Reflection of the Past

" Ajabdeh!"

"Maharanisa!"

"Maaaaa"

"Daadisa?"

The palace echoed with the cries as she lay breathless in his arms. His world had frozen. His Ajabdeh was gone. He had grown into the man he was with her. She was the part of his life he was always thankful for. She made him believe Love and Family existed for good. She was his strength. Rana Pratap sat like a stone, watching her calm face as Mewar cried for its queen. He had failed to give her any happiness, he felt.

500 Years Later...

The Fort of Chittor was a special attraction for tourists. The story of its bravery and sacrifice was famous. As a student of history, she had the dream of seeing the place, and today her dream was coming true. She walked into the fort with her friends and classmates. They got busy clicking pictures as she looked for a tour guide. She finally found one and called out to them." Mahek, Purvi, and Disha! Come! He's gonna show us around." She straightened her backpack." This is the Vijay Stambh... the Kumbha Shyaam temple... Meera Maa Temple."Mahek was opening her shoes as she stared at her friend, looking around." Survi? You're not going inside the temple?"

" No, you carry on, I will look around..." She stared around the place and looked at the blazing sun with a frown. Then she took out her bottle and a cap. They were back soon, and the last place to visit was the Kumbha Palace. As they walked up the steps, she wondered why the place looked familiar. Ever since her father's untimely demise, all she has done is follow her dreams to be an archaeologist. Maybe reading too much about a place made it look familiar. They stepped into the ruins.

"Yeh tha ek zamane mein yaha ka shaan ab toh pata bhi na chalta ke kitne manzil thee, sab nasth ho chuka." The guide spoke up as they looked around." I think four, see three are visible," Disha spoke up." How come? There can be three and a roof too." Purvi spoke, irritated at Disha's know-it-all attitude." What do you think, Survi?" Mahek asked. She was unusually quiet." There were five, yes five, with half a roof of the Ranimahal, making it five and a half." She spoke unmindfully."

"Where on earth did you read that?" Mahek's eyes widened. " As far as I know, no one knows this."

" I dunno, Mahek." She looked worried. " I must have read it somewhere."

" Or she imagined it." Purvi laughed." Yaha se ayiye." The guide stepped into the corridors. They crossed the corridor and she felt as if someone was calling her, but it was not her name...

" Ajabdeh..."

She had no idea why this name came back time and again like voices in her mind ever since she read about Maharana Pratap. She shook off the voices. They walked onto the ground with a large open area and some broken walls. The guide was about to speak up when she heard a sound of metal, like someone clinking them together. She turned around at the sound and saw no one. The sun is driving me crazy, and I'm not feeling well. She heard it again, this time it was more like ... swords clashing? But how on earth will she know how swords clashed?

"Yeh tha akhara aur Dangalsthal." The guide spoke up as her eyes widened.

"Dangal? Yaha... pass mein koi astabal bhi hai kya?"

" Nahi Babyji, asthabal toh... ab toh sab nasht ho chuka..."

" Survi! Now, where did you read about that?" Mahek was frowning." Mahek... I... am not feeling well... you people continue, I will take an auto and leave."

" Aree Survi...." Mahek called in vain after her.

"How far is Chawand from here?" She asked the receptionist at the hotel Pratap Palace when she was feeling a little better.

"Chawand?" The receptionist looked sceptical at her. "Nobody visits there, Ma'am."

"I want to, so I want you to hire a cab for me." She said firmly, eyeing the clock. It was around noon. The receptionist reached for the phone and dialled someone.

"It will take around three hours, Madam. Maybe you can go tomorrow?" The gentle suggestion did not go down well with Survi. "I am going now if a cab can take me."

"Surely, Ma'am." The receptionist confirmed with a driver. "Tell my friends once they come back that I am just visiting for a few hours. I will be back soon."

She took out a diary from her backpack, where she scribbled down her findings. She read out the marked page.

"Maharani Ajabde Punwar died in Chavand, the capital of Maharana Pratap, in a moderate hideout. No date of her birth or death has been found, although it's estimated to be around seven to nine years before Maharana Pratap passed away."She sighed. She never told anyone about these voices and flashes. She was scared they would end up taking her to seek medical help. Or worse, do not let her pursue her quest for the past. She had seen strange dreams ever since she was a kid, dreaming that she was lost in the jungles, trapped in a hut, and many other strange things that always made her feel unsafe. But the voices appeared only after she came to Udaipur and bought a book on the Maharana's personal life. Her thoughts were broken by the car horn.

"Hum aa Gaye."

She got down at the sight of the simple house in ruins. The tiles of a marble floor, a broken-down wall and an archway were visible. This was his capital; he and Ajabdeh Punwar died here. She walked up to the ASI chains, restricting entry into the area. Not only was the building collapsing, but the forest around it was thick with thorny vegetation and potential reptiles. Not many tourists were there, but she could hear a few birds. The driver informed her about a lake and a cenotaph they could visit at a distance. She looked for an office of ASI and found nothing but a makeshift tent where a few people seemed busy with pre-excavation work. As she reached the archways, her vision blurred. She thought it was because of the scorching sun above her head, but the flashes were back, this time more prominent than her dreams. She could see curtains on the jharokhas, red and yellow carpets, a seat, and a bed. She could hear her voice giggle. And a kid's.

