Next Part
Naina liked the outer view of Rajuchacha's cottage. The structure itself wasn't really impressive but the garden surrounding it was. It had several different flowery herbs, shrubs and trees. Few of them were in full bloom like the yellow mountain orchid or the jasmine shrub and others were all green. Especially attractive was the climbing "Nayantara" plant that rose to the cottage rooftop. It had pine-like soft leaves specked with tiny red blooms.
"Wow" was all she could say.
"Chal chal," shouting and screaming, children ran through the door inside the cottage.
" Arrw rokko rokko , tumhe Chacha bahut datega ?"
" Kabhie nahin, Chacha bahut achcha hai , wo bachchelog ko nahin dante."
"Accha bolo , wo bahut Buddha hai kya ?"
"Nahin, wo bahut chikna aur jawan hai bilkul aap jaisi"
"Accha , to main andar aa sakti?" Naina was still standing on the threshold.
"Aiye na , Rajuchacha kuchh nahin bolega."
Rajveer was taken aback at seeing Naina near his cottage. Regretting that he had not taken his ubiquitous scarf cum shawl to cover up his head and face, he swiftly hid behind a wall of bricks and peeped out to see Naina getting into the cottage. How he had frequently dreamt of carrying Naina in his arms over that threshold!
Inside the sole room of the cottage it was not plush but neat. The cottage itself consisted of a room, a veranda in front and a small kitchen at the side with the wash room at the back, few feet away from the main structure. The bed was not really made but hastily covered by a printed sheet. A table and chair stood at one end and an almirah at the other. Few clothes hung on a string tied up between the window and a hook on the wall. A pair of jeans hanging on the sting seemed faintly familiar to Naina. A group of cane stools (morrah in Bengali) arranged according to their height stood beside the wall on the right side of the bed away from the window. There was a mirror on the wall over the morrahs and a map of Northern West Bengal and Assam including Bhutan and northern Bangladesh hung over the table. Just beside it, a wooden shelf was hooked to the wall, the types of shelves where Hindu idols are placed. This one contained no idol but only fresh flowers devoted to an imaginary Goddess. The small and soiled white piece of cloth beneath the heap of flowers was hardly visible to Naina. It was a spontaneous action from Naina to straighten out the bedcover as children messed it up. She fiddled through few books on the table and was quite surprised to find a book on military tactics there. A hardbound diary was there too, but her clear conscience did not let her open the dairy of a strange man, otherwise she would have been shocked to find her name inscribed beautifully on the first page
"Oh Naina, Naina , come out ? what are you doing at my home?" Rajveer was even more agitated as the backyard was not visible to him and would not know if she lingered over there. He definitely did not want to meet her right now. First he should find out more about her present status. He was nervous that Naina might open his dairy which he carelessly left on the table, or even worse, identify that small piece of cloth underneath the flowers. How in this world was he supposed to know that Naina would visit him today?!
After a quarter of an hour passed which seemed ages to Rajveer, just as he decided to come out of his hiding, Naina with the hoard of shouting children around her came out of the cottage and walked downhill.
"That was a very narrow escape.." gasped Rajveer with a sigh of relief.
He went into his very own room breathing in the whiff of Naina's very recent physical presence. He looked around the room and suddenly it seemed to be lot more attractive and cozier. He smiled and minutely observed himself in the mirror.
"Yes, I need a clean shave, a hair cut and clean clothes. ..Oh no !"
He recalled that he would have to wait for three more days as after three days he had a mission to complete. This time he got the information that a truckload of arms was on its way from Chittagong in Bangladesh to a rebellious group of Sikkim activists.
That evening he decided to get more detailed information about Lt. Naina Ah. Singh. He was especially interested in her personal life. He did not want to become unwanted in her life and make her miserable. He quickly took bath and changed into cleaner clothes.
It was already dark outside ' a perfect time to visit the countryside bar where all the military informers, smugglers and other suspicious members of society were present during the late hours. So many different kinds of deals of local, national ,as well as international importance were discussed over and completed at this tavern of evils. This very place was Rajveer's prime source of information about the cross-border movement of illegal goods like drugs, arms and explosives.
Edited by sunaina02 - 16 years ago
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Veer Hanuman
Kumkum Bhagya
270