Akdha OS - The soothing sound of rain

"... and that is why the peacock feather is the symbol of Lord Krishna."

"Wah, Jodha Begum, what a beautiful story. It is so soothing to listen to you." Jalal has placed his head in Jodha's lap. They sat on his bed and she leaned on the headboard. Jodha smiled and lovingly massaged his head. She let his wavy full hair slip through her fingers.

"Relax shahenshah. You've had a hard day."

"Your voice and the sound of the rain is so soothing." They both fell silent in agreement, listening silently to the monsoon rain pouring down on Agra. The cool wet fell on the floor of the terrace, bringing coolness to the hot night. Haze rose from the warm sandstone, turning the light from the torches and braziers into a diffuse flicker. The flames hissed in the rain.

"Jodha begum, I love listening to you. You give me peace in these stormy days. You are the only one who touches my innermost and who loves me for myself. Thank you for being with me."

"Shhh shahenshah!" Jodha lightly put her hand over his mouth. "Stop praising me!" she blushed.

Jalal reached for her hand and brought it to his lips.

"You deserve it." His fingers caressed her hand and held it tightly in his. "The rain is finally bringing some cooling.The land can breathe a sigh of relief."

"You are right. People are suffering a lot from the heat. Do you know what they say in Rajputana about Lord Krishna and the rain?"

"Another story?"

"Ji. Do you want to hear it?"

"Gladly, as I said, I like to listen to you!" he smiled.

"Fine, then listen. On a hill in Varshana stands the Mayur Kutir. It is the place where Radha and Lord Krishna danced aspeacocks."

"They danced as peacocks? How so?" asked Jalal curious. Jodha smiled.

"Patience, Shahenshah!" she replied and began to narrate further.

"During the monsoon season, Radha and Lord Krishna were sitting in the Mayur Kutir. They watched as the imposing monsoon clouds gathered. It was an impressive natural spectacle. Grey mountains of clouds in their various shades of grey from light to inky black piled up in the sky and formed ever new formations. The wind drove them apart and together again. Soft thunder rumbled in the distance. Suddenly they were surrounded by hundreds of peacocks who, with their exotic plumage in full splendour, began to dance in ecstatic mood, seeing the united beauty of the divine lovers sitting together.Radha liked the dance of the birds very much and expressed this to LordKrishna.

Lord Krishna had an idea and transformed himself into a peacock. The cloud mountains opened their floodgates and rain began to fall.The thunder came closer and closer. Lord Krishna began to dance like a peacock to please his beloved Radha." Jalal smiled.

"When the lovers of life set out to dance, the earth shakes and the sky trembles." He said thoughtfully.

"Shahenshah, it seems you have become a poet. From a ruthless warrior to a poet." she teased him.

"Stop mocking me! Why can't a warrior be a poet too? Especially when he is with his beautiful wife?" he pouted.

"We was just teasing you. We like it when you show that side of yourselves." Gently, she ruffled his hair. "Now let us continue the story." He laughed softly and she continued.

"His dance was beautiful. Radha watched himenthusiastically and clapped gleefully. After his dance, he transformed back into Lord Krishna. He looked at her and spoke to his beloved.

"Radha, you look as beautiful as the full moon."

Radha felt insulted because she thought herself more beautiful than the full moon and did not want to be compared to it. She thought that even the full moon had a few flaws in it, but she had none. She went away angrily and climbed a hill to Maan Kutir. Lord Krishna was sad when Radha left him. He continued to stay on the hill.

The next day Lord Krishna thought "By now Radha's anger will have subsided. Let me go and meet her." He walked towards Maan Kutir and knocked on the door. One of Radha's sakhis opened the door. She asked, "Why have you come? Radha is still angry with you."

"Please inform Radha that I have come to meet her."Lord Krishna replied.

The sakhi went in and came back after a few minutes to say, "I am sorry, but Radha is still angry and does not want to meet you."

When Lord Krishna heard this, he walked away dejected. She did not want to speak to him and she did not want to see him! Lord Krishna desperately desired Radha's loving gaze."

"Jodha begum?" Jalal interrupted Jodha. "Do you remember when you pushed me away?" he asked mischievously.

"Shahenshah! Stop it! Those were very different times!" she retorted sheepishly.

"Are you going to deny it?"

"No, but ..."

"We longed for you so much. But you were not ready" he said softly. "You weren't ready to admit your feelings for us. But in the end, we did come together." He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek tenderly. He gave her a loving look. "But we not forgetting the shamsheer on our neck!" He grinned mischievously at her.

Shahenshah!" She blushed. He just laughed.

"Khair! Let us leave that. Go on!" She gave him a sharp look and snorted. He just smirked.

"You are impossible! So go on... Lord Krishna went back to Mayur Kutir to contemplate his next move. A few days passed. Every morning he went to the Maan Kutir in a different disguise, only to be sent away again by one of her sakhis. A few more days passed. He saw Radhas sakhir Lalitha gathering all the peacocks near the hill.

Lord Krishna asked Lalitha, "Why are you gathering all these peacocks?"

Lalitha replied, "Radha likes the peacocks very much.She feels lonely and bored. She wants to entertain herself by watching the peacocks dance. I will take them to the hill where she resides."

