It was a simple task, wasn't it? All she had to do was take that horse, walk upto the south west gate and then take a chance on her life. As the hours of the night passed by, Geet could do nothing but stare through the window and let the tears drop down her eyes eventually.
She could not believe herself. That she chose this herself. This time there was no Maan or his guards chasing after her. She had found the perfect isolated way to reach the exit gate; the enormous garden that was there in the south-west direction of the Haweli. Unlike the others this was less tended. She had taken her horses there and found the gate by accident during one of her grazing trips. No one came there ever! Until that night.
Geet was only a few feet away from the end of the garden where the gate was. She was starting to pull the reins on her horse when she heard a faint murmur. So faint that she could have just missed it. She tied the horse to a nearby Babul tree and walked in search of the voice even if her brain warned her against it. There amidst the willows lied Savitri Devi, her eyes half shut and her heart beat just a faint murmur.
First instinct was to run to her. Geet went near her and checked her pulse. It was faint. She kept her ear near her heart. A heart attack it was. Geet pressed her hand hard against her chest. Dadisa remained unconscious.
She gave the CPR and somehow brought her breathing rate to a minimally decent level. Once she knew, that the minor heart attack would not take her life away, Geet was in a dilemma. She had helped her. May be it was time for her to leave Dadisa behind like that. Someone would find her and treat her. She could be saved. But there was no Guru Ashwath in the Haweli. He had went out on a long trip to gather medicines for the Haweli, a few days after Maan had been treated.
What would Geet do? Should she call for help? That would mean she was losing out on her chance to escape. The Khuranas were very protective. If they came to know, dadisa was found unconscious at the south west gate, naturally the security would be increased. There was no chance of her slipping away while everyone was busy with dadisa.
Her mind raced! Should she even care for a woman who would be long dead when she had reached her own timeline. But then, how would she ever be able to face the dadima there who was always so warm and loving to her. Were they both the same? She had no idea. Geet sighed. By that time, she knew that she had lost the debate.
The doctor in her would never allow her to leave anyone in that state and run away. It was her duty to save her and give her the medical care that was required. Geet made dadisa rest gently near the roots of a willow tree. She got on the horse and took the reins and rode fast towards the haweli. The guards were alerted. Men came with a paalki to help. Dadisa was taken to her chamber. Anuradha, Amba, Malti and all other ladies gathered around.
As everyone murmured about the care to be given, Geet went inside Guru Aswath's medical chamber and examined a few drawers. There was one labelled "Dhamani-Vata-Ruja" prathikriya. Geet was well read to know what that meant. Inside the drawer was a bunch of keys to the craters that were placed in a small room inside the medical chamber under the same label. She found the decorated wooden crater and opened it to find the bark of Arjuna tree and fenugreek in the other.
Geet sighed. This was so not her territory. But she knew that these were the ancient substitutes for cardiac medicines like aspirin with much lesser side effects. Some of the modern pharma research companies were trying to use these ingredients to create modern medicine. How would she create a medicine out of these, she wondered.
As the sound of the glass bangles jingled echoing inside that little chamber, Geet was startled. It was then she saw at the door a slender woman leaning on the door, looking right at her with curious eyes. Those eyes were bright and intriguing. So was her sinister smile. As if she knew something. Something that the rest of them didn't. It made Geet uncomfortable.
"Who are you?", she asked hesitantly.
"Not important Geet! The question should be why I am here!"
"Why?", repeated Geet faintly.
The woman moved gently as if she were floating on water. She paced herself like a wave hitting the shore and took all the ingredients from Geet.
"Dadisa needs help. You need to help dadisa. I am here to help you.", she declared with a mysterious smile.
Geet wondered, "Why would you help me?"
"Again..wrong question Geet. How would I help you?", she moved making Geet follow her to the medicine chamber where there was a platform to make medicines apparently.
"Work those magical hands and do as I say! Make that medicine and save a life! That is your purpose, isn't it?"
Geet looked at her startled. It was as if she knew what her identity was.
"At least tell me your name!", pleaded Geet. If she was taking her help, she should at least know that.
