Rikara OS- Bali

"Bali was what she called me. That's where I met him. The best man I know in my life. There only I met that man due to whom I am not what I could have been."

Benaras was a city very holy in nature plus very fulfilling too. I was where she went after she was brought from the widow house in Mathura. Where Kalyani Devi found me, she and my deceased mother were friends and when she found me there she took me to her home as a help to her plus for her love for my mother so exceedingly to me. At her home, there was her only son, Kali and his beautiful wife, whom he had a love marriage, Jhanvi. And her husband but Babu never said me anything, there was an army of staff and my work was to entertain ThakuMa and look after the household because she felt that her new and inexperienced daughter in law was not for the task plus Kali didn't let her work and was irritated with his mother if she said anything, though there was no doubt that ThakuMa was also not soft towards Jhanvi.

And for me, it was a fresh bloom of life as I was a widow only after a year of marriage and that too when I hadn't lived more than 15 days with my late husband. And then I was deserted though I don't blame my in laws as they were very conservative so were my parents so I was sent to widow house at Vrindavan and here I was like a new person. There only I met him for the first time, Omkara Babu. Omi was there contemplating his health. It was the year he had an accident and was leaning on his walking stick on his left side. Dr. Omkara Singh Oberoi was a man who made me uncomfortable yet I was attracted to him like an enigma. I and Jhanvi developed a friendship and that's the reason we named each other Bali because balis are always incomplete without each other.

During that time only I became accustomed with Thakupo because as I managed home I was always around plus I was only friend of Jhanvi in Benaras but I was still a widow who still didn't have any rights, and lived with rules. But I was fascinated to see the married life of theirs because that was something I didn't have in my life.

So we went to a lot of picnics, shopping and outings during that time Omi tried to make understand but could say my selfishness that I didn't listen to all that emotions, and one day it crossed its limit and I got know that Omi was leaving Benaras in 2 days after a heated fight with Thakupo and after he left the haveli, Thakupo tried to force upon me and I was shocked but I turned to Jhanvi who like any Indian wife found mistake in my behavior that was the time ThakuMa and Babu weren't there as they had gone to Allahabad for some work. I was helpless and caged and then I found my opening that evening so I ran for my life and that's when I found myself at a railway station with a train leaving and then I somehow boarded the train but not without some drama.

"You are trying to outrun me but this is what you get and as Kali tried to chase her, he had left a huge cut in her arm and was unsuccessful to catch her as she had being successful in fleeing from there.

She could see Omkara Babu in the same compartment as her and she could sense that he had witnessed the whole scene so she just went to his seat and sat beneath him and touched his feet and drops of blood from her wrist fall to his feet and she runs the hand to her head requesting him to accept her. He just looked at her she was running away in just one single white saree with no blouse. She was no doubt in trouble and she turned to him a crippled man, a man who will always need the cane to walk.

"If you don't mind can I ask you something, Omkara Babu? Brij asked Omkara as they both sat outside the marriage registrar office in Vizag. He smiled a bit and encouraged to let her speak. "Did you really loved Jhanvi or was it something else? Brij asked the most necessary question of her life before taking this step.

"No, Brij I never loved her as what you think, yes but I did had a soft corner for her because I knew Kali da's nature plus I could see his obsession for you. I have never felt that kind of emotion for anybody else. He said as he threaded his fingers in her, for the first time today she was wearing a coloured saree precisely yellow saree with red borders with razor cut sleeveless back-knot red blouse as today is Saraswati Puja. Later, she was wearing a thin diamond mangalsutra and sindoor, with yellow bangles and little small silver bindi, she looked so different.

"Dr. Gauri Omkara Singh Oberoi, is a respected name in pediatrics. Andra Pradesh Medical Association was honoured to facilitate her last evening. She was here with her husband and fellow doctor, Dr. Omkara Singh Oberoi, a name in gynecology. read Rudra from the newspaper as he sat with her as she tried to teach him 12th biology. A new name Gauri did help her move forward in life but still, there are some who called her Brij, i.e. Omkara and Rudra. Rudra was Omi's cousin who lost his parents the year they shifted to Vizag since then he lives with them. Now they are a small family.

They had a huge traditional house they bought besides a local river, it was full of water throughout the year. It even had old style courtyard with rooms on all sides and a swing in the courtyard. In evenings they use to open the gate towards the river and sit down in stairs they made into the river and see the sun setting.

"Brij this awesome, you and Omi are the best couple. But don't you miss Benaras and your Bali. Said Rudra as he looked at their photos of previous day's event. She wore a mauve saree kanjeevaram silk with very thin plaints with that she was wearing the same mauve coloured razor cut blouse and her thin mangalsutra, her long hairs were cut in layers and made into a high ponytail and her regulars whereas he wore a plain white sweater with black trousers.

"No, Rudra I don't because my Bali would never understand what I was going through. But Omi brought me to this heaven, now I don't look back. Now concentrate on your biology or else you will fail in this. She joked remembering Thaku Ma, Bali and Thakurpo.

