Indian Wedding can be Chaotic

[nabpa]

What I am about to tell you have about more than half truth to it and rest of the half is what I imagined. Hope you love it.

Part I: How Shy Can a boy around 14 years old be?

The air in Kottapalli village didn't just smell; it assaulted. It was a olfactory riot of marigold dust, wet earth, burning camphor, and a coconut oil so potent it could probably polish shoes or preserve a goat. Fourteen-year-old Aravind stood at the edge of the wedding pandal, a creature of quiet corners now marooned in a monsoon festival of noise. He clutched a paper cup of sweet lime juice with both hands like a thermal flask in the Arctic, his stiff cotton kurta already engaged in a slow-motion war of attrition against his neck.

Aravind was not merely shy; he was a master of the invisible arts. He possessed the three-step retreat (two steps back, one step lateral), the diplomatic nod (a slight inclination of the head while maintaining eye contact with a point three inches to the left of the speaker's ear), and the "I'm actually looking for the restroom" shuffle, which he had perfected by waddling with hands clasped behind his back toward the horizon. He preferred dog-eared books, closed doors, and the comforting predictability of silence. But here he was. Surrounded by uncles whose voices seemed to originate from diaphragms made of brass drums.

"Aravind! Beta! Come here!"

The aunties parted like the Red Sea, revealing a tangle of cousins treating the wedding as their Olympic training ground. A twelve-year-old with a mouth full of paan shoved a tiny glass of thandai into Aravind's palm. "Drink. It'll make you relaxed and brave." Everyone there knows this boy as "The Shy Boy".

Aravind, paralyzed by the glass's proximity and the paan-speckled gaze, offered his diplomatic nod. The glass was tilted. The thandai, which tasted of spices and liquid courage, went down. His eyes widened. His knees wobbled. The shyness ecosystem inside him short-circuited.

Before he could deploy the restroom shuffle, a cluster of college girls from the girls' college drifted by. "Look," one giggled, covering her mouth. "The shy boy is vibrating." "He looks like he's about to run away crying to his mother," another whispered. Aravind sank into his kurta, praying for the earth to open up and swallow him whole, preferably at a 45-degree angle so he could land gracefully in a pile of leaves.

Then, the mandap doors opened. Swathi arrived.

She did not thump; she flowed. Nineteen years old, Swathi moved with the quiet, unshakable resolve of someone who had calculated the exact weight of her savings and decided the village could bear it. She was the love bride, a Muslim girl (Don't ask me why she is having a Hindu name: Maybe because her mother was Hindu, but Father was Muslim and maybe her mother requested for her name) from a weaving hamlet married to Aravind's Hindu uncle. Her borrowed crimson lehenga slipped perpetually at the shoulder, revealing a collarbone straining under a silver chain that looked like it had survived a family heirloom lottery. Her smile was practiced, earnest, and razor-sharp.

This is how she almost exactly looked like:
https://tse1.explicit.bing.net/th/id/OI ... n&o=7&rm=3

She was poor. She was different. She was entirely unapologetic.

As she stepped onto the stone, her eyes scanned the periphery. She saw Kavitha. Kavitha, radiant in a pastel pink lehenga worth more than Swathi's ancestral roof. Kavitha, whose dupatta draping was praised by the Panchayat like a sonnet. Kavitha, who had been handed gold stars since birth. Kavitha, who had never had to prove anything because the village had already pre-approved her existence.
Here is what Kavitha looked like:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag ... _3ESg&s=10

Swathi's jaw tightened. If envy were an Olympic sport, she would be doing warm-ups.

I'm not their religion to make them love me unconditionally, Swathi thought, watching Kavitha laugh at something an auntie whispered. I don't have the dowry to buy respect. But I have eyes. And I have a loom. I can weave this village into loving me.

Her gaze swept over the crowd and locked onto the trembling houseplant at the edge of the pandal. Aravind. The uncle's nephew. The boy hiding behind a stack of coconut shells, muttering apologies to a samosa.

Swathi's mind, quick as a shuttle, made a calculation. If she could tame this stray, this shivering, stuttering boy, the village would see her power. A shy boy bowing to her? A chaotic element brought to heel? That was dominance. That was influence. At the core, she was afraid to talk to anyone who hated her but saw Aravind as the only person she can approach and make start some connection with her husband's family.

