Free The Runaway Bridegroom by Sundari Venkatraman

horoscope. You are very lucky to have this man for your son-in-law,” he declared.
       Mohan and Meera looked at each other before turning in Vidyasagar’s direction. They waited for the astrologer to explain himself.
       “Due to the position of Surya and Guru on his horoscope, Veerendra has an excellent career. He will succeed at everything he does. In fact, all he touches will turn to gold. He is very intelligent and in that you can see the hand of Surya . Guru’s influence suggests wisdom. He should be either a teacher - a college professor maybe, or he should be involved with computers. He must be quite tall, at least six feet in height. There is one thing that I noted. He will never live with his parents. He must be staying separate from them since— hmm—” Vidyasagar studied the horoscope some more. “at least his teenage,” he declared.
       Mohan and Meera were mighty impressed with all this. But that still didn’t solve their problem.
       “Er—Vidyasagar ji , can you please check Veerendra’s horoscope against Chanda’s?” requested Mohan, in a soft voice, handing over his daughter’s horoscope to the old man. Meera nodded her head vigorously, in total agreement with her husband.
       Vidyasagar gave Chanda’s horoscope a passing glance as he already knew it by heart. “I was just coming to that. The two of them got married very young but never had the chance to stay together. But of course, that wouldn’t have been possible. See the position of Shani Maharaj in both their horoscopes.” Vidyasagar looked up at his clients, above the old-fashioned spectacles that stood on his sharp and slightly curved nose. He was pointing to the horoscopes. Meera and Mohan nodded, not quite clued in as they knew nothing about astrology.
       Vidyasagar nodded his head wisely as he said again, “Yeah, it wouldn’t have been possible for them to stay together. Their very horoscopes wouldn’t have allowed it. And despite everything, if they had stayed together, it would have resulted in one of their deaths, mind you,” he said.
       For the astrologer, predicting the future and charting the past was a daily occurrence. But to the couple in front of him, his reading came as a shock. It seemed that God’s hand had been at play in their lives throughout.
       “Does that mean that Veerendra and Chanda should never have got married?” asked Mohan anxiously, uttering the words that were trembling on Meera’s lips.
       Vidyasagar shook his head vigorously. “You must understand something very clearly. Something that was not meant to happen cannot happen. Veerendra and Chanda were meant to get married. It was a wedding fixed in heaven. But, they were not meant to stay together at that young age. That’s why they didn’t. Veerendra must have left home when he was very young. He wouldn’t have been in a fit state to take care of a child-wife. But now, he is all grown up and it would be ideal for your daughter and son-in-law to set up house together. In fact, as I mentioned to you the other day, the two of them are definitely placed very close to each other geographically, if not in the same house.”
       Mohan and Meera were very impressed with the astrologer. “You have helped us so far, Vidyasagar ji . Only you will have to advise us how to go about locating our son-in-law,” said Mohan.
       Vidyasagar bent down to the horoscopes once again, studying them longer while Meera and Mohan waited anxiously for him to come up with a solution.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Fifteen
     
       Chanda opened her eyes and took a few seconds to recall where she was. She sat up yawning and stretched her arms wide to shake off the remnants of sleep. She had slept like a baby - for the first time since meeting Ranveer, in fact. A small smile broke out on her lips as peace and happiness crept into her system.
       What an