The woman allowed herself a smile, a calm one this time and her posture relaxed, "Nandini! You can call me Nandini."
Geet did as she was told by Nandini and took the paste to dadisa.
Anuradha frowned as Geet entered the chamber of dadisa.
"Trust me, Badi malkin!", she pleaded.
Anuradha had no other option. Her son trusted this woman and she saved him. It was only fair.
Geet administered the paste to dadisa by mixing it with some warm water and administering it drop by drop to her mouth. which was partly opened. The old woman was weak but had enough consciousness to swallow the liquid. The process was to be repeated at regular intervals.
Geet waited each hour to help the old woman. The others left one by one. The handmaidens, Amba, Malti and in the end, Anuradha. Nandini was nowhere to be seen once she left the medicine chamber.
In the end, it was only Geet, dadisa and the full moon which was surrendering itself to the light of the dawn as she stared at it helplessly. The tears could not be stopped as the voice inside her head screamed, "You dropped a golden chance to save the life of an old woman whose life was irrelevant anyway if you had just returned back!"
"Maan...Maan beta...", Savitri Devi tried to move in that bed trying to call out for her grandson, but her body was too weak.
Geet rushed beside her, "Dadisa...careful. Don't move too much. You need to rest. You just had a "heart attack"..."dil ka daura", corrected Geet as she saw her staring at her.
"Who are...you?", she asked in faint voice.
Geet smiled and gently caressed her head, "I am Geet."
"My Maan's Handa girl?", dadisa inquired with the hint of a smile.
Geet blushed. To hear her being addressed like that stirred something in her mind which was not quite right yet felt so right.
She nodded quietly. That was her now "Maan's Handa girl!"
Geet made her take another dose of the medicine and waited on her as she mumbled her worries before falling into sleep.
"My Maan is such a good kid. I only wish for him to be happy. That is all I pray to God. He is different than the other men in our family. He is like his dadasa...Geet, you make him happy.."
"shh...dadisa..sleep now..", Geet comforted her.
"Will you stay here with me?", dadisa asked before she closed her eyes which were droopy with all the medicine.
To Geet, it meant a totally different question as she mumbled, "I guess I will have to for the time being."
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When the sun rose next morning, the Sun of Samaypur had arrived victorious on his horse. Maan, Dev and Adi, the trio had emerged victorious in their raid of Veerpur. They retrieved all their lost goods and came back without losing a single man. But before Maan could rejoice the victory, he was greeted with the news of his dadisa's ill-health.
Maan rushed to meet her only to be stopped at the door to witness the rarest of the sight that he never in his dreams had imagined. There she was sitting with his dadisa laughing at something holding the old woman's arm as if they had known each other all their life. Now, his dadi was someone who didn't let people near her that easy. Even her other grand-daughter-in-laws maintained a fair distance and decorum while talking to her. His own mother was not that close as Geet appeared to be now. What in the name of God had happened that his dadisa was smitten by this woman. It wasn't enough that he could not get her out of his head despite all that distance, dadisa had to be involved as well. Maan shook his head and went inside the room.
"Who let you in here? Aren't you supposed to be in the stables, Geet?", inquired Maan as he sat on the other side of the bed next to dadisa.
"Maan beta, I let her in and told her to stay.", dadisa interfered before Geet could reply.
When Maan threw a puzzled glance at her, Geet rolled her eyes and twitched her lips making dadisa smile.
"So you came here to ask about her. Too bad Maan, I thought you were worried about me!", teased dadisa.
Maan looked away feeling uncomfortable. Geet straightened herself and sat upright.
Maan smiled at his dadisa and held both her hands in his, "I came here running worried about you. But when I saw you sitting here, smiling like this, all my worries are gone! What happened to you dadisa? Why wont you take care of yourself, huh?"
Dadisa patted his cheek lovingly, "Maan, if not for Geet you would not even see me alive!"
His face had no hint of humour this time, "What happened?"
And then dadisa narrated how she was feeling uncomfortable at night and went for a quiet walk and fell unconscious where Geet found her and saved her.