He's a project, she decided, her smile sharpening by a fraction. And I will make him my masterpiece. Or I'll break him trying.

The universe, sensing Swathi's ambition, provided a prop. A tray of ladoos was jostled. Aravind, still riding the thandai wave, jerked forward. His hand, acting on panic rather than logic, swept out to steady himself and scooped up three ladoos. He turned to place them on the tray and inadvertently slammed his palm against Kavitha's back who was just close. He is a bit messy with his movements.

Thwack.

Three ladoos adhered themselves to the silk dupatta draped over Kavitha's shoulders, sticking there like orange suns.

The pandal gasped. A maid stopped mid-step with a tiffin box hovering like a sacrificial offering. Uncles paused their political talk. Kavitha blinked, reaching up to touch the sugary protrusions on her back. Her eyes narrowed.

Swathi didn't flinch. She stepped forward, her voice ringing with the confidence of a village headmistress. "He's sorry! The boy is shy; his aim is wild." She turned to Aravind, whose face was now the color of a boiled crab. "Aravind. Come here. Wipe it off."

Aravind, terrified, shuffled forward, his knees knocking audibly. He leaned in to dab Kavitha's dupatta with his kurta hem, but his legs, betrayed by the thandai and fear, decided to make the matters worse for Aravind. He slipped, lurched forward, and his forehead bonked gently against Kavitha's chin.

Ouch....both screamed but Kavita's Scream was with anger.

Kavitha's eyes went wide. Aravind froze, his face inches from her neck, smelling jasmine and entitlement. Swathi watched, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.

"Apology accepted, but just barely," Swathi murmured, loud enough for the front row to hear. "He'll learn manners. Under my guidance." Swathi proudly thought she can finally help the boy and become part of a family that do not want to accept her.

Aravind scrambled back, bowled over by a cousin, and vanished behind a banana leaf, vowing to become a ghost. But ghosts, he was about to learn, are very visible when they don't exist.

[nabpa]

Day two: Never forgetting day

Morning arrived the next day wrapped in jasmine-scented mist. The bathing ghat, a long concrete strip shaded by neem trees, had become the village's theater of daily ritual. Mothers and aunts gathered with plastic tubs and coarse washcloths, bathing their sons between ages seven and ten. The boys, hardened by routine, splashed and scrubbed, their laughter echoing off the wet stone.
This is how it looked like (Trying to find images that match the true story. the below image does resemble the look but in real, it is much bigger open space than the reference images):
https://ashtanokai.org/wp-content/uploa ... 45x320.jpg
https://www.vikasanvesh.in/wp-content/u ... l-page.jpg

Aravind stood at the far end, the eldest at fourteen, the king of awkwardness. He had been retired from the bath-tub by his mother weeks ago but had never quite mastered the art of bathing alone without feeling naked in public. He hovered, toes tracing invisible patterns in the wet stone, his kurta tucked in tightly like a nervous bird. He was unable to undress himself in front of all these women who were bathing their own sons in underwear.

Coming to Swathi, She’d already won the morning’s unofficial competition by arranging the guest beds with military precision, folding sheets into sharp rectangles, and remembering three uncles’ blood pressure medications by name. But she hadn’t forgotten Kavitha. Swathi watched from beneath a carved stone pillar, arms crossed, analyzing the battlefield. She saw Kavitha, effortlessly scrubbing her toddler son's back while the boy splashed with the joy of a conquering general. Kavitha's son was loved; Kavitha was adored.

Swathi's eyes slid past the toddlers, past the mothers, and locked onto Aravind. He was dipping a finger in the water, pulling it back, adjusting his kurta, adjusting it again. He was sweating. He was a lost cause. A damp sock in a village of dry towels.

If he stands there all day, Swathi reasoned, he'll catch a cold without even getting a bath. He'll look miserable. And if he looks miserable, my house looks uncaring. He needs to be bathed. He needs to be polished. And he needs to be helped enough that he can learn to take care of himself.

