Posted parts (2) and (3) here for those who cannot view in the first page.
XXXI
(2)
That night Prachi packed her clothes in her bag expecting to leave for Mumbai the next day. She asked Milind who had just come out of the shower what time was their flight and whether they can drop in on Amrita Aunty before they returned to Mumbai. Milind then revealed the surprise honeymoon he had planned for her. They will visit Amrita Aunty the following morning and go around Bangalore in the afternoon. The following day they will leave for Mysore and Madikkeri. After spending three days they will go to Mangalore which was the nearest airport and take the flight back to Mumbai. He told her that he had packed her clothes for the four days in his bag since he wanted to surprise her. Hearing this Prachi excitedly hugged and kissed him.
The next day Milind and Prachi accompanied Ayesha to NIMHANS where her mother was being treated. Amrita, who was very fond of Milind, recognised him immediately and smiled broadly at him. She, however, looked at Prachi in confusion although she has seen her at the chawl on a couple of occasions before. Ayesha had to gently remind her of who she is.
"Mama, this is Prachi. Remember my friend from college? She has come to our house in Mumbai?"
Amrita gave her a faint smile but it was clear she still could not place her.
Ayesha explained to her that Milind and Prachi are married and have come to Bangalore on an official/personal visit.
Milind and Prachi took her blessings. Milind then sat next to her and asked her how she was. Amrita told him that they were taking very good care of her at the hospital. She liked the climate of the city too. Her only grievance was that she had not got an opportunity to move around much. She lamented that Ayesha had promised to take her to Lal Bagh but did not have the time to do so as she was busy at work. Milind told her that he will gladly take her there if she wants. Amrita looked at Ayesha expectantly. Ayesha tried to tell her that they should not be troubling Milind who is on a honeymoon with his wife but Prachi intervened and said that they would love to show her around. Ayesha obtained the permission from the hospital to let Milind and Prachi take Amrita out for the day and rushed to her factory as she was expecting the new boss to visit their unit in the afternoon.
Milind and Prachi then took Amrita along with them to the Lal Bagh gardens. The botanical garden was a huge expanse of greenery where flora was at its best. Amrita was excited to see all the colourful flowers. She tried to pluck a few but Prachi gently restrained her, saying they were not allowed to do so. Milind promised to get her fresh flowers from the florist on their way back to the hospital. Amrita seemed to be satisfied with that and they continued their tour of the gardens. Suddenly Amrita stiffened seeing somebody. She then let go of Prachi's hand and ran after a gentleman, calling out to him, "Monty, Monty....". The man was of medium height and build and had a thick mop of salt and pepper hair. He wore a grey suit. As he had his back to them, Milind and Prachi could not see his face. The gentleman apparently did not hear her for he kept walking and went out of the gate where he was lost in the crowd. Milind ran behind Amrita and reached her before she too got lost. Tears were streaming down her eyes as she kept repeating she needs to find her Monty and tell him that she has been waiting for him all these years and ask him when he will come back to take her. Milind wiped her tears and placed his arms around her shoulder, loosely hugging her. He assured her that everything will be alright. They will try to find Monty but she needs to get back to the hospital as she has to be fit and fine when she meets him. Amrita reluctantly let herself be taken back to the hospital. On the way, Milind dropped by at the florist and bought her a dozen white lilies, her favourite flower.
During dinner that night, Milind informed Ayesha about her mother's behaviour at the gardens. At the mention of the name Monty, Ayesha knew her mother had seen or thought she had seen her father. She wonder whether her father was in the same city but did not know how she will find him if he was. Not wanting to burden them with her family problems, Ayesha remained quiet. She told them that she felt exhausted and needed to hit the bed as early as possible. As Milind and Prachi were to leave for Mysore early the following morning, she wished them all the best for an exciting honeymoon in advance, saying that she may not be awake when they leave.
Lying on the bed, Ayesha closed her eyes wearily. Why did all the unexpected things have to happen on the same day? First shock that she got that day was when she realised who her new boss is. The name of the company should have rung a bell in her mind but somehow she did not make the association. From his expression it was clear he did not recollect who she was. He seemed to have changed a lot. His face was drawn, his lustreless eyes sunken and rimmed with dark circles which indicated he had not slept well for days, maybe even weeks. His shoulders were stooped. He sported a stubble which did not really suit him and he did not seem to care much about his appearance going by the creased suit he wore. He was a far cry from the smartly dressed person she had briefly seen all those months back. What was responsible for this transformation she wondered. They did not interact much as he had to leave for another meeting that day. She briefed him about the functioning of the unit and appraised him of the problems they were facing on the labour front. The trade union was strong and was creating problems about the long shifts the workers were subjected to in the recent months. He wanted her to give him a detailed report about the number of days when the late shifts were operational and reasons for the same. He also asked her to arrange a meeting with the trade union leader the following day. She had to sit late to complete the report and was wondering how the man is going to face the hard-nosed trade union leader the next day. As though the problems at work were not enough, she was made aware of her mother's strange behaviour at the gardens that afternoon. If it was indeed her father she had seen, her mother is not going to rest in peace till she is taken to him. Whatever progress was achieved in the last ten months would go down the drain. She just hoped that her mother would forget that day's encounter but she was not sure. Still troubled by all these thoughts, she slipped into a restless sleep.
