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Hello people!
Not Strangers!
So, the greedy me is here to listen to what you all have to say about this OS. 😆 Hearty thanks to those who read it, I hope you do drop in with your views too! 😳
...
The dry winds of the desert ruffled the hair of the young boy as he stepped out of his tent. The newly crowned Emperor of Hindustan, Jalal-ud-din Mohammad, was out on a voyage to the Rajputana, which lay beyond the boundaries of the Mughal Empire. The roots of this dynasty were not so strong as yet, but this young lad was leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to expand its territories.
It was his guardian and mentor, Bairam Khan's suggestion to bring him to this rugged terrain, for nothing more than what he called 'war practice'. This man, lovingly called 'Khan Baba' by Jalal, was almost always the ruling power behind the throne and the majority of the emperor's decisions.
"Aadaab Shehenshah!" Came the quick voice of Abdul, Jalal's closest buddy, as he spotted him coming his way.
Returning the gesture back, Jalal greeted him. Before he could utter any words, Abdul began, " You said this place was too dull and uninteresting for you, didn't you? And see, today I have some news for you... though I am not sure if it's something that good!"
The boy in front raised an eyebrow... "Really? And what's the big deal in this deserted place anyway?"
"Nothing that great, buddy. I've heard some Guru of the Rajputs are coming in the town just across our boundary. He's really popular for his teaching skills among those people, and like always, he's going to impart an important lesson to the students who gather at his place. Though it won't be a lavish affair, quite a lot of young minds come to him, it seems. A one-day session it is, I've heard. "
Jalal had been intently listening to his friend all this while.
Lessons! That word struck him hard always, given that he was illiterate, mostly because he never got a chance to go through the kind of books kids his age would read. Or for that matter, any books at all.
Without giving his decision a second thought, he looked up at Abdul and said, "I'll go."
***
"But I think you should have asked at least Rani Sa once..." Padma's words made the princess turn towards her.
"Do you really think she would have allowed me to go there?!! Firstly, girls hardly will be found there, and on top of that no security and other royal necessities are to be kept with, there. She won't ever say yes, not in a million years!" Jodha retorted to the advice being awarded to her.
"You are impossible, sakhi!" Padma shook her head.
"I know!" The young girl winked at her friend." Now let's get going!! I'm NOT going to miss a lesson from the greatest teacher of Rajputana just because of the restrictions imposed on me as a princess and as a girl!"
***
The eager, young students had all gathered in a large tent placed in the centre of a significantly larger field, wherein the 'Acharya' greeted them. Outside, the teacher's permanent students from nearby as well as faraway lands busied themselves, some in the arrangement work of this public lecture, some in the security, and most in what they had been doing for years with their mentor - practice.
As had been expected by Jodha, there were absolutely no young girls out here - except her. More than once the thought of a disguise had come to her devilish mind, yet, she didn't pay heed to it. The rules of this session did not forbid a girl to enter, and there was no reason for her to hide herself. In the 13 years of her life, she had hardly stepped out of the palace without those numerous veils around her, so she was assured there was no one here who could possibly recognise her.
For Jalal, this was an experience he hadn't ever gone through in his life. What seemed 'normal' to these children, was something in whose normalcy he found extra-ordinary pleasure. He looked on as the teacher started addressing the students.
"Good Morning, my dear students! It's always so good to see all you young minds with those eager eyes, ready to grasp what's taught to you, gathered around me. The company of children like you all gives me more pleasure than anything else ever will. Hope you all learn something good today!"
He was greeted with a loud 'Good Morning' from the students as well. The easy attitude of the teacher had instantly made the students fond of him.
"Young learners, I must tell you that it is the desire to learn and to know more that makes a man great. And since I can see that in all of you, I'm sure you will all grow up to be fine citizens of this earth." The old man smiled at his audience.
"Without taking a lot of your time, let me tell you the subject of today's lessons - teamwork." The Acharya could see heads turning and murmurs going round. "Divide yourself into teams of two - quickly - and move over to the other side of the room with your companion. And silence, please!"
***
Ya Allah! Jalal wasn't exactly looking forward to making acquantaince with any of these young lads here. He preferred being alone - at least here. Moreover, he had no friends in this crowd, unlike most of the other boys. He made his eyes travel around the room, and sat back at his place. No partner for me!
Hey Kanha! Jodha sure wasn't expecting any teamwork here, or she would have somehow brought Padma with her. She travelled around the place with her gaze - with no luck. She just sat back, watching the crowd slowly shift.
In no time, the entire group had moved over to the other side, while two people still sat at their places.
Jalal looked over to the only one left besides him. Ya Allah, The last one had to be a girl?! He could visualize what their team would look like - with she continuously speaking and irritating him.
Acharya Ji had noticed these two loners already. He quickly spoke up, "I see...the two of you are having some trouble taking each other's company. Quick, you two!"
***
"There... the paper each team has been given has six questions in all. But,you don't have to answer all of those, only the last one's solution is what today's task requires." The Acharya's sound echoed throughout the room.
