Love, sex and crimes of Maya Rani,Vol-1 ( End of Innocence)

by Makusr

  We managed to reach home around 8 in the night. All the household hands were quite worried seeing the condition I was in. I could walk only with aunt Vidya’s support. Much hullabaloo was created around me. Aunt Vidya had planned about in the advance. She told everybody that, I had fallen from a rickshaw and injured myself. And, that with God’s grace, I had suffered no fractures just acute muscular pain. Everyone thanked God for that! We came to aunt Vidya’s room and I made myself comfortable in her bed. Pain was still there, but I managed somehow.

  Mother had made a call that night. But aunt Vidya didn’t want to tell her about anything. What if she came back in the night! It would be quite difficult for us, then. She wanted me to recuperate as much as I could. So my news about my ‘accident’ was concealed from her. She told aunt Vidya that the dignitaries who had descended on the city for the C.M.’s rally and the visit were going back gradually. Father’s work was still not completed. He had to oversee everything. He would be camping in the city on Monday too. We always knew that, but it was actually confirmed that day. Mother’s presence was also required there. She knew that aunt Vidya was there to look after the house. On that front she was not worried. The city life bored her, but being a loyal wife, she was always ready to do anything and everything that benefited her husband.

  I had one more to recuperate in my parent’s absence. I took complete bed-rest on that Monday too. Aunt Vidya saw to it that I received everything right there in her bedroom. She was a great help and looked after me really well. On Monday night I became quite emotional. Weeping before I said,

  “Aunt”, and just hugged her.

  “Yes Maya”, she came and sat beside me on the bed. Combing my hair with her fingers she said, ”What’s the matter dear?”

  “Aunt, I couldn’t have done anything without you!” I said as tears rolled down my eyes.

  “Why without me silly girl! Are you a stranger or an orphan?” She said raising my chin with her fingers. She placed her arms around me and said, “Aunt Vidya will always be there, whenever you need her!”

  I hugged her tightly as much as I could do as any labored movement caused pain.

  “Aunty, I’m sorry that I caused you so much inconvenience to you. I’m…” I wanted to say more but she interrupted me by placing her hand over my mouth.

  “Enough Maya! No nonsense of that sort. Not again. But you definitely are foolish”, she paused to place my head on her bosom and comforted me by moving her hand slowly on my back.

  “Maya you definitely were foolish and dear Sandeep was careless! A foolish girl and a careless boy are a dangerous mix. Both of you took no precaution!”

  I just kept looking at her.

  “But, Maya I think you are also not to be blamed. Before I could have been of any help to you I had to be away because of the unfortunate incident Maybe God had willed it like this!”

  I hugged her and pressing my face to her bosom I cried uncontrollably that night. Aunt Vidya said nothing. She left me to vent my feelings. She just kept patting my head and rubbing her fingers through my hair. I kept sobbing holding her around her waist. After some time I placed my head in her lap and lay there sobbing quietly punctuated by hiccups in between. I don’t know when the sleep took me in its lap from aunt Vidya’s. But, that night I really slept well and when I woke up the next morning, I was feeling quite light and much refreshed. The pain had nearly subsided. It came back only when I sat on my haunches, or when I put pressure on my legs. But as such it did not cause me inconvenience. Not that was visible!

  The real ruckus was created when my parents came home. They were shocked when they came to know about the incident. No, No, not the real one! The one concocted by aunt Vidya that, ‘I had fallen from the rickshaw and had hurt myself’. Mother had cried bitterly for me that day. Seeing her crying, I could also not control myself and I too cried with her hugging her tightly. When we had cried our hearts out the reprimands for me followed. That, ‘I was a careless girl, who was always so much busy seeing the things around her that she didn’t know where she was sitting or standing. That, ‘I had grown so big but my brain had not kept pace with my physical growth’. Just short of beating me she said whatever came to her mind. And, she kept weeping continuously as she reprimanded me.

  Then it was the turn of aunt Vidya to face the fire. She was also taken to task. That being an elder she should have chaperoned me responsibly. That I was a girl who had to be married off soon. Had I suffered some grievous injury, then! That, from the next time she should take extra precaution and not act like a girl herself. We had a sigh of relief because she could not sense anything wrong and believed our story completely. She believed whatever aunt Vidya told her. She believed aunt Vidya very much. She just kept rubbing me around my waist where she thought ‘injury’ was. As for my father his enquiries were confined to asking my mother everything, and to provide, if something was required. He did come to aunt Vidya’s room. More to chide than to sooth, as was his wont. All said and done, nobody got inkling about the plan. So the plan devised and executed by aunt Vidya was a complete success.

