Prologue

Prologue  

ARNAV SINGH RAIZADA rode through the narrow roads of the hilly terrains of Gangtok inhaling fresh air of the mountains. Wearing black insulated jacket, leather gloves and boots, he was attired appropriately for the chilly air and light rain. The breathtaking view of the mountains with its snowy peaks nestled in the clouds, the sound of the gushing river Teesta with his bright green waters and green foliage was not something one saw every day – especially not remnants of landslide on the hills that seemed to be a common feature in the area, lending an air of adventure to the whole scenario.

As he watched little children with their cherubic faces walking with their school bags, men and women on their way to work, Buddhist monks walking quietly, looking peaceful and content, it made him wonder how little one needed to just live a simple and happy life. Why did people in bigger cities hanker after something more, making their lives complicated?

He decided to take a break at a small restaurant and ordered some tea and maggi noodles that seemed to be a staple diet in these parts. This restaurant was about halfway from the homestay where his family was vacationing. He wanted some time to gather his thoughts. He wasn’t sure if surprising them like this was a great idea. He had flown from Delhi to Bagdogra in the morning, rented a Royal Enfield, and driven 123 kms to reach Gangtok. When his grandmother has asked him to join them on their trip to Sikkim, he had refused, but the disappointment in her voice was apparent and that had rankled in his heart.

He was hoping that this trip would help him make an important about his future. His grandfather hadn’t been in favour of him doing his engineering in Architecture in the first place, but he had grudgingly accepted it. Now that he had completed his degree, the old man was expecting him to take over his construction business. But his senior Manav, a civil engineer, had asked him if he would be interested in starting a construction firm with him. If he accepted, he'd have to risk being disowned by his grandfather. He wasn’t quite sure what to do.

As the sun was setting into the peaks of the distant horizon, Arnav parked his motorcycle and made his way up the stone steps of the homestay. He wasn’t sure if this was the right place as there was no board of any sort indicating the name. Lost in thought, he failed to notice a figure coming down the same steps until they collided and might have taken a tumble down the steps if his reflexes hadn’t come to his rescue.

He looked down to see that in his arms was a very young girl in a red jacket and blue jeans. She had bangs that covered almost her entire forehead with parts of it lying on her rosy cheeks. She had huge almond-shaped eyes, a sharp nose, and full lips. Her waist length hair was braided in the latest style that girls these days seemed to the sport.

"Are you okay?" He asked her as he raised himself and her. He felt his heart racing as he looked at her.

"I am really sorry!" she breathed, "my shoe slipped and I lost my balance –" she said in a rush, "thank you for catching me. I don’t know what might have happened –"

"Take it easy!" he exclaimed. He took a step back. "Is this Mr. Limbu's homestay?" he enquired, "I believe the Raizada family is staying here."

"Yes -- but who are you?" She enquired, her eyebrows twisted in doubt.

"My name is – Abhay," he said. He had a sudden thought of hiding his identity as a part of his surprise plan. "I am Akash's school friend -- I came here for a holiday. I found out he was also vacationing here and thought I should meet them."

"But they left for Lachung this morning. I think they are expected to return tomorrow evening."

"Oh." So much for the surprise. What was he supposed to do now? "I guess I will have to wait for them. Is there a room available?" he asked her.

"Yes. Do you have any luggage?"

"I have everything here," he patted his bag pack.

"Please follow me." She turned around and began to climb the stone steps.

As they ascended the steps, Arnav noticed small quaint cottages on one side and a beautiful garden on the other. Soon they reached the top which had two cottages on right next to each other. She unlocked the one on the right and stepped inside ushering him with a wave of her hand.

The room with lavender painted walls, was tiny and basic with a queen bed on one side, a small coffee table and a dressing table with a mirror. She opened the small door on the opposite wall.

"This is the washroom," she said, "you will have to switch on the geyser for hot water."

"Okay." He said tersely.

"I will leave you to get some rest." She hurried out of the room.

Arnav shut the door and flopped down on the bed but even after fifteen minutes, sleep was elusive. As the room didn’t seem to have a Television, he stepped to the window to see that it was already quiet dark outside.

He stepped into the bathroom, washed his face, and looked for a towel only to see an empty towel holder. What kind of place didn’t have towels? There didn’t seem to be any soap there either. F@#$! Just then he heard a knock on the door.

As he opened the door, he saw the girl standing there with towels and soap in one hand and a tray in the other.

