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Chapter Eight
"Sugni !! Suuugggnniii"
Hukum and Katari came to the mansion looking for their niece. They had finally reached home after spreeing for weeks in the next village. On
arriving home, their wives, Laxmi and Nagania were really pissed at them. They had absconded with Gulabiya's money for the household expenses and had not been heard from in weeks. Now that the money had ran out, they were back for more. They could hardly believe their luck when they heard that Thakur Vikram Singh had done Sugni's sardakai. They always knew she would rake in a rich thakur. They forgot all about Gulabiya being in the hospital and rushed off to the mansion to meet Sugni and hopefully get some gifts as Nagania refused to give them any of the sardakai money.
"What is all this shouting about?" Suman came outside to see who was calling Sugni so loudly. "Ramu? Who is there?"
"Good morning thakurain ji. It's just us, Sugni's uncles. We came here to see Sugni as we couldn't make it for the ceremony," they both had silly
grins on their faces.
Suman looked at them, she could smell the stale stench of alcohol on them. She wondered to herself how they could possibly be Sugni's uncles when they looked so untidy with their uncombed hair, slippers in their hands and their clothes had dirt streaks on them'..wait wait wait..their slippers in their hands? Now where have I seen that before? Hmmm...Oh my god!! That is a bedia custom!! So why were they holding their slippers?
"Why are your slippers in your hands?" she asked them, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Why thakurain ji, it is the custom for us bednas to hold our slippers in our hands'" Hukum answered her and looked to Katari.
"You..are bednas? Sugni's uncles are bednas?" she asked incredulously.
"Uh yes thkurainji. We are bednas. Is something wrong?"
"No no.. . Sorry. I just wanted to make sure that you really are her uncles. She has never mentioned you before. Come in and have a seat," she told them. She had known that something was very fishy.
"Have a seat and let me get you a cold drink," she told them but when she turned around, Hukum and Katari were standing like statues in the
courtyard.
"Hello!! I said to come on in and have a seat!"
"Co'come in thakurainji? As in where you are right now? INSIDE the mansion?" Hukum asked.
"Yes! That IS what I said. And please don't hold your slippers in your hands. There are so many germs on them."
Hukum and Katari both rushed in at once and sat down on the floor while Suman went to get the drinks.
Suman got glasses from the cupboard and filled it up with ice cubes and some lime juice from the refridgerator. She was puzzled at this new
development. Maybe those men are lying and are actually robbers. And I let them in!! Oh my god!
"Ramu!! Ramu! Where are you?" she shouted.
Kishan, a part time worker, came running into the kitchen, "What is it thakurain ji?"
"Where is Ramu?"
"He had an emergency at home and left late last night ma'am. I am holding on for him. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Oh I didn't know...sorry...Do you see those men out in the living room?" she asked him and Kishan went to have a peek at them.
"You mean Hukum and Katari?"
"You know them?" she asked.
"Well yes, they are Gulabiya ji's brothers."
"Oh,.. but they said they were Sugni's uncles and that they are bednas!"
"Yes ma'am. They are Sugni's uncles. Gulabiya is her mother and they are bednas."
"But Sugni is Vikram's wife..."
"Wife? ha!! ha!! ha.ah ha ha ha.. ma'am. Thakurs don't marry bednis. She is his bedni not his wife."
"Let me get this straight. Sugni, the girl who is living here, in the guest house, is Vikram's bedni? Is that what you are saying?"
"Look ma'am I don't know what you were told", Kishan suddenly realised that he was out of his depth here, " so maybe I shouldn't be the one answering your questions. Let me call..."
"No!! you will answer the question."
"Ok ma'am. Sugni is Vikram's bedni. Everyone was really surprised when she finally agreed to do her sardakai. Even more shocking was the fact that Ma Saheb requested that she live here after the ceremony. I mean no bedni has ever lived in a thakur's mansion before..."
"Ma Saheb knew about this? That Sugni is his bedni? And she was the one who wanted Sugni to stay here?"
"Yes ma'am. Everyone knows. But the funny thing was...uh forgive me for saying this..but we were under the impression that it was Thakur Bhushan who was going to do her sardakai. I mean he was even there at the ceremony but then at the last minute, out of no where Vikram thakur shows up and completes the ceremony."
"I see. "
"I don't know what they told you ma'am, but they are bednas. Alcoholics too ma'am. They were always looking for thakurs to buy Sugni but her mother always refused. Forgive me for saying this but you should not give them any money because they would just gamble and drink it all away. In fact I suspect that is why Sugni did sardakai. To get the money to take care of her sick mother and family."
"I see."
"Ma'am, if that is all, may I go now? I have to finish the work outside."
"Yes you may go now...Oh Kishan?" she called him back, "don't tell anyone about this conversation we just had ok?"
Kishan nodded his head and left quickly. For some reason he got the feeling that he had spoken too much.
"Why are you sitting on the floor?" Suman asked as she passed the drinks to Katari and Hukum.
"No no thakurainji, we are used to this only. Don't worry about us. Where is Sugni though? We haven't seen her yet."
