Dream Team

“I said stop the wedding.” Ajabdeh looked irked as her own voice seemed to lack confidence. It's been a long time since she stopped taking risks. An entire village was looking at her. Some were in shock, others confused. They knew their princess was back. Most of them didn’t yet have an opportunity to catch a glimpse of her, until now.

“With due respect Baisaraj.” An elderly man stepped forward from the crowd. He was from the bride’s side, as Ajabdeh could tell from the colour of his safa. “This is an age-old tradition we honour. As did our kings and queens, even your grandparents.” He spoke as everyone agreed “What can be wrong with centuries-old traditions?” He smiled “We respect you Baisa, we understand your modern city world is different from ours. But you must also respect the tradition of your forefathers and…”

“She is only twelve.” Ajabdeh interrupted “What you are doing here is illegal. The legal age to marry is eighteen. That too with consent.”

A buzz went across the ground. “You can be jailed for this.” She added.

“ Those laws don’t apply here.” Another man came forward “I am one of the panchayat heads, we make the laws.”

“ Then I am the princess of Bijoliya and I speak over you. This marriage will not take place.” Ajabdeh found the lost authority in her voice. The men stared at each other.

“And just because something is going on for centuries doesn’t make it right. For centuries you oppressed women and denied them their basic rights, to live, educate, choose or even possess what is rightfully theirs. Doesn’t make you right. You burned women alive in the names of witchcraft and Sati for centuries. Or you still do?” She asked. The women behind the veils gasped. The urban women actually had the guts to speak their minds. Whether it was their bravery or their desperation, was often debated among these women over their pondside gossip sessions.

“Of course, we don’t kill anyone. This girl is twelve. Next year or so she will be fit to have babies. If we don’t get her married she will choose someone and…”

“What if he is not of your caste, class or religion?” Ajabdeh smiled. “Right?”

She walked up to the girl’s mother who held her child in a bridal dress and clueless excited eyes, in her protective arms. “Trust me, she has a bright future. She can study, she can learn anything, earn her own living, and live on her terms. She doesn’t need to be someone’s wife.” The woman looked scared at her words.

“That is enough insult already.” Someone from the groom’s side spoke “First they give us very insignificant dowry then we bear such insults. Let’s go, everyone. We will also see who marries her now.”

Another gasp followed as the bride’s father stopped them with folded hands. “Please don’t leave. My child will be cursed.”

“That she already is.” The man taunted “This evil woman interrupted the rituals. One who ate her own child.” Ajabdeh’s eyes widened as she felt dizzy all of a sudden. Her throat went dry as a buzz went across the crowd. Some gasped, some looked sympathetic, others suspicious. “We know about her, all of us do, don’t we?” Ajabdeh felt her knees weaken. Her palms sweating. Her vision blurred. She was about to hit the ground when she felt a strong pair of hands around her. A similar smell of musk hit her nostrils. 

"How dare you talk to her like that?" Pratap's voice silenced the crowd. "How dare you blame a mother for a miscarriage?" He was evidently angry. Kasturi who had come along with him with the help of the guard who accompanied them held the unconscious Ajabdeh and took her to the car. 

"You want to blame someone? Call them a murderer? Here. Blame me. I am at fault here. I failed to take care of her then. I failed to take care of her today. Blame me. Call me names. Wizard. Demon. Why are you silent? Because I am a man?"

"We have no animosity with you Kunwar Sa." The panchayat head spoke up. "Let us go ahead with the wedding. You don't interrupt our lives, we won't interrupt yours. I will send them to apologize to her."

"There is no need for that." Pratap fumed "You have done enough already."

He looked around and caught hold of a bamboo stick he could find. "And as far as this wedding goes, I am going to stop it."

"Then we have no option but to…" Pratap didn't let the man finish as he picked up the bamboo stick. "Stay away from the child."

"Hurry Bahadur." Kasturi looked scared. "Call the doctor. He knows important people. Or else we will be in trouble."

