AR sesn 2 FF -kshitij ki aur- gulmohar pg 67 - Page 20

Ragini turned in the bed , she was bit more composed now, something in his soothing voice had caught at her heart and she was thinking rationally after long time almost 6 months a voice came from her inner self; no even longer than that.

She got up and sat holding her knees together and gently placed her head on her knees and started to think

She had thought he had gone to his room, and she had no idea where that room was ,so she had gone towards her bedroom when she heard some noise from a room ,a lamp was lit on one side and its low voltage light was putting more shadows in the room, making it mysterious, on closer look she saw it was a mandir'.with radha krishan in centre , a smile had come on her lips and she had folded her hands in devotion when she saw someone was sitting in front of krishan ji's idol.

He was holding the palna and looking at idol intensely ,his face was hidden in shadows of night light but his eyes could be seen in the orange glint'.she felt pulled towards him ,she moved forward but suddenly her steps stilled and she hesitated

Never interrupt anyone who is praying; her father's wise words from yesteryear s suddenly echoed in her mind..

She realized hes was saying something, she moved forward to hear what was he saying .as it was very soft and slow but still sounded like a emotional tribute..

Was he singing a bhajan '

He was slowly reciting..

Rain bhaari hai gehra andhera..(night is at its peak and darkness is deepening)

Haath le lo haathon mein mera'.(hold my hand into your hand)

He had moved forward to hold krishanji's hand '.almost touching murli

His immense faith in bhagwaan was visible';he continued

So gaye mandiron ke pujari (the preists of temples have gone to sleep long ago)

Goonjti hai muraliya tumhari..(still your flute is echoing in all its might and power)

Aatma jhoomti hai hamari(its making my soul stir.)

Something stirred in ragini,did she sing this line below aloud.she was not sure;but anmol had not heard her,neither had he turned back to see her,so it must be in her mind

Dil khincha ja raha hai hamara'.(my heart is getting pulled towards you'..)

She heard his soft voice again'

Devta tum ho mera sahara

Maine thama hai daman tumhara..(o kanahiya you are my only savior and I have held on to you')

She stood there waiting,trying to breath slowly as she did not want to break his concentration by making any noise.

Aap sab jante hain bhagwaan anmol was saying. Today I don't ask for anything for myself ,I have enough to thank you for your kindness and I bow to your will about my destiny. Even for Ragini I ask nothing,as she has made her decision and I respect her,but I want something for my little girl;she deserves a family ..her parents need to be together,just like it was 7 years ago,Ragini in her shell ; living in a illusion and I can go back to my sofa but my girl would be happy,she will have her papa; aap jaante ho bhagwaan ,I wouldn't want this for myself but my girl needs me, Please god make Ragini think beyond her greif.

Please make Ragini understand my plight,make her understand what I had gone through'.how I have taken every breath;how I have felt that each breath i take is a karz on my soul.....I had been taking snatched breath from her love;her past .

I wish I could tell her how I wanted to die myself...but jeevan mrityu aap dete hain na..

Main yaa koi aur kya kar sakte hain'

Please make her see my little girl's heart

Ragini stood up and started pacing the room ,the anguish and pain in his voice was hitting inside her head'.she kept hearing his words'

My little girl..

She remembered how she had to stop herself from breaking down ..she re lived the moment ,how she had to press her hand to stop sobs from escaping and how she had backtracked slowly, she did not have courage to face those eyes yet'.

Anmol was finally in his room ,he kept thinking of last hour or so,why had he felt as if Ragini was there,but he had not heard anything ,yet something was telling him that she heard his soul's calling ,he turned and next he knew was he had heard the birds chirping outside and sun was spreading his glory even before making personal appearance in his life,he got up and stretched thinking is this glorious morning a sign of beautiful today..but his heart felt light,last night krishanji had given him his special blessings and his little girl would be happy again.he got ready and went downstairs suddenly with a very bright heart.his steps stilled at scene in front of him

Ragini was bending in front of krishanji idol in mandir,lighting diya and singing softly '

Thaam lo apni raadha ko bhagwan

Ruk naa jaaye kahin dil ki dhadkan (o lord krishna hold ur devotee radha'my heart may give away at any time)

She turned to pick aarti thaali when suddenly she stumbled and some one was there to catch her as always ,there in front of bhagwaan ,her savior,her sahara..

