......A little long one but needed to explain...so bear with it please
The familiar voice left her aghast…..She couldn’t move a bone……She felt the ground slip under her feet…..was somebody playing a trick on her? Was she hallucinating? She decided that she was wasting her time trying to analyse….She did not bother to turn and decided to run away from there…she started towards the mansion…..again the same…. chakkkkooorrr…..This time she stopped and turned. What she saw, shook her up. Dumbfounded she stood glued to the spot…..She staggered when Raghav started walking towards her……He came close to her and whispered….. Chakor……She kept staring at that face…..She was goggle eyed……then two sturdy hands shook her out of her stupor and he said…..Chakor please say something…pleaseeee…...I am your Raghav….She finally found her voice and said …It is impossible…I have seen them bury my Raghav with my own eyes and she burst out crying …….and kept muttering…..you cannot be Raghav…it cannot be…...who are you? She fell down on her knees…
Raghav sat down near her and hugged her tightly and said…..pleaseee stop crying…I cannot see you in this state….already I have tormented you enough but I had no other option....I will tell you everything…..believe me…..I am your Raghav….
The warmth in the hug, the sturdy hands, the love brimming in the voice…all seemed familiar…...She looked up in those eyes…the tenderness in them made her shudder…..unknowingly she raised her hands to touch the face, the stubble and again hugged him tight and tears started rolling…she wept incessantly…….he let her cry…She was shaking…not having yet come to terms with the truth……..he tried to calm her…...then when the cries turned to sobs, he said look at me……pleaseee…..he stroked her face…..pushed those strands to see the moon like face well, moved his finger along her lips and kissed her forehead……Oh God how I have missed you my dear Chakor all these days…..That was it……She seemed to have suddenly come to her senses…..she was fuming and started hitting him with her fists……Why did you do this? Why didn’t you tell me before? Why didn’t you meet me earlier? Do you know I was a living corpse all these days? You don’t love me at all……He just hushed her by keeping his finger on her lips….sssshhhhh said he……I will tell you everything…please give me a chance to explain…….She said…..I don’t want to listen to anything…..Infact I think I am wasting my time sitting here with you…..bye…don’t ever try to meet me ever again….He pulled her hand….. Chakor if you leave now, without giving me a chance to explain, I will surely die……She turned swiftly and kept her hand on his mouth……dare not say like this……Then pleaseee wait and hear me out….he pleaded….
He took her to the lakeside so that they could talk without getting disturbed as the villagers were queuing up to watch Mr. John and the chhaoni go from Azadganj.
Raghav cupped her face and said…..Chakor do you remember when we had met here…..She nodded…how can I ever forget that tranquil evening!
Raghav smiled…he said…..That day, oblivious to us, Mr. John had sighted us together and had gone back fuming to his office…..He thought I was part of your group already…..He asked one of his guards to keep a watch on me…..But fortunately for me, my father had helped that guard Bhanwar Singh and his family when they were in terrible crisis years back…….He was indebted to my father….So at the first opportunity he came and told him everything……. ……
They both devised a plan of which obviously I was not told anything…..My father asked him to continue giving information to Mr. John but only as much washarmless….. and then my father started keeping a watch on me…..that’s how he knew everything……He asked BhanwarSingh to be very alert …….one mistake and it could have severe repercussions…….
Chakor was listening to him with her mouth wide open. She was speechless….
He continued……But that day after I had come to meet you late in the night… …when I came back from lucknow…….I chanced upon Bhanwar Singh and my father when I returned back to the mansion…I knew that he was a guard with Mr.John…So I was curious as to what he was doing in our house and I insisted that they tell me everything……..Very reluctantly my father told me the entire story……..
Chakor interrupted him and asked ……then why didn’t you tell me the next day…He traced the outline of her face lovingly and said, dear remember the security was beefed up everywhere…… ……one slip and the plan which we had come up with would go down the drain…….She looked at him quizzically and asked…what plan?
Raghav smiled and continued…… ……..When I heard the entire story from my father, I came up with a plan for the 13th… ….I told Bhanwar Singh that he had to ensure that Mr. John was kept satisfied by regularly giving him titbits of information on both of us..… Bhanwar Singh was supposed to become a confidant of Mr. John……He was to make Mr. John believe that you and me, both were upto something and that’s why we were keeping a low profile, not meeting each other, acting normal etc.etc…The plan was falling in place.