Without a sound, Swathi grabbed a low wooden stool from a stack of laundry. She slid it onto the wet stone with a deliberate thud. She didn't ask permission. She didn't ask why. She positioned herself directly in Aravind's line of retreat, blocking his escape with her beautiful body.
She looked something like this:
https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-actre ... es-148.jpg

Aravind blinked. "Swathi-ya…?" he started, his voice cracking like a dry twig snapping in a library. "I can do it myself. I really". She didn't listen and pulled his Kurta from top of his head and he was left with just underwear.

"You're not even started, how can you do it yourself then?" she interrupted, her voice gentle but absolute, carrying over the water slosh. "Your shoulders are still dusty from yesterday's playing. You'll develop skin rashes if you don't wash them."

She stepped closer. Aravind tried the diplomatic nod. Swathi stepped forward, nodding back, closing the gap. Aravind tried the three-step retreat. Swathi mirrored him, her eyes fixed on his waistband.

"Sit," she commanded, pointing to the wet stone with her washcloth.

"I'm too old," Aravind squeaked. "The boys are seven."

"You're fourteen and you're standing there like a potted plant, " Swathi countered. "Stand here."

Aravind, trapped by the stool, the saree basket, and the magnetic pull of Swathi's will, slowly went closer himself onto the stone near here. He crossed his arms over his chest, creating a defensive fortification.

Swathi didn't hesitate. She reached out. Her fingers found the waistband of his damp underwear. There was a quick tug, a soft rip of elastic meeting friction, and in one fluid motion, she pulled the cloth down.

Aravind froze. His eyes went wide, bulging like a startled frog. The morning air hit him like a revelation. He was, for all practical purposes, on display. He tried to bring his hands down, but Swathi's washcloth was already mid-air.

"Arms up!" she barked.

Aravind threw his arms up, exposing his Everything. A collective inhale rippled through the ghat.

Thwack-scrub.

Swathi brought the rough washcloth down on his spine with the rhythm of a drumroll.

"Oof!" Aravind gasped, his knees buckling. He tried to curl forward, but Swathi's hand pressed firmly between his shoulder blades. "Relax, Aravind. You're stiff as a board."

"Swathi-ya, please, the everyone is watching ..."

"Let them watch," Swathi murmured, wringing out the cloth. "They're watching me do what you can't do alone."

She scrubbed his back with the methodical efficiency of a master weaver correcting a snag. She hit a spot near his left shoulder blade that made Aravind let out a high-pitched squeak.

"Got one!" Swathi announced to the crowd. "He had a marigold seed lodged in his neck. I found it.". there was none like that, but Swathi is just trying to impress her washing skills by attracting attention though her achievements.

From the neem tree, the college cousin girls burst into muffled giggles. "Shame, shame, puppy, shame," one whispered loudly. Another added, "Swathi didn't just bathe him. She demoted him to toddler status." while another girl pointed out, "toddlers are wearing underwear if you see clearly. Poor Aravind, I have no idea how he is feeling right now but it is quite funny to see his tears, but he isn't saying a single word"

A maid with a nose ring and a stopwatch mentality narrowed her eyes. "Bold move," she whispered to her friend. "She's going to win few hearts with her mischief. Mark my words. she sure won my heart, haha...who would have thought she would make a shy boy stand there entirely naked just on her day 1 in this family !! Seeing Aravind like that, I never felt I seen any boy this cute while crying "

Aravind's face was burning so hot he thought his ears might steam. He wanted to dissolve into the stone. He wanted to vanish into the neem leaves. He wanted to scream, but his voice had packed its bags and left. He stood there, arms raised, underwear not on his body, back shining with soap, feeling like the most exposed creature in Kottapalli which is infact true.

Swathi moved to his arms. She scrubbed his elbows. She scrubbed his wrists. She found a spot on his forearm and dug in. "Aha! Stubborn dust."

"Swathi-ya, my elbow!" Aravind wailed.

"Your elbow needed love," she corrected, rinsing the cloth. "Lean forward. Back."

He obeyed, groaning. Swathi scrubbed his back again, harder this time, making him wobble.

"Look at him shake," an aunt noticed. "He's wiggling which is very clear from how his little peepee is trembling like a leaf."

"Let him shake," Swathi called back, her voice bright. "I'm getting the stubborn dirt out. He's all gristle and shyness. Needs to be softened."

Kavitha, still scrubbing her son, tilted her head. Her toddler looked up and pointed a soapy finger. "Ma! My cousin big brother is fully naked!"