He held her softly by waist with one hand and balanced puja thaali in other one..

sambhalke.....

A lone tear escaped her eye;he carefully straightened her leaving her waist in process and gently wiped the tear away,his touch so light as if just brushing past her skin....Ragini looked at him

Yeh na kehne lage koi birhan..

Mooh chupa kar savariya ne maara..

Devta tum ho mera sahaara

these lines kept playing in her mind,while she kept looking at him..

Ab sab theek hai na ragini ..it was more a question than statement..leaving her fluttered and very confused.What did he mean to ask? is he seeking answers now....she did not realize that she was supoosed to finish aarti...

Lo aarti kar lo he said ,handing her the thaali

He bent to pick up the match to lit diya ..

And carefully lit the diya while never leaving his eyes from her face..

Uff he held his fingers.he had forgotten to blow of the match'

Kya hua jal gaya..she asked before she could stop herself

Nahi he dismissed her concern casually breaking the spell in process and said pooja shuru karo'

Suddenly kids and every one else were in small room and puja was done with lots of energy and prasaaad given to every one.

finally after lots of energy and chatter every one decided to go for a picnic to nearby falls on estate property itself,they were about half hour hiking distance away . vasu refused to go pleading headache ,inderjit looked at her for good few seconds and then just shook his head and left to change .

Vasundhra was restless,something in this house was making her soft ,i t seemed house was whispering to her asking her to let go....

everyone was ready ,Raamu kaka had already sent servants with picnic baskets .

Finally after1 and half hours they were at the site....ragini's mom and malti kept stopping for breaks .even Tammy stopped frequently,forcing anmol to give her a piggy ride in between too....and whole party stopped with them,enjoying views of deep valleys and mountains.

soothing sounds of waterfall and shallow pool at its foot were indeed paradise on earth,chirping birds bright sunshine everything was sparkling.the river then picked speed out of pool towards vallley at alarming speed about 20 feet or so away from pool...everyone had fun eating chatting drinking and playing silly games.

Ragini was enjoying herself fully when she realized Tammy was missing,she panicked looking at steep fall very worried,her query was brushed off by everyone as everyone was having fun,but she became frantic and started to look for tammy.khush pointed towards groove massi ma wahaan hogi fikar na karo and went on to show kavya her paperboard...

she went towards path lined by beautiful flowers on both sides,though flowers were dying due to upcoming cold spell but the still looked enchanting,suddenly she heard her daughter's laughter..so full of life so carefree ,how she had missed it this past few months....

she turned at the bend and met a sight which rooted her to spot

Chota sa ghar hoga badlon ki chaon mein

Aasha deewani man mein bansuri bajaye..

Hum hi hum chamkenge taron ke is gaon mein

Aankhon ki roshni har dam yeh samjhaaye..

a small house under clouds and hope will sing a flute ..we togteher would be shining like stars...your bright eyes r telling me to hope..

She moved forward and tried to catch their conversation. River was fast moving as it is in hills.....the water is always in rush to meet its destiny in far away sea.....

so in her own style nadiya was making loads of noise so both did not hear her approach

father and daughter ..what a pair she thought two people who love each other most in this world....

still unable to pick his soft voice she stared at river ,sparkling clear water rushing away ,somewhere.......stopping for a split second and kissing those slippery rocks.....taking with it all their sorrows....and dirt of their souls......she kept watching and thinking....

she looked and saw him sitting so close yet so far.....

a thought came in her mind....

ruk ruk wagda neer nadi daa.....ruk ruk gavaan geet

nadiye ni tera door samunder door asaada meet

( river flows ......constantly stopping for a moment then again flowing in all its might....

and i sing songs also same way....

o river your beloved sea is far away and so is mine.....)lines from a punjabi poem of my uncle used here and translated..

