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Ajabde looked around the unfamiliar surroundings nervously. The last two days have passed like a dream. The Marriage, the Vidaai and the arrival at Chittorgarh. She was now sitting in the room she called her own, yet seemed so unfamiliar. She got up to see whether anyone was there keeping an eye on her. A little relieved, she took the lota from the centre table and placed it on the bedside table. 
As soon as she placed it three daasis appeared at the door asking “You need something Kunwaranisa?”
Eyes wide and nervous she replied “N…No… I was just…”
“Maharanisa has told us to be at your service for every need.”
“I… don’t… need….” She was scared at the thought that three daasis will be at their toes for her needs.

“Disperse now.” Sajja Bai’s voice made her feel relieved.
“I will get Kunwaranisa dressed for Kunwarsa’s arrival.” She smiled at a nervous happy bride.

Kunwar Pratap’s eyes were not easy to be outsmarted. He caught Rawatji in the corridor running out of Rana Udai Singh’s room worried.
“Rawatji.” His voice stopped the man. “What happened?”
“Baojiraj. Nothing. You…”
“Rawatji, tell me.”

“News is that Surtan Singh has joined hands with Bairam Khan and your Daajiraj is worried. Also, Badshah Khan is active with the Afghans, we are afraid they will also ally with the Mughals.”
“Badshah Khan? “ He frowned. “Shams Khan’s son.” Rawatji nodded.
“The Afghans have attacked at Kelwara in the evening,” Rawatji said absentminded.

“What? You are telling me now?” Kunwar Pratap looked disappointed. “I will be getting ready to…”
“No Kunwarsa.” Veer Baiji stopped him. “Your new bride…”
“Veer Baiji. “ Dheerbai appeared behind her “I am sure Ajabde knows her duties as …”
“Don’t worry Chotima. Ajabde will be happy to let me go.”

The new bride was sitting with nervous expectations as he entered the room worried about how to put it. Kunwar Pratap had forgotten that his new bride was Baijilal.
One look at his face and she frowned “What happened?” Her question made him smile faintly.
“Ajabde.” 
She walked up to him and asked again. “What happened?”
“Badshah Khan attacked …”
"Who?" She frowned. 
"Shams Khan's son. He attacked ..." Pratap looked angry.

“What are you still doing here?” She looked displeased as he looked up at her face. She walked away towards the adjacent room and came back with his sword as he stood confused at her behaviour.
“You get ready I will do the puja.” She reassured with a smile. 
As she turned to leave he held her back by her wrist making her stop.
“Ajabde.”
She turned with a smile as his eyes twinkled proudly.
“Kunwarsa…” 
He hugged her tight, as she found peace in his arms then moved away from his embrace shyly. 
“Go. You are getting late.” He smiled with a nod.

As Kunwar Pratap got ready for the mission, she put down her aarti thal from her puja placed on the table in the room beside his sword. As she opened the door she saw a daasi standing.
“Maharanisa has called upon you both Kunwaranisa.”
“Ji.” 
She nodded as he heard the orders and eyes met with a nod.

Jaivanta Bai smiled at the newlyweds as Ajabde handed him his sword. Rana Udai Singh walked in and stopped as Jaivanta Bai smiled at him proudly. He nodded with a faint smile as she did his aarti. Pratap and Ajabde smiled at each other as he walked behind his father. Maharani Jaivanta Bai urged her to follow to the Rani Mahal gates.

As Kunwar Pratap turned around at the gates she smiled. He smiled back faintly before looking at his mother who gave a reassuring nod before he left. As his horse went out of sight, suddenly Ajabde felt a cloud of loneliness around this unfamiliar place. She needed to shake off the feeling. It was home now.

Ajabde turned around as Jaivanta Bai said “Come stay with me tonight Ajabde.” She smiled faintly with a nod.
" You know when Pratap was just three, we used to live in Kumbhalgarh, he..." Jaivanta Bai knew her mind and soul needed to ease. They spend the night, telling and hearing childhood tales, mostly of Kunwar Pratap's adventures.
Jaivanta Bai smiled at the sleeping figure as she caressed her head with a sigh and whispered a small prayer. For her, mostly for him.