"Could you please take these towels?" she asked sharply, "my arms are aching."

"I am sorry!" Arnav apologized as he took the towels from her, "You needn’t have troubled yourself. I would have come down to get it."

"You are the guest," she said, her wide eyes defiant, "you aren’t supposed to get it yourself." She placed the tray on the coffee table. The porcelain cup looked unique with intricate drawings in green and gold, with a matching cover to keep the tea hot. "This is lemon tea." She walked to the door. "Dinner will be ready in an hour. Please come down to the main cottage."

"I don’t think I will have dinner tonight."

Her eyes flashed at him. "I will be making it in any case."

After drinking the tea, Arnav laid down on the bed and this time he had better luck catching up on sleep.

When he heard a knock on the door, Arnav got off the bed and opened the door to see the girl standing there with a lantern in her hand. "What – what time is it?" He asked with a shiver, "Why is the room so cold?"

"It's 9 P.M. The power is out," she said in a low voice, "Why don’t you come with me to the main cottage? There is a fireplace there. You can have your dinner and warm yourself until the power comes back."

"Didn’t I tell you I didn’t want dinner?"

"It not good to skip dinner -- sir!" She exclaimed, "you won't be able to sleep because of the cold. Come down and eat a little and warm yourself by the fire. The power will be back in the meantime."

It didn’t look the girl was going to take "no" for an answer. "Okay."

The dining room looked warm and cozy with wooden walls and floors. Fire crackled in the fireplace, illuminating the room in golden light. Food was laid out on one of the tables.

Arnav hadn’t realized he was hungry until he ate the scrumptious meal of roti, plain soup, ladies finger curry and special dish made of spinach leaves.

"What's this soup?"

"It's dal but made differently – it's called soul here."

"I see."

"Wasn’t it a good idea to eat?" she asked him when she brought him a second roti.

"Are you always this persistent?" he asked her.

"My mom says it isn’t good to skip dinner," she said, "she also says that it isn’t wrong to insist if it for their benefit."

He didn’t think the same. He thought people should be allowed to make their own decision rather than being forced to accept something that others thought would be good for you.

"I am sure your mom says the same." She continued as she brought him a finger bowl.

How would he know? He had lost his mother to a dreaded disease when he was just ten years old. His father was missing from his life even before that. His stern grandfather had no idea how to raise a young child and he had been too much to handle for his weak grandmother. His maternal uncle's wife constantly made him feel unwelcome in their house while his uncle was a mute spectator. He had in turn taken it out on his docile cousin Akash and that had probably driven his grandfather's decision to send him to a boarding school despite his loving grandmother's objections. He had been quite happy to get away except that he missed his older sister Anjali.

"You are not only persistent but you are also presumptuous," He didn’t know why he was engaging with a naive girl who was clueless about his life.

"I am sorry if I was overstepping my bounds," she apologized, "but I only do that with someone who is shy – someone who needs a little persuasion to open up."

"So, in your opinion, I am shy." Arnav couldn’t help the grin that broke out of his face. "Looks like you are good at analyzing people. Are you thinking about a career in psychology?"

"Not really," she smiled back at him, "I am thinking of a career in which I can make someone smile – just like you are doing right now."

This girl could be sassy he thought as he looked at her eyes twinkling in the golden light of the fire.

He had to stop noticing her eyes. "Alright, I think I will go and get some sleep."

"But the power isn’t back yet. The room will be too cold for you to sleep in."

"What the --? How can a place like this not have backup power?" he demanded roughly.

"The generator is out of order," she said in a low voice,

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed, "It looks like this place does a thriving business, doesn’t it?"

"Please remember that this is a village and not a city. Things like this happen here very often. The people here are not very rich and cannot afford expensive inverters like those in the city. You are the one who has come here to experience life in a home stay – so please try to understand."

Her words hit him like a splash of cold water on his face. She was right. He walked to the far end of the room as she began to clear the table. He had behaved unreasonably, but that was no surprise, was it? That was why people didn’t like him – unlike his sister.

Anjali was undoubtedly the favourite in the house. It was probably because of her quiet demeanor and the fact that she accepted everything that came her way without a muster. That included the arranged marriage that their grandfather had set up for her. He planned to talk to her about it but he had the feeling that it wouldn’t do any good. Having been away from home all his life had created a wedge in their relationship. It was no different from the other members of the family. It was only his grandmother who, despite his rebellious streak, had given him unconditional love and although he didn’t express it much, he loved her back equally if not more.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. The girl was holding a bowl for him, her eyes looking a little concerned. "It's wheat halwa – I forgot to give it earlier."