When Ajabdeh opened her eyes she was in her bed, and it looked like the middle of the night. The room was dark and she turned to her side as her head felt heavy and she found Kasturi asleep by the bedside. She tried to sit up in panic remembering the face of the child. Kasturi woke alarmed.

“What happened, Kasturi?” She asked in an agitated voice, “What happened to…”

“Oh, you fainted out of stress Baisa.” She looked scared “The doctor came to check on you.”

“No, NO!” She shook her head “I mean the girl, the wedding!” Kasturi looked at her as though she had seen a ghost.

“I….” Kasturi looked away and said, “Kunwarsa reached on time.” Ajabdeh looked up at her words.

“And?”

“He managed to hold them back until the District Magistrate arrived with the police. He held you before you hit the ground…” Ajabdeh suddenly remembered it all. 

“Did he… could he?” Ajabdeh asked. Kasturi nodded.

“He fought the entire village so calmly Ma’am.” She said almost astonished “He convinced her mother. The mother and child are with the police now. They gave statements against the panchayat. All that made them really angry against Kunwarsa.”

“Where is he?” Ajabdeh got out of her side of the bed prompting Kasturi to be by her side. 

“He had gone with the Magistrate. He said he would be back in an hour but…” Ajabdeh frowned at Kasturi’s words and checked the clock. It was 9PM. She walked out of the mansion with Kasturi in tow alert. 

“Something is wrong here. He is not home yet.” Ajabdeh looked perplexed “Call the doctor and his wife.”

“Shekhawat?” Kasturi asked as she ran indoors to the telephone.

"They are the only people I know."

“The villagers are very sensitive people.” Dr Sekhawat bandaged Pratap’s arm “You should deal with them wisely.”

“I just held the bamboo stick up for defence.” Pratap spoke, “I obviously didn’t want to hit them, they attacked me.”

“You gave their Panchayat leaders up to the police for a child marriage.” Maya reasoned “They find nothing wrong in it let alone criminal enough to be caught by police.”

“This is so wrong.” Pratap frowned. “The things they said to…” He stopped at the figure on the threshold of the bungalow. “Ajabdeh?” He looked concerned. “What are you doing here?”

“What happened to him?” Ajabdeh asked the doctor as he shook his head “Who attacked you?”

“Calm down.”Pratap frowned “How did you know I am here?”

“I told her.” Maya smiled “She was worried sick. You left her without a call or note. So I sent my car to pick her up and bring her here.” Her voice was almost scolding. Pratap looked up at Ajabdeh’s worried face. 

“I am fine.” He managed “Everything is fine. I stopped the wedding.”

“I heard.” Ajabdeh sat down on the couch beside him and took the rest of the bandage from the doctor to finish it. “It's all my fault. I went there.”

Maya signalled at her husband to leave them alone and slipped out of the room.

“No, it is not. You did the right thing. You saved her.” He suggested “But next time make sure you don’t go alone to do the heroics. You always end up in trouble.”

“So do you.” She snapped “But you did it.” She smiled proudly. He nodded. "We did it." He made her look up. 

“Maybe we are better as a team.” He smiled back. Ajabdeh looked up at his words and withdrew her hand from his bandage. He saw her smile fade into a sigh as silence filled the room.

“Come have dinner with us.” Maya walked in prompting Ajabdeh to look away.

“Oh no, we should go.” Pratap got up to leave. "You have done so much already."

“I am not telling you, it’s an order.” Maya smiled. “Tell him Ajabdeh.” She walked up to Ajabdeh who smiled.``You can come to help me while we talk. I am glad you are here.” She dragged Ajabdeh into the kitchen by her hand. Pratap heard her chatter with Maya and sighed in relief. Knowing the Sekhawats were actually doing Ajabdeh some good. She was normal, speaking, smiling and indulging in a conversation willingly with Maya. The dinner was delicious too. 

“I will see you tomorrow morning for your appointment.” Dr Sekhawat said as he bid them adieu. 

“I will look forward to it.” Ajabdeh smiled.

