Prithvi removes the hordes of floral garlands, silk shawls and necklaces gracing him and places them on the gilded stool ...he lets out a heavy sigh.
Turning around, he catches sight of the partially lit window at the far end of his large room ... he notices the figure moving to and fro gracefully on the grand swing, completely oblivious of her surroundings and singing to herself sweetly. He smiles to himself pleasantly.....
............
"arghhhhhh"
Sanyogita screams and jumps around violently in the swing .... he shuts her mouth quickly
Prithvi "shhhhhh! What happened? .....oh..... Did you just realise you married a ghost?"
Sanyogita, frustrated; removes his hand "How dare you Prithvi...I am not talking to you..."
Prithvi laughs to himself dramatically "arre wah - Sanyogita? .... and not talking? .... Wow! ....had I known this before... I would have played this trick on you everytime I wanted some peace and quiet ....."
Sanyogita angrily gets down from the swing "huh... fine....just see if you can get me to talk for today...."
Prithvi "arre... where are you going?"
She walks to the window and leans on the sill staring out at the moon. Prithvi nods his head and smirks to himself. He majestically, walks to her and stands behind her. She pretends not to acknowledge his presence behind her.
He places his hands on her shoulders slowly and whispers into her ears "arre jangli billi, how do you think the Maharaj of Ajmer would survive if he didn't hear his Maharani's bak bak everyday?"
He detects a slight hint of smile on her lips. A lock of her hair dancing in tune to the gentle breeze flies over her eyes, but she continues staring outside the window unperturbed.
Prithvi leans over to move the lock of hair from her eyes and turns her around softly. Sanyogita continues staring stubbornly at the ground refusing to meet him eye to eye. Smitten by her glowing aura reflected by the moonlight; he takes her hand in his, lifts her chin delicately - and looks into her eyes.
He gently removes the maang tikka from her hair...
Sanyogita "arre! Ye tum kyaa kar.. "
Prithvi "shhhhh....."
He brings out a new dazzling tikka studded with diamonds and places it onto her forehead... she forgets her resolute and breaks out into a blush... he cradles her head gently and kisses her on the forehead… taken aback by his show of affection she remains speechless briefly.
In a bleak attempt to hide her excitement, she slips away and tries to start making some irrelevant conversation. She suddenly feels a strong grip on her wrist.
Prithvi "Planning to slip away without giving me my wedding gift?"
She turns around and faces him abashed "Prithvi… I didn't think that…."
He intertwines his fingers in her fingers firmly and comes closer to her "Didn't think what?"
She moves back slowly mumbling excuses while he constantly advances towards her
Sanyogita "Everything happened suddenly… I was very nervous about the Swayamwar and after I rode off with you I came here… Everything here is new... I... I...the wedding was already planned by …."
He smiles and nods his head "tch tch all excuses... All excuses… I always do all the hard work and you enjoy sitting back and watching don't you?"
She suddenly feels her back touch the wall … Prithvi continues advancing towards her…the breeze makes the muslin blind from the window land in between them
Sanyogita "Are you going to make me cry now?"
Looking at her forlorn expression through the muslin, he melts. He smiles softly and gently feels the profile of her face through the muslin "No… all I was hoping you would tell me was that I have already got the biggest gift of my life today..."
After a brief second, she distracts him by laughing loudly "Prithvi since when did you become so romantic….hmmm. I would have never imagined even in my dreams that the same Surya I met in the yatra would one day be telling me all these lines…"
She moves Prithvi, pushes away the curtain from her face and walks towards the swing
Prithvi looks at her walk away, nods his head and says to himself "jangli billi"
She starts swinging briskly and continues her monologue nonchalantly "after all who can resist the charms of Sanyogita… you were very proud of yourself then, weren't you? Ha! Maharaj of Ajmer…Ajmer, by the way Prithvi did you just realize how beautiful the streets of Ajmer were looking tonight? Ranima…"
Prithvi yawns loudly "ok Sanyogita, I am too tired now. Since you seem to have something to keep you busy, I am going to sleep. We will talk tomorrow…"
He crosses the room to proceed to his bed, consciously not looking at her direction. He climbs the steps to his silk embellished petal-strewn bed. He pulls the covers over his head forcefully and faces the other way around.