When he heard everything, Maan sat silent as still as a stone holding his dadisa's hand tightly. Dadisa caressed his plam with her wrinkled fingers assuring that she was fine. The whole day he sat there along with his dadisa. He didn't talk much but he listened to whatever his dadisa had to say. The stories Geet had told her. The amusement in her eyes, everything about dadisa was important and loveable. Maan was content just looking at her.
All that time they didn't talk to each other. But Geet could sense something was not right with him. He never teased her or taunted her. He never caught on the hiccups of her stories which she was narrating to amuse dadisa after slightly altering the facts to suit the timeline she was in. Maan was distant and silent. It affected her somehow.
Geet didn't know why. Perhaps he was mad that she abandoned the stable duties for the day. Well, Geet was a doctor. If there was anything that she absolutely loved was to tend to someone sick. The rest of the duties can go to hell, she thought to herself. Since dadisa wanted her there, Maan could not punish her anyway.
It was not just Geet. Even dadisa noticed that something was amiss with her grandson. She didn't probe into it too much. Wasn't it enough that her illness worried him already?
In the evening when Maan was finally ready to leave his dadisa's chamber Maan turned to Geet and requested in an even tone, "Geet, when you are done here meet me in my chamber before you leave for the night, will you?"
She nodded gently.
And that was it. He left without another word.
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Their dinner was simple. A bhajra khichdi with a cup of raita. Geet had specially requested the kitchen not to cook too heavy meals for dadisa owing to her health. Yet, she didn't expect whatever that came out of that kitched would be this delicious.
They were quietly eating when dadisa finally started speaking her eyes distant staring in to the fire lamp that was lighting the room.
"Maan is worried! Poor kid takes too much upon him".
Geet stopped eating and looked at the old woman. She was not well enough to worry about anything yet.
"You two seem to be really close dadisa", she probed just to change the subject.
"uhuh..you noticed quickly", dadi's face brightened up.
"When Maan was a kid he used to be with me all the time. Anu had Dev to take care of and all the household responsibilities. Running this whole household is never an easy task. I am lucky that she came in and I handed her all the difficult jobs and started enjoying with my grandsons."
The old lady laughed. Geet observed her wrinkled eyes and wondered how much work she had to put in, at her time to ensure this haweli was running sound and smooth while the men were busy trading and fighting. Even being rich was tough in those days, she admitted to herself.
Was Maan right? Did things come easy to her? She questioned herself.
"Where are you lost? Missing your family?", dadisa gently caressed her fingers that were resting on the wooden table where they were eating.
Geet smiled sadly. Home seemed a long way ahead. Perhaps centuries!!
"This is home too Geet. Make the best with what you have. No use crying over what is lost", dadisa consoled her.
Her eyes welled up as she couldn't stop thinking. That was it? She lost them? Her family!
Geet completed the rest of the meal in silence. She gave one final dose of medicine to dadisa and took her leave for the night. Champa was there to help dadisa as well relieving Geet off her duty.
She walked briskly to her room where she could finally cry her heart out. Only when she was about to reach the corridor to her room did Geet remember that Maan wanted to meet her. She quickly ran back to the office chamber wondering what did he want now?
The night was dark with the hint of the moonlight falling on the corridors. The wind was unsually strong and cold as it hit her golden brown hair making it flow in the air and giving chills to her heart. The guards on duty looked as she ran towards his office but none stopped her. Perhaps they were told not to by him.
Eventually when she reached his chamber, there he was waiting calm and still just like she had seen him that afternoon. His eyes didn't have that serene look about it. Instead, tonight those deep dark coal like eyes were a swirling image of some mysterious gloom. Something was troubling him. Yet, there he was waiting for her. Geet had mixed emotions about this whole arrangement. Was he angry at her? Did he find something? She hated herself even now for saying Mahishmathi! What a fool she had been! She waited at the door anticipating a reaction from him, anything - a word or atleast a look- but there was none.
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PRECAP : A new role for Geet?? 😕 😲
Hope you enjoyed this one. Let me know in detail how you felt about this. Did Geet make the right choice? What will be Maan's reaction to her??
I'm waiting to hear from you.
Making no promises for anymore updates this week. It will happen probably next week only. 😳
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
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