"Ranaji... Ranaji... Pratap!" She was calling someone. Survi had goosebumps at the vision as she felt like she would faint. She caught the nearest pillar to balance herself.

" Are you alright?" Came a voice behind her. She was startled as the light reflected on his face that appeared before her. Dark brown eyes. " You okay?" He asked again. "You should not be here. This is not an area for tourists." He looked concerned at her sweaty, red face.

" I'm... dizzy... But fine... I need some shadow." She managed as he held her shoulders, giving her support, then took her to the tent. " Are you here alone?" She nodded a yes." Then let's sit you down in my office and I will get you some glucose to hydrate you... Miss??"

" Survi Joshi."

" Pratap Singh." Her eyes widened as she heard her voice again in her head. "It's a more common name than you imagine." He smiled as though he could read her mind. She shut her eyes as she felt dizzy again. "Are you feeling unwell, Ms Joshi? Can you call anyone?"

" You... You are... " She stammered unsurely as he let her sit on a plastic chair in the tent, and one of his assistants turned the standing fan towards her. He offered her some glucose water he carried with him.

" I'm an ASI officer." He smiled. As she sat sipping her glucose, she asked, " Umm... what are the places to visit relating to Maharana Pratap? I am a student of history, too."

" You are?" He smiled, pleased. " Wait, I will write down the places for you, and advise taking the glucose everywhere. You won't find people in most places. Especially the non-touristy ones."

" Thank You, Mr Singh." She managed. " You are from here?"

"From Mewar, yes. From another place." He smiled.

" He is kind of a royal, too..." One of the other men teased him as he smiled humbly. " Royal?"

" Yes, my maternal side is from the Punwar Family of Bijolia. My full name is Pratap Singh Hada. We are family to..."

" Ajabdeh Punwar?" Her heart skipped a beat." Yes, Maharani Ajabdeh Punwar. My home is in Bijolia, and we have business in Udaipur, but History attracted me, so I am here!"

" Bijolia... It's..." She tried to recollect the name.

" Maharani's birthplace, there are palace ruins. Kunds, Mandirs... You can see them too... In fact, a few royal descendants still live there." He added that to the list.

"Thank You." She got up to leave. " Visit again,, He replied as he watched her walk up to her car.

Purnota: Chapter Thirteen

Aniruddha eyed Trilochon, sitting at the desk in his room, attending to some paperwork. His reading glasses were on his nose, and he appeared engrossed in a financial document. He stood at the threshold, a bit unsure and glanced over his shoulder at Somnath, Batuk and Bondita. She gestured at him to go on. Aniruddha cleared his throat. That prompted Trilochon to look away from his document at his nephew. “Jethu, if you are busy, I can come back…” He suggested unsurely. “Come in and close the door.” Trilochon glanced over Aniruddha’s shoulder at the others who walked away hurriedly. Aniruddha closed the door, and Bondita tiptoed to place her ears on it. Batuk and Somnath stood at a distance. “So you met her?” Trilochon spoke while cleaning his glasses. Aniruddha nodded. Somnath had introduced them to Ashalata. Bondita, Batuk, and he had met them in a Dhaba off the highway. Although Bondita did most of the talking, initiating a friendly gesture to put the nervous Ashalata at ease, he had...

Purnota: Chapter Sixteen

It had been a month since Bondita had started working in the firm. With Somnath’s wedding date being set for winter, many things were keeping Trilochon and Kalindi busy as they took charge of the smooth running of things leading up to the wedding. They needed to shop for everyone, buy gifts and choose jewellery and sarees for the bride. Despite his attempts, Trilochon found Binoy reluctant to participate in his son’s wedding arrangements. Somnath took him and Kalindi to places they wanted to go, especially Kolkata for shopping, and Trilochon made arrangements to make sure that the first wedding of the generation was grand enough. Bondita tried to help as much as she could as she noticed Aniruddha being oddly aloof from the entire thing. She assumed it was due to Trilochon’s reactions to his lack of interest in marriage. Trilochon kept pestering her to enquire into his reasons while she kept stalling him with excuses. Bondita also failed to know more about Kalindi and Trilochon’s past, ...

Purnota: Chapter Fifteen

A week was all it took for Bondita to get used to work and the new routine. She would wake up early and hurry through her chores, helping Kalindi prepare a tiffin of either Chirer Polao or bread jam and then proceeding to the Roy Chowdhury house. She would arrange the day’s paperwork before Aniruddha arrived at the study room. Occasionally, she would hear him call out to Koeli for breakfast and pack her things, knowing he was almost ready to leave. He would walk into the chamber, check his list, and they would go to work. She would follow him from courtroom to courtroom. She would be sitting in the audience and learning. She would follow him to conferences and client meetings and take notes. They would discuss complicated cases. She would share the tiffin she brought from home. He would at first take a reluctant bite, then eat more than her. She often gave him her share of food discreetly. They usually stayed back after everyone was gone and ordered food for dinner. Some days, he woul...

