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SATYAMEV JAYATE 5.8
"So Dadi, what's your Love Story?" Ranvijay asked, leading the old woman to cough suddenly, at the unexpected question, while the other members of the family giggled and sniggered, as all of them sat at the table for breakfast.
The soon to be son-in-law of the family looked around curiously, wondering if he had asked something wrong.
"What? Dadi seems so romantic. Don't you think she has a love story to tell?"
"Ranvijay, your Dadi not just has a love story, but an epic love story to tell. Right Mom?" Naina replied, grinning widely while the older woman sighed, a silly smile lingering over her lips.
"Ohh!" Ranvijay drawled, winking at the old woman, now understanding why she was so into her grandson's own love story.
"Vij, even our story is nothing when compared to Dadi's." Anjali replied, looking at her fianc and then back at her grandmother. "Right Dadi?"
"Oh you children! Stop pulling my legs, all of you. Some years later, Dadi's story won't even be remembered with another epic story in the formation." Dadi grinned, turning her gaze towards Arnav who now, nearly choked on his food, narrowing his eyes at his grandmother.
The old wise eyes didn't miss out how Khushi came running towards her grandson, offering him a glass of water silently, nor did she miss the silent play of their fingers in that one moment between them. And as quick as she had arrived, Khushi retreated back silently towards the wall and the old woman's heart ached at the sight.
"So?" Ranvijay exclaimed, his own eyes travelling to the two love birds across him and coming back to Dadi's face, trying to grab her attention lest the other family members, follow her gaze too.
"So, yes, my love story. How do I start?" Dadi exclaimed, her mind instantly wandering to those wonderful yesteryears that were now only memories and a sigh of happiness escaped.
"I was just 14." She began, only to be interrupted by Ranvijay exclaimed loudly, "Holy shit, just 14?!"
"Sssh Vij." Anjali smacked his arm, glaring at him with annoyance. "When Dadi speaks, no one interrupts her."
"Okay." Ranvijay purred, getting a tiny glimpse of his future, married to her.
However, Dadi laughed at her soon to be grandson- in- law. "My dear boy, in those days, at 14, girls already had a kid. Well, I was just much ahead of them." She sighed, transporting back to the 1940s.
"So'" she continued. "I was just 14 when I first met your grandfather and he was 22, already enlisted in the Indian army and a Major. It was three years after the independence. My parents and two brothers had already returned back to England. However, since they had lived all their lives here and had nothing back there in England, they decided to leave me back here in a boarding school, so that I could complete my education and join them after few years."
"And then, 'Pineapple man' happened and I never boarded the flight back to England." She smiled, a glow already descending upon her face at those memories.
"Pineapple man, huh?" Ranvijay smiled cheekily, but this time even others at the table had to giggle at the Raizada Matriarch.
"My, Pineapple man." Dadi blushed, even at this age, as another round of giggles passed around the table.
"I clearly remember that day. I was in the equestrian fields of the Woodstock school, riding my horse. And beyond those fields, the army had their base and Major Raphael Singh Raizada was a part of it. Was it a co-incidence or God's plan? I have no idea till today, but it started raining and my horse got agitated and wild with the sudden change of weather and hence decided to go out of control and run across the fields, outside the campus, right into the cantonment area. And then, with a loud thud, I was thrown on the dirty mud, my elbows and knees, scraped against the stones and bleeding."
"Oh! It was a wild shock for me, seeing so many unknown men hover over me, bemused at my dishevelled state. But not one of them had come to my aid to help me out. Tears were rolling down my eyes, due to embarrassment, humiliation as well as pain and all I could think was how to get up and do the walk of shame back to the school campus."
"Why wouldn't anyone help you?" Ranvijay asked sadly, interrupting her once again, as usual earning another smack from Anjali.
"Because it was post independence and Indians had grown hostile towards the English left back. They thought I was an English girl and hence didn't deserve any help. But today, I thank God for no one helping me out, because if they would have, I would have never met Raphael." Dadi exclaimed as a kind of solace settled on her.
She noticed how Arnav stealthily slipped away from the table while all eyes were focussed on her. He had pulled Khushi along with him, earning a protest from her, but they had stopped right outside the door, away from everyone's eyes as he protectively held her from behind and decided to together hear his grandmother's story. And the sight brought tears to the old woman's eyes as she saw the spirit and love of her husband alive in her grandson.
