Hi people!!! I know...not long since I finished the baarish OS...and here i am back with a new one...hehehheh...i hope you all like it...this one has long updates...i promise...
okay...some thing u need to know...i thought about it after seeing that pic of Ajab in shawl and Pratap standing in front of her in the TB article...so it is based on that...rest explaination in the story...
Enjoy reading... :)
Part-1
Ajabdeh's marriage had been cancelled with Toranmal, courtesy Kunwar Pratap Singh. But then, whatever happens, happens for the best, because this Toranmal, who Ajabdeh was being married to on Marwar's maharani Uma Devi's wishes, only so that Pratap could marry Phool, this Toranmal was a complete coward and liar, whose family was indebted and bankrupt. And and and, Pratap Singh was a man of principles. He won't take anything that belongs to anybody else, nor would give away anything that belongs to him. He loved Ajabdeh and she loved him, they belonged with each other, and no one could take them away from each other.
But, Ajabdeh wasn't as true to her heart as Pratap. What mattered to her more was that by fulfilling her heart's desire, by marrying Pratap, she would hurt her friend, Phool. So, she was constantly trying to avoid him, and now that her rishta with Toranmal was broken, and everyone had sided with PrAja marriage (all except one), she believed that she would have to do something to get away from all this. Though her heart wanted to stay, it wanted that deep deep desire to be fulfilled, but she had made up her mind. She was ready to take any amount of pain to see a smile on Phool's face. Thus, she decided to run away from the palace, away from everyone, so that in her absence, Pratap would have to marry Phool. So, she started planning. She remembered the last time when she had tried to run away from the crowded palace, by climbing down her window in broad daylight, she had ended up in the place her mind wanted her to be far from. She had ended up in Pratap's arms. And how the breeze had made the moment more intimate by sending her pink dupatta from the balcony flying and covering both of them. Those eyes, that moment, that meeting after such a long time, those memories, that closeness, that warmth in his arms, every detail of the moment just flooded back in her head. She couldn't help but smile, it was so beautiful. But her mind brought her out of this dreamland by reminding her of her real plans.
It was dusk. Everyone was in the dining hall, everyone but
Ajabdeh. The dasis were serving food. Everyone was relishing the delicious
fragrance of the food, made by Rani Hansa bai herself to celebrate the news of
Pratap & Ajabdeh's wedding. All but one. Pratap wasn't lost in the
mouth-watering smell of the utterly delicious food in front of him, his eyes
were too busy searching for someone else's presence. That someone, who wasn't
present in the dining hall. Ajabdeh.
"Errm...Hansa massiji, Ajabdeh kahan hai?" asked Pratap. Hansa bai smiled and
replied, "Ajabdeh? Na jaane kyu nahi aayi ab tak. Ham abhi unhe bulvate hain"
and she turned to send a dasi for summoning Ajabdeh, but Pratap interrupted,
"Rehne dijiye. Ham swayam jaakar le aate hain unhe" and Pratap joined his hands
to thank anndevta and swiftly left
the dining hall in the blink of an eye.
"Arre Pratap! Apna bhojan to kar lijiye!" Jaiwantha bai called behind him, but
Pratap had already left. To resolve the frown on her face, Rana Udai Singh
consoled her by saying, "Ghabraiye mat Jaiwantha bai ji, Kunwar Pratap Ajabdeh
ke bina bhojan karte hi nahi hain. Pehle bhi, jab ham Bijolia aaye the, Kunwar
Pratap ne poora din kuch nahi khaya kyuki Ajabdeh ne apna vrat nahi toda tha.
Aap chinta mat kijiye, bhojan kar lijiye. Jab Ajabdeh aayengi, ve bhojan kar
lenge." Jaiwantha bai gave a smile at knowing this and started her meal with
everyone else.
Pratap was heading towards Ajabdeh's room. But he didn't
know why, his heart wanted him to go down in the gardens, under the moonlight.
His instincts told him that it was the right place to be at, at that hour.
Confused between what to do and what not to do, Pratap decided to follow his
instincts, which had never failed him. He stopped short on the way to Ajabdeh's
room, and instead headed outside, to the open gardens of the Bijolia palace.
The scene outside was an example of sober and elegant beauty. The lush green
gardens, bathing in the silvery moonlight, under a blanket of the dark sky and
twinkling stars, with the flowers asleep, giving off a tiny glimmer at their
edges, the beautiful scene reminded Pratap of Ajabdeh. Pratap's mind rewinded
and took him back to that morning, that first morning in this very palace, when
he had encountered Ajabdeh. Her sudden appearance, that awkward silence, her
asking for kshama on every small
thing, their same questions with same answers arising in their minds at the
same time as they together asked in a chorus, Ek baat poochen?' He smiled. He
was brought out of his dreamland by a disturbance in the surroundings. He
quickly turned in the direction of the sound.
