17. CELEBRATIONS

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(Highlighting: Tisha, first wife of Nihar and Jannat, second wife of Nihar.)

Jannat was doing walk in garden. She was smiling to herself and talking to her baby with her hand on her stomach. "Aapko pata aapke pita shri kitne takatwar hain. Aapko bhi unhike jaise banna bade hokar. Wo aapse bohot prem karte hain. Saara din aaphi ka intezaar karte rehte hai. Bass ab aap bohot intezaar na karana. Hum sab aapki rah badi besabri se dekh rhe hai." She sat down on bench smiling and caressing her stomach. Tisha came there to pluck some flowers to decorate aarti ki thaali for Nihar's welcome. She noticed Jannat and frowned but ignored her.

Jannat saw her. "Didi" called Jannat. "Hnn?" asked Tisha least interested. "Humara na meethe meethe aam (mango) khane ka bada mann ho rha hai. Matlab hamare bache ka" said Jannat closing her eyes and licking her lips. "To kya kare?" asked Tisha pissed off. "Karna kya hai. Laake dijie na. Hamare bache ko." said Jannat making Tisha loose all her control. "Kis khushi mein hnn? Tumhara bacha. Aur hum kyo laake de aam. Hume kuch lena dena nahi hai na tumse. Na hi tumahre iss bache se. Jo marzi khao, karo. Par hum tumahra koi kaam nahi karenge. Tumhari ya tumhare iss bache iss sewa ke lie nahi hai hum. Mahamanyu Rajya ki Sunbai hai. Hum kisiki baat kyo maane. Aam khane hai. Meethe meeth." shouted Tisha furiously. She took the flowers and left in anger cursing Jannat in mind.

Meanwhile with Supriya

A maid came in her room. "Rajmata ki jai ho." said maid bowing. Supriya gestured her to speak. "Maharaj Siddharth ne apna ek dhoot (messenger) beja hai. Aur wo aapka aur Rajmata Surbhi aur Rajmata Smita ka darbaar mein intezaar kar raha hai." said maid. "Hamare Siddharth ka dhoot?" asked Supriya excitedly. "Ji Rajmata." answered maid. Supriya asked her to leave and went in darbaar. Surbhi and Smita also came. The three settled on their seats and messenger came in front of them.

"Rajmata Supriya, Rajmata Surbhi aur Rajmata Smita ki jai ho." said messenger bowing his head and joining his hands. "To btao kya sandesh beja hai hamare Siddharth ne?" asked Supriya in an ordering tone. "Rajmata bohot hi shubh sandesh beja hai Maharaj ne. Hamari sena ne badi asani (with great ease) Mahamay Rajya par chadai karke uske Raja ko bandi (arrested) bana lia hai. Aur Sawargiye Maharaj Shaheer Pratap ki ichha anusaar Mahamay Rajya ko Mahamanyu Rajya ka hissa banane ka nirnay lia hai." announced messenger. All mothers had a huge smile on their face.

"Maharaj ki antim ichha pooran ho gayi. Suna aap dono ne?" asked Supriya getting emotional. "Ji didi." said Surbhi with a smile and tears. Supriya gave gold coins to messenger for this auspicious news. Messenger left after bowing his head in front of them. "Ye to dohri (double) khushi ka awsar hai. Ek to swargiye Maharaj ki ichha pooran hui hai. Aur doosra hamare putra apna pehla yudha jo unhone apne pitashri ki chhtra chhaya mein nahi lada wo jeet gaye hai. Aaj to Rajya mein jashan hoga. Saare Rajya mein deepmaala ki jae. Nacho gaoo. Aur aaj raat ko badi dawat hogi. Saari praja ke lie. Pure kile (castle) ko sajaya jae. Dhyaan rahe rajya ka koi kona andhere mein na ho. Aaj koi bhi prajawasi bhookha nahi rehna chahie. Gareebo mein vastra daan kie jae." ordered Supriya to the servants and maids. "Jo aagya Rajmata." said servants.

"Rajmata Surbhi. Rajmata Smita. Sunabaio se kahie ki apne apne pati ke sawaagat mein koi kami na rahe. Hamare chaaro vijayi putro ka sawaagat achhe se hona chahie. Hume koi nautanki nahi chahie." said Supriya. "Aap chinta na kare didi aesa hi hoga." said Surbhi. "Rajmata Smita aap Sunbai Anushka ko bolde iss khushi ke mauke mein hume kuch bhi galat nahi chahie. To achha rahega agar apna muhh band rakhe to." ordered Supriya. "Ji didi." said Smita gritting her teeth.

