Skip to main content

Love Survives

Pratap sat clutching onto the side of his seat as the hospital staff ran about. Nurses and a group of doctors were attending to the girls. Udai Singh and Rathore made sure that their names and power would help the girls get the best treatments. 

Phool had regained consciousness and her mother and Vishal were by her side. It was Roshni they were worried about. She was being checked and tested by the doctors as she had not regained consciousness. Ram and Udai ran about talking to the doctors while Jaivanta sat holding Hansa's hand. 

Pratap seemed to be in a haze as if this was another nightmare he was having. He always thought his life was cursed, everyone he loved was hurt and unhappy. Today he was sure. His Roshni was in there, fighting for her life, that's all he could gather. He didn't remember how he got her into this mess. I should have driven her home myself, I should have. I shouldn't have let her go to that woman alone. It's all my fault! In his anger he punched his fist at the wall, hurting himself.

 Jaivanta rushed to her son. 
" What are you doing?"
" This is all my fault." His voice shook cause of the tears he was fighting to control.
" No, it is not."
" Yes, I shouldn't have let her go, I should have... It's all my fault, everyone I love leaves me alone." He hugged his mother, in the hope to release a bit of his pain. The last words hit her like a bullet, she had always thought Pratap was like his father, very composed and strong. She now knew the deep scar her son carried. 
" Pratap... She will be fine. Listen to me."
" I know who did this." His voice was angry." I won't spare her."
" Her? Who is it?" Jaivanta was shocked. He was accusing someone of actually trying to harm Roshni. Her question made him look at his mother. He did not have enough strength to take her name. He ran off. 
" Pratap Wait!"
 Udai turned at her cry, to see his wife look at their son run off.

Pratap found a bench outside the hospital, he sat there by himself, and now he could cry, no one would know. He held his face with his palms and burst into tears. I can't lose you, I just can't. He heard footsteps and wiped away his tears quickly. It was his father. In the last 12 years, he had never even faced this man one on one. He stood up to leave.
" I understand how you feel." His father's voice seemed calm. 
" No, you don't! You never can." He said sternly. He loves you... Roshni's voice played in his head. 
" When your mother was very ill before you were born, I used to stay awake all night for over a month to be with her, to see her sleep. I was so afraid she was going to die in her sleep someday." 
His voice seemed distant and sad. His mother's topic made Pratap stop and look back, at the man he hated for hurting his mother. 
" The day the doctors said she was out of danger and so were you, I was the happiest man on earth. I couldn't wait to hold you in my arms. I... I know how you feel... I saw a reflection of your mother in Roshni, she is such a nice girl, nothing will happen to her... I just hope she understands you more than your mother understood me." 
His last words made him choke. Pratap realized his father was as lonely as his mother, he preferred to work himself to sleep to hide his loneliness.
" Dad, I... I am sorry." He faced his father for the first time in a decade.
" Sorry? Why?" Udai was surprised.
" I... I thought you were hurting Maasa. I... I searched your room..." 
"You... What?" Udai Singh couldn't believe his son!
" I found some court papers and that is why we are here today Dad, it's all my fault!" He sobbed.
" What papers?" Udai feared the worse.
" Some woman named Dheer...." A slap resounded across his face.
" How dare you? Just how dare you dig up my life?" He was angry. Not because Pratap knew, but because he knew that Dheer was cunning enough to hurt Pratap.
" Dad... " Udai was walking away. 
" Dad... She did it, am sure, this is no accident." 
His words stopped his father. " What have you two done?" He demanded to know.
He was telling everything when his mother came up behind them. She put her hand on his shoulder and looked at his father. Pratap didn't remember the last time they had a family moment, this was something he always wanted, just not like this!

" Let your father take care of the mess, you come with me, Roshni has regained her consciousness."  A smile curved her face as he rushed off leaving his parents behind.
" I won't let her hurt my son and ruin his life." Udai dialled a number. Jaivanta waited for the call to end. " Don't worry your son will be fine." His tone was formal. He was about to leave. 
" And what about us?" 
" Us?" he turned back surprised.
" Pratap and Roshni did so much to see us happy, but are we?" Her voice was teary.
" I can never make you happy again." Udai shook his head.
" I should have listened to your explanation and not pushed you away." Jaivanta sobbed.
" No, I should have judged your position and not expected you to support me blindly." Udai shook his head.
" I shouldn't have believed her."
" Don't worry, I heard her stepson is after her, I called the commissioner. He will use her stepson to catch her, he too alleged that she blackmailed his father to marry her and give her his property."
" I am sure you will take care of this." A smile curved on both faces, they regretted the fact that in all these years they had not once tried to put aside their egos and talk it out. They regretted the scar Pratap had suffered.