Kavitha followed the finger. She saw Aravind, bent double, arms raised, Swathi looming over him like a benevolent but terrifying gargoyle. A small smile tugged at Kavitha's lips. She turned back to her son. "No, baby. Your cousin small brother is fully naked is more accurate and Swathi is his new mother now." all ladies there smiled at those words

Aravind heard all this. It pierced through the soap stinging his eyes. He felt his soul leave his body, drift up to the neem leaves, and watch his body being manipulated by this woman from hell in a borrowed lehenga.

Swathi finished the rinsing. She grabbed a clean towel, but instead of handing it to him, she draped it over his head and shoulders. Then, with a flick of her wrist, she wrapped the towel around his waist, tucking it in tight, then tighter, until Aravind looked less like a boy and more like a rice dumpling wrapped for steaming.

"There," Swathi said, finally glancing up. She patted his damp, soapy cheek. Her hand lingered for a second, claiming him. "Now you're ready. And you're presentable. I told you I'd make you shine."

Aravind stood there, towel clutched tight like a shield, face pink, heart doing tap dances of doom. He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He was trapped in the towel cocoon, his ankles sore from the cold stone, his back tingling where Swathi had found the marigold seed.

Swathi stepped back, arms crossed, surveying her work. "Walk properly, Aravind. You're not a duck."

Aravind took a step. The towel tightened. He took another step. He waddled.

[nabpa]

Aravind waddled back toward the pandal, the towel secured around his waist and knotted at the back, leaving his upper back exposed and slightly damp. Every step was a negotiation between the towel and his thighs.

Waddle. Tug. Waddle. Tug.

The college girls were waiting by the neem tree for the bath to be finished. "Here comes the dumpling!" they cackled.

A group of aunties nodded approvingly. "Swathi has good hands," one muttered. "The shy boy is walking among us in just his towel. Look at that posture. She's straightened him out."

Aravind kept his eyes forward, refusing to look at anyone. He focused on the path. Left foot. Right foot. Don't trip. Don't trip. If you trip, the towel falls, and then you're the naked boy of Kottapalli forever.

He reached inside house seating area and collapsed onto a plastic chair, the towel still covering. He was safe. He was warm. He was humiliated beyond measure.

Swathi appeared beside him a moment later, holding a glass of lime water. She didn't ask if he wanted it; she handed it to him. He took it, giving her a chance to pull the towel off entirely. She smoothed the towel at his shoulder with a possessive pat.

"Good boy," she whispered, just loud enough for Kavitha, who had drifted over to inspect the commotion, to hear.

Kavitha raised an eyebrow. "You bathed him, Swathi? He's fourteen. what were you thinking? look at the poor boy (She looked at me with a pity expression with a smile that tells she likes what Swathi was doing but she is still in her senses to complain half-heartedly), he is so shocked that he didn't even realize you pulled his towel off nor trying to cover his little thing"

"He needed it," Swathi said, her smile blinding. "He was looking dull. Now he's shiny. And look" She gestured to Aravind, who was trying to shrink into his own skin. " he's listening to me. Isn't that better? Less drama, more obedience."

Aravind recollected what everything just happened. He caught Swathi's eye. She winked. A genuine, terrifying wink.

Aravind felt a strange sensation. It wasn't just shame. It wasn't just rage. Beneath the humiliation, there was a grudging, magnetic pull. She had seen him. Not the shy houseplant, but the boy with the marigold seed in his neck and the dust on his elbows. She had touched him, cleaned him, wrapped him, and claimed him. And she had done it all while defeating the village, out-greeting Kavitha, and establishing herself as the master of all she surveyed.

He realized, with a sinking heart, that he belonged to her now. The bathing hadn't just washed away the dust; it had anchored him to her orbit.

Swathi leaned down, her voice a murmur only he could hear. "Tomorrow, Aravind, we're going to work on your smile. You're still frowning like you're attending a funeral. By sunset, you'll be laughing. Or I'll make you laugh until you cry."

She straightened up, turned to Kavitha, and offered a diplomatic nod. "Kavitha, your son is adorable now. Aravind is just… under my renovation. "

She turned and walked away, her wet saare flowing, her walk gleaming.