At dawn, Dheerbai ji walked into the decorated room of the newlyweds and frowned to find it empty.
“You need something Chotima?” Ajabde’s voice startled her as she turned to see her, in a red and yellow lehenga, ready after a bath, with puja thali in hand.
“No… I…. Kunwar…”
“Kunwarsa and Ranaji have gone to stop Badshah Khan, remember?” Ajabde smiled.

“He…went?” Dheerbai managed a sly smile . “Leaving his bride on the wedding night?”
“He went.” She nodded. “For his mother needs him to save her.”
“I feel so bad for you.” Dheerbai faked a concern.
“I feel so proud that I am his wife.” She smiled as she meant every word.

Kunwar Pratap and Ranaji reached in time to scare away the small troops of the Afghans but something in Kunwar Pratap said it was not over so soon. Shams Khan’s son wouldn’t stop. He made sure the borders were secured as of now, every bordering state needs alert. 
Shams Khan's son was hiding in a khema in the Mewar forest after his escape. Pointing at a fort on the map he looked at his generals.
"Kunwar Pratap will pay for killing my father. And this is how. Prepare to attack the eighth day from now."
"But Huzoor, why here?" A man asked. Badshah Khan smiled faintly.
"Because according to their Rajput rasm, this is where we will find his heart, alone, in seven days. You rip his heart out, you devastate him, revenge taken." He smiled pleased and confident. He had all the information he needed to gather on the Samant family, Bijolia and the New Bride. Well, all the information he knew about!

Kunwar Pratap looked at the Mewar map in his khema with a frown. He circled out three places. Shook his head. He was missing something. What was he missing? The doorman announced Rao RamRakh's arrival. He folded up the map with a smile.
"Kunwarsa... you are going back to Chittorgarh, I am leaving for Bijolia at the earliest."
"Ji Raoji, I will give Ajabde your regards." He smiled.
"Actually, am here to invite you for the pakfera there on the seventh day, and like the rule, Ajabde would.... stay back till the tenth... Hansa Bai will write to Maharanisa." Raoji's words made him smile like he found something. Raoji stopped confused.
"Don't worry we will be there." He nodded as Raoji turned to go.
"Raoji...." He stopped the man. " Keep your armies ready. In case." He nodded. 
Kunwar Pratap opened the map and circled the fourth spot with a frown on his face. 
However, he was happy that in just two days they would be back in Chittorgarh.

In these two days, Ajabde learned many things with Sajjabai’s help. At first, she thought she needed a map around the palace of Rana Kumbha. She knew the road leading to the mandir and garden, others she dared not use out of fear. The princesses were in awe of their new Bhabisa as they showed her around the garden and the mandirs. Meera Ma’s mandir filled her imagination with the lady’s tales.

 In the evening she read out to the eager bunch as she missed Balwant and Ratan. She missed home. She prayed twice daily for his safety. He who made her call this unfamiliar place home.


The news of his arrival filled her heart with happiness and her mind with nervousness as Jaivanta Bai Ordered the Daasis to get her ready in her wedding attire and jewellery before he arrived. He needed to see her just the way he left her.