Pratap rushed into the room where Roshni lay in bed, her head bandaged, her arm slung, she had broken it from the fall out of the car. She looked at him at the door and murmured "Pratap?"
Hansa saw him come in and left them alone.
" Roshni...." He smiled at her as his eyes twinkled in joy.
" I am fine... What happened to your hand?" No one had noticed his hand was badly bruised from the wall fisting.
" It's nothing."
" Nurse! Nurse!"
" Husshhh! Am fine." He put his finger on her lips. " I was so worried."
" I know, You cried, didn't you?"
" No... I was very strong." Pratap looked away embarrassed. She smiled weakly.
" Come here..." She stretched out her other hand to him. He held it tight as if to say I Am never letting you go... He got up from the chair and sat facing her on the bed, helping her to sit up, holding her shoulders.
" Does it hurt?"
" A little, I will be fine."
" I know you will be, but will that be in a month? Am not giving a ring with these bandages on!" He teased her.
" It was her wasn't it?" Roshni asked, his smile disappearing.
" You think so?" He asked. 
" Yes our car was driving fine and a white car came from behind and hit Phool's side, the car tilted and I think I fell out of my side, this seems no accident." She recollected. He shut his eyes even imagining the horror she went through. 

Jaivanta and Udai interrupted their conversation. The Commissioner was with them.
" How are you doing Beta?" Jaivanta kissed her forehead.
" Am feeling better." Pratap stood up to greet the Commissioner. 
" Beta this is the police, tell them everything."
After asking about the accident the police asked, " Do you have any enemies?" 
Roshni looked at Pratap confused as Jaivanta and Udai shared a stare.
" Yes and No... Actually, I have an enemy." Pratap replied.
" Come with me, I will tell you everything." Udai escorted the man out. Jaivanta followed.

Roshni looked at Pratap, confused and amazed. He smiled.
" I wanted to surprise you. You did it! They talked to me together for like five mins! And Dad even told about..."
" OMG! You said, Dad!" Roshni hugged him in joy the moment he sat down beside her.
" Ouch!" She retreated in pain.
" Careful!" He looked anxious. 
She put her head on his shoulder and held his hand. " Now am happy."
" Anything else I can do Ma'am?" He smiled at her.
" Yes, ask the doctors when I can go home, and come every day to see me!"
" Your wish is my command!" He bowed to make her smile. " And?"
" Always be this way!" Roshni smiled.
" Always and forever!" He replied.

In a week, Daadi saw the news and called Pratap as he went to Phool's place to see her. 
" Dheer has been caught, and her stepson has filed a case against her."
" That's good."
" He called your dad for support."
" I can't wait to tell Roshni this."
" When will she go home?" Phool's mother asked, handing him a glass of juice.
" Tomorrow they will release her. But she will have to be on bed rest for a month almost."
Phool's mother left the room as Pratap noticed Phool and Vishal smile at him.
" What?" He asked surprised.
" Sagaai mubarak ho!" Both taunted as he got red and blushed. 
" Stop it guys, let her be okay first!"
" Ohho she will be more than ok, and then we will go shopping and then...." Phool went on and on as Pratap and Vishal looked at each other hoping one of them will make her stop!



Comments

  1. CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the part where u said Sagaai mubarak ho was fantastic and hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the appreciation! That's how leg pullin is between friends right?

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

See You Soon

Kunwar Partap entered the relatively quiet stable premises at the break of dawn checking on Bijli who was asleep, when he heard the sound of anklets near the cow shed. He walked up to the entrance of the stable, from where he could see her, her dupatta placed loosely over her wet hair, devoid of jewellery the way he never saw a royal lady, with a basket of flowers in one hand and a plate of sweets on the other. She was distributing sweets to the cow keepers, veterinarians and everyone who came by on the occasion of Lakshmi giving birth to her calf. “What will you name her, Hukum?” an old man asked. She smiled shyly, pressing her lips together. “Mandakini, Kakasa.” The old man smiled at her suggestion. “Like the kund? Very nice.” Kunwar Partap walked up to Lakshmi’s shed only after most people had dispersed to their work. Ajbante Kanwar heard footsteps behind her and turned with the plate that now had one sweetmeat left. Alarmed at his sight and at the lack of options she could offer fr...

