Ranjish Hi Sahi
Part 1(A)
They looked like one happy family...the Emperor, his queen and the one and a half year old prince. Sitting in the lavish palace garden which, owning every possibly available flora, took pride in being one of its own kind. Even a passerby, by just having a glance at them, could tell that they were having a gala time in each other's company. The king looked more than happy and relaxed spending quality time with his family after a hectic day.
Sprawling lazily on the plush settee sofa, Chandragupta looked beside him; his son was just up from his afternoon nap and was bustling with energy sitting in the lap of his choti maa. Placed on the table, kept near them, were his toys, all made up of gold the costliest possibly a child could ever have. But they lay lifelessly brooding over their master's negligence as right now baby Bindu had his mind set upon his mother's hair pin. Stretching his hands once again he tried to take out the shining hair pin which had kept secured his mother's otherwise long flowing tresses in a bun.
uh! Bindu beta kya kar rahe ho...maine abhi abhi apne kesh banaye hai" (Uh! Bindu what are you doing son, I've just done my hairs) she reprimanded his son in the sweetest way possible...she was clearly enjoying his antics.
Paying least attention to his mother's plea ...Bindu continued with his mission and cooed in glee when he finally succeeded to reach out for his object of interest.
Chandragupta watched with rapt attention... "arghh!! BINDU" this time she clearly looked annoyed. With the pin now with Bindu, her hairs fell to her waist like a dark cloud, the wind swaying them to its tunes, making her look all the way more heavenly. Bindusaar by the time was adamant to be kept down on the floor so that he could try his hands in his new found adventure, walking. Nandini ,horrified at the idea of his walking bare foot at the soiled surface of the garden was trying her level best to stop him. While she struggled keeping a kicking Bindu close to herself ... her hairs now open and all over her face were clearly not helping.
Smiling... Chandragupta taped her shoulder making her cast an annoyed glace to him...he slowly removed a wild tendril from her face and tucked it behind her ear...giving her a nodding assurance he took Bindu from her. While she struggled with captivating all the loose tendrils, the father son duo busied themselves into rubbing their nose against each other's, off lately their favourite sport
"Maharaj aur Maharani ki Jai ho" entered a maid. "Maharaj, raaj maata ne yuvraj ko yaad kiya hai...Vey yuvraaj ke saath kuch samay vyateet karna chahti hain ( Maharaj Raaj mata has asked for prince Bindusaar, she wants to spend some time with him)
"Theek hai le jao", said Chandragupta in an authoritative tone, placing a wet kiss on his son's cheek he handed him to the maid
"Sambhal ke le jaana" nandini couldn't help but be the protective motherAs the maid took an exit with Bindusaar, they were left alone, all to themselves .They both looked at each other and the spell which enchanted them moments ago BROKE
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Bindusaar left his parents with the ugly truth that they were husband and wife with their relationship hitting the lowest possible. The proximity which looked so very casual a few moments ago was now suffocating. They both struggled to come up with something to say, knowing very well that they both will fail. The family which looked picture perfect few moments ago now looked like a jaded torn photograph. Not being able to deal with the catastrophic feeling, Nandini stood from her place to go inside. Chandragupta seeing her leave, for once mustered up all the courage he ever had and called... "Nandini... " noticing the faltering of his tone only to make him all the way more nervous.
She stopped in her tracks ...he could feel the tension building up inside her by just looking at her back. "kya baat hai " (what's the matter)... without even bothering to turn around, she replied in a tone, too cold to be Nandini's . "Thodi der aur rukti" (stay for a while) he asked with a hope, only to be crushed, as soon as the words made their way
"Mujhe bheetar kuch karya tha, woh khatam kar ke aati hoon" (I have some chores to tend inside...will come back once done). Not waiting for his reply she proceeded to leave.
Chandragupta watched her trailing figure helplessly...there were times when he would wait and wait patiently for her to complete her "chores" and join him, only to conclude that when she says she will be back she has no plans to do so...those words were mere display of cold courtesy . She being a royal was pro at it.
Sighing tiredly...Chandragupta couldn't help but ponder over the events which took place during the past few months. Five months to be precise... Five whole long months back...