"I didn't have to get up from the ground," she continued, "because the very next second I felt two strong arms, arms that had fought wars and endured years of training, lift me up and all I could see were those caramel eyes of that face. That man, that day had saved me from embarrassment, he had lifted me up when I was down and taking me to their army hospital, he himself had cleaned the bruises on my arms and legs. And when he was done, he had dropped me in his jeep straight back to the entrance of my school."
"How romantic!" Ranvijay smiled sheepishly, his eyes twinkling worse than love struck teenagers and the old woman threw an orange at him to stop behaving so sissy.
"But he didn't speak a word to me. All that I remembered was reading his name, Raizada, on the nameplate. And I guess I had just fallen in love with a stranger."
"And being in love made me crazy, insane, foolish and stupid. I simply couldn't stop thinking about him. It was a desperate need to meet him once again, as he managed to successfully invade my studies, my sleep, even my friendship. Pauline, my best friend at school instantly noticed the changes in me and one fine day, when she cornered me about my strange behaviour, I let out on my secret."
"I even remember taking Pauline along with me and trying to go to the cantonment area, but my every attempt failed as the guards stopped us every single time. A month passed, and I was simply insane. And one fine day, my insanity made me step out in the wee hours of dark and go to the cantonment. And when I finally manage to reach there, what do I find out? That this man who has made my life insane, Major Raizada has moved to Darjeeling!"
Dadi noticed Arnav and Khushi behind the door, now lost in their own worlds, creating a love story of their own, their eyes simply refusing to leave each other. While Arnav teased her with intermittent playful kisses, Khushi played along with him and the old woman was happy to find the young girl pour out her heart to the person she loved.
"Hello! Hello! Major Raizada intercepting from Darjeeling. Over and Out!" Ranvijay interrupted her gaze, talking like an army man over the walkie-talkie, with a robotic voice and by now, Anjali gave up on chiding him, as she pulled him in a hug at his childish behaviour.
"Oh! I was distraught." Dadi continued. "I came back to my dormitory and cried for the next two days and Pauline called me foolish for thinking about that man. She tried to convince me how that man was an Indian and he would never reciprocate similar feelings to me and that I was better off trying to find an English man for myself."
"But I didn't give up. In those days, telephone wasn't a common thing and finding out a telephone number of the army camp was even more tedious job. And a telegram was meant only for few words. How could mere few words explain the torment I was facing on the inside? Instead, I resorted to writing a letter and finding out the address of the Darjeeling cantonment, I sent him a letter writing how I was grateful to him for helping me out that day and I wanted to meet him once again."
"Alas! I never received the reply. Days passed and then turned to months. But there was no response from his side. And with that, even my insanity reduced, and Pauline's words finally registered in my mind as I slowly began to give up on him."
"And then what happened?" Ranvijay asked curiously, as if he was watching some suspense drama in the theatre.
"Pauline, my dear Pauline changed my life. It was summer vacations and that vacations I decided to spend some time with her. She was an Anglo- Indian and lived here in Mussoorie and every year, the Anglo-Indians had a gathering. She took me to one of those parties and behold, who do I see? The caramel eyed man of my dreams, standing in one corner in civilian clothes and sipping a glass of whiskey. Oh! He was quiet and had an arrogant look on his face and from the looks of it, he didn't seem to socialise with anyone, standing all alone, not even bothering a smile."
"Since Pauline's uncle also worked in the army, I made her find out more information about this certain 'Raizada' and what do I get in return? That he was one angry, arrogant and vicious man, the army had ever seen and my heart just broke at the description. Could I have been wrong in my judgement that day? Then why had he taken so much care of me?"
"But I still didn't give up. I walked towards him and smiled, only to have him look at me, as if he didn't know me and my heart simply broke. I started crying silently, the tears simply refusing to stop because I was young and naive in these matters. I didn't know what else to do. Could you really blame me? I ran away from there, out of the house, anywhere I could hide my fragile heart and the next minute, I hear another set of footsteps behind me. I don't want to turn around and face the person, because my heart knew it was him. But what if it wasn't him? What if it was just Pauline who had come in search of me?"