Supriya called her sunbais in her room. They all came with smiles on their faces. "Aapne hame bulaya mata shri. Kuch kaam tha kya?" asked Vaishnavi. "Nahin aap sabko yaha gappe ladane ke lie bulaya hai." said Supriya taunting coldly. Vaishnavi looked down quietly while others were controlling their laugh except Avneet. Supriya glared them and all stood straight. "Ab ho gia? To hum baat kar sakte hai? Dekho aaj hum bohot khush hai to aap sab hume gussa na dilae to bohot achha rahega. Aap sabne yudh mein hamari jeet hui hai, ye khabar to sun hi li hogi." asked Supriya. "Ji maa." answered Avneet on everyone's behalf. "To hum aap sab ko batade ki hume hamare beto ke sawaagat mein koi kami nahi chahie. Aur ladna jhagdna to bilkul bhi matt. Aap logo (people) ne tayy (decide) kar lia hai ki aarti kon karega? Hum nahi chahte aaj koi tamasha ho." said Supriya. "Ji maa. Maharaj Siddharth ki aarti aaj Sunbai Kajal karengi." said Avneet with a aweet smile.

Kajal looked down blushing while others gritted their teeth. Supriya nodded. "Hmm. Aur Abhishek?" asked Supriya but got no answer. "Satyanaash ho tum sabka. Itni si zimmedari nahi samajti ho. Kitna samjana padega tum logo ko. Ek kaam to kar lia karo." scolded Supriya. All five were looking down. "Theek hai to aaj aarti Sunbai Mahi karenge. Kyoki kuch logo ko ladne aur kuch logo ko gappe ladane ke ilawa koi kaam hi nahi hai." said Supriya taunting all Abhishek's wives except Mahi. Mahi got extremely happy. "Jaie jaake sawagat ki tyaari kijie. Nikammi (useless) khinki." ordered Supriya.

At night. Everyone in kingdom was extremely happy with the news. All were waiting eagerly for them to return. As soon as they enteted, all people started cheering for them. "Swargiye Maharaj Shaheer Pratap ki" "jai" "Maharaj Siddharth ki" "jai" "Yuvraj Abhishek ki" "jai" "Rajkumar Nihar ki" "jai" "Rajkumar Ridham ki" "jai". They entered the castle and their wives were standing with their respective thalis. They did their aarti with huge smile on their faces.

All four took blessings of mothers touching their feet. "Chalie ab sab chalke bhagwaan ka aashirwaad lete hai." said Supriya. Siddharth nodded. They all moved towards castle's temple.

They took blessings

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They took blessings. All were standing with closed eyes and joined hands. Avneet suddenly felt uneasy. She felt like vomiting. Vaishnavi was standing beside her so she noticed her condition. "Avneet" shouted Vaishnavi worriedly catching everyone's attention. Vaishnavi rubbed her back. Avneet couldn't control and ran from there and vomited outiside the temple. She got tears in her eyes. Vaishnavi ran behind her and rubbed her back follwed by Siddharth. "Lajja nahi aati. Mandir mein ye sab karte. Wo bhi itne shubh din par. Tumhara pata nahi, hume lajja aa rahi hai tumhe apni sunbai kehte hue." shouted Supriya. "Maa bass kijie. Haalat to dekh lijie uski. Aur kis baat par daant rahi hai aap usse? Tabiyat theek nahi hai to uski kya galti?" shouted back Siddharth making everyone flinch. He ignored them and picked Avneet in his arms and hurriedly took her in his room.

Other wives of Sid were filling Supriya's ears. "Hame to lagta hai jaan bhooj kar maa bete mein jhagda karwane ke lie kia. Warna Maharaj Siddharth to kabhi mata shri se aese baat nahi karte." said one of them. Vaishnavi was extremely worried for Avneet. Tears were rolling down her eyes. Abhishek noticed and squeezed her shoulder. "Chintit matt ho. Kuch nahi hoga Avneet ko." consoled Abhishek. Vaishnavi nodded wiping her tears. Abhishek ordered a servant to call vaidya immediately.

Meanwhile with Siddharth

He rushed to his room and carefully made her lie on bed and rubbed her hands. He kissed her forhead. His eyes were showing a lot of worriedness for her. Vaidya came and examined her. Siddharth was really tensed. Abhishek kept a hand on his shoulder. "Kuch nahi hoga usse." said Abhishek. Siddharth nodded. Vaisya came out with a big smile. "Maharaj Siddharth aap pita banne wale hai. Maharani Avneet garabvati hai." announced vaidya cheerfully. Siddharth got tears in his eyes and hugged Abhishek tightly. He touched Vaishnavi's foot and went inside.

Everyone was still in temple and they got the news making rest of Siddharth's wives burn in rage. And Supriya's happiness knew no bounds as soon as she heard the news. She thanked God and went toward Siddharth's room. Anushka was smiling widely. Smita noticed and gritted her teeth.

The night passed with a lot happiness except for some people. Next morning all were at dining table. All sunabais were standing except Avneet and Jannat. All were having breakfast when suddenly Ridham spoke. "Siddharth bhayia aapse ek awashyak baat karni thi." said Ridham. "Bolo" said Siddharth. "Bhayia hum poochne chahte ki kya Anushka ham sabke saath shastra chalane ka abhyaas kar sakti hai.

End of Chapter.

Words- 1475 words

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