PART - 7:
"Ek baat bataiye Dadaji... Prithvi gaana bhi gaate hain na." Nandini kept the veena on the cushions next to her and looked at Mr. Surendra Singh waiting for him to answer her question. Prithvi had gone to the college because it was reopening that day and he didn't want to miss the first day. But he had also said that he will be back early if there were no classes. Same was the case with Vaidehi. So Nandini was left all alone in the house.She had been playing a tune on the veena for Dadaji and her Dadu as they sat on another cushion, leaning back on the wall with his eyes closed, enjoying the rhythm. Now he opened his eyes and looked at her with a smile.
"Haan... wo gaaten to hain, par use tabla aur guitar bajana jyada pasand hai. Kyun, koi khaas baat hai kya?"
"Ji...??? Ji nahin... ah wo haan, darasal maine aaj subah Prithvi ko el lok geet gungunate hue suna tha... par pata nahi kyun mujhe aisa laga ki unhone wo gaana adhura chod diya..." she replied thoughtfully.
"Kahin tum 'Sun re Megha' ki baat to nahi kar rahi ho?" he asked her with a smile.
She nodded her head in a yes and he frowned. "Pata nahin kyun par Prithvi humesha ye gaana adhura chod deta hai. Usse kitna kaha hai par wo kabhi ye gaana pura karta hi nahi..."
Nandini looked at the deep lines of confusion etched on his forehead and resolved to herself that before leaving Udaipur she will make him sing this song at any cost.
"Khair chodiye, aap hum eek acha sa sangit suna dijiye."
"Kahiya na dadaji, kya sunna chahte hain aap?"
"Jo aapki marzi."
Nandini thought for a few minutes and then picked up the veena. A sweet music flowed out from the instrument and a minute later her clear yet sweet voice along with the melodious tunes filled the room.
"yashomati maiyaa se bole nandalaala
raadha kyon gori main kyon kaala(2)
Mrs. Sukanya Singh was on her way to the kitchen, and for this purpose she had to go past the music room and down the spiral staircase. However, when she heard the voice singing her favourite song in a voice which was too hard to resist, her feet halted right in front of the room. She watched the scene in the room for a few seconds before leaning on to the door frame and closed her eyes enjoying the song.
boli muskaati maiya, lalan ko bataaya
kaali andhiyari aadhi raat men tu aaya
laadala kanhaiya meraa,ho..
laadala kanhaiya meraa, kaali kamali vaala
isi liye kaala
yashomati maiya se bole nandalaala
raadha kyon gori main kyon kaala(2)
boli muskaati maiya, sun mere pyaare(2)
gori gori raadhika ke, nain kajaraare
kaale nainon vaali ne ho..
kaale nainon vaali ne,aisa jaadu Daala
isi lie kaala
yashomati maiya se bole nandalaala
raadha kyon gori main kyon kaala(2)
She left the strings of the veena and slowly opened her eyes. Dadaji too opened his eyes but his gaze was fixed on the door frame rather than her. Confused, she turned to look behind her but even before she could do it, she was greeted by loud applause and along with that Sukanya Devi came into the room with Prithvi, Aditya and Vaidehi.
"Aapke awaz ki jitni taarif Karen hum wo bhi kam hogi. Wah... kya sur hai... kya taal hai... aapne to kamal kar diya beti...!!!" Sukanya devi was truly enchanted by her voice. Nandini blushed at the praise being bestowed on her and looked down in shyness. After all the praises and applause had finished, Sukanya Devi held her hand and took Nandini away with her to her room.
"Kya baat hai aunty... aap hume yahan kyun lekar aayi hain.?"
"Baithiye yahan... hum aapko kuch dena chahte hain." The elder woman made her sit on the bed and stalled the protest on her lips with a gesture of her hand. Nandini fell silent as she could sense from the bearing that it would be useless to protest now.
