"Mehndi laga ke rakhna"

Most Indian brides will know the pain that one goes through to get mehndi applied on her hands and her feet for her wedding day.

The Hindu tradition requires the brides to apply henna up till their forearms which depict the wedding rituals and the traditional holy symbols.

In Muslim tradition, brides sit with henna leaves and wait till the colour transfers to the skin. 

The tradition and the method of colouring the hands and feet changes from family to family and region to region.

In few regions, mehndi is replaced by alta, a red liquid used to make the design.

However, whatever the method maybe, almost all Indian rituals have the tradition of colouring the hands.

Mehndi is one of the sixteen steps to woman's adornment as per Mughal and Rajput culture.

The smell of crushed and soaked heena leaves, the rich green colour and the smooth texture reminds me of my childhood where my mother would lovingly apply the mehndi on my hand on certain occasions.

It reminds me of the fairy tales my mother would weave about my Prince Charming.

It reminds me of my insistence to keep the mehndi longer in order to get the better colour.

It reminds me of excitement to show the design and colour to each one in my family.

It reminds me of my disappointment when the colour faded.

Mehndi brings back so many memories of childhood. Today, seeing my friend getting her mehndi done made me nostalgic of those times when as girls we would sit and analyse our mother's stories. Our mothers would say that the dark mehndi colour meant a loving partner, and I today wish the same for her.