On the way back home, Pratap cleared his throat and apologized, “Sorry if I made you worry.”

“All’s well that ends well I guess.” Ajabdeh smiled back “Goodnight.” He saw her walk away to the bedroom.

“So.” Dr Sekhawat opened the notepad and took out the pen from his pocket. “Let’s talk of Pratap, shall we?” Ajabdeh looked up at his words, a little pale. 

“We left off talking about my work in the last session, Doctor.” She reminded him.

“Ah yes.” He nodded “You loved it. You can speak of it all day. I am aware of that. But today I am curious about him.” Dr Sekhawat said, “How he handled things yesterday, he said he learnt from you." Ajabdeh looked up at his words. "What made you two so passionate about causes? Tell me what was the first cause you worked for together, for the first time.”

“The animal rescue centre.” A smile curved her lips “I took him there.”

“Maya thinks you make a dream team.” He watched her smile fade “Is it so in business too?”

“It is, I guess, in work only.” She murmured.

“How is he as a partner?” The question startled her “Does he make you feel uncomfortable?”

“Of course not.” The protest came rather strongly “He chose to be with me when he could walk away and choose better. I will never forget that.”

“Are you grateful?”

“I… yes….” Ajabdeh’s eyes shone “And guilty. I can’t repay him back.”

“Why do you need to repay him back?” The question made her take a deep breath.

“I don’t know. I just feel like I should.”

“Did he ever tell you so himself?” Dr Sekhawat frowned.

“Never.” Ajabdeh shook her head.

“Then?” He raised his eyebrows.

“He did mention he wants a marriage for an heir. I can’t….” She stopped.

“Was it before he knew he would marry you or after?” Dr Sekhawat asked with a smile.

“Before, but then how does it matter?” She frowned.

“Don’t you think our priorities change with people?” He raised his eyebrows.

“It shouldn’t.” Ajabdeh protested strongly “Not on important things.”

“Was marriage your priority before you knew it was him?” The doctor’s smile was met with her silence.

“We will continue next week.” He said, “Think about it and tell me what you feel.”

Ajabdeh saw him off at the portico promising to visit Maya soon. She turned and saw Pratap walk out in a hurry.

"Going to the District Magistrate." He spoke as he dashed past her. "About yesterday."

"It's not safe." Her words stopped him from getting into the car and he looked up with a frown.

"Kasturi said the villagers can be vengeful."

She added. "It can be unsafe for us here then."

"Don't worry, I have the plan to balance that." He smiled.

Ajabdeh's brows shot up. He reassured with a nod. 

"Do you want to come along and see for yourself?" She agreed to his offer.

Ajabdeh inspected the plan for a public toilet and hospital laid out in front of her. The Magistrate was talking to Pratap. He was unsure how the villagers would like the toilet. Especially separate men's and women's ones. Pratap was convincing him that it was in line with the government policies and good for him too. 

"Hansa Bai Public Healthcare Center," Ajabdeh murmured as she brushed her hands over the name of the said project. Then she looked across the room at Pratap. He was making it more difficult every single day to leave. She sighed. 

"You like it?" He asked walking up to her as though he could feel her eyes on him. She nodded. 

"Then lead it."

"I have no idea about such things." She looked alarmed "I am only a planner. Let Shakti do it. He will do a good job." He nodded. He placed his hand on her shoulder, scared that she would brush it off. She didn't. Instead, she was busy observing the laid-out plan.

"Could there be a free sanitary pad vending machine too?" She asked. 

"That's a good idea." He agreed. 

"We should go home. I have to tell the cook about dinner too." She said, suddenly looking at the watch. Her eyes fell on the date. Sixteen days down and fifteen to go. She suddenly felt scared. Her time with him was coming to an end.

" I have a better plan." He said, unaware. "I will cook dinner tonight."

"Are you sure?" She asked. He nodded. "it's been a long time since I did that."

"I will help you then." He looked up at her words. They were the hope he needed. The hope that he could be around her without hurting her. The hope that she wanted him as much as he needed her

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