Stable Boy

  “Jija, I want to go to the stables too.” Ajbante was stopped in the corridor of the inner palace by Ratan Kanwar, followed by their half-brother, Akhil who was three. “We do.” Ratan corrected herself. The dawn had just set on the horizon and the birds were chirping in the gardens. Ajbante Kanwar had just taken a bath in the private pool and managed to grab her empty flower basket to go to the gardens still before that, she would visit the stables and cowshed, check how Lakshmi was doing with her newborn, and if Bijli was okay with the sudden changes her father made. Ratan Kanwar’s nagging made her sigh and nod. “Don’t make so much noise so early in the morning.” She scolded them as they followed her, giggling and skipping down the hall behind her. “Don’t touch the newborn Kunwar Akhil, you will scare Lakshmi.” The familiar alarmed voice made Kunwar Partap stop gathering hay as he placed them down, wiped his forehead and glanced over his shoulder at the cowshed. There was some gig...

I Saw You

Kunwar Pratap was in his brown Dhoti, off-white angrakha and a piece of brown cloth tied to his head when he entered the palace premises. He was standing in the courtyard, eyeing the lofty towers and domes, wondering whom to talk to as some soldiers galloped their horses out of the stables on the right and some people were gathered on the left. The main entrance and two guards on either side and he decided to go towards the stairs leading up to the inner palace when the guards stopped him. “Who are you looking for?” “Rao ji?” He asked unsurely. “Rao Ramrakh…” “What audacity, boy?” The old guard scolded, “Say, Hukum!” “Yes, Hukum.” He nodded. “I came to tend to the stables.” “Then go to the stable, why are you loitering around the private gardens?” One of the soldiers said in a gruff voice. “He must be the one we were told about…” The other one reminded him. “Oh, go to the stables anyway, Hukum is busy practising, I will summon you once he is on the premises.” Pratap nodded at his words...

Towards You

Kunwar Pratap and Ajabde were friends. He didn't feel awkward sharing his plans and thoughts with her anymore. She was more than happy to advise him on everything. She was happy he listened to her advice before taking or discarding them, be it on what to wear to Padmavati's Sagai or how to befriend the revolting Bhils. He loved the way Ajabde always used metaphors from Puranas and Ramayanas to explain the toughest things so easily. She expressed herself so well, so easily that it amazed him.   The Afghans were now led by Mehmood Shah. They have made secret territories in the forests and waited to attack. Rawatji and his spies had confirmed the news and Udai Singh had warned Mehmood Shah to withdraw his troops from Mewar in vain. Now, it was time they declared war. Mehmood Shah had limited resources in Mewar. And his spies clearly suggested that in no way could he win, especially with Kunwar Pratap leading his troops. He was having second thoughts about the war. One of his aides...

Queen of the Heart

Kunwar Pratap was in the Dangal Sthal practising his moves. Ajabde decided it was fair to know his strength before the big competition. Sword in hand, in a white female warrior attire with only her face visible she hid behind one of the large watchtowers of the Dangal watching him move. She heard Rawatji say, " Your left hand is still weaker than the right one with the moves. Both should be perfect." A smile curved her lips. Knowing an opponent's weakness always helps, which is one rule of the war she always remembered.   Kunwar Pratap swung his sword with his left hand and turned around. He could sense someone watching, his sixth sense was never wrong. He looked around and hatched a plan. Ajabde again peeped at the grounds to see it was empty. He had left. She walked towards the empty ground, sword in hand. Suddenly, the cold blade of a sword was felt on her neck. She stopped still. " So someone was spying on me." His voice had a hint of taunt. " No, I was...