Mrs. Sukanya Devi walked over to the almirah standing near the door and opened it. From the locker inside it, she extracted a case and then came and sat down besides her. "Kehte hain jab beti pehli baar ghar aati hai tu usse kuch dena chahiye. Aur aaj aapka gaana bhi suna hai... aur har hunar ki ek kimat hoti hai beti... isliye hum jo kuch bhi aapko de rahe hain wo aapko bina prativaad kiye sweekar karna padega. Samjhi aap?" she asked lovingly. Nandini nodded her head in agreement.
With a little smile, Mrs. Sukanya Singh pulled out beautiful pearl jewellery set in platinum and gave it to her. Though Nandini protested a lot, she didn't listen to a word. To make matters worse, Prithvi and Aditya came there with Surendra ji and when the old man asked Nandini to accept the gift, she could not refuse.
"Aapne mujhe itna mehenga tohfa diya hai... meri to kuch samajh me nahi aa raha ki..."
"Kuch bhi samajhne ki zarurat nahi hai... Chaliye ab isse pehen ke bataiye."
"Ji...??? Abhi..."
"Ji haan... abhi..."
And she made Nandini wear the necklace and the tops. "Kitni sundar lag rahi hain aap... hai na Pitaji... Jaise ye isi ke liye bana ho..."
"Aap sahi keh rahin hain Bahu raani... Waise Prithvi... aap inhe ghumane le jayenge ya nahin?"
"Maine kab mana kiya hai dadaji... Bas aap aur Ma ka Nandini ko niharna band hua ho tab to leke jaun mai isse." Prithvi replied.
"Uff... ho... Ab galti humari... kyun Nandini ka gaana sunkar aap dono nahi ruk gaye the...?" Sukanya Devi asked.
"Bilkul ruke the... par chachi sa... uske baad inhe roka to nahi tha na..." Aditya teased.
"To humne kahan roka hai...? Jao beti... jaake taiyar ho jao." She said this to the girl who was sitting quietly enjoying the leg pulling between the mother and the son. With a slight smile, she nodded and left the room. 15 minutes later, Nandini and Prithvi had left the palace for another tour round the city. Aditya had wnted to join them, but then decided to wait for his chachaji to come back.
Nandini had chosen a white coloured salwar kameez to match with the jewellery set and looking at her from the corners of his eyes as she gazed out of the window of the car, Prithvi found himself at a loss of words. She looked ethereal, completely breathe taking. In the last two days he had seen her either in jeans or in skirts which were teemed with contrasting tops. This was the first time he saw her in something so very Indian. It brought out her innate charm and beauty.
Not that he didn't think her to be beautiful... he always had accepted that she was actually very pretty, but today was something different. He couldn't take his eyes off her. Though he forced himself to look away from her, but try as he might, he couldn't check himself from gazing at the innocent beauty every now and then.
A silence had descended in the car; he had been unable to speak when she had come down the stairs in the white suit with the dupatta draped around her shoulders. He simply led her towards the car mentally thanking his stars that Aditya was not there. Even now he felt incapacitated of speaking a word... as it is he avoided talking to the girls because he felt uncomfortable in their company. Nandini was an exception. "Only because Dadaji asked me to take care of her." He thought to himself. And he had followed his orders.
To avoid the growing awkwardness, he began humming a song.
"Ek pyaar ka nagma hai...
Maujo ki rawani hai...
Zindagi aur... kuch bhi nahi...
Teri meri kahani hai..."
He kept humming it for some more time. Suddenly he was jolted out of his world by a mellifluous voice...
"Zindagi ki yahi reet hai...
Haar ke baad hi jeet hai...
Thode aansuu hai... thodi hasi...
Aaj gham to kal hai khushi..iii...
Zindagi ki yahi reet hai... haar ke baad hi jeet hai..."
He looked at her in surprise. She smiled and said... "Rapid round. Now your turn." He gave a half smile in return. He didn't remember when he had last played this game.
"Ye Zindagi usi ki hai... Jo kisi ka ho gaya... Pyaar hi me kho gaya... Ye Zindagi usi ki hai..."