  Gradually life began taking its course and turns. All of us became so much engrossed in it that whatever had happened became just a fateful event in life to be revisited at times few and far between. As for Sandeep, he became a memory to be cherished and to be kept somewhere deep in my heart, a place where he resides to this day. He was my first, true and only love in life. Before I close the chapter on Sandeep, I’ll tell you about my feelings through the poem I had penned during this harsh phase of my life. Title of the poem is, ‘Unknowingly I will live; Knowingly I will die’.

  Don’t break my heart,

  Togetherness, that we shred

  Our memories live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Happiness, that we shared

  Our laughter live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Intimacy, that we shared,

  Our warmths live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Secrets, that we shared,

  Our mysteries live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Days, that we shared,

  Our moments live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Difficulties, that we shared,

  Our pains live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Supports, that we shared,

  Our understandings live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Longings, that we shared,

  Our feelings live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Loves, that we shared,

  They would be homeless!

  Don’t break my heart,

  Journeys, that we shared,

  Our destinations live there,

  They would be homeless!

  Break! If you want,

  Don’t tell, just lie,

  Unknowingly, I will live!

  Knowingly I will die!!

  Ch-6

  The CITY

  I told you that time is great healer. The wounds of life healed though the scars remained on my heart. The year passed and I completed my schooling. Now I was ready for the college education. My parents, more so my father wanted to pack me off in marriage to some unknown person of reputed and wealthy family. It was more to be a relationship between two families, than between two individuals. Then like any other species of my parent’s world I would be expected to be loyal to my hubby and beget sons for his family. To shut down the gates of my individuality, and be treated as someone’s wife or somebody’s mother as then I was introduced as someone’s daughter.

  Aunt Vidya used to tell
that during their grandmother’s time the families lived together as a joint family. The wives didn’t get much time to spend with their husbands. Moreover, it was considered indecent to talk with your hubby in the presence of other family members. So then how did it happen? How did they do it? Well, while the husbands were alone in the room, the mother-in-laws instructed their daughter-in-laws to serve them water, milk or anything else. The 5 or 10 minutes they got had to be properly and speedily utilized, and had to do it then and there. If you fail then wait for the next chance! What kind of enjoyment or satisfaction it would have provided is beyond my comprehension. But, then this was how the things were done.

  It was through the exhortations, rather revolt by aunt Vidya that I got the chance to pursue higher studies. Not that I was a scholar or a researcher. But the time I spent in the city for my college studies and beyond, provided the next turn and much needed impetus to my life that it lacked.

  My father did not want me to stay in the college hostel. He was of the opinion that the girls living in the hostel were prone to be corrupt. He and his opinions! But whatever the world may think, if he thought something to be bad then, you couldn’t prove that thing to be good. The sitting M.L.A., (Member of Legislative Assembly of the state) Mr. Amarjeet Yadav, was well known to him, both belonging to the same political party. The M.L.A., was promoted by the C.M., and was included in his cabinet as the Cabinet Minister. This was due to the successful rally that he had held for the C.M. He was also rewarded for his experience and the loyalty to the party and to the C.M. That rally had drawn my father and the M.L.A., quite close to each other, as the success of the rally was the outcome of the tireless and devoted efforts that my father had put in to make it a great success.

  Father wanted me to stay at his house. I was completely to stay over there. Aunt Vidya then advised me that, if I showed reluctance in staying at the place of his choice, he may even put a stop to my higher studies. So why lose a bigger over for a small matter. One should be accommodating and move with the flow of life if one intends to go far. I always listened to aunt Vidya’s advice and always adhered to it. So with great reluctance and complete dislike I agreed to stay at the M.L.A.’s place. But I didn’t know that this stay was going to chart the next phase of my life. It would give definite direction to my life and would decide what I was to become. This is how destiny works. It has its own plan and sucks you in it like a ‘black hole’.

  Amarjeet Yadav as I have told was a perfect loyalist and one of the most prominent people of the ruling party. He was an amicable person and was well known for his accommodating style. He strongly believed in the motto, ‘If you can’t make friends, at least don’t make enemies’. He had friends across all sections of the society and across all parties. Moreover, father trusted him blindly and was of the opinion that as long as I lived in the house I would be quite safe. How much his belief and trust was vindicated we will come to know later! Amarjeet Yadav was in his mid fifties which was considered a young age for a politician. Moreover, age does not matter if you are rich and powerful. It afflicts only those who are on the wrong side of destiny. He was of medium built, had a paunch and receding hairline. He was your idea of quintessential politician and fitted well into the politician’s mould. He had three children. Two daughters and a son, daughters had been married and lived with their spouses. They had been married into political families. The son was also married and lived with his father in the same house, with his small family .His small family included a wife and a five year old son, that’s all. He was Amarpreet, the man who shaped the next phase of my destiny.