"Thanks." He needed some sweet in his life right now.

"I am really sorry sir," she said, "The power may not come back soon. You look very tired – why don’t you just sleep here?" she suggested, "I will get you a mattress."

Arnav stared at her incredulously. "Why isn’t there anyone else in this place?"

"They had to go away on an emergency."

He raked his hand through his hair. "Do you need help with the mattress?" he asked her.

As she led the way into a bedroom, Arnav realized he was trying not to think about how beautiful she looked. The way she had put her trust in him was something that unnerved him. He shook all the wayward thoughts from his head.

Arnav stood on a stool, lifted the mattress off the loft and threw it on the floor. Just as he got off the stool, she screamed dropping the lantern on the floor. Arnav realized they were standing flush against each other.

"Something went over -- my feet," she stuttered as she clutched at his jacket, "I think it is a rat."

She smelled incredibly good and of its own volition, his hand moved to stroke her hair but he stopped before he could make contact. Why was he behaving like an adolescent? He stepped back. "Let's get out of here fast!"

Arnav picked up the mattress and made his way back to the dining area and placed it close to the fire.

She spread a sheet over the mattress and placed the pillow and blanket on it. "You may sleep now." She stood up and left.

Arnav flopped down on the mattress, and went right to sleep, his fatigue getting the better of him.

A little later, he woke up to use the washroom and on the way back, he saw the girl cowered in different parts of the room, shivering as she slept.

"Hey?" Arnav crouched next to her. "Why are you sleeping here?" He asked her when she looked up with a start.

"I can't go back to the room to sleep," she said, "I can't use the heater. It's warmer here. I am fine. You go back to sleep."

He almost turned around then he realized he couldn’t bear to see her suffer.

"Get up," he told her, "come and sleep on the mattress."

"What about you?" she asked him.

He wanted to be kind but not to the extent of braving the hard and cold floor. "The mattress is large enough for the two of us."

"I don’t think that it's a –"

Before she could finish, he had scooped her in his arms and carried her to the mattress. He covered her with the blanket and lay on the other edge of the mattress with his back turned toward her.

"Thank you." She murmured thankfully for the warmth. "It’s not that I like being persistent or presumptuous – I just follow my instincts – whatever my heart tells me."

He would have to correct the former impression he had of her. She wasn’t naïve at all. But she was lucky he was not a psychopath.

"All that is fine but I will tell you one thing little girl," he muttered, "all that glitters -- is not gold. Goodnight!"

When Arnav woke up the next morning, a girl came up to him. "Good morning sir. May I know who you are?" A pretty girl with a slim build and eyes that clearly indicated that she belonged to Sikkim stood in front of him.

"I am Arnav Singh Raizada," he said wondering who she was, "who are you?"

"I am Malina Limbu," she introduced herself. "My brother Indra is the owner of this homestay."

"I came here last evening to surprise my family." He explained.

"Oh sorry, Mr. Raizada. We didn’t know about your visit. My brother drove your family to Lachung and I rushed to the hospital because my sister-in-law went into labor last evening."

"That's alright," he said, "she took care of me very well."

"Who?" She seemed surprised.

He suddenly realized he didn’t know her name. "There was this girl here who showed me to my room and made me dinner."

"That's Lucky! I am so relieved that you were taken care of. Please go up to your room and take rest. The power is back. I will have breakfast ready soon."

A little later, Arnav sat in the upstairs balcony of the dining area that overlooked the mountains.

"Isn't the girl – Lucky here?" he asked Malina as she served him piping hot aloo parathas.

 "She was supposed to leave for her hometown last evening but looks like she might have left this morning. Please enjoy your breakfast."

In his fatigued, sleep deprived state and too many thoughts running through his head, had he conjured up a somewhat romantic notion around something that was as simple as a housekeeper taking care of a guest?

"Would you be having your lunch here, Mr. Raizada?" Malina enquired.

"No thank you, Ms. Malina," he said, "I will be checking out. I have to go back to Delhi."

This trip seemed to have done him some good for he suddenly seemed to have attained clarity about the decision regarding his future. A rain check on the surprise plan after all.

As he sat sipping lemon tea, he looked at the majestic snowy peaks nestled in the clouds. He sighed. In the light of the day, last evening seemed so surreal.