Aravind sat there, the towel warm around him but at the sholder, the taste of sweet lime juice turning sour in his stomach. He watched her go, the undisputed queen of Kottapalli, wielding a washcloth and a willpower that could scrub a village clean.

He took a breath. He tried to relax his shoulders. He succeeded, just a little.

"Tomorrow," he whispered to himself, the word barely audible. "She'll make me smile?"

He glanced at his reflection in a discarded steel plate. He looked ridiculous. He looked defeated. He looked… naked.

Aravind sighed, thought of adjusted his towel, and realized that for the first time in his life, he wasn't just hiding. He was the center of attention. And the center of attention was Swathi's property.

Somewhere in the distance, the college girls began to chat and teasing,
"That cousin of mine, he doesn't know that while he was bathing, I was recording a video of his deeds!"

Aravind groaned, pulled the towel over his head, and accepted his fate. The ecosystem had changed. The predator had arrived, and the houseplant had been watered, scrubbed, and tagged.

He was Swathi's. And Kottapalli would never be the same.

[Freesub]

Interesting story, what parts of it are real? Did you experience it yourself?

[nabpa]

viewtopic.php?t=5952

I wrote that already - story point number 5 at the end of the thead.

[nabpa]

Basically the truth part is that, it was not some aunt but one of my uncle who did that. And also no teasing directly nor no mention of it to embarasse me but they mentioned to make me convice me that it is ok for my age to be seen naked.

[TeenFan]

Unless I missed something, Aravind had his back washed...then the arms...and the back a second time.

Were any other parts of his body washed, the chest or legs?

Also it seems poor Aravind hasn't reached full puberty yet, and he is still boyish and somewhat small?

The story has lots of interesting description, but perhaps more could have been said of Aravind's appearance, such as is he
a slender boy or chubby, is he athletic the way the Indian wresting boys are, or does he look soft.

I hope to read more of your fictional stories.

[Freesub]

viewtopic.php?t=5952

I wrote that already - story point number 5 at the end of the thead.

Unless I'm missing something that's written by HeroBoy. Is that an alt of yours?

[nabpa]

Unless I missed something, Aravind had his back washed...then the arms...and the back a second time.

Were any other parts of his body washed, the chest or legs?

Also it seems poor Aravind hasn't reached full puberty yet, and he is still boyish and somewhat small?

The story has lots of interesting description, but perhaps more could have been said of Aravind's appearance, such as is he
a slender boy or chubby, is he athletic the way the Indian wresting boys are, or does he look soft.

I hope to read more of your fictional stories.

Interesting fact, when we write about our own story, we might tend to entirely forgot to tell the entire context. Sorry about that.

My face looked soft (very soft), feminine, long hair, and I am on the white fair skin side. Coming to body type, i was always on the skinny side but without any bones skeleton sort but just the right amount of fat everywhere even when people always see me as a thin boy.

Unlucky me, i don't really remember how i looked naked when i was at 14. Though this is real and i was in 8th grade back then but i didn't really focus on how i looked because i was embarassed to look at myself but I could be sure of one thing, i had a small one and also i could have hit puberty when i was 16 (I was definitely late bloomer). I got beard itself after i finished my entire enginnering. Basically advantage of looking younger than my age. Even now when i an 30, people think i am in early 20s.

And finally, i guess i should have extended on where all she washed. She did touch every part in my imagine but seems like when i was recollecting the real story, remembering that a uncle washed me in front of plenty other cousins... i felt like not remembering a man's touch. . I mean i am straight and it feels yuk when i imagine a uncle touching me. Maybe that is the reason i did not extend that side of the story but i did try to make it express the same level of embarassment i felt back then. Maybe it is still lacking alot but i am trying to improve my writings over time.

[nabpa]

viewtopic.php?t=5952

I wrote that already - story point number 5 at the end of the thead.

Unless I'm missing something that's written by HeroBoy. Is that an alt of yours?

Yup. I wanted to quit and deleted my email. I also quit it here. But then i planned to rejoin but forgot password. nor i can recover. Basically I wanted to write to know about myself. Ig i did ask why everyone write stories for that purpose but then did not feel connected. I felt even when our interests match, i still felt like a odd duck here. So, i left but then realised i should do it as a casual hobby. Ig trying to find here close friends or expecting to find one is just going to end up disappointing. Now my expectations are not high like earlier.