Purnota: Chapter Seventeen

Bondita opened the curtains of her room at The Park to find the view of Stephen Court and the street below going towards the Maidan. She eyed the double bed and placed her things on one side while lying down on the empty side. The soft bed made her yawn as she sat up, staring at the clock. She needed to change for a quick dinner. They had an early matter at the High Court, and the client’s car was supposed to pick them up around 9 AM. As she changed into a full-sleeve black top and jeans, removed her earrings and adjusted her smudged Kajal, she heard a knock on her door. She opened it to find Aniruddha standing in a pair of jeans and a grey polo-necked T-shirt, his hair brushed back, as he cleaned his thin-rimmed glasses with the edge of his T-shirt. “Are you ready for dinner?” He asked, putting the glasses back on. As she nodded, she grabbed her handbag. They walked into The Bridge, and Bondita was a little conscious of her environment. Many foreign guests, businessmen and even s...

Towards You

The Afghans, after Sher Shah Suri's untimely demise, were at loggerheads for power. Their troops near Mewar were now led by Mehmood Shah. They secretly captured territories in the forests and waited to attack Mewari camps when the time was right. Rawat Chundawat and his spies had confirmed the news, and Udai Singh sent a warning to Mehmood Shah to withdraw his troops from Mewar in vain. Now that it was out in the open, it was time they declared war. Mehmood Shah had limited resources in Mewar. His internal rebellion against his commander did not help his cause. 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. It was then that one of his aides suggested a perfect plan. Maharani Jaivanta Bai had decided to go to the Mahakaleshwar Temple near the outskirts of Chittorgarh, in the forestlands of Bhilwara. They had travelled a long way and across the Gambhiri river that meandered during...

Dreams and Wishes

At dawn, the Bhil women took the girls to the Kalika Mata Temple and the Jal Kund. Dressed in white, a nervous Heer followed everything Ajabde knew and did, trying to explain the significance of the rituals to her. They prayed to Lord Ganesh. Kunwar Shakti and Kunwar Pratap were staying at Punja Ji's place, as they were not supposed to see the brides before the wedding. Ajabde was dressed in her mother's lehenga, a mang tika Jaivanta Bai gave her as a family heirloom and the simple nosering Pratap had gifted. They made their hair into a simple bun with wildflowers before putting on their dupatta. Heer was dressed in traditional Bhil jewellery of silver and beads that the women had gifted her. They made her wear a red and white saree draped as a lehenga and a red chunri with it. She looked like a pretty, colourful Bhil bride. Kunwar Shakti was a nervous groom dressed in a traditional bhil dhoti, kurta and cap. The bhil shawl hung from a side, making the white attire colourf...

You Deserve More

Ajabdeh woke up with the song of birds as she felt something warm on her hand. Her eyes went wide. Her hand was on the pillow in between them, between his hands, clasped as he slept. She thought of removing it slowly, but he was holding on to it so tightly. Ajabdeh'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 the bed as he stared back at the rain. Then he frowned as he noticed that 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 ...

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 Fourteen

“Why can’t she work? I will too.” Bondita had barged into the Roy Chowdhury living room early in the morning, still in her loungewear, as Aniruddha looked up at her through his glasses. Trilochon was showing Aniruddha some paperwork from one of their investments as Bondita stood by the coffee table, wearing a frown. Aniruddha looked confused. Trilochon cleared his throat as he shook his head at Bondita. “It's different. She is going to be the daughter-in-law.” Aniruddha eyed Trilochon and Bondita, who shook her head in disappointment. “So?” She questioned, “She can’t have a life?” “When a woman marries…” Trilochon stood up, straightening his Panjabi “Her life is about being a good wife and mother.” Bondita gasped. Aniruddha’s jaws tightened as he kept the papers down. Bondita spoke before he could. “Then by that logic, men should also concentrate on being husbands and fathers.” “Then who will earn the bread?” Trilochon rolled his eyes. Bondita eyed Aniruddha, expecting him to speak...

Purnota: Chapter Twelve

Bondita woke up to the alarm clock ringing as she struggled to get her hand out of the quilt wrapped around her. She sat inside the mosquito net, rubbing her eyes and staring at the clock, trying to remember why she had set the alarm at 3.45 AM. Then her eyes shone in delight. It was Mahalaya. She remembered that during her days in Dehra, she had educated her roommate on the tradition of starting pujo with the voice of Birendra Krishna Bhadra echoing through the air. She was uninterested, and Bondita had borrowed her headphones to hear the program and deeply missed home. She remembered that as a child, while her father was still alive, he would gently wake her up, and take her on his lap to the huge Banyan tree near the Panchayat where people gathered near the Pradhan’s radio, putting flower garlands and lamps around it and folding their hands as they heard Mahishashur Mardini killing the Asura. When she arrived in Kolkata to get her law degree, she thought things would be different. B...

RAABTA

Search This Blog