Chapter 5
The next morning, even before 7 o'clock, Arnav had Sultan saddled and he was on his way to the place where he had come across Khushi. When he drew up there, he looked around and saw that she was already there. Dressed in a light blue outfit, she was sitting under a tree, waiting. When she saw him, she scrambled to her feet.
Arnav swung down from the saddle and loped Sultan's reins in a tree branch, leaving him free to munch some leaves and approached Khushi. He was highly amused to see that for each step he took closer, she took one back! She continued to back away until her back came up against a tree. She gasped and her hands twisted her skirts in bunches but she remained there.
Arnav came right up to her and studied her closely. She blushed under this close scrutiny and looked away.
"So you came," he asked softly.
He received a quick nod in reply. God, she was so beautiful, he thought. Unable to help himself, he raised a hand and placed it against her cheek. Instantly her colour rose and she tried to inch away. Unfortunately she couldn't do that either; her head was against the tree. She turned pleading eyes on him and taking a deep breath, said softly,
"Maharaja Saheb, here I am. But please tell me why you have called me here."
"Because I want to meet you; because you are very beautiful and I cannot stop thinking about you."
She blushed even redder and looked away, her breathing erratic and her nervousness clearly visible.
"Maharaja Saheb, I cannot meet you like this every day."
"Why?"
"If someone from my tribe sees me like this, I'll get in trouble. I am not allowed to meet an outsider like this."
"Outsider?"
"A person who is not a banjaara."
"Oh, I see."
Silence fell over them while Arnav studied her closely while she looked away until she turned her head to look at him. Once again he saw her hazel eyes clearly and once again he marvelled at her beauty. To avoid his look she turned her head away and saw Sultan a short distance away. She grabbed the chance and asked,
"Maharaja Saheb, can I ask you something?"
"Hmmm…"
"What is your horse's name?"
"Hmmm???"
"Your horse ………….."
"Oh, that's Sultan."
"Sultan? What an appropriate name!"
Arnav saw her smile. It occurred to him that if he stared at her she would be bound to be tongue tied and that was the last thing he wanted.
"Come on Khushi, let me introduce you to Sultan."
Arnav moved back and Khushi stepped away from the tree to approach Sultan. Catching his horse's reins, Arnav stroked his soft nose, saying,
"Sultan, this beautiful girl is Khushi. She is also the culprit from yesterday; remember she threw something at you!" turning to Khushi, he laughingly said, "Khushi, this is Sultan."
Instead of saying anything, Khushi placed her hands on Sultan's neck, stroking it along the satiny length. "Sultanji, how are you?" Sultan cocked his head and listened to her soft voice. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to throw anything at you, you know."
She murmured soft meaningless words at Sultan who nodded his head as if listening to her. Arnav watched the way her hands ran over Sultan's neck. She had beautiful hands, he noted. Her hands were small and delicate while the fingers were slender and tapered with clean and short nails. She wore her many bangles again and he couldn't resist,
"Khushi, do you like bangles so much or is it a custom to wear so many at once."
Her movements halted and stroking Sultan's neck one last time, she turned towards him, not quite looking at him. She stood with her head tilted to the side, thinking before answering him,
"Maharaja Saheb, we banjaara's are people who like jewelry. My bangles are customary but more than that I like them a lot too."
"You always wear silver ones only."
"Most of the time."
Arnav found himself thinking that colored glass bangles, gold kangans, in fact any type of hand jewelry would look good on those beautiful hands. While he racked his brains, thinking of something else to say, she turned to him and requested,
"Maharaja Saheb, may I go now?"
"Now?"
"Yes. Maayi will be looking for me. I cannot stay away for too long."
"Alright but only on one condition; meet me here tomorrow as well. Same time."
She hesitated before nodding her head once before she stepped away from him and turning around, she ran away.
A few minutes later, Arnav left as well.
Later that day, Arnav's Man Friday Aman entered his office with a business proposal to discuss and was surprised to see the Maharaja staring into space, a thoughtful look on his face. Thoughtful and yet strangely pleased as well, almost as if was contemplating something extremely pleasurable.
Aman was stunned; he had never seen such an expression on the Maharaja's face in the last 5 years that he had worked for him. He had always known his employer to be a rather fastidious and distant man. He always maintained that emotional distance with all his employees. The only emotions Aman had seen him exhibiting were love for his family and anger when things did not go his away. And yet he was a good employer, Aman acknowledged. But this new expression puzzled Aman.
Clearing his throat, he said,
"Maharaja Saheb, the hotel proposal documents are here."
"Hmmm…."
"The hotel proposal…………….."
"Oh yes. So you have the documents. Let's have a look."
Arnav pulled himself away from his thoughts of Khushi and concentrated on the documents in Aman's hands. One of the royal families of Rajasthan were planning to turn their huge palace in a hotel and were looking for financial backing. They had approached Arnav some time back and he had delegated Aman to gather more information. Hotels were something that Raizada Industries invested in. They also invested in textiles and construction.
As he studied the documents, Arnav found himself wondering if Aman had noted that lost look on his face. He hoped not. He discreetly studied Aman's face. Noting the polite and businesslike look there, he was reassured.
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After that day Arnav and Khushi continued meeting. Arnav was in Rajasthan for some 2 months on holiday and business both. Each day early morning he met her in the woods. She always came quietly, never said much and always left quickly to escape his teasing.
For Arnav, the attraction towards her seemed to be increasing daily but he couldn't act on it; she was always so ill at ease and so very shy. For him it was the attraction that he was aware of; not of any deeper feelings although there was a frission of something deeper in his emotions but Arnav was a master at pushing away at these feelings. For him his attraction for this beautiful gypsy girl was carefully put away in one compartment of his brain.
Not wanting to probe too deeply why a sophisticated man like him was meeting a gypsy girl everyday like a teenaged boy in the first flush of love, he never asked her any personal questions; to his reasoning if he didn't know her closely then the deeper feelings would not find root at all. With the typical selfishness of his class, he couldn't see why he couldn't have Khushi in one part of his life while his marriage plans proceeded nicely. In fact Naina had arrived at her uncle's house the previous day and she was invited for dinner that evening.
That particular day after some 9 days of meeting every day, Arnav asked her something that had been bothering him for some time:
"Khushi, by now you must know that I'll not complain to your Maayi about you trespassing on my land. So tell me something; do you come to meet me because I ask you and you are afraid of your Maayi or is it that you like to come and meet me as much as I like to meet you?"
"Nahi, woh, Maharaja Saheb, woh, ……………."
"Kya?"
"Woh, I come because I…..I am afraid of……of you complaining to Maayi about that day."
Typically while he was not ready to acknowledge anything from his side, he wanted Khushi and all her feelings for himself. Her reply displeased him and he frowned.
"Really?"
She nodded once. His anger escalated and grabbing her by the upper arm, he pulled her closer,
"Well in that case gypsy, you can rest assured that I won't complain to your Maayi at all. You are not required to come anymore."
Saying that, he pushed her away and getting on Sultan's back, he galloped away.
As he galloped away, Khushi rubbed her upper arm while her eyes filled with tears. How could she confess that she was developing deeper feelings for the Maharaja of Devgarh? He was only amusing himself but her feelings were different. She was hiding things from her Maayi for the first time for him. Wiping her eyes, she walked to her campsite slowly, feeling rejected by his last words.
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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