by Isha Inamdar
Harsh hadn’t missed the gasp or the change in her expression, but he couldn’t even begin to understand her turmoil. She shook her head at Harsh and continued to look out of the window, trying to find equilibrium in the beautiful landscapes they drove past.
‘So you play for parties and events?’ asked Rudra.
‘I only play at events right now, but that’s because I have just begun. I’m still making contacts in Mumbai,’ said NJ.
The look on Rudra’s face changed a little, and he was quick to conceal it. ‘Hasn’t Harsh introduced you to his circle yet?’ he inquired casually.
NJ was about to say no when she saw Harsh give her a slight nod. Realizing that as Harsh’s girlfriend, she would certainly know Harsh’s close circle, she smiled and said, ‘Of course he has.’
Rudra had noticed her hesitation and began to wonder if Anjana was the right woman for his brother. She was beautiful, though not in a traditional way. She was short and petite and she did look like an elf standing next to Harsh’s tall frame. But there was something intriguing and charismatic about her, which he couldn’t deny. She had eyes that sparkled up. She certainly seemed mischievous and Rudra was worried about her being a fiend in disguise. Rudra imagined Anjana with horns on her head and wearing the customary black devil’s outfit. Instead of looking devilish, she looked impish and he began to laugh.
Rudra looked at Anjana in the rear-view mirror and he saw a fleeting look of confusion on her face that she quickly covered with an unfussy smile. He wondered if she’d known what he was thinking and then chastising his own idiocy, he dismissed it.
‘What?’ Rudra asked Harsh when he saw his brother staring intently at him.
‘Just wondering if you’ve damaged your brain and it’s making you laugh for no reason,’ said Harsh, smirking.
Rudra looked at his brother, full of life and glee, and vowed to never let Harsh get hurt. He began to think about Anjana and whether she could hurt or betray his brother. The scars from his relationship with Lalita had affected his entire being. No, Harsh deserved better. And he would ensure that Anjana was either better or not around Harsh.
It didn’t take too long for NJ to get lost in the panoramic sights whizzing past. The uneventful drive from Jodhpur airport to Phalodi took a little over two hours and the view throughout was enthrallingly beautiful. The dunes across the horizon, the unrelenting wind that created sand waves across the plains dotted with trees and the sun’s glare causing the desert sand to shine a golden yellow added a magnificent touch.
‘This is all so beautiful,’ she gasped when she realized she’d been quiet for quite a long time.
‘You haven’t seen anything yet!’ came Rudra’s reply.
Before NJ could ask him what he meant, an expansive lake came into view. If she didn’t know that Rajasthan didn’t have an ocean touching it, she would have mistaken the lake for the ocean. It looked calm, pleasant and serene.
‘That’s Lake Ranisar, one of the major attractions of Phalodi,’ Harsh informed her with pride.
However, NJ couldn’t tear her eyes away from the water body and listen to Harsh properly. Just as she was about to ask Harsh if they could halt for a few minutes, Rudra stopped the car outside a temple.
‘We used to come here as kids to pray and play. It’s become kind of a tradition now … on our way back from the airport, we stop here for a few minutes and enjoy the peace and nostalgia,’ Harsh told NJ.
NJ had never seen Harsh going to a temple, let alone praying, and had assumed Harsh to be agnostic. For a panicked second, she wondered if she knew Harsh well enough to pretend to be his girlfriend.
The Rameshwar Mahadev temple was an ancient construction by Lake Ranisar and had stone carvings all over the pillars and ceilings. The place was breathtakingly beautiful and drastically different from the concrete structures of Mumbai. As she entered the temple, she felt a wave of tranquillity and satisfaction hit her. The Shiv Ling was glazed under the milk falling from the kalash above. And though she herself wasn’t spiritual or a believer, she folded her hands in prayer and closed her eyes while her whizzing mind finally went silent for the first time.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself alone in the temple. She felt grateful to Harsh and Rudra for giving her this quiet moment. As she walked out of the temple, she saw Harsh sitting on a stone bench and Rudra by the lakeside, skipping stones. Every stone that he skipped across the water bounced off many times before sinking. Not wanting to miss a chance to take a closer look at the lake and try her hand at the game, she walked towards them.
