Sophie’s Wedding – The Story
Sophie’s wedding reflects the beautiful bond between lovers, with colours of peace and softness. Crafting each piece where each thread spews a story of its own, to reflect the feelings of all involved.
Karim was there…. All along.
They had led me to believe that far away, astray, lost and under unknown veils waited, he, who I would claim to be “the one”.
He was there with me all along. When we ran to the market as toddlers thinking which cone to buy in the blazing summers. When we sung songs at camp before approaching the harsh teens. When we approached graduation, to embark on our journeys, far from home. Before I could turn my head and wonder how will we depart, Karim twirled me around, looked at me with a gaze of hope. Sat me down. “Will you marry me?”.
It was the end of fall… the breeze sent chills nonetheless. My smile so wide. My heart beating faster than it ever had. And with a crackle in my voice… I said Yes!
He was there… All along.
I didnt think much of it.
She was my partner in crime. The Watson to my Holmes. We had been through it all together. All.
Till that moment when we held hands, when we were nothing but rotten little trouble makers. Her knee got bruised while we were running around in my back garden. I cleaned her wound, let her think nothing of it, and made sure no tears raced town those plum cheeks. I just… knew.
There, then! YES! I couldn’t imagine a moment of my life without her in it. I couldnt…
We had graduated from high school. I hadn’t mentioned much about how my heart had felt for all those years. Never once.
She was suppose to fly off for university in a week. Me? I knew on paper where I was going, but I was leaving something behind. There, then… I proposed. Her smile still floats
in my memories, a still shot that gives me life to this day. My One, my whole heart. My life. All in one. And now One.
I knew it ! I always did ! Sophia helped me tie my ponytail bows before I’d go off to school, Karim would pick us up and drop me near Ganga Ram. Sophia was my second mother at home, and Karim was my hero. He’d babysit when Sophia and I were alone at home and Baba-jan had to take my mother to Shahpur to look after the lands. Karim would tell me tales of all the romantic heroes that lived for love. And I could see the way my sister looked at him, lost in every word.
Before Sophia left for her graduation ceremony, she was lost. She wouldn’t say why. I knew, the thought of leaving… leaving him. When she came home, the beautiful Smile. The cheers, the joy! “He asked me!”… Finally.
Rayya aka Ray
Sophie’s best friend
I had heard it all.
“What if he doesn’t like me that way?!”
“Hes got eyes on him daily, what would he possibly see in me?!”
What if this what if that.
We chuckle over these memories.
I saw Sophs from afar lost in Karim as if anything else in existence didn’t matter.
But I also knew this day would come. We prepped for all our finals at this farm. We celebrated our birthdays here.
Now we celebrate the greatest bond between people… marriage.
See, that’s what friends are for. You stand with them through and through. Support every decision. Let them sob over lost hopes and laugh endlessly over found hopes.
Sophs is like a sister to me. Now we fling roses over her new journey. Where she’ll know the answers to the what ifs.
Lala was nervous. I didnt get it, if im honest.
Pacing up and down… I swear high school wasn’t that big a deal.
“Hashu, when I come back and im smiling, prepare for celebrations, however if my head seems hung, and my eyes lost, leave me be”.
“Lala?”… “Bas, thats all im saying Hashu! Now… I’ll see you after graduation”.
I was stressed. Confused. Lala was never so on edge. So … not himself.
Now I stand here… preparing the entrance with roses for Sophie, lilies for Zoya, and the red carpet for Karim.
Same place where we would run, same place where we would camp. Right here, at home. Ma’ watched over then, and now, from the porch, making sure the Bride is satisfied, and the Groom ready.
We laid a new family memory, here… at home.
Now new generations will add stories to these gardens… new voices will echo in these halls, and new portraits on these walls.
They had me by the wall. I could barely find clothes that fit, hardly walk without loosing my breath. Karo(Karim) came running pushing them away. I’ve been his brother since then.
“Im going to ask her Rez!”, he had been saying this for years.
When the news came that she would be leaving for Med school, me and Karo for our endeavours, I had to give an ultimatum.
“Its either today, or forget that she was ever there…”
I don’t think ive ever seen Karo cry, but his eyes were flooded, and no tears came rushing down, he held em back.
So when I turned, once we had tossed our hats. Said goodbye to school. Our ups and downs. Our memories and everything that made us who we were today. I saw a final memory that would echo the halls of our college for centuries to come.
He asked. Their embrace was filled with cheers.
The college in chants. They finally made it happen.
At the end of the day, its memories like these… that we live our life for.
My child… my breath.
They’ll tell you what to do your whole life… don’t listen.
They’ll tell you where you deserve to be. Don’t listen.
As long as me and daddy are here, do whatever brings your heart joy.
One day you’ll be impatient. Bitter and angry. For things to occur now. Well, your father and I took 20 years to finally realise that at Dadas Farm is where our knot will be tied.
Take your time.
Realise everything happens when its suppose to. Don’t let them tell you how to love or who to be. Be you, love freely, and come back here… so that we can relive our memories through you.
Love Mum