Bells

Tarabai approached Ishaan Dev with slow, measured steps, following Mallal into his chambers after he summoned her. She stood at a distance watching him doing something with his back to her, her heart thumping in her chest. Tiny droplets of perspiration appeared on her forehead, and her lips felt dry.

“Where is it?” Ishaan Dev glanced over his shoulder while admiring the cleaned sheath of his sword, when Tarabai’s face turned pale.

“Wha… what?” Her voice stuttered as Ishaan Dev frowned, confused and turned to face her.

“You said you are going to the temple. Where are the offerings?” He asked firmly. A little relieved by his query, Tarabai smiled faintly, still unsure of what he knew. Was he testing her? She asked for his permission and proceeded to go back to her chambers, and in the faint light of the lamp, her hand reached the pouch beside the offerings. She shuddered, immediately letting it go as it rolled over the cold floor while she picked up the offerings wrapped in the leaf and quickly went back to his chambers. Ishaan Dev took the offerings to his lips with a small prayer.

“Thank you.” He smiled at her. Tarabai looked taken aback at his words at first. Never before had he thanked her for anything. “Do leave some of it here, I will give it to the Maharani with your best wishes.” He suggested. This relieved Tarabai of her doubt that him spying on her movements.

Tarabai was about to do what she was told, placing the leaf down on the table in front of her, when she stopped, as if Trishaan Dev controlled her mind. Still scared of her thoughts and intentions, she asked, “If you don’t mind, My Lord, can I give this to Her Highness myself?” Ishaan Dev narrowed his eyes at her odd request as Tarabai clutched the leaf in between her palms.

“I will never have a child to call my own. The least I can do…” Her eyes shone in the light of the lamps around the room. Her sentence was cut midway as she controlled herself, and Ishaan Dev suddenly felt a sense of sadness around her. Of course, she was human. Would it be far-fetched for her to have human needs and emotions? He eyed Tarabai, standing in his room, unsurely staring back at him. Ishaan Dev’s throat felt dry. Was he naive to her feelings? Of course not. He did value her, just not in a way she perhaps wanted to be valued. His upbringing taught him to draw the line fairly well. But could he not give her this much happiness?

“You may.” He nodded with a smile, “She will be happy to receive it from you.” He had watched Tarabai leave silently with a short bow. She looked as if something preoccupied her, but it wasn’t his position to have a conversation with a concubine regarding her inner feelings. He never wanted any of them to have the wrong idea. He was well aware, unlike anyone else believed, of his father’s tryst with his favourite concubine, which resulted in a strain on his relationship with his mother and the fact that he always felt his mother was deprived of his love. He was also aware of who Trishaan Dev was. He couldn’t make the same mistakes.

Tarabai was sleepless on what seemed to be the longest night of her life. She twisted and turned in her bed, opened the pouch several times, poured its contents out in her lap and placed them back in the pouch with trembling hands again. Tarabai stared at herself in the unclean mirror of the room, thinking about what life had brought her. What it had given her. Unlike others who spend all their lives in the Kothi blaming their fate and God’s will, she had accepted it more easily the day a strange man pulled her up from her sleep and told her that her father had left her to him. She was scared, alone, and even sometimes unsure, but never blamed her fate or God. Some even said she was brave. Was she? If she were, she would have told Adhiraja about her encounter with Trishaan Dev. Why didn’t she? Perhaps because he wouldn’t believe a concubine over the best friend he grew up with. Or because she knew somewhere in this entire ploy, Trishaan Dev was not alone. If he were caught, she wouldn’t be spared. If he wasn’t caught, she would always be his eyes and ears, even if she didn’t want to be. With dawn, she had made up her mind on what she should do, for her own sake. All her life, she had lived to serve others. Now was the time to be selfish. She summoned Sehri to make her bathe.

“Get me my best attire, I have a meeting with the Maharani.” Tarabai smiled at the girl who ran at her instructions.

Maharani Priyambada was getting ready for the courtroom in her chambers as Vrinda brushed her hair and two maids helped her with her jewellery. It was Urvi who came to her room and bowed to inform her that Tarabai was there to see her. The maids exchanged rather shocked and judgmental looks, while Vrinda gasped involuntarily. Had they ever heard a concubine enter the chambers of a Maharani? Oh, what a sin!

“Let her in,” Priyambada smiled at a confused Urvi. “I was expecting her.”

Tarabai had entered the room as the judgmental eyes hawked her every move. She looked up at the mirror, as Priyambada sat with her back to Tarabai, her face visibly glowing in the morning sunshine.

“I heard you went to the temple for me yesterday?” Maharani Priyambada smiled as she got up, placing her hand involuntarily over her stomach. Tarabai’s eyes travelled to her hand, painted and shining with jewellery. She wasn’t showing yet.

“Are you going to the courtroom, Maharani?” She sounded concerned, “Did I interrupt…”

“Oh no, I was expecting you. I have been quite bored around my chambers, so I just…” Priyambada stopped, for now, the maids were turning their heads at her. She was engaging in banter with her husband’s favourite concubine.

“I… got you…” Tarabai held out the offerings. Priyambada smiled and took them. Urvi was about to take it from her hand, but Priyambada touched it to her forehead and ate it. Tarabai’s throat went dry as she cleared it to speak, “Umm… I'd better not keep you…” Priyambada nodded as she bowed and promptly left. Tarabai ran to her room and shut the door behind her as she wiped the perspiration off her forehead. She glanced over at the sand clock shining in the rays and the empty pouch that lay beside it.

The court session was a mundane one. Neelambargarh had lost its two best ministers, and Ishaan Dev had decided to take up the Defence himself and handed the Finances over to one of the other ministers. A few issues were discussed, but none reached a valid conclusion. Further debates ensued. Ishaan Dev, even while he was engrossed in the ministers debating their cause, eyed Priyambada, sitting on the high chair beside his, more than once, still she gave him an annoyed warning glance to make him stop. After the court session rolled into the afternoon, Ishaan Dev raised his hand, dismissing the men, assuring them they would continue the next day. The last thing he wanted was for his pregnant wife to skip lunch. Urvi helped Priyambada back to her chambers. It wasn’t until after lunch, when the peacocks were heard at a distance and the afternoon rolled into dusk, that Priyambada suddenly felt slightly uneasy. She was perhaps tired, so she lay down to rest, but couldn’t sleep. Her restlessness alerted Urvi and worried Vrinda. After her repeated requests not to inform Adhiraja, Urvi suggested she would get into trouble and let Devdoot inform him. Ishaan Dev was perplexed. He was already against her attending court and thought she might have over-exerted herself. The medicine men were summoned immediately, and Urvi led them down the hallway to her chambers. The palace was suddenly silenced as the sunset brought in the darkness around it.

Adhiraj Ishaan Dev was strolling across the terrace on his wing, the moonlight making the surroundings quite easily visible, murmuring a soft prayer under his breath for moments that looked like hours as he waited with bated breath for news of her well-being. The bell tower in the north suddenly rang once. Then twice and thrice. Ishaan Dev looked up, his heart skipping a beat at the third ring. He was not alien to the concept of emergency bells ringing in Suryapali’s palace. The code for these was the same across the land. Three times meant someone was probably nearing death. His throat went dry as he heard Devdoot call out to him from the threshold. The urgency in his voice made Ishaan’s heart sink. “Your Majesty! Come with me immediately!”

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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