Slowly and carefully, taking steps while making the least possible
noise, he advanced forward. The noise stopped. Everything went still. Pratap
relaxed his poised form. After a short while, the sound was heard again. This
time again, Pratap got ready to face anything that came. But this time, instead
of moving forward, he decided to hide and plan, and let the source of the
disturbance believe that no one was there so that it showed itself, without any
fear of getting caught. He waited in hiding. No sound was heard for a while. All
of a sudden, it again rang in Pratap's ears, but this time, it wasn't slow and
carefully, it was frantic. Before it slipped out of Pratap's hands, Pratap decided
to come out of hiding, straight into its path. He acted accordingly. He jumped
in the path out of nowhere and collided with something, rather someone. Unable
to think who it might be at this time, he quickly turned to find out. And in
front of him was standing nobody else but his own Ajabdeh. Wrapped in a grey
blanket, which had slipped off her head during the sudden collision, her face
showed clear signs of fear and shock. Pratap, he was both surprised and
shocked. Mesmerized by her beauty, and perplexed at her presence. In the dark
surroundings and the black blanket, Ajabdeh's sweet and scared face was
emitting a soft glow, making her look even more beautiful and intriguing. The
moonlight was giving this angelic look to her face and even in such a shocked
state, her elegance was visible. But her presence at this time was making
Pratap more suspicious. He tried to figure out, and his mind was too quick to
provide him with explanations of Ajabdeh's presence in that form, at this
place, at this time. But, he decided to have some fun.
"Aap! Yahan! Is samay! Vo bhi is kale kambal ke saath! Kahi jaana chahti hain
aap?" said Pratap in a teasy voice.
"K...k...kya? Bhala ham kyu kahi jaayenge? Vo bhi is samay!" fumbled Ajabdeh, very
scared of Pratap's questions. He had caught her, yet again, red handed.
"Achcha." Pratap replied in the Oh really' tone. "To phir, ye kambal, ye
samaan...hame to aisa pratit ho raha hai ki aap mahal se chup-chap bhaagne ke
prayaas kar rahi thi." answered Pratap, as if he knew everything.
"Errr...nahi! Bhala ham apne hi mahal se kyu bhaagenge?" retorted Ajabdeh,
trying to win the argument. But she was well aware that Pratap wouldn't let her
get away that easily. But surprisingly, in a surprising way, he did.
"Ajabdeh, hame laga tha ki ab tak to, aap samajh hi chuki hongi" said Pratap,
taking a few steps away from her, his back facing her, speaking very casually.
"Samajh chuke honge? Kya samajh chuke honge ham?" asked Ajabdeh, the
suspiciousness growing in her voice at Pratap's sudden flip in the
conversation.
"Yahi, ki hamse door jaane ka aap kitna bhi prayaas kar le, kintu niyati aapko
hamse door hone nahi degi." said Pratap, acting intelligent.
"Door nahi hone degi? Ye kya keh rahe hain aap?" questioned Ajabdeh,
consciously confused, but subconsciously aware of Pratap's meaning.
"Ab dekhiye..." started Pratap, and turned to face her. As he continued, he
advanced towards her, "...jab ham pehli baar Bijolia aaye the, tab aapne apne
parivarik karanon ke hote hue hame mahal se bhej diya tha. Kintu yaad kijiye,
kuch hi der me, niyati ne hame, aaphi ke bulave par, isi mahal me, aap hi ke
samne khada kar diya tha. Phir, jab Chittor se sandesha aane par, hame yahan se
jaana pada, tab bhi, aapki hatt ke uprandh bhi, niyati ne aapko hamare saath
Chittor bhi bhej diya. Phir, Chittor me kitna kuch ho gaya, Mewar-Marwar ke
beech yudh ho gaya, aur dekhiye, niyati ne hame, phir ek baar, aaphi ke mahal
me lakar khada kar diya. Aur usi samay, jab aap is mahal se door, hamse door
jaane ka prayaas kar rahi thi, tab...aap bhali bhanti jaanti hain kya hua tha.
Aur aaj dekhiye, phir ek baar aap is mahal se door, hamse door, apni khushiyon
se door jaane ka prayaas kar rahi thi, kintu niyati...niyati ne hame phir ek
baar, aapke bhaagne se pehle hi, hame aapke maarg me khada kar diya. Ab iska
arth kya hai...ye to aapko ab tak samajh hi jaana chahiye tha. Kintu, aap
samajhna hi nahi chahti, to ham bhi kya kare..." explained Pratap in very
chilled-out tone. By the last sentence, he had again turned away from Ajabdeh.
Ajabdeh fretted at hearing this. Her mind was fumbling for explanations. After
all niyati was the one who was keeping them away (atleast, she thought so).
Perhaps, he is wrong' said her mind but as it rewatched the flashbacks of all
those moments, she realized that, apparently, he wasn't.
At receiving no reply from her, Pratap turned back to look at her, a hint of
mischief in his eyes. Seeing her confused, at a loss of words, he smiled.
"Ab aap...mahal me chalengi ya...saari raat hamare saath yahin kaatne ki mansha hai
aapki?" said Pratap with the smartest look on his face. We was looking at her
with an eyebrow raised, digging eyes, pretending to be the smart one.
"Er...er...Ji..!" exclaimed Ajabdeh in utter confusion at the last few words. But
the look on Pratap's face cleared all the misconceptions.
"Chaliye..." she said, in a put-off tone and followed Pratap inside the castle.
This is it for this part...I hope i will post the second and final part soon...but really...my exams have almost started so it is difficult...plus i am working on multiple stories at the same time...any ways...do drop in your likes and comments...tell me ur favourte bits and disliked bits...any anxiety any prediction...plz feel free to share...no formalities...will eagerly wait... :)
Part 1- Pg1
Part 2- Pg5
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