All eyes focussed themselves on the piece of paper in front. It read :
...
Ke Sthiraah? Ke Priyaah Streedaam ? Ko Priyo? Naktam Aahvay |
Nrityabhooh Keedrashi ramya? Nadee Keedraghanaagme? ||
"What are immovables?
"Whom do women love?
"Who is disliked?
"Call the night!
"What kind of a stage is beautiful?
"How is the river when the clouds swell?"
...
"Let me know when any of you manages to find a satisfactory answer to the last question. And keep this in mind children, there is only ONE answer to that question, though it may seem like there are many. Vijayi Bhavah!"
Jalal just kept staring at the writing. He knew nothing aboutSanskrit, and that practically showed on his face. He first thought to tell his partner that he couldn't understand what was written there, but that might have raised suspicions about his identity.
Just then he saw it, she was already jotting something down on the opposite side of the paper. It was the Hindi translation of the Sanskrit riddle. Thank Goodness!
After she was done, she looked up to see her companion's expressions. She followed his gaze to the writing and both of them decided to take up the questions one by one, for they might eventually lead them to the final answer.
'What are immovables?'
"They are mountains, of course!" chimed Jodha, a hint of excitement undeniable in her voice. Jalal simply nodded in a yes, while she scribbled the answer on the sheet.
'Whom do women love?'
She kinda rolled her eyes reading the next one. But this time it was Jalal in action!
"Boys, like me, obviously!"
It was such an instant and unexpected answer that Jodha kept staring at the green-eyed boy in front of her for a moment. By the time she thought of speaking, he was already laughing off. Though somewhere, he had to accept that this reply of his was so spontaneous, it had taken even him by surprise. But later, the sheer fun of it made him think no more.
Now Jodha was in no mood to laugh, not at least with this strange boy. "Are you here to help or to distract me? Huh!" She turned away, trying to think seriously.
He realized he was at fault. " Okay, sorry. Maybe women love their husbands? Umm...what do you think?"
"Let's keep it 'husbands' for now. That's the only plausible answer. Let's see the next one." She seemed a bit calm now.
'Who is disliked?'
"What kind of a question is this?" Jodha pointed out. "I guess everyone is disliked by some and liked by some." She started tapping the pen on the paper, deep in thought.
Suddenly, Jalal almost shouted, "I think I know this one, finally! Enemies are disliked, are they not? It has got to be this, trust me!!" The young boy was relieved to see that he could finally contribute something to the task.
Oh! So this lad has brains too. Nice!
She quickly spoke up, "Great! Yup...this has to be it. " As she penned down the Sanskrit word for 'enemy', - ripu - her mind couldn't help going back to their worst enemies, the Mughals. But she brushed that feeling aside. "Quick, the next one!"
"Call the night!
As he read the two words, she could roughly make out that his accent was a tad bit different from what she had usually heard around. But this was all for another day, another time. Just then, his voice broke through her thoughts.
"What's it with this one? Call the night?"
She said after thinking a bit, "It could be the shortened form of 'What do you call a night?', right?"
"Yeah, maybe. Let's go with it for now." After Jalal's approval, Jodha wrote rajani below the previous word.
"Next, please!"
It was Jo's turn to speak. 'What kind of a stage is beautiful?'
She made a face almost as soon as she finished reading it. "What the hell was that?!"
Jalal hardly suppressed a giggle seeing her maddened face. "Calm down partner! Let's think na...there has to be an answer to it."
For the first time in the past twenty minutes, she smiled at him, though faintly. "You're right!"
Both of them came up with various answers to this one.Decorated? Expansive? Open?
"It could be anything. How are we going to know this for sure?" Jo sighed.
Jalal didn't respond to her immediately, he thought some more and finally said, "See, a decorative stage could as well act as a negative point than as a positive one. It may spoil the simplicity or the soberness of the play and make it look like a hotch-potch setup. If you ask me, a big or spacious stage is the best. It provides enough space for all the elements in the play to be properly presented. Let's keep this one as 'Expansive'."
"That seems a sensible answer to me. Okay!" Jodha quickly jotted down the next answer - tataranga.
Both of them sat silently for a moment, staring at the last question, which was completely vague. 'How is the river when the clouds swell?'
Jodha began first. "The question is so random, there has to be a specific method of getting to the right answer, which as per Acharya Ji is only one." She was still looking down at the questions and answers alternatively.
"There is only one answer to that last one. That means there is also only one correct way to access it. Which also means, that way is there with ALL of us. Only then can a random question like thishave one right answer. Give that sheet to me."
Jalal focused his eyes and mind on all the answers they had written so far.
aga (mountains)
dhava (Husbands)
ripu (Enemy)
Rajani (Night)
tataraga (An expansive one)
"So we have Aga, Dhava, Ripu, Rajani, Tataranga... Aga Dhava Ripu Rajani Tataranga... Should we use their first letters and make a word?" He quickly took the pen from her hand and started scribbling something on the paper.
But Jodha wasn't watching him or his actions at all. She was busy with interpreting something she had just noticed.
