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 were 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 of releasing 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 running 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 realised 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 worst.

" 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, I'm 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? I'm 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.

"I'm 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 minutes! 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 I 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 almost a month."

Phool's mother left the room as Pratap noticed Phool and Vishal smiling 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 would make her stop!

Purnota: Chapter Thirty One

“Please, Sir, we were going to show the evacuation notice to the lawyer.” The older man with a salt and pepper beard and a bald head pleaded with the Judiciary official, who handed him a paper of illegal occupancy. The NGO stood on the ground of the property that belonged to the Bhowmicks. Their lawyer, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, had sent a notice of warning and evacuation that the NGO did not pay heed to. The man in charge looked least concerned at the plea of the older man. His hands were folded, eyes teary, as the men who came with the Bull Dozer to knock down the one-storey house with thatched roof broke down the board of the NGO. “Why did you not show the notice then?” The man rebuked in a gruff voice. “Because we thought it was some mistake.” Another man, relatively younger and calmer, came forward from the crowd that stood there watching as he spoke. “We got the land as a gift from Mr. Bhowmick some eleven years back to make the school for the orphans.” “Then where is the dee...

Purnota: Chapter Thirty Two

Bondita got down from the local train with a duffle bag and her hoodie tied around the waist of her dark green Kurti, which she teamed with white leggings and a white dupatta. The weather at Canning seemed hotter and humid than Chandannagar, and at first glance, Bondita spotted the spring blooms of Krishnachura painting the tree at the station red. She picked up her bag and looked around the crowded station. Someone was supposed to come and get her. She dragged her bag through the crowd and finally reached the gates. The rickshaws, vans and small autos were shouting out names of different places, names that appeared like images in her memories. “Bondita Malkin?” She turned to see a woman in a checked printed saree worn above the ankle with a Ghomta over her head and the Anchol tied to her waist. Bondita nodded as the woman in her forties surprised her by touching her feet. Bondita jolted away in shock. “What are you doing?” She asked with raised brows as the woman took her duffel bag. ...

My Everything

Kunwar Pratap stormed into the Mahal at Gogunda amidst uncertainty and chaos. Happy faces of the chieftains and soldiers welcomed him as Rawat Chundawat, and some other chieftains stopped the ongoing Raj Tilak. A visibly scared Kunwar Jagmal looked clueless at a visibly angry Kunwar Pratap. Rani Dheerbai Bhatiyani hadn't expected Kunwar Pratap to show up, that too, despite her conveying to him his father's last wish of crowning Kunwar Jagmal. Twenty-one days after Udai Singh's death, she was finally close to a dream she had dared to dream since Jagmal was born. He was not informed about the Raj Tilak as per Dheerbai's instructions. She eyed Rawat Ji. He must have assembled the chiefs to this revolt against her son, against the dead king. No one except them knew where Kunwar Pratap was staying. It was for the safety of his family. " What are you doing, Chotima?" A disappointed voice was directed at her. She could stoop down so low? For the first time, an anger...

Purnota: Chapter Thirty Three

Aniruddha stepped out of his room, in a wrinkled Kurta, with a towel and toothbrush, to almost bump into Bondita, who was hurrying out of her room, trying to wear her watch on the go. He stopped before she barged into him and spotted her in one of Thamma’s Dhakai sarees. It was a white-on-white saree she had worn with a quarter-sleeved black blouse. Her hair was bunned with a claw clip, and she wore a small black Teep complementing her Kajol-drawn eyes. She looked slightly startled as she stopped at his dishevelled appearance and looked away at his stare. “Why are you…” He cleared his throat to do away with his morning groggy voice, “Dressed up?” Bondita shook her head at his words. “Because I have camp today, the NGO representative is waiting downstairs.” At her words, Aniruddha nodded and promptly held her wrist to check her watch. Bondita eyed his index finger and thumb, briefly brushing around her wrist as he suppressed a yawn. “But… It's 7 AM.” Bondita smiled, amused at his wo...

Purnota: Chapter Thirty Six

Bondita opened her door in the usual hours of the morning and found Thamma and Jyatha Moshai on the couch in their living room, sipping tea. She had half sat on her bed, leaning against the pillow all night, imagining her plight when she faced Aniruddha in the morning. What if he did not think of it as much as she thought of his actions? What if that was his uncomfortable way of comforting her because she was upset? But what about his eyes, his gestures? Had she misread all of it? Bondita blushed to herself the moment she remembered how his eyes followed her around for the past two days. Bondita was hurrying through her daily chores, eyeing the clock, for she would be late for work and overheard Trilochon lament about things not changing since Binoy left. He thought that things were getting better at home, but as soon as Aniruddha had left for Sunderban, Binoy informed him that he had changed the attorney in charge of his case. Bondita frowned slightly as her hand stopped at wearing th...

