Happiness

The Ladies had reached the Rani Mahal early at dawn to prepare for the grand welcome. Ajabde was instructing the Daasis on the decorations. The Rani Mahal was well decorated with flowers and curtains handpicked by Ajabde herself. Dheerbai was walking through the corridors, seeing the beautiful royal decor.
" This Samant Putri has a taste." She found herself praising Ajabde aloud.
" Dhanyavaad Choti Ma." She was startled to find Ajabde standing behind her with a smile. She hated that victorious smile.
" Kuwaranisa, Ohh, you are so naive. I feel so bad for you!" Ajabde's smile turned to surprise as she raised her eyebrows, " Ji?"
" Haan, I feel so bad, here Jija didn't let you, the future Maharani of Mewar, stay in the Ranimahal, and she claims to treat you equally, and Rajkumari Heer Baisa gets a room in the Ranimahal."
Ajabde smiled again, " Chotima, I'm sure Ranima had done this thinking of me only. I am very happy to get to look after a household with full control from now on. Ranima wants me to learn early. After all, I have to look after the whole Ranimahal someday."
Dheerbai's smile disappeared as she walked away. Jaivanta Bai has witnessed this from a distance. She walked up to Ajabde, saying, " Come to my room."

They walked to Jaivanta Bai's chambers, and she shut the door behind them.
" Ajab, you have always been my daughter, you know that, right?" She said, holding Ajabde fondly.
" Yes, Ranima. I always am," she smiled.
" Then tell me truly, do you feel I treat you differently?"
" Yes, you do, Ranima, you love me more!" She hugged a smiling Jaivanta Bai.
" You know why I..."
" I know Ranima... For my safety. I know! And I can never question you. I trust you blindly. You are my mother. And as for what people say, Ranima, as long as you and Kunwarsa are with me, I am happy here."
" You know, Ajabde, no princess could have been better than you for Mewar!" Jaivanta Bai smiled proudly.
" Maharanisa..." A Daasi came in. " The new bride is here."
" Let's welcome Heer Baisa Ranima."
They went out to meet SajjaBai at the main entrance. Flowers were laid down for the new bride to walk on. Sajjabai did the aarti, followed by Jaivanta Bai, who surprisingly ignored Dheerbai and handed the thaal to Ajabde. Shocked at first, Ajabde took the aarti thaal and stepped forward with a smile.
" Ajabde has the first right on her Devrani now. Be careful, Heer!" Dheerbai taunted as Shakti sarcastically replied back, " That's the best thing that could happen to her in this RaniMahal." He stopped at Pratap's nod and glare. Ajabde's smile travelled from Shakti to Pratap as eyes met, and remembering the fight, he chose to look away.

The ring-finding game was going to happen as Shakti proudly said, " I will win this!" Heer glared at him like a lioness, making him smile. The ring was thrown in by Ajabde, who again looked up at Pratap, who looked away. Heer won the contest as Chakrapani teased Shakti, saying, "No one wins against the wives. Even our Baojiraj, the greatest sword fighter, lost a sword fight to Bhabisaa." Everyone laughed as Ajabde turned red and Pratap stared at Chakrapani.

That night, Pratap was busy with some paperwork when Ajabde entered the room.
" Kunwarsa, I was thinking..."
" Not now, I'm working."
" Not anymore!" She blew off the lamp on the desk.
" Ajabde, let me work."
" Work tomorrow."
" Why?"
" Because we haven't talked all day, I want to talk."
" And fight about something again?"
" Kunwarsa! I asked Ranima. She said Kelwara is not that dangerous. Then why are you not taking me? Do you plan on meeting some princess there?"
" What?" She could see his surprised expression in the pale moonlight. She bit her lips.
" Yes, like they all found your and Jasobai's pairing ...."
"Hahaha! Looks like someone is jealous!"
" No!"
" Yes!! I loved that."
" What?"
" Your possessiveness. That day." He pulled her close. She smiled at him. He held her hand and took her to bed.

Two days hence, Ajabde was busy setting up Heer's room, making her comfortable, when Jaivanta Bai came in smiling.
" Ajabde, Daima had visited Saubhagyabati, and she said the baby is a daughter. Go meet her once." Ajabde nodded, smiling as Heer asked, " Can I go too?" Jaivanta Bai nodded.

On their way back, Ajabde and Heer took the garden route to the Ranimahal that passed their home and the Dangal Sthal. Ajabde knew why Heer insisted on taking the route as the princes practised there. She smiled and ignored the obvious. Their voices interrupted the sword duel as Shakti stared at them from a distance with a smile. Ajabde stepped forward with the news.
" Chakrapani will be having a daughter soon. Daima said."
" What? How could she tell?" Shakti was suspicious.
" That's what I asked." Heer gushed.
" They can tell, I saw about Bhai Balwant."
" Yes, and even Maan and Jagmal, too, you remember Bhai Shakti?" Pratap added to a clueless Shakti.
" Bhago is very happy."
" And Chakrapani?" Pratap asked.
" Scared to death." Heer laughed. Ajabde held her hand," Let's go back, it will be time for Ranima's puja soon." She nodded.
On her way back, she felt a little dizzy.
" Umm... Heer... I am not feeling well."
" What happened?"
" I don't know."
" Let's go to your home, Jija, you can lie down a little." Ajabde nodded at a scared Heer.