Anmol was not thinking about Ragini at that very moment .He was lsitening to Tammy and her plans about the house.

Papa wo na main yahin pe raha karoongi aap ke saath hameshaa...

arey sardi mein kaise bahut thand hogi na.....

to phir aap fireplace jala dena

muma ko bhi yehi rakhenge sab ko

isnt it better if we all stay at Agra and come here for summer holidays.. he smiled pulling her ponytail in the process

No came a serious reply from his daughter

since she had come bit more closer ragini was able to hear last part of conversation

she too got a bit more serious with frown on her already creased forehead....

kyun beta anmol turned Tammy towards him

papa Tammy had tears in her eyes

anmol was so moved ,he wiped those tears gently and asked main hoon na beta mujhe batao

kyun na aaoon main Agra apne ghar...

nahi papa Agra aao but nani ke ghar raho..wo aap se bahut pyaar karte hain ,aur nana ji bhi

hmm ..to yeh chakar hai ..aap mujh se pyaar nahi karti..he tried to make liitle girl laugh

Tammy remained serious and said no papa i say so because papa mama and badi mummy don't respect you ,they treat you so badly

badi ma sent you out of the house

i saw her throwing your things out papa

and mummy was standing there crying,she did nothing ,she did not stop

she tightly hugged anmol ,

anmol was devastated with depth of child's anguish...

the scene played in front of his eyes

he had no clue Tammy saw the hell breaking loose few months back

he could still hear vasundhra rajvansh's shreaking voice ,telling him to get out of her house

he could d still hear ragini sobbing and saying ....

yeh aap ne kya kiy aanmol

he could see shivani looking at him with triumph ,mocking him with smirk on her face.....look this is your family ...look they are diowening you .........these are the people you left your everything for look.......what you got.....dirt...look

Ragini was reliving that scene as well....

Short distance away vasundhra was walking around in mansion ,getting impressed by everything despite her best efforts,she couldn't help but notice how well maintained the estate was,how well preserved yet modern and comfy. She sighed and sat in a rocking chair and closed her eyes....

she felt a rustling of curtains,a soft fragrance of chameli reached her nose and she started to reflect on last 8 years..one more time..she woke up with a start and looked outside,shadows had shifted,it would be evening soon , did she doze off,why was she feeling so sad and restless,did some one tell her to let go for her own sake and hold on to whatever was left as life was too cruel and it could snatch everything in one second.........suddenly her eye e fell on the picture of anmol .... uski kya galti thee she thought but then she got a phone call from Missouri and she forced the softness out of her mind

ji mr khana.....

Anmol stroked Tammy's hair gently and waited till she was bit more calm

then he held her face in his hands and gently told her .....Badi maa papa ki ma hai na...aapki maa bhi to daant deti hai na to phir kya hua ,aur aap ki mama wo to dance kar rhai thee na mere saath,unse meri sachi paki dosti ho gayi hai

beta let me promise something..whatever happens papa will always be there for you ok....always always...

suddenly he looked up and saw Ragini standing there, a question in her eyes ....

as if asking him what did future hold for them......

but who had any answers.......

life is a journey ......

she turned back and left quetly ,gesturing him to bring Tammy ,

he brought Tammy back to play some more and sang two lines at everyone's insistence....

zindagi kabhi zakeen kabhi gumaan hai..

har kadam pe tera mera imtihaan hai...

imtihaan hai....

Actually dii I was waiting for you FF for such long time. The preview was awesome. So scenes are really fantastic. I hve not read the whole thing, I will read it and then comment..Thank you.