(3)
Early the following morning, Milind and Prachi had left by a tourist taxi to Mysore. On the way they visited Srirangapatnam where Tipu Sultan was killed, betrayed by one of his own confidants. They visited his palace and his tomb. They then reached Mysore and checked into the Viceroy hotel which was a 3-star hotel. After freshening up they went on a city tour. First they visited the famous Mysore palace which was the official residence of the former royal family of Mysore, the Wodeyars. The opulence and the splendour in which the royal family lived left them speechless. They admired the ornately gilded columns, the rosewood doorways inlaid with ivory, stained glass ceilings, decorative steel grills, chandeliers with fine floral motifs, the peacock mosaic flooring, the rich oil paintings, Indian and European sculptures and the beautiful doll collection from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In one of the halls was a unique mirror which made the person standing in front of it look short and fat. Prachi found it highly amusing to see her distorted image in it. Giggling at herself she told Milind that she may end up looking like that after pregnancy and child birth.
"Would you be still interested in that fat woman, then?" she asked Milind, pointing at her image.
Hugging her shoulder from behind he whispered that the woman in his arms will always hold his interest no matter how old, or fat or clumsy she may look in future, for in his eyes she will remain as beautiful as ever. Prachi turned around and gave him her best smile, showing her deep dimples. He pinched her cheek and asked her to move on.
Mysore Palace
As Prachi was interested in art, they went to the Jayachamarajendra Museum and Art Gallery which housed some of the finest paintings of artistic stalwarts like Raja Ravi Verma and Nicholas Roerich. The gallery also had some fine curios in ivory, sandal wood, ceramics and stone including Japanese porcelain and English glass, traditional musical instruments, antique furniture and carvings from China. Prachi feasted her eyes on such rich artefacts and thanked Milind for bringing her there.
That evening they visited the widespread terraced Vrindhavan Gardens below the Krishnarajasagar dam. The garden is renowned for its musical dancing fountain. At the gardens, a group of college students passed them by. One of them turned around and immediately squealed, "Hey, isn't that Prachi Mishra". The rest of them turned around too and their eyes widened in surprise. They rushed to her and asked her if she was Prachi Mishra. Prachi looked at them in confusion as she did not recognise a single one of them. Admitting that she was, she asked them how do they know her.
"How can we not know you? You are the latest rage, your songs are just too good," said the first guy.
The girl standing next to him agreed and said to her that her voice is so captivating that they just can't seem to stop listening to her. As if to prove her point she gave her the ear phones to her ipod and sure enough Prachi got to hear her own voice in it. Blushing at the sudden popularity she seemed to have gained and that too in a place so far away from her own city, she looked at Milind who couldn't hide his pride. The students followed her gaze and asked her who he was.
"That's my husband, my strength and my support."
"You are married?" exclaimed one of the guys."Why is it that all the good ones are already taken?"
Milind smiled at that and tapping the back of the guy's head, he said, "Even if she wasn't, don't you think that she is a little old for you?"
"That is no problem, Sir. 'Older the wine, better the taste' or is it 'older the fiddle, better the tune?!'" said the guy naughtily.
This time Milind gave him a sharper tap on his head, although it was in jest. The students then begged her to give her autograph and extended whatever they had in their hands. Some gave her their entrance tickets to the garden, some their handkerchiefs, some their notebooks, some even their hands. Prachi signed them all and wished them all the best in whatever they do.
Soon it turned dark and the garden was illuminated with colourful lights. Michi reached the corner of the garden in which was the famous musical dancing fountain. They took their seats on the nearby gallery. They were enthralled to see the jets of water, lit by colourful lights, dance to the beat of the music.
(See video, although the audio is a little muffled)
http://media.desishock.com/193466/Musical-Dancing-Fountain-at-Vrindavan-Garden,-Mysore
Prachi leaned on Milind's shoulder in amazement at the sight. Milind smiled and held her close. The chillness in the air increased and she started shivering inspite of the shawl she was wearing. Milind wrapped his arms tighter around her letting his body heat permeate to her. She sighed and held on to his waist. The performance of the fountains soon finished and they made their way back to the entrance of the garden as soon as possible before the lights were turned off.
Early next morning they left for Madikeri or 'Mercara' as it was called earlier. It is a hill station in Karnataka, popularly known as Scotland of India. The mist clad hills are adorned with thick forests, tea and coffee plantations and orange groves. Prachi fell in love with the natural setting. They checked into their hotel and later walked down the hills, enjoying the beautiful scenery. They went to the Abbey Falls (see picture below) and admired the lacey frills of the crystal clear water gushing down.
Suddenly Prachi started coughing and sneezing continuously. Milind looked worriedly at her. Her eyes and nose were streaming and she looked positively unwell. Not wanting to strain her further, he carried her back to the hotel and took her to their room. He laid her on the bed and by then she was burning up with fever. She started shivering and her teeth started chattering. Milind was alarmed to see the sudden deterioration in her health. He ordered for some warm milk and took out a Crocin tablet from his bag. He made her take the medicine and then rubbed some eucalyptus oil on her forehead, arms, chest and back before bundling her up in thick blankets. He stretched himself next to her and held her tight. After a few minutes, Prachi slipped into deep sleep, exhausted by the fever. Milind called in the doctor attached to the hotel, who on examination said that she seemed to have a flu attack. Milind watched over her, not able to sleep a wink, right through the night as the fever shot up during the night. Milind gave her cold swabs to bring the fever down. She kept muttering and moaning in pain. He covered her up with his own body to give her as much comfort and warmth as possible. The next two days went in taking care of his sick wife. Milind could not bear to see his wife suffer and hoped and prayed she will be well again. On the second day, the fever left as suddenly as it appeared. Prachi was still feeling weak from it. Milind asked her if she wanted to stay back for a few more days so that she felt stronger before they undertook their journey but she wanted to get back home soon. So they went to Mangalore, from where they flew back to Mumbai. On the flight Prachi apologised to Milind for ruining their honeymoon with her sickness. Milind kissed the top of her head and reassured her that she had not ruined anything, for to him honeymoon meant spending time alone with your beloved and he got to do just that, even if it meant being bundled up in bed for two days.
Edited by optimist - 16 years ago
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