" Badi Maa Badi Maa." Heer was out of breath. " Woh... Jija is not feeling well."
" What happened?" Jaivanta Bai rushed to see Ajabde sitting on her bed drinking juice from a dasi.
" Aree Heer, you called Ranima? I'm fine, really. "
" What happened, Ajabde?"
" I just felt a little dizzy. It's so hot outside, maybe that's why..."
" Daasi call vaidji."
" Aree nahi nahi... Am fine, Ranima. Vaidji will cause Kunwarsa some tension."
Pratap stormed into the room, all worried.
" Ohho, Heer Baisa, why are you calling everyone?" Ajabde complained.
" What happened, Ranima? She is ill?" He looked worried.
" No, am fine", Ajabde protested. The medicine man checked her and went away with Jaivanta Bai. Pratap sat down, worried about facing her on the bed.
" Why don't you take care of yourself?" He said once they were alone.
" Kunwar Pratap, see how you worry without a reason. That is why I was telling you I will go with you so that you can take care of me." She smiled.
" Ajabde, why are you so stubborn?"
" Pratap!" Jaivanta Bai entered as he got up.
" Ji Ranima?"
" Go meet Rawatji, he is waiting at the baithak."
" Ranima, can I go to Kelwara too?" Ajabde interfered as Pratap looked at her angrily.
" No, Ajabde, you can't." Pratap smiled as Jaivanta Bai spoke.
" See, Ranima won't allow you." He said and left.
"Ranima, why can't I go?" Ajabde asked as Jaivanta Bai smiled and hugged her.
" Because you need extra care now, especially with my Nanha Pratap coming, I can't afford to let you go out of my sight!" Ajabde looked at Jaivanta Bai, shocked as realisation dawned, and she blushed red.

" Ranima! " Pratap interrupted, clueless. " We are leaving at dawn."
Jaivanta Bai looked back at Ajabde, telling, " Tell him by dawn." She nodded shyly.
" Tell me what?" Pratap asked as soon as she left.
" Nothing. Let's pack your things." She walked past him and was about to go out of the room when he shouted, " Ajabde!" And made her stop.
" You are not leaving until you tell what Ranima is telling."
" Uff Kunwar Pratap, I will, but not now!"
" What kind of excuse is that?"
" Let me go."
" No! Tell me."
" All right!" He stared at her face, waiting. She looked here and there.
" Woh.... Woh... Humm.... "
" Yes?"
" You... I mean, we...."
" You are making no sense!"
Ajabde breathed in heavily, " I need to go see Daimaa tomorrow!"
" Why? For Saubhagyabati?" She nodded a no.
" For me."
" Why would you need...." He stopped, surprised and stared right at her blushing red face. " Ajabde! Hey Eklingji. Really?"
" Yes." She replied, embarrassed as he hugged her.
" Why are you standing here? Sit down. No, Lie down! And you haven't eaten yet, Daasi Daasi!"
" Kunwarsa! Kunwarsa!" She stopped him with her hand. " Am fine."
" You don't decide that! We do!"
" We?"
" We... Me and I... or her! I need to go tell Rawatji to postpone the trip by a day. We will go see Daima."
" No, you don't! You forget the vows?"
" Wha..."
" First Mewar, then Ranima, then me... us." She smiled as he stared at her.

At dawn, he was ready to leave as she came out with the aarti thaal.
" You shouldn't have woken so early."
" And missed doing your aarti?"
" Stay with Ranima and don't eat anything from anyone and...."
" I know, stop worrying and concentrate there! I will write to you."
"Every day!"
"Kunwarsa!"
" No, Promise me!"
" All right, every day!"
" Take care of yourself and him..."
" ... Or her..." She smiled. She did his tilak and he got on Sarang. He then got down and walked up to her, surprising her with a tight hug.
" Take care, Ajabde."
" Stop worrying and come back soon."
" I will."

He rode off as she stood there before leaving for Ranima's chamber to wait for his arrival in a month or so.

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. ...

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...

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...

The Difficulties

“The best of our characters are often reflected in our children.” Kunwar Shakta had visited the court at Udaipur after a Turk marriage offer was turned down by Rana Udai Singh for the third time for one of his Princesses. The Ranimahal at Chittorgarh buzzed with rumours of him warning his father about the consequences of enemity with the Turks and also about the impending doom of Mewar. He had apparently irked Kunwar Partap by suggesting a peace alliance with the Timurids was beneficial to Mewar. Rana Udai Singh, in his anger, had banished him from his court. Kunwar Shakta had sworn not to be associated with the royal family any further and to join allies with the Turks. Rawat Chundawat was calm enough to pacify the angry prince and offer him to shift to Bassi and give his decision a second thought. However, Kunwar Partap had refused to abandon Chittor, defying his father’s orders for a shift to the newly founded capital with his Ranimahal. He wanted to stay at Chittorgarh, which...

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 ...

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...

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...

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