"Pyaar ko ho jaane do...Pyaar me kho jaane do... Aitbaar kiska hai... Intezaar kiska hai... Abhi na hua to fir kabhi nahi kabhi nahi... Pyaar ko ho jaane do... Pyaar me kho jaane do..."
"Kabhi kabhi mere dil me khayal aata hai... Ki jaise tujhko banaya gaya hai mere liye... Tu ab se pehle sitaron me bas rahi thi kahin... tujhe zamin pe bulaya gaya hai mere liye..."
"Dil ne ye kaha hai dil se... Mohabbat ho gayi hai tumse... Meri jaan mere dilbar.. Mera aitbaar kar lo... Jitna bekarar hai dil...Khud ko bekarar kar lo... Meri dhadkano ko samjho... tum bhi mujhse pyaar kar lo..."
"Aur lo... isi ke saath hum pahunch bhi gaye." He said as the car stopped near the banks of lake Pichola. They got down from the car and Nandini got the first glance of Lake Pichola.
"Wow... par wahan tak jayenge kaise?"
"Boat se... come." Reaching out he took her right hand in his left and steered her towards a jetty at the city palace from where the boat run by Lake palace collects the guests. Once they were on the boat, Prithvi started his monologue.
Lake palace, formerly known as Jug Niwas is now a luxury hotel with 83 hotels and suites featuring white marble walls.It covers a whole of 1.5 hectares of the island in the middle of the Pichola Lake. It was built in 1743 under the direction of Maharana Jagat Singh II and was originally meant as a summer palace. However now it has been converted into a five star hotel. The successive rulers also used this cool haven as their summer resort and used to hold their durbars here. The palace is constructed facing east which allowed its inhaabitants to pray to Surya Dev at the crack of dawn.
He paused to take a breath and then shot a question at her. "Do you know this palace also played a role during the famous sepoy mutiny of 1857?"
"I seem to have heard something about it." Nandini replied a bit thoughtfully. "Ohh yes... got it... During the famous Indian Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 several European families fled from Nimach and used the island as an asylum, offered to them by Maharana Swaroop Singh. In order to protect his guests the Rana destroyed all the town's boats so that the rebels could not reach the island, isn't it???"
"You are absolutely right." He said with a smile. They had reached their destination while this conversation was taking place. Now he bagan to show her around.
"By the later half of the 19th century, time and weather began to take its toll on the beautiful lake palaces of Udaipur. The reign of Bhopal Singh (1930-55) saw the addition of another pavilion, Chandra Prakash, but otherwise the Jag Niwas remained unaltered and decaying. It was Bhagwat Singh who decided to convert the Jug Niwas Palace into the first luxury hotel of Udaipur. Didi Contractor, an American artist, became a design consultant to this hotel project.
In 1971, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palacestook over management of the hotel and added another 75 rooms.In 2000, a second restoration was undertaken. The "Royal Butlers" working in the hotel are descendents of the original palace retainers.
So that is a short description of Jag Niwas palace for you." He finished it. Nanadini shook her head in amazement but a second later could not resist teasing him. "Tum na Prithvi guide ki naukri le lo... tumhari kamai bhi achi ho jayegi aur Udaipur aane waale tourists ko ek handsome, naujawan guide bhi mil jayega."
"To tum manti ho ki mai hanadsome hun." He teased her back without a second's hesitation.
Nandini bit her tongue as realisation dawned on her about what she had said. She looked around hoping to find a way to get out of this uncomfortable situation when she spotted something which provided her an easy way of escaping from the situation. "Nahi... par wahan uss kone se jo ladkiyan tumhe ghur rahin hain... unhe dekhkar to aisa hi lagta hai. I am sure they wont mind agar tum unhe join kar lo to..."
Prithvi almost recoiled in horror as he listened to her words for getting these stares and admiratory glances was nothing new for him, but he used to become very uncomfortable when faced with such a situation. Without a word, he walked away from there but made it a point to pull the uncontrollably laughing Nandini along with him. They had to cross those girls on the way and neither Prithvi nor Nandini missed the glances directed towards him and the stares meant for her.