As she had already known, this boy had a different accent. And that was pretty obvious with the way he spoke Sanskrit words. But his different pronunciation of those words had made them sound like a sentence having words with entirely different meanings from the answers they had written! She framed the final sentence in her mind.
And before Jalal knew what was happening, she nearly shouted, "I got it!"
He quickly turned around to see the almost-dancing-with-excitement girl. "What? When? And HOW?"
"Not me, in fact you got it, partner! You said it right!" She quickly wrote the newly formed sentence and it's Hindi translation on the paper. "See!"
agdha-vri-pra-janita-tarag
(Tumultuous with waves)
"That's what rivers are when the clouds swell! Finally, we did it!" She was almost going to pat her partner's back in this moment of joy, when she realized that... well, she shouldn't.
The sudden droop in the charged up Jo and the withdrawal didn't go unnoticed by Jalal. But he simply said, "Let's go toAcharya Ji!"
***
The old man smiled wide on hearing the correct answer from these two young children. He kept his hand on their head as blessings, and said, "You two have done a great job, my dear children. You have proved to be excellent teammates despite being strangers, that says a lot about both of you. Very well done, and God Bless!"
***
After the riddle and the method to solve it was discussed, and the assembly dismissed, all the students were rushing out of the premises. Some could be seen chatting, some eating, and some simply walking away.
Jalal was moving out of the camp, when he saw that girl walking towards him. He immediately stopped walking.
"You did a great job, partner! Especially given that you don't know Sanskrit, and probably are foreign to this place." Jodha smiled at him. She thought she owed this little bit of appreciation to this young lad.
He was about to ask her the way in which she came to know that he was a foreigner and all, but he didn't. Mostly because he did not want to spoil the conversation by taking it into that direction. But he sure had realised that she was no ordinary girl, she was a witty lass!
"Thanks, partner. We do make a great team, don't we?" He smiled in return, something he wasn't sure he would do.
Jo only nodded in return, but that was enough. She turned to leave, but was interrupted by his voice.
"Umm... May I know your name?" He said with a little hesitation visible, both in his eyes and voice. He had wanted to ask her name before, but that would mean a risk of revealing his own identity too. But something in him wanted to ask her, so he did.
She looked stunned first, and then, suddenly started laughing. "Why, 'partner' isn't good enough or what?"
Jalal also chuckled at this, not knowing what to say. Fathoming that the conversation had come to an end, she swiftly turned away and started walking.
***
Jodha had almost reached the Amer palace. She could see the white domes and arcs of the building from here. She increased her pace now.
"Excuse me!"
A voice rang in her ears. Who could this be? She silently prayed that she hadn't been recognised. Oh Lord, No!
Eyes still closed, she slowly turned around, and gradually opened them. The sight made her brown orbs widen in shock. "You!"
The young boy started laughing hard on seeing his once so confident 'partner' in such a frightened state, while she just kept showering angry and irritated glares on him.
"What is it now? Were you following me? Don't you know it is indecent to follow a girl like this? You boys na!"
Her words only brought more giggles and chuckles to him. Finally, composing himself, he said, "Hey! Calm down partner. I wasn't following you or something okay! You had dropped your ring outside the entry to the Gurukul, so I thought to return this. And it took me so long to finally catch up with you without running, because you are too fast for me, partner!"
"Oops. I'm sorry!" She felt a little embarassed for saying so much to him without thinking twice.
"It's okay partner! Here's your ring." She quickly put it on her finger and turned to go, not wanting any more embarassment to come to her.
Yet again, his voice made her stop in her tracks.
"Wait! Just wanted to ask you...umm...can we be, like, friends?"
Jodha swirled around to see an innocent look adorning the boy's face, while he was just looking down.
God! He looked redder than she was a minute ago!
But she had to admit he looked cute that way; she almost had the urge to pinch his cheeks once, which she obviously suppressed. She smiled slyly looking and him, and said, in a short and sudden reply, "Umm...not really friends."
And without a second glance, moved ahead.
***
Jalal suddenly realized what he had been doing there.Making friends with an unknown girl, was he? Hey, that's not at all his type. Maybe he should just concentrate on what he is supposed to do.
Determined to brush off this weird experience, he swiftly started tracing his path back towards the border. Only to be halted by a sudden, soft touch on his shoulder.
It was her.
"Hey partner! We can't be friends, okay, but we are not strangers too, right? So yeah, nice meeting you!" A beaming Jodha was there to utter these words.
Uff, this girl na! She's so unpredictable, a moment ago she was so rude, and see her now!
Jalal was about to ask her something, probably about this sudden comeback, but she never gave him a chance to do so.
Only when he turned to leave did she shout from behind, "Not Strangers!"
And then he looked back to see her laughing heartily, and joined in this merry-making too.
***
The two of them might never meet again, but this one short meeting was so influential, as can be very well seen.
But how can we forget our dear Destiny? So yeah, with all probability, these two 'Not Strangers' will meet again, someday, sometime. And also, maybe they'll let us know about that meeting of theirs too! 😉
...
Thanks for reading! 😊
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