‘What’s up?’ she asked as she drew close to Harsh.
Harsh just shook his head and bent down to collect more stones from the ground for Rudra.
NJ considered sitting on the bench with Harsh, but skipping stones seemed more fun and so she joined Rudra. After a few minutes of watching Rudra pelt all those stones and counting his skips, she picked up the first stone that she could lay her hand on and threw it across the lake – or at least that’s what she thought she’d done. The stone sunk without a single skip.
Just as she began to respect Rudra a little more for achieving all those skips with each stone, she heard Harsh cackle with laughter.
With hands on her hips, she turned around and asked Harsh, ‘What?’
Harsh didn’t even try controlling his guffaws. Seeing him laugh idiotically, NJ offered him the stones she had picked up and waited for him to accept the challenge.
‘Why don’t you have a go at this and I sit on the bench and laugh my ass off?’ she huffed.
Harsh motioned for her to sit next to him while trying to hold back his laughter. She could see him turning red and that made her madder. She turned around to see Rudra looking at them with an amused expression.
She was about to tell Rudra to stop being so amused when he said, ‘If there is anybody who can single-handedly beat every single country in the Stone-Skipping World Championship, it’s Harsh! Don’t you know that?’
NJ, who hadn’t even known there was a world championship for this stupid game, was now caught in a different dilemma. Not knowing if Rudra was actually catching on to their act or it was okay that she didn’t know such a detail, she decided to mutely nod and sit on the bench. She looked at Harsh who smiled reassuringly before continuing to look at Rudra skipping stones.
Rudra continued the muted stone-pelting for a while, and then suddenly turned around and began walking towards the car. Wondering if she’d caused any damage, NJ quietly walked to the car with Harsh. She could see Rudra’s stiff form ahead and felt he was tense about something. She couldn’t explain why she felt concerned about him or why she wanted to ask him what was bothering him.
No, she decided. She’d best stay away from Harsh’s brother.
Back in the car, Rudra caught her intently staring at his head. With the crackling electricity in the air, it was difficult for her to maintain semblance. As she tried to escape his gaze, the car entered a magnificent wooden gate ornamented with ivory and brass.
If NJ thought that all the surprises had been laid out already, she was wrong. As their car entered a palace-like mansion, she was awestruck by the architecture. She’d never fully understood why it annoyed Harsh when she called him ‘Your Highness’, but now she began to see the reason.
‘Are you a prince or something? Prince Harshvardhan Ranawat?’ she inquired. Realizing she would have known the answer had she really been Harsh’s girlfriend, she quickly glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Rudra’s reaction. All she saw were eyes boring into hers, trying to read what she was working so hard to hide.
Harsh chuckled at the question. He always found it amusing that even years after his great-grandfather had given up the throne and accepted the democratic governance graciously, the family was still treated like royalty by the people. His family had always been kind rulers and since Harsh’s father still did what he could for the community, people all but worshipped them.
‘Would royal bloo
d be enough for you? Or is only the crown prince good enough, mademoiselle?’ Harsh asked NJ.
‘I’ll try to live with mere royal blood – but only if you promise me royal treatment henceforth!’ chirped NJ and dissolved into a fit of giggles, only to be joined by Harsh a moment later.
In all the giggling, NJ missed the eyebrows Rudra raised at her comment. Ah, a gold-digger, he thought and sighed.
‘It’s more like a responsibility,’ Rudra offered an explanation. ‘People expect only the best from us because we are the royal family. And at every step, they hold us to the highest standard, with no room to falter. There are no second chances for us.’
‘That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?’ retorted NJ. ‘Just because you belong to a certain family, you can’t seriously be expected to not live your own lives!’
‘With great power comes great responsibility!’ said Harsh quoting Spiderman and the both of them burst out laughing again.
A Family Saga
1 November, 2010
‘Maa!’ Harsh exclaimed, rushing out of the car to hug his mother. NJ stood away, wanting to give the mother and son a private moment.