She breaks out into a low laugh. She picks up a rose from the swing and tiptoes up to him; briefly pausing to admire his handsome form. Just as she is about to tickle his ear, he grabs her and pulls her on the bed, rolls over, pins her down and starts tickling her
Prithvi "You attack a king when he is asleep? Now see how I take revenge..."
She starts laughing uncontrollably
Prithvi "now tell me who is greater..... Whose charms are more irresistible?"
She begs and pleads him to stop as she rolls about on the bed "Prithvi please this is not fair...please "
Prithvi "I need to know whose charms are more irresistible"
Sanyogita "mine mine....."
He tightens his grip and tickles her even more violently "whose"
Sanyogita "Ok... ok... ok your charms are....."
Prithvi "Whose?"
Sanyogita "Prithvi you are hurting me now ... ok ok i give up... Maharaj of Ajmer is the most powerful ... He has the greatest charms"
He stops and loosens his grip... as he opens his arms her broken bangles fall off the bed. He looks at a small gash on her wrists and his smile wears off. "Sanyogita... I.... I..."
She brushes him off by taking out a small pouch from her waist, opens it and slides a large ring on to prithvi's ring finger. "This is my wedding gift to you. This is the ring that the maharajas of kannauj gift to their son-in-laws..... but I know my father would never give this royal symbol to you. So i stole it even before the swayamwar...."
Prithvi is silenced for a long pause. Not knowing what to say or do, he is overcome by thoughts and expressions that sway from being apologetic to those of affection to those of love. In a crescendo of emotions, he just gives her a silent tight hug and sanyogita hugs him back just as a tear rolls off her eye.
After a while, he loosens himself; brushes off the pieces of glass from her wrist, nurses the wound and then kisses her softly on the gash "Is it all right now?"
She shyly smiles and nods her head.
They gaze into each other's eyes for quite a few moments, till he moves his fingers from her wrist slowly over her hand, her arm and then her shoulder. Sanyogita shirks with the tingle she feels. He tucks her long hair behind her ears and removes the exquisite earring adorning her ears and hair. Sanyogita closes her eyes with nervousness when she hears his warm breath and feels the soft skin of his face near hers.
He kisses her gently on the forehead, and then her eyes and as he comes closer to her lips he pauses for a moment to look at her. She immediately closes her face with her hands and he laughs to himself reflecting on her reaction. He removes her hand softly and kisses her on the lips.
As his hand is curled in her hair, she feels his finger's touch on her back and her pulse starts racing. He places his other hand on her waist and lifts her chin. She feels a strong tingle in response to his firm grip on her waist and his warm skin and breath on her bare neck.
Unable to bear the sequence any longer, she opens her eyes, nudges him and moves away. She clutches on to her dupatta tightly and unable to meet eyes with him she softly mutters ... "Prithvi I am feeling very scared..."
His expression changes to one of affection. He sits up next to her, using the majestic bedhead as his prop and tells her softly "my jangli billi who defied 1001 kingdoms to marry the person she loves.... is scared?"
He looks at her and notices her hands having a slight tremor. He takes her hands in his "I always want you to feel stronger with me and look to me as support, just as i did to you when my father passed away and during the war. I will never do anything to you to make you feel uncomfortable... let alone feel scared! "
She looks at him slowly, "I... I... I... am not scared... I am..."
He gives out his characteristic teaser smile and then tells her in a comforting tone "Ok... Looks like you are very tired.... let me put you to sleep......"
He holds her face gently "It is a new place and you might feel scared as it is your first night here.... I will make sure you have gone to sleep and then i will go to sleep...ok?"
Sanyogita touched by his comforting mannger, gets up and crawls into his lap. He grins sweetly, takes the silk sheets and tucks her comfortably.
He caresses her forehead tenderly, staring at her beautiful face all the while till she falls asleep.
He then lifts her head and places it on the pillow next to his. He slips into his pillow right next to her, smiling coyly at his sleeping bride and takes her hand in his. He blows off the lamp and closes his eyes, all the while feeling an overwhelming sense of bliss...
as i think this only happen it nice to see it