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Protisruti

  প্রতিশ্রুতি  বন্দিতা মা কে জড়িয়ে ধরে যেন প্রাণ ফিরে পায়।  “ভাল আছিস?” জিগেস করে সুমতি। বন্দিতা হঠাৎ খেয়াল করে আগের মতো তার মুখ দেখেই তার মা আর তার মনের অবস্থা বুঝতে পারেন না। তার সাথে হঠাৎ মনে পরে কত অনায়াসে অনিরুদ্ধ বোঝে যে তার মন খারাপ। একবার জিজ্ঞেস করেছিল সে স্বামীকে, কি করে তিনি বোঝেন তার মন খারাপ। ছোট বন্দিতাকে তার মতন করে বুঝিয়েছিলেন তার স্বামী। আজ বন্দিতা বড় হয়েছে কিন্তু সেই প্রশ্ন সে আর করতে পারেনা। বন্দিতাকে খাটিয়ার উপর বসিয়ে এর মধ্যেই সুমতি যায় তার জন্য মুড়ি মুড়কি আনতে। বন্দিতার চোখ পরে পায়ের নূপুরের উপর। তিনি বলেছিলেন “তুমি খুশি হলে তোমার নূপুরের আওয়াজ অন্যরকম হয়, আর তোমার মন খারাপ হলে অন্যরকম।” বন্দিতা নূপুরটা বাজিয়ে দেখেছিল সেদিন। আজকে সে জানে পার্থক্য তার নূপুরের শব্দে নয়, অনিরুদ্ধের পর্যবেক্ষণ শক্তিতে। আবার কেন তার কথা ভাবছে সে? বাড়ি এসেছে মায়ের কাছে। আর ভাববে না সে, হয়তো দু তিন দিন পর ত্রিলোচনবাবু পাঠাবেন বিহারী কে বন্দিতাকে বাড়ি নিয়ে যেতে, ততদিন মায়ের কাছে একটু শান্তিতে থাকুক না সে।  দুপুরে আম দুধ দিয়ে ভাত দেয় তাকে সুমতি। “তোর প্রিয় খাবার দেখ, মাম...
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Answers

Aniruddha could not work all day. It started raining heavily outside, the curtains of the room swayed in the gusty wind, and things around the room toppled over. Koeli came to pick them up, to see if he wanted to eat anything but Aniruddha wanted to be left alone. Countless questions and fears raced through his mind. Bondita never went home like she did that day. Rather, once a year, even before Jamai Sasti, she checked the household chores a hundred times. If Batuk had a test, if someone was sick, she was reluctant to go. She just packed a bundle so quickly and left for her mother’s place. Had she distanced herself from Aniruddha? Was it his fault? Anirudha started thinking. Could she not take him as a husband because he pushed her away and hurt her? Aniruddha repented for his actions. If indeed Bondita denied their relationship knowing the truth behind it, could she be blamed? But was that why she was pretending to be asleep even though she was awake that night? What did she think ab...
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Promises

Bondita hugged her mother as if to find herself again.  "Are you okay?" Sumati smiled. Bondita suddenly noticed that her mother couldn't understand her state of mind just by looking at her face anymore. With that, she suddenly remembered how easily Aniruddha understood that she was upset. Once she asked her husband how he understood things without her saying it. Her husband explained to little Bondita in a way she would understand. Now that Bondita was grown up she could perhaps never ask him that question again. Meanwhile, Sumati hurried to get her some Muri Murki while she sat down on the bed. Bondita's eyes fell on her feet. He had said, "When you are happy, your anklet sounds different, and when you are sad, it is different." Bondita stirred her anklets unmindfully. Today she knew the difference was not in the sound of her Nupur but in Aniruddha's powers of observation. Why was she thinking about him? She came home to her mother. And she would not th...
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Choices

The winter rains and gusty wind were unpleasant weather for Adhiraja Ishaan Dev. The Suryapalian capital was far more tropical weather of the plain lands than that of Neelambargarh, situated on a plateau rather close to the Heemdevi. It rained more in Neelambargarh, and the winters were cold. The wine did very little to comfort him as he kept the lamps of his chamber lit in an attempt to feel warmer. On the contrary, he observed how Priyambada complained that the winter isn't cold enough. It had been a quarter of the moon cycle since Maharani Priyambada met Kumari Advika of Mait. Although Ishaan Dev was eager to know what the ladies did talk about, he wasn’t sure whether to ask Priyambada. So he waited for her to tell him something, anything! But Priyambada seemed to act like the meeting never happened. She didn’t even disclose anything to Smriti as per Kumar Viraj. Ishaan Dev was perplexed. What was talked of in the meeting? Worse, did Advika mention him? She must have. The last t...
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Going Home