Lord Krishna continued to watch. He saw the peacocks dancing on the opposite hill where Radha resided. Radha watched them dance happily and clapped her hands in delight. She was enthralled and completely engrossed inthe dance of the peacocks. As Lord Krishna watched this, an idea came to him.

"Let me hide all the peacocks tomorrow" he said to himself.

The next day, Lalitha came again to gather the peacocks. She was amazed that Varshana, who boasted of so many peacocks, did not have a single one that day.

Lord Krishna met Lalitha and told her that he would dress up as a peacock himself and go to Radha to please his beloved. Lalitha was delighted, agreed immediately and went back to Radha.

Radha had been sitting in front of Maan Kutir for a long time waiting. In the meantime, thick grey clouds had formed and it had started raining. She noticed that there were no peacocks that day. She wondered where all the peacocks had gone. What had happened to them today? While she was lost in these thoughts, she heard Lalitha arrive.

"Lalitha, where have all the peacocks gone today?" Lalitha smiled

"Today I managed to catch only one peacock. Though I could catch only one, I can assure you that he is the most beautiful peacock of all. Let us go to Mayur Kutir."

With these words, they set off and climbed the hill. Lalitha showed her Lord Krishna who was dressed as a beautiful peacock. Lord Krishna opened his plumage in the rain and danced more enchantingly than any peacock Radha had ever seen. The raindrops beaded off his feathers and made the blue and green colours shimmer even more. Radha clapped and cheered as she watched the peacock dance. When the dance was over, the peacock came and stood beside Radha. Slowly and gently, the peacock rubbed its beak against Radha's legs and nudged against her dress. Radha was surprised. She began to wonder why the peacock was tugging at her dress in this way.

"Lalitha, why is the peacock tugging at my dress like this?"

Lalitha was amused at Radha's innocence and thought to herself, "The Lord of the three worlds is at her feet and she asks me who it is!"

"The peacock is none other than your beloved Kanha!"

At that moment Radha realised that the peacock was none other than her beloved Lord Krishna. She also realised that it was her Kanha who had been visiting her house every morning in a different disguise. Her anger melted immediately! Lord Krishna transformed her into a peahen and they danced together on the top of the hill. They imitated the wonderful dance movements of peacocks in the rain." With these words, Jodha finished the story. Jalal looked at her.

"What a beautiful story. You are a gifted storyteller. Does this story have a background? Normally all the stories you tell, had a background."

"Accha, Lord Krishna's and Radha's dance portrays the beautiful dance performed by the peacocks in monsoon season. It depicts the love between Lord Krishna and Radha. While dancing together, peacocks and peahens occasionally cast glances at the passing clouds over the sky. It says that this sight stirred Radha's desire to dance with her beloved Kanha. To please her, Lord Krishna had turned himself into a peacock and Radha into a peahen. They had then danced together at Mayur Kutir. The folks now perform this dance during monsoon season to celebrate the greenery brought by the rain."

"Subhanallah! You keep surprising me.“ He paused. „Do you hear? It's still raining. Hear the sound of the rain. Every raindrop blends with the others and all together has its own soothing melody."

"You are right! It's really soothing listening to the falling rain. Let us go to the terrace and watch the rain. It's cooler there too."

They both got up and walked towards the exit to the terrace. Jalal had his arm around her shoulders and in one accord they watched the rain. A light breeze drifted the haze rising from the warm stones around in front of them, lending a magical mood to the scene. Jodha gently freed herself from Jalal's arm and suddenly ran into the rain! She spread her arms and lifted her face towards the sky. Slowly she began to turn. She felt the drops on her face, on her arms, on her upwards turned palms. She began to spin faster, a blissful laugh on her face. Her long black hair was soaked with the rain and flew around her body as she spun around herself. Jalal was mesmerised by the sight of her! He stood still and watched his beautiful wife enjoy her dance in the rain.

"Shahenshah! Come and join us!" She had turned to him and was holding out her arms. "It is awesome to feel the rain on the skin!" she shouted out.

"Umm, we should also...?"

"Come, it's wonderful." She began to turn again.He stood indecisively at the exit and finally stepped behind her. He reached for her outstretched arms and pulled her to him. He put his arms around her and they stood in the rain enjoying the coolness. They disengaged from each other and grasped each other's hands. Their eyes locked in each other. Deeper and deeper! Desire spread through Jalal. Slowly he pulled Jodha to him.

"Let us go back inside, Jodha begum" said Jalal with hoarse voice.

"Just a moment more shahenshah." Snug in his arms, she lifted her face to the rain once more.

"Let us go inside now!" said Jalal softly, looking deep into her eyes. After they changed their soaked clothes and had dried their hair, Jalal lay on his bed. Jodha sat beside him. He reached for her hand and their fingers intertwined.

"This was great, shahenshah!" she said softly. He looked at her lovingly.

"My heart is burning with love. All I can see is this flame. My heart is burning with passion, like waves on an ocean. I'm at home, wherever I am. And in the room of lovers, I can see with closed eyes the beauty that dances. Behind the veils, intoxicated with love, I too dance the rhythm of this moving world."

"Shahenshah!" she breathed and blushed. Their gazes sank into each other.

"Hum aapse mohahabbat karte, Jodha begum. Please stay the night with me!"

Res 😳 I'll read ASAP!