Janki torpidly adjusted the pleats of her saree. It had gotten crumpled during her nap. Apart from the terrible exhaustion and aches triggered by the journey, she was also battling drowsiness because of an utter lack of sleep for days. She hadn't slept soundly after receiving Uday's first phone call in decades.
She would have liked to doze until dinner, but it wasn't right to let Nandini sit by herself on her first day in an unfamiliar town.
While walking to the mirror to tie her hair neatly, she looked hatefully at the letter on the bed. Uday had left it in this room, explaining that he had no dishonourable goals in forcing her to bring Nandini to this house. His nephew or a nephew's son or a young relative named Prithvi - who was Nandini's friend - was supposedly a little downcast because of certain events in his life, and Uday wanted Nandini to speak to the boy and cheer him up.
He had patronisingly assured her that Nandini wouldn't learn that the entire plan was his ruse to bring her to this town, and he would "adjust" the story to protect her standing in front of the Bharadwaj family.
She had come close to collapsing with relief at first. But then as she re-read it to confirm that she had understood his words correctly, the contents of the letter had enraged as well as stunned her. He had blackmailed her and nearly driven her to suicide for these ridiculously sentimental intentions?
And Nandini was a good friend of a male belonging to Uday's family?
Janki's mind reeled at the knowledge. She couldn't imagine the two diametrically opposite families having anything in common.
Virtuous innocence, light and goodness on one side... ruthless cunning, darkness and cruelty on the other ...
Gritting her teeth, Janki rearranged the locks of grey on her head, and then walked to the door of her room. She pulled its bronzed handle and entered the living room, looking around for Nandini. Her eyes froze when they reached the main door.
Nandini was stepping into the living room, and Uday was right behind her.
Putting on a show of gladness at seeing the wrinkled ************, she smiled and asked, "Uday, when did you arrive?"
"Just minutes ago," Uday smiled. "And it was a wonderful surprise to meet Nandini in the yard."
"You know each other?" Janki asked in astonishment, efficiently continuing the charade.
"Yes, through a mutual contact," Uday nodded. "I'm sure you remember my nephew - Aditya. His son, Prithvi, was a neighbour and tenant of Nandini's family for a while. I met Nandini during one of my visits to that town. Prithvi and Nandini attended the same college too. They became good friends during the course of his stay in Shamli," he commented nonchalantly.
"This is a beautiful coincidence," Janki said with an aloof smile. "I'd love to hear more about it, but we're exhausted after the long journey, Uday. Can we talk tomorrow? Nandini and I will be leaving after breakfast. So it would be best if you can meet us early in the morning. "
Uday wanted to put his foot down. He couldn't face Prithvi without having anything positive to report, but if he didn't concede to Janki's request, he would come across as being uncivilized to Nandini.
Subtly coercing the hag to give him a few minutes to speak to the girl would be right up his alley. And if he hadn't met Prithvi outside, he would have gone ahead and done it. But as usual, something about that boy made him feel ashamed of his absolute lack of morals and ethics, and urged him to be a better, more cultured, version of himself. And Nandini's gentle and good-natured aura only compounded his guilt at the sly games he was playing.
And so he buried his irritation, and graciously said, "Certainly. Both of you need to rest. I'll return tomorrow morning."
He inclined his head, smiled warmly at Nandini and then left.
Nandini looked at Janki as the elderly woman walked to the sofa.
The exchange she had heard had been friendly and courteous. But there was an air of malicious contentment on the elderly woman's face that was unsettling...
"He told me he was your friend," Nandini ventured nervously.
Pushing a cushion aside to rest her back against the sofa, Janki grudgingly accepted, "He is. But it is inadvisable to entertain him after dark. I'm not comfortable with the thought of you meeting him even in broad daylight. You see, he has a certain reputation. But it is quite typical actually. The family he belongs to... it is too rich. Too powerful. The most impoverished and ordinary men believe they have the right to exploit and ravage. Put a little money and influence into their hands and they believe they are invincible. But the worst of the lot are those like Uday. Men who have egotism, cruelty and power in their genes."
************************
Prithvi restively paced along the outside of the walls. Scarcely minutes had passed since he had seen her but it already felt like a year.
He hoped Uday would have better luck convincing her about the ludicrously amazing set of coincidences that had led her to this house.
Janki was a friend who just happened to have told him that she had chosen Nandini for a temporary position and they were heading to one of her houses in a town that was very close to this one.
Yeah...right...
No intelligent woman would willingly be associated with Uday Singh even as a friend. The old man had unquestionably orchestrated the plan from start to finish, and blackmailed his 'friend' into doing his bidding. And considering the old man's infamy, it wasn't difficult to deduce the nature of threats that must have been used.
"I knew you wouldn't have left."
Prithvi spun at the wry comment and countered Uday's amused face. "You can't have convinced her so soon," he stated perceptively.
"Janki interfered," Uday said, shamefaced.
"And you couldn't handle your former mistress?" Prithvi asked irritably.
"How did you know?" Uday asked, astounded. "I mean - she was - not exactly, but...yes, in a way...but not...oh let's forget those stories," he mumbled, "Janki asked me to return tomorrow to talk to Nandini. I didn't want to kick up a row in front of your girl, so I conceded. Janki intends to leave tomorrow morning along with Nandini, and before that, we must - "
"Tomorrow? They're leaving tomorrow?" Prithvi asked, aghast.