  He was the President of the youth wing of the ruling party, the party to which my father belonged to and the party in whose Government his father was a Cabinet Minister. Unlike his father he was rash and aggressive. He was more feared than loved by the people. He loved to carry arms and more to flaunt it in the public. The other thing which he loved to flaunt in public was his personality. He was in his early thirties, of medium built, loved to keep long hair and always wore chic white shirt and trousers in the public. He looked well groomed and very smart. He loved to travel in an open jeep with his motley group of youth wing members, all basking in his glory and all loyal to him until they could find a new messiah. He was well versed in the art and craft of electoral politics. He knew that electoral politics is not just about contesting elections, it’s about winning it. And, to achieve his goal of winning elections he could go to any extent, and commit any act. Everything was expendable for the goal. Of the other traits of his character I didn’t know much then. But in due course of time I would learn more of that. Till then I was content to know that like other men, he too was not avert to relationships with females, rather looked forward to it. That was the piece of information provided by my very dear aunt Vidya, who was herself, briefed by who else but Ranjit! Somehow living there I got a premonition that this was the place where my destiny would be shaped. This was also going to be the place which would catapult me to stratospheric realms. However, till that happened, let’s be content to know what exactly was happening on the mother earth.

  The Minister’s (henceforth I’ll call M.L.A., by his new and promoted designation, that is Minister) family lived in a large house. It would be more appropriate to call it as a mansion. It was a three storey house. On the ground floor there were two offices. One was the Minister’s camp office and the other one was his son’s. Further there were two guest rooms, for the reputed guests of course. Then adjacent to it, but separated from it was a big hall, more like a dormitory. It was meant for the common folks who visited the Minister for something or the other. During my stay in that house, I found out that it was always full. A large canteen was located just outside the mansion, for the convenience of the visitors. The entrance to the upper storey was through the stairs adjacent to the guest rooms. Thus there were two entrances. One for the big hall which was open to the public. The other one was for the guest rooms, offices and the upper storey. Entry at the second gate was restricted. It was meant only for the family members, friends and acquaintances, or for the esteemed guests. Then as you went up the flight of stairs, a room was located at the mezzanine floor. It was a well appointed room meant for relatives or very close friends. It was the room which was offered to me and remained my dwelling space in the next phase of my life. Five steps above this floor was the first floor. On this floor lived Amarpreet with his wife, Seema and five year old son, Rohan. It had two bedrooms and one big living room apart from a large conference room. It was in this conference room apart from the offices below, that the political activities of the ruling party and its youth wing were devised, executed, monitored and controlled. It was akin to war room. A modular kitchen added to the beauty of the set up. As you move up the stairs, you come to the second floor. It was used by the Minister himself. He was a widower. A simple bed room and a large study were there. In the study he entertained close friends and very close political affiliates. A small kitchen completed the set up. Gopal, an old servant who had been with the family for the last thirty years (as I was told) kept his company there. He knew what his master wanted and two could communicate without speaking a single word. So perfect was his understanding of his master’s needs. He always accompanied him, whenever the Minister had to go on political or personal trips. He lived in a one room ‘barsati’ built on the roof. The mansion had a lift too. It was always kept locked. The lock had two sets of keys. One remained with Gopal and the other one remained with Seema, the wife of Amarpreet. Thus only the Minister or the person whom the family knew had access to it.

  Access however to the house was quite difficult. It had a 24 hr., government and private security which was monitored and controlled by Amarpreet himself through his trusted lieutenants. Being the Minister of the state Cabinet Police security was provided to the members of his family. Apart from that, private security too was arranged by Amarpreet. So much for the house and the security. Let’s move to the other people living in the mansion. Amarpr
eet’s wife Seema and his five year old son Rohan.

  She was a typical ‘small town belle turned modern’ type of woman. Though she happened to be a graduate, yet her knowledge or the lack of it, left much food for thought about the condition of the education system. What an excellent education system! It educates but keeps its pupil blissfully ignorant. Her greatest asset was her assent. She gave her assent to whatever her husband did or asked her to do. Whether she liked it or not, it didn’t matter. But she was a real beauty, though! And, had a hearty laugh too. Her companionship was a treat. One thing I have skipped though. She was a compulsive talker. She could go on and on, ad nauseam. Topic or audience didn’t matter to her. She didn’t venture out of the house much, and the house was also bereft of females whom she could talk to. Husband was out for most of the time. Talking to the father-in-law could only be on specific topics. Moreover, he too was busy in his work and remained in the state capital most of the time. That left her to talk with the lady who came to do the house-hold work. Or else watch the soaps endlessly on the T.V. Thus to her I was a welcome break. She was an amicable lady, clear in her conscience. I also loved to talk with her, being in new place. She was a gifted cook and taught me many dishes to cook. Her desserts! Mm… I remember to this day and I can vouch for their taste. Rohan was a delight to live with. Though we felt much pestered by his childhood pranks, yet he was a welcome relief with his innocence and comical activities. He was a replica of the cartoon character, Dennis the menace. Apart from the T.V., he was the other thing which kept Seema occupied for most of the time.