Purnota: Chapter Thirty Five

“The bride is older than the groom.” Aniruddha heard one of the older villagers speak in a judgmental tone. “No wonder the higher castes don’t attend such atrocities.” He eyed the younger man he was talking to, who smiled. Aniruddha was sitting beside them on a bench in the open courtyard of a house where the wedding rituals were taking place. Tirio and Tumdak were playing rhythmically in a corner as some women danced to the tunes surrounding the new bride and groom. The men sat on the other side of the courtyard. “Forget about the Brahmins, we don’t expect them to come.” The younger man shook his head. “As for traditions, what is wrong if the bride is older?” He smiled sheepishly at the older man. “What’s wrong? Everything. Master Moshai, you can be educated, but our ancient traditions have reasons. The groom must be older than the bride. It has some reason.” He shook his head. The teacher, in turn, educated the man that it was a perfectly normal Santhali ritual to marry older wo...

Scheme of Things

The ousting of Shams Khan and his troops from Chittorgarh earned Kunwar Partap Singh overnight fame across the land as tales of his bravery made their way through the dunes and hills, across rivers and borders to lands far and beyond. At thirteen, he had commanded an army troop to take over the fort of Chittorgarh and restore Mewar’s borders to their former glory. People started comparing him to his forefathers, the great Rana Kumbha, who built forts across Mewar and his grandfather, Rana Sanga, who had united all Rajputs against external threats. As bards sang praises of the prince, gossip soon followed. Gossip was the most entertaining one could get in the mundane city lives and village gatherings, and it often travelled faster than the fastest Marwadi horse. So alongside the tales of his absolute bravery and how he hoisted the Mewari flag on the fort, were the stories of how his life was in danger, the king and queen did not quite get along and how he was made to live in poverty by ...

Happy Ending

Dheer had a sleepless night. Yes, she had killed the Maharani, but to seek revenge for her son. Jagmal was all she had for a dream, and Rana Pratap's first decision was to banish him. He had never been that tough with his other brothers who went with Akbar, then why him? Just because he wanted to be a king? Just because they brought a false letter and bought a few witnesses? Her son died in Ajmer, so young. And she had always blamed Ajabdeh Punwar for Rana's hard decision. After all, ever since she came as a support for Jaivanta Bai, she had been like his shield, even though creating misunderstandings didn't help Dheer Bai Bhatiyani. Ajabdeh had done the impossible, showing him the real face of his Chotima. What bothered Dheer now was whether he remembered anything, and most importantly, if she did. Dheer had turned pale at the song and smile Pratap gave, but if he knew she had killed Ajabdeh, it meant Survi remembered her walking to a dying Ajabdeh and confessing that ...

Purnota: Chapter Thirty Four

“You are cheating, he can’t play!” Bondita was attracted by the commotion downstairs as she opened the window of her room. She walked out to the balcony to inspect it. It was Sunday, and Padma had promised to make Chicken Curry, knowing Bondita had invited Tapur to join them for lunch. In the courtyard was a group of boys, probably Sidhu’s friends, with a broken pipe for a bat, a wooden plank for a wicket kept between two bricks and a rubber ball, arguing over a game of cricket. Bondita’s eyes stopped at Aniruddha, marking a line with chalk and then measuring feet using steps to mark the boundaries. Bondita looked amused at the sight. “Batuk. You went out fair and square; give me the bat.” Bondita put her hands on her waist as she commanded. Batuk refused to part with his new bat. Som frowned at his brother. “She is right; it was a clean bowl. Give her the bat!” Som commanded. “I was not ready.” Batuk shook his head. “She knew that.” “It's still out.” Bondita frowned. Aniruddha wal...

Purnota: Chapter Thirty Seven

“Why will Bondita not come for Holi?” Asha asked as she inspected the colours, Abir, Pichkiri and balloons Somnath had ordered from Baro Bazaar. He shrugged. “She is scared of colours, I think.” Asha smiled, a little amused at her clueless husband. “She is not ten anymore.” He looked up at her words with a sheepish smile, “Well, I never saw her play Holi, perhaps Dadabhai knows the reason.” Asha contemplated her husband’s words. She did not share a relationship with Aniruddha frank enough for him to share things about Bondita. It would be easier for her to ask Bondita instead. “If you wish for her to come,” Som said, like he could almost read her mind, “Perhaps you can invite her. She won’t say no to you.” Asha nodded. “It will be good to have the whole family together. It's not been so since the wedding.” She smiled. Som agreed as he matched the list with the things. “Yes, and Baba will be coming too, he told me not to tell Jethu, but I was surprised by that.” “Maybe because he an...

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