‘Good luck,’ Rudra whispered softly from behind her.
Before she could thank him, he walked away with a swaggering gait. She gathered her bearings and joined Harsh and his mother to begin a round of introductions, false smiles and a sham.
‘You did just fine,’ said Harsh, reassuring NJ of her performance.
‘It was just ten minutes!’ she said. Thankfully, Harsh’s parents had to check on the preparations for the evening and had rushed away within minutes of being introduced to her. However, even those couple of minutes had felt excruciatingly difficult to her.
‘It was a good start,’ Harsh said, shrugging his shoulders. Lying to his family was difficult, however he had no choice but to go on with the lie now. ‘By the way, Maa likes you,’ Harsh informed her.
‘And your father’s antagonism balances it out!’ smirked NJ.
Harsh swore at her jibe and punched her arm lightly before explaining, ‘Its isn’t antagonism. That’s just how Papa is.’ He then walked out, leaving NJ alone in the huge plush room. It was designed with wooden arches and carvings, and decorated with copper antiques. She felt like she’d suddenly stepped into another era. The large bed looked inviting with a net canopy hanging off the posts. She’d have never imagined such a room in her wildest dreams.
It was a life that she had never dreamt of living. Having servants to answer her most trivial needs, a chauffeur to drive her around in a high-end car and expensive clothes that would make her feel like Cinderella … But she wasn’t materialistic – though she knew she would enjoy these luxurious add-ons, she would crave to go back home and continue with her real life.
She looked out of the window and was mesmerized by the view. The window which opened to the backyard displayed the greenery that lay beyond, serene and quiet. And for once, NJ felt at peace.
‘I thought a bath would refresh me,’ said NJ defensively to Rudra’s brusque knocking on her door.
‘The guests will arrive soon, and Maa wants you downstairs before they do,’ said Rudra as he walked away.
NJ couldn’t understand why she felt the need to explain herself to him. Or why Rudra made her feel all hot and bothered. She quickly put on some kajal and checked her hair before she left the room. As she joined the welcoming party at the doorsteps, Harsh gave her an approving look and said, ‘You look stunning.’
Was that an appreciative look in Rudra’s eyes that had turned reproachful? She wondered what she had done to have earned the sudden anger she saw in his eyes. It was cruel and brutal and if she could, she would never be under the same roof with Rudra.
All Rudra could think about was the odd constricting feeling in his chest every time he looked at Anjana. He’d been annoyed when his mother had asked him to check on Anjana instead of asking Harsh. She’d just come out of the shower and her fresh fruity fragrance still lingered in his nostrils. She was his brother’s girlfriend, dammit! Didn’t he have enough women falling all over him to want her?
But as Anjana walked into the room, Rudra felt as if all the oxygen was sucked out of his lungs. Something was wrong with him. He had never felt the need to mask his emotions so acutely. And it exasperated him that this tiny woman could just walk into his life and make it tumultous. He needed to get away from this time bomb! After furtively giving Anjana a reproachful look, he told himself to get through the welcome function and then vowed he would simply walk away without a backward glance.
‘Doesn’t NJ look beautiful, Bhaiyya?’ he heard Harsh say from somewhere far away.
Right. So now he’d have to face Harsh and discuss Anjana without sounding smitten. Where had the word smitten come from? He wasn’t smitten, was he? He couldn’t be. He didn’t believe in love. He especially didn’t believe in love at first sight. It was bullshit used by weak people who couldn’t accept that they could be lustful. This was lust. Pure desire. It couldn’t be pure if it was invoked by his brother’s girlfriend, could it, he chuckled to himself.
NJ could feel someone staring at her, and an uneasy feeling told her that it was Rudra. Earlier at the airport, he had received her without any antagonism. She racked her brains trying to remember if she’d said something offensive to him. His critical looks and mean demeanour had told her that he probably didn’t approve of her.