Bondita's Mama came to Tulsipur to meet his daughter. He was a poor man and wore a short dhoti and a Batik shirt. It was wrong to come empty-handed to the daughter's house, so two pots of sweets accompanied him. Reluctantly, he had to go to Roy Chowdhury's house. They were the Zamindar of Tulsipur, the master of the father-in-law of Sampoorna, they needed to be respected. Apart from that, the fate of the sister and niece who he was reluctant to shelter and spent day and night rebuking them about had turned, the same sister now handed over some money to him by the end of the month, because of the kindness of Aniruddha Babu. He did not have the luxury of pushing Lakshmi away. Hence it was necessary to come to the landlord's house to meet his niece. In their house servants also dressed better than him; Look at the fate of the girl . Where he had arranged for her to stay in a corner of an old man's house, now Bondita was living a queen’s life.  Zamindar Trilochan Roy Ch...
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Uttor

  উত্তর   সারাদিন কাজে মন বসেনা অনিরুদ্ধর। বাইরে অঝোরে বৃষ্টি হতে থাকে, ঝোড়োও হওয়ায় ঘরের পর্দা দোলে , জিনিসপত্র এলোমেলো হয়ে যায়। কয়েলি আসে ছোট মালিকের জিনিস গুছিয়ে দিতে, তিনি কিছু খাবেন কিনা শুধোতে কিন্তু তাকে চলে যেতে বলে ঘরে খিল দেয় অনিরুদ্ধ। একা থাকতে চায়। তার মনে আনাগোনা করে অসংখ প্রশ্ন এবং আশংকা। যে ভাবে বন্দিতা স্বেচ্ছায় মায়ের কাছে গেল আজ, সেরকম সে কোনদিন যায়না । বরং বছরে একবার জামাই ষষ্টিতে যাওয়ার আগেও একশো বার বাড়ির কাজকম্ম দেখে শুনে যায়। বটুকের পরীক্ষা, কারুর শরীর খারাপ হলে তো কথাই নেই। সেই বন্দিতা আজ হঠাৎ বাড়ি যাবে বলে কি তাড়াতাড়ি পোটলা গুছিয়েছে। এতই কি দূরে চলে গেছে সে অনিরুদ্ধের থেকে? তা কি তার নিজের দোষে? ভাবতে থাকে অনিরুদ্ধ। সে দূরে সরিয়ে দিয়েছে বলে অভিমান না কি তাকে স্বামী রূপে গ্রহণ করতে পারেনা বন্দিতা? অনিরুদ্ধ পশ্চাতাপ করে। সত্যি যদি বন্দিতা সব জেনে তাদের সম্পর্ক অস্বীকার করে, তাকে কি দোষ দেওয়া চলে? তবে কি তাই সেদিন রাত্রে জেগে থাকা সত্যেও ঘুমের অভিনয় করছিল সে? কি ভেবেছে সে অনিরুদ্ধের ব্যাপারে? কেন চারিদিক বাছবিচার না করে এমন করল অনিরুদ্ধ? নিজের প্রতিজ্ঞ...
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Adornment

The rainy night had given way to a rather pleasant summer morning in Suryapali. The temperature was no longer soaring and a gentle breeze blew through the plains of Suryapali. The sun peeped out through the floating clouds occasionally. Priyambada walked into her chambers after a luncheon to find trays laid with drapes and jewellery, waiting for her. “The Maharani sent this for some celebration in the evening,” Vrinda spoke, bowing at her mistress who nodded silently. Priyambada eyed the trays and exhaled. She wasn’t sure if anyone talked to Ishaan Dev about the rituals. She dismissed Vrinda and decided to read the scripture. As Priyambada sat down on the edge of the bed, scripture in hand, her thoughts travelled to the happenings of the night and she inhaled as her throat felt dry. Why did he stop? Did he feel that he had offended her? Priyambada wondered. She walked up to the attire laid down for the evening and picked up the drape wrapped into a bodice and wrap-around skirt. They w...
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Ghore Fera

