Recap: In a hurry to end this torment Jodha quickly leaned forward to serve the last dish on his plate...and as she bent...a lose hair strand of hers...traced Jalal's cheeks and he closed his eyes...mesmerized by the fragrance it brought along...
Jalal opened his eyes...and his evil...naughty demeanour took over the admirer in him...he glanced at Jodha with a smirk and leaning closer to her...with his lips just inches apart from her earlobes...whispered in a desirous tone..."Jodha Begum..."
Jodha who was busy cutting some fruits in a bowl...was startled by his gesture...she had put her veil a little forward onto her forehead so as to avoid looking at him directly...and becoz of that she could not sense Jalal being this close to her till he spoke...As a reflex...the knife that she held fell off her hand and directly hit Jalal's right hand resting near the plate...
Both Jalal and Jodha simultaneously spoke out- "Aaahh..." ...Jodha out of agony for dropping the knife and hurting Jalal...and him out of pain...
Jalal looked at her with rage for having hurt him intentionally...(atleast he thought so...)
Jodha was frightened by his burning expressions...
Jodha- (in a hesitating and afraid tone...) maaf kijiyega Shahenshah...wo galti se hamare hath se---
Jalal- (with his eyes exploring hers in the quest to confirm his doubt whether she did it intentionally...) hume to lagta hai ki aapne jaan boojh ke ye kia...waah Jodha Begum...Achcha hunar rakhti hain aap...Hatiyaar haath aaya nahi...ki vaar bhi kar dia??
Jodha- (with a firm tone...) humne jaan boojh ke aisa nahi kia...
Meanwhile Mahamanga notices blood coming from Jalal's wounded hand...
Mahamaga- Jalal!! Aapke hath se to bahot khoon beh raha hai...ispar patti bandhni hogi jaldi...(she orders a baandi who brings a marham and patti...) Jodha too notices Jalal's wound and is taken aback to see the deep cut...
Jalal- iski koi zarurat nahi hai badi ammi...
Mahamnaga- zarurat hai Jalal...
Jalal takes a look at Jodha who is still sitting next to him with her downcast eyes...her fingers crushing the hem of her lehnga reveal her uneasiness and fear...
Jalal smirks at her condition...
Jalal- thik hai badi ammi...aap kehti hain to...magar marham bhi usi ko lagana hoga jisne zakhm dia hai...(he stares at Jodha...) waise to hum inhe inki gustakhi ki saza bhi suna sakte hain...lekin filhal to hum inhe galti ka ehsas karwana chahte hain...
By the time a baandi had put forward the marham and patti...
Jalal puts his right palm forward before Jodha and says- Lijiye apni galti ko sudhariye Jodha Begum...
Jodha looks at him and as she is hesitantly about to pick up the cloth to clean his wound...Jalal interrupts---
Jalal (to a baandi...)-aur haan...ye chaaku yahan se hata lijiye...kya pata sher ko ghayal dekh ek aur vaar ho jaaye...(he says while locking his eyes with Jodha's...)
Jodha is very much angered by his continuous blames and torments...but controls it somehow...ready to face another ordeal of dressing his wound...
She soaks a small piece of cloth in water and squeezing it to remove excess water she proceeds to clean the wound...she tries to clean it without holding his hand in her other hand...but fails as the hand could not be held still without support...instead it causes more pain to Jalal and he flinches in anger...
Mahamanga- zara aaram se Jodha Begum...
Jodha- ji...(simply nods her head...)
With no option left...she took his hand in hers with a hesitant grip to keep it still...and started cleaning the wound...her eyes carefully examining the cut so as not to hurt him anymore...leat he shouts at her...
The expression of anger had long before , left Jalal's face...as Jodha's hand slipped beneath his...her delicate and hesitant touch felt divine somehow...His eyes once again wandered to her face...and he sat there in a trance admiring her...her grip on his hand brought back a memory in his mind...During the wedding ceremony...how she had instantly removed her hand as it touched his...as if it had touched burning coal...the incident had proved how much she hated him...how much she detested his mere touch even...and now here she was...grasping his hand in hers...dressing his wound...a victorious smile played on Jalal's lips as he came back to present...
...his wound had been dressed by that time and Jodha was confused by the smile on his face...as were all others...
Mahamanga saved the situation for Jalal as she spoke up...
Mahamanga- Jalal aap khana kha lijiye...hum chalne ki tayyari karwate hain...
Jalal- hmm...(he said wiping the smile from his face and wearing a stern expression again...)
Mahamanga orders the courtiers and servants to vacate the room...leaving Jodha and Jalal all to themselves...
After everyone has left...Jodha too gets up to leave...having had enough of this...she didn't wanted to have another moment being spent with Jalal all alone...
Jalal- arrey aap kahan ja rahi hain Jodha begum?? Abhi aapka kaam poora nahi hua...
Jodha- Ab kya shesh reh gaya hai??( she said facing him with an expression full of hatred and disgust...)
Jalal- Jodha begum aapne shayad vaar karne se pehle ya marham karte waqt ye dhyan hi nahi dia ki aapne hamare dahine hath ko zakhmi kar dia hai... Aur ab hume khana khane me kisi na kisi ki to madad chahiye hi hogi...to fir wo aap kyun nahi?? Aaiye aur hamari madad kijiye...
Jalal's tone had such a pinch of anger and order that she could dare not refuse to obey him...Even then she tried...
Jodha- Aap kisi aur ki madad kyun nahi-----
(before she could complete...)