Now Chakor could visualise Raghav’s plan….She said….so you deliberatelylead Mr. John to us the last time we met…and you are the one who blasted his office on 12th night…he grinned and said…yes……but I am indebted to Bhanwar Singh without whom all this would not have been possible..He is the hero of the story….but the bullet said chakor…Ah the bullet he exclaimed…My father arranged for a cap gun which was cleverly replaced with the original by Bhanwar…. …
Bhanwar Singh had told us about how incontrollable Mr. John was when he became angry …and we were supposed to take full advantage of that…..if you remember he was the one who was instigating Mr. John by butting in between and asking you to keep quiet and not to disrespect his officer…Oh ok…I now get it said chakor… we had hoped that the scene would play out as it did….…But the blood….He again smiled and said….You remember your street plays, right……How do you show blood on the revolutionary acting to be tortured or shot dead by the British????? …We too tried something like that…Ofcourse it was Bhanwar Singh’s duty to create a ruckus once the bullet was fired……...And thats why he pushed you quickly and made two guards hold you so that you wouldn’t come near me and the artificial colour would not come on to your clothes …. …My father was initially not ready for this at all…what if something went wrong somewere……..but I was firm and prepared to take the risk…that’s what I learnt from the love of my life said he…….. ……She smiled and rested her head on his chest. Then in a thoughtful mood she said what if something would have happened to you and she shivered thinking about that night……he embraced her and said…….Anything for the country , right dear?
And do you realise…….This risk has resulted in Mr. John’s transfer and the Chhaoni being removed …isn’t that a sweet reward!!!!
She said we could have up with some other simple plan…..he said yes…..but chances of the plan’s success would not have been so great in a small village like ours as in this case…why asked chakor…..because after I was dead and after you are arrested Mr. John would relax….…by the way Bhanwar was to ensure that your arrest would happen…Mr. John would trust him fully by then… Bhanwar would have had poisoned his ears against us substantially and cleverly……
I am very very sorry my dear for putting you through all this ….
My father then arranged for the puja so that Mr. John sees everybody there especially the core committee members and doesn’t feel something amiss…..and I get a chance to do my work without hindrance……
I was going to come immediately today morning for you, but Bhanwar told us about the transfer and your release…so I decided to surprise you….
She punched him saying…you think you surprised me…you scared me Sir…
He gave a hearty laugh…..
She then asked……and by the way how did you come out of the grave? He said only Vikrant was told about the plan…..so that he helps me come out once all had left……the others still don’t know about this…
And where were you staying all these days…not easy to hide in our small village…Raghav said in the cellar in our mansion…it is well stocked…..right from the time Vikrant removed me form the grave I have been locked in that cellar and I resurfaced only yesterday night to teach Mr.John a lesson……anyways he was so confident that I was dead that he never bothered to keep a vigil for me, right?
And then in an aggrieved tone he said….in all this I have had to do two things that I will always regret……she said I know……one keeping me in the dark about the plan and second putting me behind bars…….She then held his face and said…..for everything to seem real and genuine this was needed Raghav…please don’t feel bad about it….and didn’t you just say anything for the country and she smiled….he again hugged her lovingly and said thank-you so much dear for understanding everything……I am indeed lucky to have you.
But how did you bomb his office??? she asked....he grinned and said that was easy as Bhanwar had ensured that alongwith him the other guard who stays there was the one who had buried me......The moment they saw me, Bhanwar had just to utter GH...GH...GHOSTTTTTT and that fellow was running for his life.....I then could bomb the office very easily
She was laughing holding her sides, imaging the scene. She looked at him and said……I am very proud of you Raghav….I love you with all my heart…..I love you too chakor…….God how I have stayed all these days, in that cellar, thinking how broken you must be …I had instructed Vikrant to meet you every day and if anything seemed amiss to let me know immediately…Also Bhanwar was to make sure that you wouldn’t be troubled….. ……there was not a moment lost without thinking about you dear……she couldn’t hold back and raised her head to him and gently brushed his lips……he was pleasantly taken aback…she felt very shy…..seeing that crimson face he couldn’t control himself. He lifted her chin and kissed her parted lips. Their mouths clung nibbling delicately at the soft interior flesh…She responded whole-heartedly…Her heart fluttered inside her chest….the gentle kiss gave way to a passionate one with both not getting enough of each other……she moaned with pleasure…..it drove him crazy…..he kissed her neck, her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks before claiming her lips once again…She was in the seventh heaven......As the kiss deepened it sent wild tremors along their nerves. Both couldn't pull away from each other..Raghav could feel the beating of her heart against his chest...finally when they came to their senses…Raghav asked….are you ok? I am very sorry….I don’t know what overcame me…was it because of the pain of parting or the joy of meeting they wondered….she was quiet…he lowered his voice and asked …was I too rough?…Is it hurting??… …I have never felt so good said she looking into his eyes ……His eyes twinkled and the handsome face broke into a grin…I love you he whispered with ardor…..
Suddenly Chakor let out a shriek…Ragggghavvvv….he jumped, looked around and said whatttt…..she said….. O my goodness, I just realised that since your father was a part of all this it means he knows about us…..Her eyes had grown wide with the realisation!
Edited by 77nikita - 6 years ago