  ঘরে ফেরা   বন্দিতার মামা মেয়ের সাথে দেখা করতে আসেন তুলশিপুর। গরিবের ঘরের ছা পোষা চেহারা তার, পরনে খাটো ধুতি ও ছিটের জামা। মেয়ের শশুরবাড়িতে খালি হাতে আসা অন্যায় তাই দুটি মিষ্টির হাড়ি সাথে। অনিচ্ছা সত্তেও রায় চৌধুরী বাড়িতে যেতে হয় তাকে। তারা তুলশিপুরের জমিদার, সম্পূর্ণার শ্বশুরের মনিব, তাদের সম্মান করে চলা মঙ্গল। তা ছাড়া যে বোন  ও বোনঝিকে আশ্রয় দেওয়া নিয়ে দিনরাত কথা শোনাতে বাঁধতো না তার, সেই বোন  এখন মাস গেলে তার হাতে টাকা তুলে দেয়, অনিরুদ্ধ বাবুর দয়ায়। হাতে আসা লক্ষ্মী পায়ে ঠেলার বিলাসিতা করার মত মুরোদ নয় তার। অগত্যা বোনঝির সাথে দেখা করতে জমিদার বাড়ি আসা। এদের বাড়ির চাকররাও  তার থেকে ভাল পোশাক পরে; ভাগ্য দেখো মেয়েটার। কোথায় কোন বুড়োর বাড়ির এক কোণে পরে থাকার ব্যবস্থা করেছিল সে, এখন বন্দিতা রাজরানী।  জমিদার ত্রিলোচন রায় চৌধুরীর যাকে পছন্দ নয় তাকে তিনি সেটা বুঝিয়ে দিতে দ্বিধা বোধ করেন না। বন্দিতার মামা তার তেমন এক অপছন্দের পাত্র । বৌমার মুখে তিনি যা  শুনেছেন তারপর বৌমার তাদের প্রতি টান দেখে আশ্চর্য হন ত্রিলোচন বাবু। কিন্তু কুটুম্ব তারা। হাতে কর...
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Trust

Ishaan Dev woke up at the sound of the hourly bells and trumpets and found himself alone in bed. It took him some time to realise that he had perhaps overslept as he looked confused, half asleep first at the hourglass and then at the sun rays coming into the chambers through the swaying curtains. He sat up to suddenly remember the happenings of the night, as his eyes travelled to the blood stain on the sheet and he sat in contemplation for a good few minutes. He finally had his moment with Priyambada and it was nothing like he had imagined it to be. A part of him that yearned to touch her and taste her was satisfied enough to realise that his longing for her was not only physical. When bodies entwined in the union, and he had pushed himself in, as he had with a hundred other women before her, something in him felt a different sense of completeness and fulfilment that he realised was missing from his life. He had seen Priyambada react to the sensations that were completely new to her, m...
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Gratefulness

Aniruddha did not return home that night, he informed on the telephone that he was stuck in urgent work so he would return home the next day after spending the night at the client's house. Bondita spent a sleepless night. What would she tell Barrister Babu? And why would he believe it? She was lost in her thoughts twisting and turning in bed all night. She was hurt. Was her husband so reluctant towards their relationship that he did not wish to return home because of her? Once he was busy with some work and was pacing in the study room. Bondita was a child. Her Jetha Shoshur Moshai had taught her to serve her husband. She used to see Bihari take a cup of tea to the study room every day. Despite Bihari's resistance, she picked up the cup of tea that day.  "Don't do this, Ginnima ," Bihari was terrified. “Barrister Babu does not like to talk or be disturbed during his work. If he gets angry, I will lose my job.” Bondita ignored his words and entered the study room w...
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