Nandini had been laughing all the while. Now finally when she sobered up a little, she suddenly realised that he was still holding her hands in his. She looked at him, he was quite unconcerned. Nandini was not new to the concept of holding hands... she had seen it in abundance in France where she had spent 18 years, but she was certainly surprised by the unconcern on Prithvi's features. She didn't want to embarrass him, so she chose to keep quiet and resumed her sight seeing.
It was around 5 O' clock in the evening and Nandini and Prithvi were enjoying their boat ride in the lake. It had been easy to have a boat completely to themselves. After all Prithvi was a kunwar and it was not everyday that he came there. Nandini had closed her camcorder and was enjoying the scenery around her.
They came back to the palace at around 7:00 p. m. where they found Vaidehi waiting for them. "Itni der kahan laga di aap dono ne.? Mai kab se aap dono ka wait kar rahi thi?" she pouted.
"To tujhse kaha kisne humara wait karne ko? Maine thodi na kaha tha ki mai kab aaunga." He teased her.
"Kyun bechari ko sataa rahe ho Prithvi?" Nandini protested. "Sorry Ved... der ho gayi. Kaho kya hua jo wait kar rahi thi?"
"Arey mai akele bore ho rahi thi... an se mai bhi aap dono ke saath chalungi." She declared.
"To hum se kisi ne kab mana kiya hai... humne to aaj bhi pucha tha, tum hi nahi jaana chahti thi." Nandini pointed out gently.
"Ummm... huh... ab se chalungi."
"Thik hai baba chalna, ab to jaan chhod." Prithvi brushed her aside and went up to his room. Vaidhehi followed him in his tracks all the while complaining. "Aap meri baat nahi sunn rahe bhaiya... mai aapse..."
Nandini smiled at this banter between the brother and sister. It reminded her of her family and the cceaseless teasings she used to have with her father. She was her papa's pet. Whenever he teased her, she always used to have an answer ready for him. Her mother was no less. She sometimes sided with her father and sometimes with her; but mostly she left the arguing father-daughter alone and used to quietly enjoy the mock fight.
Nandini stood in front of the open window looking at the star lit sky as her mind drifted off to her past. She still remembered the fateful night when she had got the news of her the accident. She was at her neighbour's house waiting for her parents to come back.
"Any problem Nandini?"
"No aunty, I am waiting for mom and dad to come back."
"They will be back soon child." Mrs. Vaughan patted her head affectionately. Her two children Charles and Caroline were sitting with Nandini.
"Why are you getting so worried anyways Nandini?" Charles wanted to know. "They will be back anytime."
"I don't know Charles. I'm feeling a bit weird." She replied thoughtfully hoping against hope that nothing untoward happened to her parents. But time passed away and yet they did not turn up at the appointed time. Mr. Arthur Vaughan too was not at home and all trials to contact him through phone proved worthless. He had received a call at the research centre and had left immediately was all that could be learned from CERN where Nandini's father and Mr. Vaughan worked together. The latter returned quite late... and that too with a bad news... He looked pale, his face was ashen and his eyes red from crying. He had come into the kitchen and looked at Nandini blankly for a few minutes quite oblivious to all the questions put by his wife.
His blank look had scared Nandini and fearfully she had stood up and returned his stare. In two long strides he crossed over to where she stood and enveloped her in a bear hug. "Nandini... I am sorry my darling... I don't know... how ... to say this..." Even without having to hear from him, she knew that something had happened.
"Something has happened to mom and dad, right uncle?" She pulled back and asked in a surprisingly unhesitating and controlled voice which seemed strange even to her own ears.
"Th... he... y......"
"Yes Uncle, what? They met with an accident, are in the hospital... or... please tell me uncle. Your silence is killing me." She cried out.
"They are no more my child." He said this in one breath and closed his eyes as if expecting some sort of explosion to occur. Mrs Annabelle Vaughan screamed out in horror, Caroline sat down with a thump, Charles hurried over to her and she............... she stood rooted to her spot.