As Rudra went through biology book, she remembered her early married life, it was eventful if said in a single word. She was very skeptical how life would treat her because taking the example of her previous experience the deck was stacked against her and she never knows how Omi saw her. Then he got her admitted in his college where he started doing his specialization in gynecology. She started as a 1st-year student of MBBS. He looked supportive of her studying plus she always knew he was rich but here she got to know as he had arranged house on such short notice.

This was after Rudra came, she realized that it was late for her to conceive as it was more than 3 years and she also didn't even had a single miscarriage.

She decided that she will get herself tested which was not that big of the problem as hospital duty was compulsory for the final year, so she can get herself treated there. So, next day she went to the gyneac doctor but didn't share worries with Omkara.

She was feeling herself small, now within these years they had worked hard to reach this position in their relationship, he still reclined towards the cane but now he was not that much in need of it, it was more of a psychological need than physical need.

"Patta patta janta hai, k tu hi na jaane haal mera. Omi said when Gauri came to apologize to him for keeping her gynec visit a secret. But whom she was joking she knew that his HOD would tell him about her visit.

"Dr. Gauri, if you want you can change your specialization, said her kind mentor and professor after a month from that unfortunate meeting. " Dr. Roy told me what happened, we understand that it would not comfortable for you to stay with children all day. As its difficult for a young lady like you to continue

"No, doctor. Thanks for your offer but now I am settled in life as you know I am married to Dr. Omkara Singh Oberoi. You know him right, we adopted a child and now I am a mother of 12 years old, Rudra Singh Oberoi. It's my prodigy. She said as she showed him a photo of her, Omkara and Rudra together just from yesterday.

Dr. Matthew Ling at that moment knew that his apprentice is a superb mother who loved her son a lot, as well as will one day, will be an amazing doctor.

Remembering that incident was enough to make Gauri relax. She was currently treating a young boy of 2 year and rather his father was following her like a lost puppy.

Just then he clashed with 6'3'' Rudra. Rudra was really tall, so he even made grown-up men feel dwarfish. He just said "Don't worry. I understand your concern for your child, but let doctors do their jobs. Waise bhi my Amma is the best pediatrician over here. He just said pulling her into a bear hug.

The man looked surprised "Dr. Gauri, I must say, your son is a warm soul and you don't look like a mother of a grownup man then he left hurriedly.

"Kyon, Brij, you see even men are awed of my height, he said laughingly as they walked together to her chambers.

There they found Omi and Rudra told him the whole incident when back hugging her said "You know that's very common, sometimes I feel I am so lucky to have her in my life, she is the only one in our group whose so highly accomplished plus so beautiful

Kalyani Devi sometimes felt that where her blind love for Kali bought her, at one arena she destroyed the life that young girl whom she considered as her own daughter, Brijbala and also of Jhanvi who did stay in this marriage and had two sons 6 and 4 years old yet it was never same between Kali and Jhanvi, Jhanvi was nowhere the girl she was all those years ago. But her only solace that Brij was happy with Omkara whose photo she saw today in a magazine stating that they have a 18-year-old son. She nowadays misses her husband a lot who use to warn her about that fiasco even before it really happened. But seeing Brij and Omkara and their son in that article she somehow felt a little redeemed and was pleasantly shocked to know now her Brij is now a famous doctor Mrs. Gauri Omkara Singh Oberoi'

"Brij, you still don't like the blouse naa. Said Omkara as he entered and saw her in single sari draped in old-fashioned Bengali way without a blouse.

"Omi, I just don't feel comfortable but I can't roam like this in the hospital so only here I wear like this. She said smilingly as both of them sat in lowermost stair of the river in the dusk. Today was a rare day that they were free by this time of rather they are generally busy with the hospital duties.

He laughed as he looked at her, his wife of years as she turned he saw that desirable back that was the reason of their meeting, as well as this whole drama but now circumstances, are different, now her white saree had a trim border of gold and instead of her body being bare, there lied the sleek mangalsutra, with tiny black bindi, gold glass bangles and her sindoor filled hairs, now in there was mehandi in her toes and fingers. There was still that scar of cut in her left arm which only he could see as just above that she had a nazar raksha tied so most people could only see silver nazar raksha with a red munga on that but he can't deny that his wife was not just beautiful, she was sexy, actually beyond sexy, sometimes in moments of weakness when he looked at her while laying in bed, he felt sympathy for Kali da because he can't blame him for being attracted to this elixir, this exquisite beauty, she was not just alluring, a sexy vixen as people would say. She was the mohini scriptures talked, tall, supple and really thin yet voluminous at right places had sexy gait, beautiful long hairs that she left open and big predatory eyes and rosy lips, she was the epitome of physical beauty that a man can imagine. He said jokingly "Brij, that's the reason I don't hire any male attendant in the home because of your obsession of dressing this way because then rather than concentrating in their work they would only see you spell bounded. Brij, you actually really look like Brijbala.