"I am afraid that you won't be able to see her today. She and Vikram went to the city for some important work. They won't be back until tomorrow."Suman informed them. "But don't worry, my husband, Bhushan, will be here any minute. I am sure he would like to meet you both...in fact that be him now." she said as they heard the sound of a jeep pulling into the driveway.
A couple minutes later, Bhushan, Jiji and Kuhu came walking in the room where Suman was sitting with the guests.
"Bhabhi, I brought the holy offering for..." Jiji stopped as she saw Suman having juice with two dirty looking men. "Uh bhabhi? Are you okay? Who are these people?"
"Yes Suman , who are these men?" Bhushan asked.
"They are Sugni's uncles, Hukum and Katari. They are here to enquire about their niece since they couldn't make it for the ceremony," she replied.
She looked at the subtle glance that passed between Jiji and Bhushan. She took a sip of her juice to hide her smile as she thought of what she had in store for them.
Sugni held her mother's hands as they waited while the doctor read through her reports. Vikram was standing by the window looking at them. He was relieved to see Gulabiya looking far better than she had the last time he saw her. Sugni was also very happy and it reflected in her face.
"So how are you feeling Gulabiya ji?" the doctor asked her.
"Better than I have in weeks, although why that should be after three days of lying around in a hospital bed is a mystery, for sure,"
"The rest in between the tests probably did you good."
"Doctor, does that mean my mother is better? Did you find out why she was having those pains?" Sugni wanted to know.
"I'm not sure," he said honestly, Gulabiya's symptoms still had him baffled. " So far we 've managed to rule things out. Your heart and lungs are fine. The dentist says there's no sign you've been grinding your teeth, which is something that can also cause chest pain. Your GI series was fine. Of course, the pain you've been experiencing could still be indigestion and linked to something you're eating like a spice or particular food. It just didn't show up as inflammation or anything serious in the tests." the doctor explained to Gulabiya.
"So what's next?" Vikram asked.
"Well there's got to be a pattern and we will have to play medical detectives to track it down. So the moment you have chest pain, I want you to drop everything and come and see me. It doesn't matter if it's day or night. But we will figure this out. Now I am releasing you. Please stop all the previous medicines you were taking and have only these that I am prescribing ok?"
After picking up the prescription, Vikram and Sugni dropped Gulabiya home. Laxmi and Nagania were happy to see her out of the hospital.
"How are you feeling now?" Laxmi asked her.
"Oh much better. What about you Laxmi? How is the baby?"
"I am alright for now. I just can't wait for him to be born. The back aches are becoming unbearable now."
"Oh fo Laxmi. Didi I keep telling her that it's normal and she needs to rest more. But she keeps doing chores all day long," Nagania complained
to Gulabiya.
Gulabiya felt so happy to be back home and listen to Nagania and Laxmi bickering. "Nagania, leave her be. A little exercise is also good
for her. As long as she doesn't over do it."
Vikram listened to them talk about Laxmi's pregnancy and he noticed that Gulabiya looked more relaxed. Even Sugni joined in the
discussion about the baby's gender and name. Sugni looked very happy and he couldn't help smiling. They seemed to be very close to each other.
Suddenly Nagania said, "Didi, I forgot to tell you that those two good-for-nothing brothers of yours had come back."
"They did? "
"Yes. But when they heard about Sugni's sardakai, they rushed off to meet her at the mansion."
Vikram and Sugni looked at each other. "How long ago was that?"
"Yesterday." Nagania answered. "I guess they must have gotten some gifts from there because they just came home and left for the village again!"
"What? Doesn't Katari know that you are due soon?"
"He does Didi!! He just kissed my stomach and said that he will be back in time."
"Sugni we better get back home now. Everyone must be waiting hmm." Vikram told her and set down the glass he was drinking from. Sugni got up too and went to hug her aunts and mother.
"Ma, I will come back to look for you soon ok. Don'y worry about anything and take your medicines on time. Nagania mami, please make sure she takes her medicines ok." Sugni said and left with Vikram. She could see that he was tensed.
Vikram did not talk on the way home. He was trying to keep within the speed limits. He kept wondering how no one from home had called him to
mention about Sugni's uncles. He hoped that everything was ok. He felt in his jacket pocket to make sure that the marriage certificate was there.
After Suman had asked about the marriage certificate, he had come up with a story about the wedding being done in haste that he didn't think to wait for the certificate but that he would go and collect it. So he had called up his college friend, Divakar, who was a lawyer in the city and explained all that had happened. He had agreed that he would prepare a marriage certificate for them but they would both need to come and sign it. He then told Suman that he was going to the city to wrap up some loose ends and for Sugni to meet her family before coming back. They had left the next day and spent two days in the city organising the certificate, before meeting Gulabiya in the hospital.
Now he wondered if the truth was out, how was it going to affect the business deal. Would Suman make her parents cancel the deal? He couldn't be sure. He glanced over at Sugni who was looking just as anxious as he felt and he knew that come what may, Sugni was now his wife. He smiled at that thought...Wife huh?
He chuckled to himself as it sunk in that he, of all people, had a wife.
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