Prologue: Impulsive Hearts

1576 CE. The dark clouds circled over the Haveli of the Chieftain at Avadgadh, one of the unimportant posts on the western borders of Mewar, Rajputana. It was the arrival of the rainy season, with occasional downpours over the green veil of the Aravallis on the horizon and the streams that often meandered around the hills now surged like rivers. The monotonous life in the little settlement was stirred by the arrival of guests in the Haveli. It was not usual for the old chieftain to receive so many guests, especially women and it sparked curiosity and rumours among the villagers. Who were these people? Some of them looked like royal ladies and some not. In the inner palace of Avadgadh, on a balustrade that was designed with Jali, nymphs adorning its pillars that looked over the Aravallis in a distance, covered with dark clouds, the gusty wind blew the new curtains almost toppling a vase kept by the window. She caught it, alarmed, almost out of the force of habit to be alert about her su...

Unexpected

" This is your room Ranisa." Hansa opened the door to the well-furnished large guest room of the Bijolia Palace. The diyas were lit and the room was neat and clean. " Your Daasis decorate the rooms well." Jaivanta Bai looked around. " Oh, Ranisa. all these... " Hansa smiled proudly. " All these are done by my daughter." " Your daughter?" Jaivanta Bai smiled surprised. " Milwayiye ." Jaivanta Bai was eager to meet her. " Ajabde! Ratan!" Hansa called as the girls came in. 13-year-old Ajabde preferred a simple lehenga in a pink and blue Dupatta clad over her head. She was the first one to calmly bend down and touch Maharani's feet as a five-year-old Ratan came running. " Ajabde is very talented in sewing, gardening and home decor. She can also...." " Maa Sa...." Ajabde's soft protest stopped Hansa as Jaivanta Bai smiled. " Accha, I won't tell but these are your good talents, right? ...

Protectors

Rao Surtan was at the Palace gates as the soldiers tried in vain to attack with arrows. His army was stronger and more competent than the one Balwant headed at the Bijolia Fort Gates. “Break the door” he ordered. “Where is Ajabde?” Hansa looked around the cellar. “Jija!” Ratan exclaimed. “She was on the roof last I saw.” “Ajabde.” Hansa Bai opened the cellar door and stepped out followed by Ratan who was equally worried. “Stay back!” Sajja Bai called in vain as Jaivanta Bai too walked out and up the stairs to the corridors of the Ranimahal in search of Ajabde.  Meanwhile, Surtan’s army had entered the palace and he made his way to the Ranimahal. He was having different thoughts now. Killing Jaivanta Bai won't yield him anything… Maybe capturing a few young maidens… Ratan froze in the corridor seeing the man approach. Behind her were her mother and Jaivanta Bai with the same reaction. “ Jee Bavro ho gayo!” Surtan Singh took out his sword. Ratan took two ste...

Life and You

" Maharanisa! Maharanisa!" The Daasi ran through the quiet Rani Mahal as Jaivanta Bai who was sitting in front of the Lord in her room ever since she was back, rushed out of her room followed by Sajjabai and Veerbai. " What happened?" She asked, her voice calm, but her heart thumping. " Kunwarsa is here... with Kunwarani... She... She...." The Daasi sobbed as Jaivanta Bai rushed to the room. She stood at the door as her eyes couldn't believe what she saw. Kunwar Pratap was soaked in her blood as he laid her down on the bed shouting " Jaldi. Rajvaidya..." His eyes stopped at the door as Jaivanta Bai rushed to be beside the unconscious Ajabde. The Daasis and Sevaks were running about soon enough. SajjaBai gasped at the scene. So much blood. Kunwar Pratap hadn't noticed anything except her calm unconscious face. Now he looked down at his blood-soaked hands, red, he stared at them as though in a trance. " Kunwar Pratap! Tell me what happ...

You Deserve More

Ajabde woke up with the song of birds as she felt something warm clinging to her hand. Her eyes went wide. Her hand was on the pillow in between, between his hands, clasped as he slept. She thought of removing it slowly but he was holding it so tight. Ajabde's heart beat faster and faster. What do I do now? How do I not wake him? What if... why is my hand in his? She was utterly confused.   " Am I..." In love? Pratap was staring at the sleeping figure on his bed as he again looked back at the rain. Then he looked back frowning as she shivered. He closed the windows of the room, to make it cosy then sat on his side of the bed. A lamp flickered on her side like always and he stared at her sleeping figure as he put his blanket over her as well. She shifted a little in her sleep to make herself cosy again. Her payals and bangles made a rhythmic sound breaking the silence of the room. Her hand was out of her blanket and on the pillow in between. He tried to slowly put it in th...