Jalal- ( in an angry tone...)ye hum bakhoobi jaante hain ki hume kisse madad leni hai...Jodha Begum aap humse beinteha nafrat karti hain aur beshak humse dooriyan banaye rakhna chahti hain kyunki hamari nazdeeki aapko takleef deti hai...hum bhi aapse nafat karte hain aur isi liye ye takleef hum har roz har pal aapke chehre par dekhna chahte hain...yakinan bada sukoon milta hai hume aapke chehre par ye bebasi dekhkar...
...aur ek baat aur...Ab aap hamari Begum hain...aur hum aapke shauhar...aur vivah ki rasmo me aapne bhi apne shauhar ka sath dene ki kasame khayi thi...to phir ye jhijhak kaisi...aayiye apna farz nibhayiye...apne shauhar ki madad kariye...
Jodha is almost in tears being overwhelmed by his pricking remarks and curses her fate for being married to this man with whom she could not even breathe freely...
She reluctantly sat down ready to fulfil his wish...she suppressed her tears and with an expressionless face she started feeding him one morsel after another...with her face averted...Jalal was constantly staring at her...trying to gain her attention so as to read her mind through her eyes...what she felt...infact he wanted to see the hurt, unease, discomfort, hatred, disappointment, insult on her face...all that she hid behind those unshed tears...and all that her averted face betrayed...As Jodha held his whole attention...he did not notice that as he leaned forward to take food in his mouth...her fingers touched his lips for a fleeting second...he was lost in that touch as its sensation lingered a litlle longer than the touch itself...Jodha felt it first and as a reflex briskly withdrew her hand closing it into a fist...she looked at Jalal with angry, enquiring eyes whether he did it on purpose to annoy her...
...Jodha could not stand his intent, evil ,desirous look and looked away embarassed and agitated...waiting for this tribulation to come to an end...
Having done with the food...she now held forward the sweetdish bowl that held kheer especially prepared for Jalal...she began feeding him the kheer with one hand holding the bowl and another the spoon...Jalal was relishing every minute of it...he victoriously and contentedly smiled at her as Jodha served him his favourite delicacy...
Jodha was doubting his silence and so...in-between she stole glances at him briefly so as to gauze his intentions and be alert of the next tactic he might try to pester her...
...As the kheer was about to finish and still Jodha got no troubling remarks nor movements from his side...she was much relieved that her predicament was over at last...Just then a gentle breeze brought a lose strand of her hair onto her face resting lightly on her cheeks reaching for her lips...both her hands were occupied...she was holding out the last spoon filled with kheer ready for Jalal...so decided to put the hair strand in place after serving it...she just shifted her face slightly to avoid it from troubling her eye...Jalal couldn't resist himself and lifting his injured hand he brushed her zulf aside and traced his finger down her cheek and onto her jawline...carefully studying the change of expressions on her face ...from anger to shock to embarassment...
...once again she was caught off-guard...she could have easily pushed aside his hand but for his wounded hand...she decided otherwise and silently endured his repulsive touch on her cheeks that had now gone red with embarassment...
...she drifted away with swift motion but without any outburst...lest he enjoyed her plight even more...although she was raging inside...
If he had decided to trouble her...then she too had made up her mind not to let him have his moment of merriment at her disposal...
...Jalal could however easily look beneath her fake display of indifference...and he gave an evil smirk...it burned Jodha to the core...
Jodha felt like escaping from his presence as soon as possible...controlling her anger, she quietly held up the glass of water...Jalal quickly grabbed the glass with his left hand...taking in his firm grip her hand too...while Jodha struggled to free her hand...he made his grip even more firm...
Jodha(anguished tone...)- Shahenshah hamara haath chhodiye...ye aap thik nahi kar rahe...(...she said while constantly trying to free her hand...)
Jalal just stared at her and bringing the glass upto his mouth...drank water while still holding her hand along with the glass...as he gulped last mouthful of water down his throat...due to Jodha's constant struggle with his grip...the edge of the glass hurt the corner of his lower lip...tiny blood droplets appeared soon...Jodha however didn't realise that he was hurt...Jalal seethed with sudden pain and anger...and taking away the glass from his other hand...he threw it away with all his force...
...As the glass fell banging on the floor...he furiously pulled her close...almost crushing her delicate wrist in the process...she could no longer hold back her tears and cried in pain...
Jodha- (blurted out...as if in a warning...) Shahenshah aap hamare sabr ka imtehaan na lein--- hamara haath chhodiye...hame peeda ho rahi hai...aakhir kyun kar rahe hain aap aisa?? Hame peeda pahuncha ke kya milega aapko??
Jalal brought his face even closer to hers and retorted back- Sukoon!!...suna aapne?? Hame sukoon milega aapko takleef dekar...
Jodha moved her face sideways as she felt his breath on her cheeks...his lips just inches apart from hers...his proximity killing her...as was the pain that struck her hand still crushed in his tight grip...
Jalal leaned closer and almost in her ears...he whispered in angery tone- ...Aur waise bhi Jodha begum...hume takleef dene waale haathon ko to hum sazaa zarur dete hain...aur na hi us shaks ko bakshtey hain...jo unhe hum par vaar karne ke liye istemaal karta hai...Bahot galat insaan se nafrat kar baithi hain aap...Ab aap hamari nafrat ke liye tayyar ho jaiyye...
...Jodha is so frightened that she closes her eyes...Jalal glances at her face once and then releasing her from his hold...he pushes her away and rushes out of his chamber without another word...
60