Well, did his approval matter? She made a mental note to ask Harsh about it. If it mattered to him, she would need to work a little more towards earning Rudra Bhaiyya’s acceptance. She squirmed at the thought of calling him Bhaiyya,but that’s how it was going to be – Rudra Bhaiyya. She saw Harsh looking expectantly up at Rudra, and she realized his approval probably mattered very much. But somehow, even the prospect of getting his approval seemed like a dark cloud looming over her, a dark cloud with no silver lining.
And then suddenly, she saw Rudra smile – a smile that began from his lips and reached his eyes. A dimpled smile that lit every feature of his face and gave him a softer look. But as quickly had it come, the smile vanished.
What would make someone live such an unhappy robotic life, she wondered. How boring! She never spent any time sulking or brooding. She believed in living life to the fullest. She was known to be all-smiles, ensuring that she would leave whomever she met all-smiles too. And she lived every moment of her life in a way that she would never regret to have wasted any. She couldn’t imagine being cold from within when there was happiness, warmth and love all around.
‘Beta, please ask Rudra to check on the outside lights,’said Harsh’s mother, bringing NJ out of her reverie.
‘Sure, Aunty,’ NJ mumbled before walking towards Rudra reluctantly. She wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous walking towards him. But there was something about this man that discomposed her entirely.
‘Bhaiyya, Aunty’s asked you to—’ NJ began in a meek voice.
Before NJ could complete her sentence, Rudra interrupted her vehemently, ‘Don’t call me Bhaiyya.’
NJ looked up into Rudra’s eyes to see a mix of complex emotions – pain clouded with pride and a need for self-preservation.
‘Only my family does,’ Rudra clarified.
It did sound reasonable to NJ, but she had a distinct impression that wasn’t the real reason for his vehemence. She passed on his mother’s message and he turned on his heel and walked away. NJ was left wondering how he could manage to complicate something as simple as a passed-on message.
When the patio lights came on, NJ realized she must have been standing there too long. She went to join Harsh, smiling politely at every introduction he made.
People seemed to be flowing in. Not that the house looked over-crowded … but it overwhelmed her because there still were people that she was being introduced to for the first time. She shared a glass of wine with Harsh and a few of his friends, laughing and gossiping about all the uncles and aunties, but her eyes continued to
search Rudra.
‘NJ, come here, let me introduce you to my lovely daughter,’ NJ heard Harsh’s mother call out to her over all the hubbub. Straightening her bangles, she excused herself and walked up to the bride-to-be, her boyfriend’s sister.
‘Hi Kaavya,’ she said. ‘I have heard so much about you.’
‘And I haven’t heard anything about you at all,’ Kaavya complained. ‘I thought Harsh could never keep a secret from me! I guess he grew up while he was away.’
‘I hope I am not causing any trouble between you two!’ NJ joked.
Kaavya laughed and shook her head. ‘He was in trouble anyway for having missed Raksha Bandhan,’ she replied. ‘It’s just that he really surprised us all with the news about you two. It’s almost as if you suddenly fell in out of nowhere!’ Kaavya smiled at her own joke, not knowing that it had hit a nerve with NJ.
It’s all right – she doesn’t know anything! Just chill, NJ told herself, trying to calm her panic.
‘Ahem!’ someone cut in from behind.
‘Oh yes, NJ, this is Dhruv, my fiancé!’ Kaavya said excitedly, introducing NJ. She looked happy and excited and fulfilled, and NJ couldn’t help but get swept along by her enthusiasm.
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you,’ said Dhruv, giving her a curious look.
Suddenly, NJ realized that Kaavya and Dhruv had disturbed her on a very fundamental level. This whole situation did. She looked around, and she saw a loving family looking at her expectantly, welcoming her with open arms. And what she and Harsh were doing started feeling like a malicious betrayal.
‘NJ, we are going out tomorrow,’ Kaavya said. ‘Dhruv wants to explore Phalodi, and I want to go shopping. You must join us!’
‘Absolutely,’ agreed NJ. Anything to get away from being around Rudra, she thought.
‘I actually might also need your help!’ added Kaavya softly so that Dhruv couldn’t hear her. She began blushing and said, ‘I need to pick up a gift for Dhruv for the first night.’