Chapter 30
Life treated Sumer well in Jaipur. He say that he loved his job would be an understatement, he revelled in it. It gave him the opportunity to travel, to visit places and to meet new people. His role was supposed to that of a supervisor to ensure that the tourists who visited got great deals will hotels and were provided with local guides who could help them and arrange for trips. But he didn't like to be stuck to a desk like his partner, Preetham, as he didn't have a wife and child to go home to. His natural charm and jovial nature endeared him to their clients who prefered it if he took care of the arrangements personally. And Sumer basked in the light of their praises after a job well done. He made a lot of friends and as for family, Preetham's mother treated him like her own. They lived in another part of the large house taking care of the maintenance of the entire house as well as pay attention to his needs. He had the rest of the house to himself like his uncle promised and did his best to keep his own promise to his cousin. He spent his free time in Sanganer among the ruins of ancient palaces and temples. There was a lot of places that Tejawat could hide and plot the ruin of the Ranavat clan starting with Rudra.
After his first month at Jaipur, he headed to a bar with Prashant to celebrate his independence as he termed it. They ordered a few drinks and settled down in a corner table. After sometime, Prashant left to attend a call and Sumer started to pay attention to the next table. He heard them talking about Ranavat and some journalist. There was some interview which was stopped from publishing because they hadn't gotten clearance from BSD. This was about the baraat massacre specifically, the role of the officer incharge. Sumer wondered why Rudra would talk to the press without the approval of his seniors. He knew his cousin tended to be reckless but he wouldn't discuss confidential matters with a random journalist. He almost married Paro because he didn't want to reveal his case to his own family. He listened carefully, they planned to kidnap the journalist and take him to Tejawat. Sumer was excited, finally some news about Tejawat. All he had to do is follow these men and Tejawat would be caught. He decided to call Rudra and update him. But the call didn't go through as he seemed to be in a place with no network coverage. He looked back at the table the men had left. "Pagal oonth, where did you disappear?" he scolded his cousin over the dead line. He then called Aman and planned to meet at Tejawat's old farm house.
Aman was elated with the news Sumer just gave him. He dreaded reading the paper every morning unsure when the interview that Rudra gave to Manish a seedy journalist, will be leaked. Both officers were hounded to provide exclusive news regarding the Baraat massacre by many reporters. They were forbidden from giving any more details to the press until Tejawat was caught. Rudra however went ahead and called Mahesh and set up the interview when he realised that the gossip surrounding the case was hurting Paro and could no longer be ignored. Rudra had told him long back, there were two categories of soldiers who enlisted in the BSD. One who follow the rules and the other who make their own rules. Unfortunately, he fell in the second category, that day when he printed a fake warrant amd recently when he tried to clean up the mess in Paro's life. When the general found out about it through his own sources, the interview was stopped from being published. And Rudra was sent Uttarkhand as the general felt that his priorities are mixed up. Still Aman knew that the journalist would be quiet only for awhile, especially if he gets threats from the likes of Tejawat. He found Sumer hiding behind a bush at the farmhouse.
"Tejawat is not here, his men are offering money if he makes some changes and publishes some interview regarding the baraat massacre. I would have gone and beat them up, but you told me to wait for you to come" Sumer informed Aman with false bravado. Aman gave him a look, how was he planning on attacking three men without any weapons on him, besides it didn't look like the journalist was in trouble. He seemed excited about the story as an envelope was handed to him. The group seemed to part amicably. Aman asked Sumer to stay back for awhile and keep an eye of Tejawat's men and went after the reporter. Sumer sat outside waiting for the men to stop whispering and just leave, he couldn't hear much and they seemed to be wary of their surroundings. He wanted to leave the mosquitoes were eating him alive. He should have known better Tejawat still had men to do his dirty work, why would he bother coming in person. The whispering ceased and he looked through the window cautiously, they opened a trapdoor near the boxes. They crawled out of the room leaving Sumer surprised, he hadn't noticed it in his previous visits. He was scared to follow just as yet, especially since he was alone with them. He wished Rudra had provided him with a firearm. His phone vibrated in his pocket, it was a message from Aman, he wanted to meet in private. Sumer smiled to himself, maybe Aman would give him a gun for his safety and asked him to come home.
Aman was waiting for Sumer to arrive impatiently and shouted at him the minute he entered, "What took you so long?" Sumer told him that he was keeping a busy keeping an eye on Tejawat's men just like Aman asked. Aman gave him a sheet of paper and asked him if any of this was true.
Major Rudra Pratap Ranavat who was recently commended on exposing the illegal arms dealings with our neighbouring country was not acting out of patriotism. He already knew the girl who was to be married and was fiercely in love with her. The massacre at the border was just an act of a madman who wanted the bride for himself.
After killing the entire wedding party, he faked her death to hide her from her loved ones. He then took her to his ancestral home and hid her there. Later he forced to marry him on exchange for her life and those of her villagers. Various attempts to free the girl from his clutches failed as the entire Ranavat family was ready to embrace her as his bride. His aunt planned a grand wedding and the bride's hesitance was marked by her absence in her own sangeet. The guests at the mehendi function have reported that her hands were burnt before the ritual and later he grabbed her away from the haldi ceremony not letting her interact with any of the guests. And on the wedding day, she was dragged to the altar and only the presence of Thakur Param Singh Tejawat saved her. Now the man has been labelled a terrorist for his efforts. And she can no longer depend on him to save her, leaving only the BSD as her only option.
It is not certain what physical, emotional and psychological cruelties she faced at the hands of the BSD officer who is sworn to protect the citizens of this nation from external and internal aggression. Such tactics show how we citizens are at the mercy of the army. It was a blatant abuse of her rights the way she has been cornered into given a statement against a man she revered as a father. One can only hope that after giving them the witness account they sought, she will allowed to live out the rest of her life in peace, though the last of her family has been taken away from her too.
Sumer was shocked, whoever came up with the information was observing their family very closely. And from the tone of the words it was obvious that they were not from a well wisher. They had painted Rudra and the rest of the Ranavats in a bad light, still it looked plausible. He remembered how his uncle defended Paro the day she was discovered in the house wearing Rudra's clothes, the day he tossed out his phone simply because he took a few pictures, he remembered the dupatta she had made go Sunheri, how she came with him to save his bhabhisa who was a sister to her. Weren't all those moments real? And what about more recently how the entire family was overjoyed with their ties being re-established. He remembered how recently he had run into his cousin sharing a private moment before everything changed and how radiant she looked in his embrace. How could anyone assume they misbehaved with her. "Do you honestly think Rudra will let anyone even touch her let alone harm her?" he asked Aman. He replied that Paro considered him her brother, so he was concerned. "And Rudra considers you his friend. You should have a little faith in him" said Sumer sternly. Aman nodded in agreement and wondered aloud what could be done. "Tell the truth. Both Parvati and Rudra were victims of bad circumstances. Yet they faced it with dignity and rose above it to expose Tejawat. How long are you planning on hiding the truth from the world and painting both of them black?" the wise words of Mohini Ranavat announced her arrival. Danveer was elated hearing her speak up for his nephew. It was about time she stopped seeing his brother and nephew as her adversories. He knew well that she and her favorite child, Sumer was part of the problem that Rudra and Paro now faced. If they hadn't interfered, Paro would have just been Rudra's witness who stayed in the haveli for security reasons. It was up to them to fix things.
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