When they had found about, Apama being guilty of Durdhara's murder. They didn't intended to ...in fact not even in the wildest dreams did Aacharya and he imagined that their whole ploy against Apama will end up revealing in something devastating like this. They had all the proofs against Apama for conspiring with Nand and his allies against the Mauryan Empire. She was arrested with immediate effect. The night before Apama was to be punished he along with Aacharya was supervising the search expedition of Apama's room to investigate further about the treacherous activities she was indulged in,when they had found Durdhara's letter, the last from her. He was surprised to find it from Apama's room, he knew Helena had the letter with her, but he expected her to submit it to the records department to keep it safe, rather to hand it to her mother. But still he couldn't guess, it was only after his eyes caught the ink of the letter, which was far more faded then it was last time, he had read the letter once again, only to find Nandini's name nowhere in the letter . Confused he had consulted Aacharya , who testified that the letter Durdhara left hadn't had Nanidin's name in the first place. And then everything fell into place like pieces of jigsaw puzzle. By the end when they had figured out all, Aacharya had his head bowed down in disappointment and shame, guess even the greatest brains are fallible.
He had wanted to kill Apama right away, then and there...it took Aacharya all his patience and wits to stop him. He still wasn't ready to settle for anything less than death sentence for Apama, even at the cost of enmity with Greeks. Nothing can be costlier than the price they had paid for trusting their Queen. But surprisingly, it was Nandini who had sided with Aacharya on the proposal of sending Apama back to Greece for never ever to come back. He eventually agreed, realizing once again that he is a king and the tag comes with a price, always. They were doubtful of Helenas involvement as well; but silently bearing all the tortures inflicted upon her, Apama not once took her name. In every session when Apama refused to confess Helena's involvement in any of her misdeeds, he couldn't help but contemplate the irony, a morally bankrupt person like Apama knew how to stand by her loved one, but he didn't. Helena all the while kept house arrest was only released after Apama was sent back to Greece. Not being allowed to bid her mother the last farewell, she was still being watched upon. Somehow, her claims of oblivion, were hard to believe.
The whole palace was out of their wits after the truth got revealed. Each one of them apologised to Nandini and she has forgiven everyone even him. Oh! How he wish she wouldn't have, how he wish her to fight with him, to give it back to him all what he had made her endure. Hell! She would have killed him for all he cared, but she chose to forgive him. Only to teach him a lesson, which Acharya never had, that sometimes to forgive is the worst punishment
He clearly remembers her words, how could he forget... ever since she had said them he had spent every single night replaying them a thousand times in his mind...trying to find something hopeful between the lines
"Maine tumhe kshama kiya chandra" (I forgive you Chandra)
"Nandini tum mujhe kshama kar sakti ho parantu main khud ko kshama kabhi nahin kar sakta...Jab mujhe Apama ke kamre se woh patra mila toh..." (Nandini, you can forgive me but I can't, never can I. When I found the letter from Apama's room ...)
"Agar Apama ne galat patra na jalaya hota toh?" ...cutting him midway she had asked him (Had Apama not burnt the wrong letter by mistake, then?") And he knew that she had forgiven but not forgotten. The fact that he had not trusted her words, spoken and unspoken, the fact that he needed proof to trust her...she will never forget
"Main bahout lajjit hoon Nandini" He had tried one last time "Mera vishwas karo " (I'm ashamed nandini, trust me)
And she had laughed, a sardonic mirthless laugh...a laugh which would haunt him for the every coming single night, making his already dark nights all the way more darker
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Initially he had thought it would be tough to win Nandini back, but he was ready to fight.
It was the re coronation ceremony of Nandini as mukhya maharani ...a pooja has been organised for the royal couple after which they had to address their subjects. The priest had asked Nandini to keep her hand on his while the aahuti was being offered to the holy fire. The moment her hands made a contact with his... his heart skipped a beat. It was cold, almost like a stranger's hand. Even with the worst possible sate of their equation never her touch was so detached , so mechanic...their bodies have always been in sync, almost reading each other's touch, having a language of their own...his heart sank in fear because no matter how much he tried to refute he knew that he has lost Nandini. She had given up on him. If only giving up on her has been so easy for him.
Not to mention that, the pooja along with the function went smoothly, people praising the perfect organization. Perfect, yes things were perfect, they were perfect...perfect king and queen, perfect parents to their son and perfect strangers to each other. No, she was perfect; he still struggles to perfect the last part. He still sometimes dared to be "Chandra" trying to reach out for his "Nandini", only to fail miserably, like he did today.
He sighed and looked around; as usual there were no hopes of her coming back to him. It was dark by the time. Pushing himself he stood up and dragged his feet to his room which was as lifeless as its master, waiting for its mistress.
{Second part in next post}
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