The Last Ride

Ajabdeh woke up with a heavy head and still felt sleepy. She sat on the bed and drew the blanket over her bare shoulders as she remembered the night. A smile curved her lips as she looked out at the midday sun. She suddenly looked alarmed. It was midday. They were supposed to leave after breakfast. Why did nobody wake her up? Where was he? She quickly got dressed. Her mind was running. So many things were said and done the day before. She needed to talk to him.

She was greeted at the door by the packed luggage and Kasturi.

"I packed your luggage for you, ma'am. Sir said I should pack you some snacks, so I made sandwiches."

"Where is he?" She asked, looking around.

"He is yet to come downstairs."

"Why did you not wake me up, Kasturi? We were supposed to leave two hours ago." She narrowed her eyes at the clock.

"I am sorry, ma'am. Sir instructed us to let you sleep." She smiled, thanking her for her service and insisting she took a handsome tip before she turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Pratap had his aviator glasses on and walked past her towards the car.

"Put the luggage in Bahadur." He said to the guard, who did as he was told.

Ajabdeh silently went up to her side of the car and opened the door.

"Put her luggage on top." She heard him say, "She will be dropped off first." Ajabdeh inhaled. She glanced across at him, driving once they were on the highway.

"I sent Mrs Sekhawat a thank-you note and a bouquet." She spoke.

"I called Heer. She will be there when you arrive at the apartment. She will help you clean up and settle." He turned on the radio as she looked out of the window.

"We need to talk," Ajabdeh said almost in a murmur. The music was too loud. He didn't hear her. Or he pretended not to. He hadn't seen her eye to eye even once.

"Do you want sandwiches?" She asked a little louder.

"I am not hungry." He shook his head indifferently. Ajabdeh decided it was best to be quiet.

The car stopped at her old apartment. Ajabdeh could see Heer wave at her on the driveway.

"I will take the bags inside." Heer insisted, forcing a smile as her face looked pale. Ajabdeh nodded in silence and looked back at the man who handed the bags over to her sister.

"I…" Ajabdeh spoke as Pratap cleared his throat.

"I will see you around. Drop the papers by my office. I will sign them." Ajabdeh looked up at his words. He looked away. "Whatever makes you happy." He walked back to the car and drove off. Ajabdeh stood there watching his car leave.

Jaivanta's face looked pale as she exchanged glances with her worried husband. Her son was home. Alone. Shakti was about to follow Pratap up to his room as Udai gestured to him to stop.

"Leave him alone." His words were firm.

"I should talk to Ajabdeh first thing tomorrow," Jaivanta spoke, concerned.

"Don't you dare do that! I will visit her in a few days. Leave it to me." Udai spoke. "Unlike you, I will support them if they are happier apart." Jaivanta looked away.

Pratap rushed into his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Then he sat down on the floor, hugging his knees close to his chest as tears flowed down his cheeks. He had lost her. He looked up at the pictures on the wall. The wedding day. The honeymoon selfie. The candid photo of her with animals at the rescue centre. His vision blurred. He held on to the nearest cushion he found close to his mouth and let out a silent scream. Ajabdeh was gone, and it was all his fault. He perhaps didn't ever find it important to say what he felt rather than show it. Now, in his desperate attempt to stop her, his words perhaps lacked value to her feelings. He was too late.

The moment Ajabdeh entered the apartment, the smell of fresh paint gave her a headache. Even lunch and a nap didn't help. When she woke up, it was raining outside. She popped a pill and stood on the balcony as Heer made tea.

"What would you like to have for dinner, Jija?"

"He said he loves me." She said almost in a murmur.

"What?" Heer looked clueless.

"He said he loves me." Ajabdeh smiled, a little surprised.

"And you thought he didn't?" Heer looked shocked. "Of course, he loves you."

"But… Heer." Ajabdeh looked out at the scene. "I didn't say it back." She looked alarmed. "That is why...that is why he left me."

"You are not making any sense, Jija. He didn't leave you. You told him to."

"You don't understand. " Ajabdeh shook her head. "He was there all along. He never said it. I missed the signs waiting for the words." Heer shook her head, clueless. "What did I do, Heer?"

Pratap sat staring at the wall. He was tired of crying and hungry because he skipped lunch and dinner and hadn't stepped out of his room since he arrived. Even Shakti couldn't get him to open the door. "Leave me alone, please." He had insisted. There he was. In the cold, dark room alone. His eyes dried up from all the tears. He couldn't close his eyes even for a second. Her face, her words, the feeling of her skin on his came haunting back. The previous night, for a very brief moment, he had thought that he had convinced her. That she was happy with him. She did make a move. She did hug him. But then she said she would never forget it. Their last night. What was he thinking? He banged his forehead against his hand in utter frustration.

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...

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 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...

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 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...

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...

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