"I stop running and I hear the footsteps too, coming to a halt. I wait for something, anything for the person behind me to react. But instead, I find a warm palm on my shoulder and I know it is him. I can feel his breath right beside my ear and he tells me that he received my letter and all I know is that my heart nearly stops beating. His fingers silently graze my elbow as if to inspect the bruises he had tended months ago and I feel a chilly wave transcend down my spine."
"And then, he tells- 'I'm sorry'. And that he will soon reply to my letter. As if that was not enough, he calls out my name '"Claire." And I think I just died there knowing that he remembers my name signed off in that letter I had sent to him, eons ago."
"But grandma, what if grandpa was remembering the Playboy bunny Claire Sinclair and not you?" Ranvijay asked mischievously, cocking his eyebrow, while Manorma interrupted him asking, "What's a playboy bunny?" and Arthur simply choked on the bread he was eating.
"Mami, a playboy bunny is a bunny who plaaaysss with Boyyyss'" Ranvijay drawled out, and Arthur and Anjali had to stop themselves from dying from laughter at Ranvijay's explanation.
"Now, I'm going to throw you out of the room." Dadi grumbled, upset that her story was being interrupted.
"Okay, Dadi. Sorry'" Ranvijay apologised like a kid, holding his ears and pressing a finger on his lips and Dadi's annoyance vanished in a jiff.
"He goes away," she resumed. "And after a week, I receive a letter from him, just as he promised and before reading anything else, my eyes travel to the last word of the letter, his name ' Raphael Singh Raizada and I know that his name is etched forever in my heart."
"So what was in that letter?" Ranvijay asked curiously.
"Nothing much. He apologised once again and asked me about my school, my studies and told me to take care of myself while riding a horse. And thus, our conversations started. I used to write him letters every week and he used to promptly reply to them. Through them, I came to know about him, his family, his life in the army and in return, I told him about my parents, my school life. I couldn't meet him face to face after that day at the party because I had exams and he was posted far away from Landour. So letters was the only way to keep alive whatever relationship it was between us."
"And then, one day I received another letter. It was from my parents and they had sent me a ticket to return back to England. And it was like a wake up call to the reality. I didn't know what to do. My parents were important to me too, but I knew if I left India, I would never return back again, but at the same time, I knew I couldn't stay away from Raphael. School would be closing for the year in another few days and I had to move out. But where would I live after school? And we hadn't even confessed that we loved each other. What if he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with me? I was in a dilemma."
"Even today when I look back, it was the toughest decision of my life because I had absolutely no clue about the consequences of my decision. At that time, Raphael was posted in Roorkee and taking Pauline's help, I went all the way to Roorkee to meet him because I knew, a letter could never justify my problems."
"It was an utter surprise for him, maybe even shock to see me at his camp. But my life was at stake and without hesitating, I had simply run towards him and flung into his arms and to my utter surprise, he had silently held me close. And without a word, he had kissed me and I knew my answer."
And Dadi paused for a moment, tears silently streaming down her eyes but instead, she found the warm hand of Ranvijay holding hers. This time, he didn't say anything, rather his silence spoke all that he had to say.
"When I told him about my predicament, he simply nodded his head. Honestly, I was confused at his response. I didn't know what lay ahead for me. But that night, he made me stay along with him in his camp and the next day, we set out to Mussoorie, to his home, this house here where his parents lived. I still remember the day when I first stepped into this house. I still remember his words that he told to his parents, holding my hand ''I want to marry this girl.' I knew when Major Raizada said something, he meant it with full conviction. And his parents were more than happy to welcome me into their lives."
"But my parents weren't. They were upset and hurt and felt betrayed. Raphael's mother, being an Englishwoman herself, tried a lot to convince my parents. But they simply refused to be convinced. So for me, it was either my parents or Raphael and I chose Raphael. Till their death, they never spoke to me, but my brothers later managed to rekindle our relationship."
"We were married at St. Mary's church and well, Pauline was my bridesmaid." Dadi smiled, remembering the day of her wedding. "Life wasn't really easy after that. Raphael was posted far away for months, while I would stay back in Mussoorie along with his parents. But every single opportunity that he would get, he would come back home to me. Living with him, I learnt a new side of him. A side of a caring, loving husband unlike the vicious, arrogant man that the army knew. And later that year, when Arthur was born, he took leave for few months just to be there for his wife and his son. When Arthur was old enough to stay with my mother-in-law, he encouraged me to join Wynberg Allen as a teacher. He always wanted me to work, be productive in life, achieve something and make a name for myself. He wanted me to be known as Claire Singh Raizada, not Mrs. Raphael Singh Raizada. And he wanted the same for Arthur , Daniel and Robert too."
