(Flashback continued..)
Time was slipping away like grains of sand. Sweat beads formed on her forehead and she clamped a trembling hand onto her mouth to suppress the scream that was about to emanate any moment. If some animate being was nearby, her screech would definitely serve as its aid to locate her, she thought fearfully. She made another attempt to get hold of her dagger when her ears perceived the third yawl, which was the loudest of all. Gulping the lump of saliva down her throat, she closed her eyes to gear herself up for the approaching situation, come whatever it might be. Chandragupta's words reverberated in her ears..
"Bhale hi sthiti (situation) tumhare man ke anuroop (according) na ho athwa tumhara pratidwandi (opponent) tumse shaktishaali ho aur tumhe usse bhay (fear) lage par kabhi bhi use ye baat gyat mat hone dena..ek baat sadaiv (always) smaran rakhna, jeetne ke liye sahas aur swayam par vishwas hona shakti se bhi adhik aawashyak hai..hamari drishti hamare man ka darpan (mirror) hoti hai, saamne wale ko tumhari aankhon me bhay nahi varan tumhara aatm-vishwas dikhai dena chahiye.."
And sure enough, as soon as she finished reminiscing his words in her mind, her confidence augmented a level up. When she opened her eyes, they were gleaming with sureness. Gripping the hilt of the sword, she turned around to face the danger. Surprisingly, she was greeted with the sight of the most unexpected person. And instantly, relief surged through her veins along with blood. Even the last ounce of fear evaporated from her heart and mind.
Chandragupta was standing a few feet away from her with an amused look on his face. Dropping the sword on the ground beneath, she rushed to him and without any second thoughts, coiled her arms around his torso, resting her head on his shoulder. The action was purely a consequence of fright but it took him off guard for a second. He hesitated at first but gave in the next instant and returned the embrace, rocking her back soothingly. It should have felt wrong but the case was totally opposite. It would have been a pure lie if he told his conscience otherwise.
Finally, after a couple of minutes, on sensing that she had regained her composure, he detached himself from her and asked,"Kya hua Dhara, tum thik to ho..itni ghabrayi hui kyun lag rahi ho?"
Instead of returning him a straight reply, as if she hadn't heard his query, she worriedly enquired,"Tumne koi dhwani suni? Aisa lag raha hai jaise yahin paas me koi vanya jeev ho..tum jab yahan aa rahe the to marg me tumne kuchh dekha tha-"
He interrupted her rant in the middle,"Kitna bolti ho tum Dhara..saans to le lo,"and guiding her to the nearest rock which was wide enough to accommodate two people, he made her sit down on it.
Taking a seat adjacent to her, he clasped her soft hands in his slightly rough ones and urged her to speak up,squeezing her hands a little for comfort.
"Ab batao mujhe, kya hua tha..aur ghabrao mat"
Dhurdhara took a long breath and stated,"Abhi tumhare aane se pehle hame kisi vanya jeev ki swar sunai diya..aisa prateet ho raha tha jaise ki wo isi disha me aa raha ho.."
"Aur tum dar gayi?"he enquired.
She added hurriedly,"Nahi, ham to aane wale khatre ka saamna karne k liye sajj (prepared) the, par tum aa gaye"
"To tumhe mera yahan aana achchha nahi laga?"he asked her seriously.
She replied, albeit horrified,"Nahi Chandra, tum hamari baaton ko galat arth me le rahe ho..hamare kehne ka ye abhipray (implication) nahi tha..hum to-"
He watched her face going pale and began laughing heartily. Dhurdhara stopped speaking when she realized he was irritating her on purpose. After all, that was his favorite deed, wasn't it! Even the sound of his laughter didn't help in lessening her annoyance. She glowered at him and her already large and beautiful eyes became a size larger, conveying her chafe. Chandragupta halted his laughter on seeing her emitting hostile glares and ordered his mind to just shut up that part of brain for a while, which continuously gave him the ideas to mock her and was still doing the same. A part of his brain did register that she looked more beautiful in anger. Putting up a sober expression, which resembled more like a puppy-face, he held his ears in both hands. He looked so cute at that instant that on glancing at him, she momentarily forgot why she was angry with him in the first place.
She turned her head to left, in order to control her lips from twitching. It was a tough and quite hard job for her and why it wouldn't be! It felt like God had inserted all the charms in one individual, her one and only best buddy.
Chandragupta nudged her elbow to urge her to look at him. Dhurdhara decided to shift a little in order to create some distance between them but failed as the boulder wasn't that broad. Meanwhile her companion continued with his job of prodding her. She tried her best to feign indifference to his attempts but come on, who on earth could resist her bestie who looked her devilishly innocent at that time, it was definitely not her cup of tea. She knew that she was destined to lose. Finally, after a couple of moments she rewarded him by a chortle and he experienced a sense of satisfaction on his mission being accomplished. Mission of making her forget the fear, mission of bringing a smile on her worried features..
After some minutes, he left his place to stand in front of her making her wonder what was running in his mind.
Confirming himself that he had Dhurdhara's full attention, Chandragupta produced the same howling sound which had scared the hell out of her some minutes ago. Dhurdhara's eyes widened with surprise at the revelation. So, he was the culprit, she thought with amusement. While the person responsible for her state noticed the changes minutely in his associate's facial aspect. Fear changed into shock which ultimately got modified into curiosity.
She asked,"Ye swar tumne nikala tha?"
He nodded with a sheepish smile.
"Gurukul me iski bhi shiksha dete hain kya?"
"Mere ek sehpathi (classmate) ko ye vidya aati hai, usi se maine sikhi,"he supplied.