Tears flowed down her eyes even today as she remembered that fateful night. She was weeping softly and didn't realise when someone entered her room very quietly. She came back to reality with a jerk when she felt a soft touch on her shoulder.
"Prithvi..." she was surprised to see him there. She quickly made a movement with her hands to wipe them off but he stopped her by holding her wrist. "Aansu bahana itni buri baat bhi nahi hoti Nandini. Rone se tum kamzor nahi ho jaogi." He reasoned.
When she still stood there quietly without uttering a single word, he understood she was not going to say anything else. Slowly he steered her out and towards the music room.
Once there, he made her sit on the cushion and placed a veena in front of her and himself sat behind the tabla waiting for her to start playing. When she didn't, he started tapping the tabla. Almost out of his own violation, she bagan accompanying him on the veena.
Prithvi:
Sunn re megha rahi gagan ke
Jaa tu mere prem doot ban ke
Gori se kahiyo dukh mere mann ke
Chim chim chimke chandni
Tara chaayi raat mahal mein
Phir bhi andhera re
Ke daala yahaan birhaa ne dera re
Nandini:
Sunn sunn sheetal jhonke pawan ke
Jaa tu mera prem doot ban ke
Preetam se kahiyo dukhe mere mann ke
Naa hasna, na bolna
Naa koi saaj singaar
Ke un bin kacho na suhaave ho
Pardesi pi ki yaad sataave ho
Prithvi:
Mhari priya ke jaisi kisi pe
Roop ki laali chaayi na hogi
Chatur chitare ne uske jaisi
Chhavi koi aur banaayee na hogi
Megha re...e...e...e
Usko dhoondne mein koi kathinayee na hogi
Rim jhim boondo mein mere
Aansoo dijo barsaayee
Rinii megha, rahoonga mein tera re
Ke daala yahaan birha ne dera re
Nandini:
Mahal jharoke mein bekal baithi
Nain jharoke se jhaank rahi hoon
Milan ke din tak jeene ko main
Birha ka vish phaank rahi hoon
Pawan re...e...e...e...e...e...e
Apne aansoo hasi mein
Dhaak rahi hoon
Jab tak tan mein saans hai
Tab tak mann mein aas
Yeh panchi kahin udh hi na jaave ho
Pardesi pi ki odyo aave ho
Nandini:
Saajan aavan keh gayo
Kargayo kaul anek
Ganka ganata ghas gayeen
Mhari angaliya re reik
Prithvi:
Door nahi woh din ke jab
Le jaaoonga tohe
Saanche premi ka vachann
Jhoota kabhi na hoye
Nandini:
Soothi thi, rang mahal ma
Soothi mein aayo ve janjaal
Bhavar Thaane supne mein dekhya ho
Prithvi:
Supna sach ho jaayega
Eik honge do pran
Milegi jab bhaag ki rekha ho
Nandini stopped playing the veena and looked at him. She had thought she would have to struggle hard to make him sing this song, but here he himself had started the song so that he could ward off her sorrows. She didn't remember when somebody had cared for her so much. "Thanks..." she murmered.
He smiled and shook his head, then asked her. "If you want to share your troubles and sorrow with somebody Nandini, then please remember that I will always be there for you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DONE...!!!
PS: The corrections in Sun re Megha song is all due to Mana's help... SO a huge THANKS to Mana... This is for you Mana...
Aur jab mai edit kar rahi thi na tab laga mujhe ki mai kitni stupid hun... Mujhe marwadi nahi aati ye baat sahi hai,... par mai 2-3 saal rahi hun marwadi company me... inn shabdon se bhi wakif hun... but stupid me... mujhe na actually samajh nahi aaya ki wahan kya hona chahiye... Achhe se marwadi aati to kitna achha hota... Mana mujhe marwadi sikhao na....
Aage bhi help karti rehna Mana...
love
Guglu
Edited by guglu088 - 15 years ago
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