywood songs. Rashi and Lizzie were up first. Rave was amazed how gracefully and fast they both moved together in unison. Anna couldn’t make it because she had an exam to attend. Next was a cute dance by twins Kim and Kate. They both were wearing matching outfits and captured the audience’s hearts by their endearing moves.

Franny didn’t back out; she had convinced her friends from Colorado to perform tonight as well. They were wearing traditional dresses especially designed for their performance and performed a cultural dance that mesmerized everyone. 

 Next was Carl, and Lance’s stepbrother Sunil. They did a gig on a loud and fast Indian dance number. Then, at last Janice and Ravi performed on a slow romantic number. Janice had called in a professional choreographer for the event and everyone’s mastery at their respective numbers was evident of his skills. People were laughing, clapping and cheering and even whistling. They were already congratulating Janice on arranging such a wonderful party. 

Everyone was enjoying except one person. Jacob was standing at the corner, Rave observed, making irritated faces. He didn’t agree to perform at all. Lance excused himself and disappeared. 

“And now for the last performance of tonight,” Janice announced. 

Rave looked around for Lance, she didn’t want him to miss it. 

“Call Lance,” she called out to Rashi. 

The lights went out from the hall and a single strong beam fell on the center of the stage. 

“Look in front of you,” Rashi winked. 

There he was right in front of her, emerging from the fake shimmering smoke and looking ravishing in the glow of the light.

“This is a song I have made myself, for my lovely bride-to-be,” he said. 

 Rave looked at him in astonishment. She had no idea he was going to perform.

Everyone was clapping to a song that alternated between Hindi and English sentences. Rave was about to clap but then remembered her mehandi and stopped. Though there were other guys and girls participating in the dance- she didn’t see anyone except Lance. He had put a lot of time and effort into his practice- she was sure the song was his, though it was previously recorded with music. She could understand most of it- and then realized the reason. Rashi. Rashi had been working with Rave teaching her specifically the same words of Lance’s song. The lighting and smoke was fully coordinated with his movements and Rave felt she was watching a movie where the hero was hers. Half way through the song, he pulled Rave to the floor. Rave was caught completely off-guard and at first she was too numb to move. Others joined in going around in a number of circles around them. There was too much energy and laughter around her that she soon caught up in the vibe and started to dance. Rave and Lance both danced their hearts out, forgetting the crowd of people around them. 
It is magical
, thought Rave. She had never felt happier in her life.

She could see Franny trying to push Jacob into it, but he stood defiant. After a sumptuous dinner people started clearing out. Lance was feeding Rave, and praising her continuously. 

“You are at my party Jacob!” Janice’s voice boomed across the part-empty hall. The remaining guests were looking on, but the two of them were lost in their own world of anger. 

“I’m here for Derek,” Jacob said. 

Lance took it as a cue for them to leave and got up. “Guess it is time to go.” 

“Shouldn’t we really meet before the wedding?” Rave asked. 

Janice had told her that they weren’t supposed to see each other- after tonight’s event- until wedding day. It was an Indian tradition, which Janice wasn’t ready to give up.