"Par iski awashyakta kyun padi tumhe?"
And then he enlightened her that they have to make frequent journey to the forests for various things like firewood, fruits, vegetables, etc. Although they travel in groups, but in order to obtain more essentials in less time, they use to scatter in different directions. The mimicking animal sounds technique serves them in two ways- one for navigation and second for defence. In case any member of the group gets lost or if there is some danger in his vicinity, he could communicate to other fellows of his scout group by this means. Secondly, the forests were a natural abode for tribals since time immemorial, as well as dacoits which were famously called as 'dasyu'. On encountering with them, they would hide themselves behind bushes or on trees and produce such sounds so that they could salvage themselves without getting indulged in actual warfare. It sounded quite an intelligent measure to her.
"Kya tum raasta bhool gaye the..ya phir tumne kisi dasyu ko dekh liya yahan?"she reasoned.
He shrugged,"Abhyas kar raha tha mai..ye soch kar ki itne din ho gaye, kahi bhool to nahi gaya.."
"To, mil gaya praman tumhe, tumhari smaran-shakti (memory power) ke thik hone ka?"
"Meri smaran-shakti bilkul thik hai..kam se kam tumse to achchhi hai,"he self-praised himself.
Dhurdhara gave him a whatever look.
Chandragupta was continuously speaking for a while now which made him feel thirsty. Hence, he requested her for water. Dhurdhara showed him the broken pot, pointing her finger towards it. He was not in a mood to go out now, hence decided to bespeak her for his aid.
"Mere liye pani le aaogi?"he quested politely.
"Is bartan ki ye durdasha (damage) tumhare kaaran hui hai..na tum pashu ka swar nikaalte aur na hi humare haathon se ye patr (container) chhuta hota..islye hum akele kahin nahi ja rahe, tumhe bhi hamare sath aana hoga,"she announced finally.
"Apne sabse achchhe mitr ki itni si baat bhi nahi manogi tum"
Dhurdhara looked at him in bewilderment. Never ever had she imagined that he would emotionally blackmail her someday. Well, there was nothing to worry about, she thought, because it would be him who would have to accept defeat in this game, which he himself had initiated. She cognized very well what to do and say.
"Thik hai Chandra,tum yahin raho..hum abhi aate hain tumhare liye pani le kar"she replied, flashing a sugary smile.
Alarm bells rang in Chandragupta's mind as he found that smile highly fishy. She will never let him enjoy an easy victory unless she had devised a plan already to countercheck him.
"Tum sachmuch akele hi ja rahi ho na?"he asked with uneasiness.
"Akele? Nahi to..wo kya hai ki tum to chaloge nahi islye hum soch rahe hain ki Aryadutt ko sath le chale..hame purna vishwas hai ki wo hame mana nahi karega,"she said mischievously.
She was thinking to approach that jerk? Was she really in a sane condition? Just some days ago, he had seen absolute repulsion for the same person in her behavior and now she herself was advocating for sharing that dork's company! He would rather permit her going with a domesticated animal than him. Amidst his pondering, he did acknowledged that Dhurdhara had reached near the entrance of the cave and would be out of his sight any moment. He had to stop her before leaving.
Hence, he sprinted towards her and blurted out the very first excuse which came in his mind.
"Ruko Dhara, tum Aryadutt ke sath kahin nahi ja sakti kyun ki aaj to Aryadutt yaha upasthit (present) hi nahi hai.."
Well, it was a lame one because he knew she would be well aware of his presence, having seen him while coming to the cave but still he wished that she believed him for once and change this stupid decision of hers.
She halted but when she turned to him, all his hopes died a natural death on their own.
Eyeing him suspiciously, she argued,"Lekin humne to subah dekha tha use tumhari kaksha mein.."
"Haan, aaya tha na wo..par swasthya bigad gaya uska, isliye jaldi chala gaya,"he uttered the false excuse with as much sincerity he could muster.
He was patting his back in his mind at his short achievement when Dhurdhara stated sadly,"Kya hua Aryadutt ko?"
He had forgotten the fact that in order to cover up for a single lie, one has to conjure up a chain of lies.
"Buddhi (IQ) ki kami,"he murmured offhandedly.
"Kya kaha tumne?"
"Kuchh nahi,jwar (fever) ho gaya hai use,"he lied indifferently.
She exclaimed,"Kya! Uska swasthya itna kaise bigad gaya? Subah to thik tha na? Aushadhi (medicine) li hogi usne?
Wow, thought Chandragupta, feeling sick on hearing her list of questions. Here, a minute ago he was feeling happy that Dhurdhara had bought his not-so-worthy excuse and now she was grieving over his fabricated illness for that creep! And, this irked him much. He had had enough by now and was not in a mood to listen more.
He rejoined, suppressing his ire,"Pran nahi ja rahe uske, maine aushadhi bata di thi..awashya li hogi usne..ab yadi tumhe sari jaankari mil gayi ho to chalein sarovar ke paas?"
"Haan kyun nahi,"she consented readily.
Dhurdhara smirked at his back while on the other hand, Chandragupta was cursing Aryadutt in his mind. She loved seeing the sparks of jealousy that shone in his eyes when she was talking about Aryadutt. This was not the first time she had seen him being envious of him. She had guessed it the same day when Chandragupta had strictly asked her not to join the trainee group and instead, started teaching her in the cave, saving her from those prying eyes of stupid males. Care, and that too for that lunatic! All that concern about him was nothing but a hoax. She was well aware about his prevarication but she hid that from him and didn't let him get suspicious that she was playing along. After all it won't be a fair game unless she made him taste the flavour of his own medicine.
(..To be continued)
Arjun
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