THE BEGINNING
The first rays of dawn filtered through the curtains. Raghav pulled the quilt over his head to duck the light and snatch a few moments more. His sleep was something which he never liked to compromise. But the shouts of “Inquilab Zindabad” soon started filling the air. The entire atmosphere reverberated with it. Pressing the cushion on his ears wasn’t helping either. So finally, muttering to himself, he just threw his sheets, rubbed his eyes and yawning went to the window. He saw a group of young boys and girls, in their twenties in crisp white clothes with posters of Mahatma Gandhi, flags in the hand shouting the slogan. It certainly was chilly at this time in November but there was no stopping them. A young girl of around 22 was leading the troupe. Infact he had seen them pretty often in recent times especially the bubbly, feisty, enthusiastic girl, Chakor who would normally lead the group. He knew most of the faces which were marching around the village square because in a village as small as his, everybody almost knew everybody.
The year was 1919 and this was a few months after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The entire country was seething with anger. Rabindranath Tagore had returned his knighthood as a mark of protest. Almost everybody was trying to do something to help the cause of India’s freedom struggle. Except of course Raghav. He firmly believed that sitting in the small village of Azadganj and protesting against the British was not going to help the cause in any way. He thought it best to leave everything to the leaders in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta.
He just stood at the window, cringing his face and wondering what was wrong with these guys. He glimpsed his best friend Vikrant in the group. Just at that moment Vikrant too looked up and signalled him to come. Raghav made a weird face and was about to mutter something when Chakor also happened to turn that way. He immediately tried to cover up by smiling, but was only granted an irritated look in return.
The group went ahead and before he could dwell further on a set of eyes he had just seen, his mother’s call disturbed his reverie. He freshened up and went down to join his family for breakfast consisting of his father, Mr. Kamalnarayan Rajvanshi, who was the zamindar of Azadganj and his mother Tejaswini Rajvanshi who doted on him. He was very fortunate to have them as his adoptive parents.They had lost their only biological son Suraj in an unfortunate incident of which they never spoke about. For them, Raghav was their only heir, their only son and their whole world.
Ofcourse the mansion had their set of old devoted servants too. Girja Mausi who had taken care of Raghav when he was small and who doted on him equally likeTejaswini was one of them. All the servants loved their master, his wife and the son very much.
The Rajvanshi family was respected by all in the village. Mr. Kamalnarayan looked after the people like his own. Raghav had also taken these traits from his father and was ready to lend a helping hand to all but this business of “INQUILAB ZINDABAND” was beyond his understanding. Not that he approved of the BRITISH RAAJ in India but he thought that there were better people to deal with it.
When he did question his father about the morning happenings, his father neither opposed nor defended any of it. So he left it at that. Mr. Kamalnarayan got ready to meet the new British officer, Mr. John who was in-charge of the village and had set up a small camp (Chhaoni in hindi ) outside the town on the road to Lucknow. When Raghav questioned his father as to why he bowed before the British, his father explained that it was not bowing but that he was trying to keep the village safe from their wrath as long as possible, especially now that people had started their own small protests in Azadganj too. He said that he wanted to assure the officer Mr. John that these people did not mean anything big. Mentally Mr. Kamalnarayan also decided to have a word with the young girls and boys especially Chakor who seemed to be their leader.
Raghav felt a little uneasy about his father going and meeting Mr. John. So he decided to accompany him. Mr. John, a tall man with golden hair, blue eyes, arched eyebrows and a deep voice welcomed them and said in his typical accent…. Aaiye aaiye, Kamalnarayan Saaheb…aapkaaa hum swaaagat karate hain….hum aapke baaremein bahut kuch sune hain…Khushi hui aapse milke…
Raghavand Kamalnarayan took a seat. Mr. John said…..yeh khoobsurat naujawan aapka beta hain na? Pataa hain sab hame…..Par yeh kya kamalnarayan saheb….aapke gaaon mein suna hain roz naare baazi chal rahi hain……jab tak hum yahan hain, yeh sab nahi chalega….
Kamalnarayan assured Mr. John that it was young blood which was trying to prove its worth and loyalty towards the motherland but basically it was a peaceful village and that he would not face any problem. Mr. Kamalnarayan also assured that he would try to speak with them. Somehow he managed to convince Mr. John.
They then took his leave. Mr. John called his deputy and asked to arrange for somebody who would keep an eye on Chakor. Kamalnarayan then asked Raghav to take him to Chakor’s house. He wanted to have a word with her. Raghav immediately remembered those eyes and his heart fluttered a little.
Edited by 77nikita - 6 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