"He was strict to his sons, he was strict to his juniors. It was his stern and strict nature itself that led him to being a General in the army. But at the end of the day, when he would come to the room and lie on my lap, hidden away from the outside world, only baring his heart to me, I knew he was like a Pineapple. Thorny on the outside, but sweet on the inside."
"And that's my story." She concluded, as she reached out for the heart pendant with their photos engraved that he had gifted to her on their first wedding anniversary, that still lay around her neck.
"Now that is really epic." Ranvijay sighed, giving a tight squeeze to the hand of his partner in crime, while Dadi smiled back at him warmly.
"So Mom, what's yours and Dad's story?" He turned to Naina and Arthur, while the former broke out laughing. "Ours is the shortest and simplest love story. Hai na?" Naina looked at Arthur, while he cleared his throat in embarrassment at the memories.
"Arthur saw me at a party, he asked me to dance and the next thing I know, he's asking my father's hand for my marriage." Naina laughed, holding her husband's arm.
"That was because that one dance with you left me spellbound, and then I lost my senses." Arthur laughed, while his wife kissed his cheek in a rare moment of public display of affection between them.
"But it wasn't easy to convince my parents." Naina explained looking at her mother on the far end of the table. "We were from different religions, but Dileep, my brother, knew Arthur in the army, and he convinced my father that Arthur was a nice man and he was someone who would take care of me more than himself." Naina explained. "And even Arthur had left me spell bound with that one dance."
"Oh! So where is Dileep Mama? I guess I haven't met him." Ranvijay tried to remember the man mentioned.
"It's a shame you haven't met Dileep yet." Manorma replied, remembering her husband. "He's a laugh riot and Anjali and Arnav are his favourite kids even more than his son, Akash. Isn't it, Anjali?"
"Yeah, Mama is the best person in the whole world. Whenever Dad used to scold us, we used to run to him and he would give us chocolates. But now, Mama is busy in the army and he will be arriving only a day before the wedding." Anjali explained, feeling low that her Mama, the most favourite person in her family wasn't along with her for her wedding preparations.
Suddenly, Manorma looked around the table and questioned. "Where's our Chotey? Wasn't he here for breakfast?"
Dadi immediately looked at the door and instead, found no one there. Maybe they had gone away somewhere, she concluded as she responded, "I guess, he finished his breakfast and went back to his room."
However, the wise old eyes of Dadi did miss out Manorma's eyes which wandered in search of the maid who was after his Chotey, clear ire burning through her eyes finding the girl too missing at her usual spot.
o0o
"Heard Dadi's story?" Arnav asked, as they held hands and walked through the woods just behind Khushi's house, towards their favourite brook.
"As if you allowed me." Khushi retorted back, remembering the way, Arnav was teasing her with kisses.
With one tug, he pulled her closer to him, as his hand now travelled over her shoulder, encasing her within his arm, while they continued walking. "I want even us to have an epic story to narrate to our grandchildren, when we are old." And she looked up at him, at his words, a strange pathos dwelling in her eyes, but the very next minute, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"I will have lots of stories to tell." Khushi smiled warmly, as she rested her head on his shoulder, letting a silent unnoticed tear stain his shirt as they walked together, towards the brook, creating an epic love story of their own.
"Heard Dadi's story?" Arnav asked, as they held hands and walked through the woods just behind Khushi's house, towards their favourite brook.
"As if you allowed me." Khushi retorted back, remembering the way, Arnav was teasing her with kisses.
With one tug, he pulled her closer to him, as his hand now travelled over her shoulder, encasing her within his arm, while they continued walking. "I want even us to have an epic story to narrate to our grandchildren, when we are old." And she looked up at him, at his words, a strange pathos dwelling in her eyes, but the very next minute, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
"I will have lots of stories to tell." Khushi smiled warmly, as she rested her head on his shoulder, letting a silent unnoticed tear stain his shirt as they walked together, towards the brook, creating an epic love story of their own.
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