"That is her plan," Uday confirmed, and then comfortingly added, "But you don't worry about it! I'll make sure that - Prithvi, wait! Where are you going?"
*******************************
"They grow up believing they are Gods," Janki laughed humourlessly. "They think they are destined to reign over everyone who crosses their paths. Some of them will believe they are doing you a favour even when they're destroying you," she said cynically, and carefully added, "Nandini, take my advice. Stay away from Uday Singh and - and the men in his family. They will bring you nothing but trouble and heartache. "
"I'll close the door," Nandini mumbled, turning to the house's entrance to hide the gush of tears in her eyes. But then she stilled with a sharp intake of breath.
Janki gaped at the young male who was coolly striding into the living room. Her mind went blank for a moment.
Gorgeous face, tall and fair, a well-built body. A prototype of the hero in the juvenile love stories she had written as a teenager. But there was much more to him. A potent, larger-than-life quality that was very interesting. And his piercing black eyes had showed a scintillating change of emotions when they moved from her to Nandini. When that gaze was on her, it had held mild condescension alongside an overall indifference. Then he had looked at Nandini, and all of a sudden, those eyes were aflame...
"I need to talk to you," Prithvi said briefly, gazing at Nandini.
The authoritarian tone confirmed Janki's suspicions. No more introductions were necessary.
Absolutely flustered and mortified, Nandini turned to her. "He's - this is Prithvi... he was our neighbour and tenant in Shamli. Mr Uday Singh's relative," she babbled fearfully.
Janki stood up and offered a perfunctory nod in acknowledgment. Then in a sturdy voice, she said, "Nice to meet you, Prithvi. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait till tomorrow morning to talk to Nandini."
Prithvi looked at her uninterestedly. "I'm not asking for your permission."
Janki adjusted her glasses. "Nandni, should I call the police? I don't care who he is. If he - "
"No, you don't have to - he's not - he's a friend," Nandini said quickly, wishing she could have lied. The brief, disloyal feelings of confusion and forgiveness had evaporated. She must have imagined the unhappiness in his eyes, because his typical arrogance and disdain were in full display at the moment.
"Best friend," Prithvi inserted seriously.
Nandini glared at him. Yet, despite her frustration, everything in her rebelled against letting the writer end up with a bad impression about him. She was resisting the urge to defend his behaviour, when a cough drew her attention to the door. Uday Singh had come back.
Panting faintly, the old man walked slowly into the room and put an arm around Prithvi's shoulders.
"Janki, this is Prithvi. As I said before, he is a good friend of Nandini's," he beamed. "They haven't met in ages. So I'm sure you wouldn't mind letting them have a few minutes to catch up."
Janki frowned. "But I don't -"
"We can have a talk too while they catch up," Uday said pleasantly. "There are so many interesting topics we can discuss."
Overwhelmed and bewildered, Nandini's increasingly watery gaze flickered from one wrinkled face to the other. Everyone apart from her seemed to have a firm grip on the situation. Try as she might, she couldn't understand the bizarre dynamics in the room. Truth and lies had mingled into a muddled potion and she was floundering pitifully in its depths. And ridiculously, her predominant instinct was to seek refuge in the arms of the person who was responsible for her predicament in the first place..
Janki ma'am was addressing a question to her now.
"Nandini, do you wish to talk to him?"
Blinking back tears, Nandini answered, "Yes...just for a minute."
"You both can chat in the yard," Uday said swiftly before Janki could intervene. "We'll wait in this room till you've finished talking," he smiled at Prithvi, who gifted him with a glance of pure gratitude in return.
Seething, Nandini continued to fight against tears as she stalked out of the house and entered the small yard. But the wretched droplets spilled down her cheeks as she stopped by the swing and swivelled to face Prithvi.
Looking baffled and irritated at the same time, Prithvi asked "You're crying because I insisted on talking to you?"
*************************
"You should have told me!" Janki vented wrathfully at an unaffected Uday as the latter occupied a seat on the sofa.
"If I'd been honest from the start, you would have agreed to bring Nandini along?" Uday enquired.
"For your emotional rubbish? Of course not!"
"Exactly," Uday said peacefully.
Janki shook her head with disgust. "I will have to talk to Nandini's family and tell them about her relationship with Prithvi," she murmured while sitting down in a chair.
"What relationship? They're just friends," Uday said, examining his lovely walking stick.
"Don't feed me that nonsense," she snorted.
"Say you're right... I think it would be very foolish on your end to share your concerns with Nandini's family," Uday said detachedly. "I hear a big award is coming your way. And a future in politics too. Very impressive. It would be madness to risk all of that because of a daft sense of duty."
Paling, Janki urgently said, "I cannot keep silent on this matter. They have a right to know that Nandini is -"
"I'm sure you'll do well in politics. But you'll always be writer first and foremost as far as I am concerned," Uday reflected dreamily. "The thirty-seven love letters you wrote to me are one of my favourite possessions. "
"Don't push me too far, Uday," Janki threatened unsteadily. "Your blackmail pushed me close to suicide many times in the past few days. It is not a very frightening idea anymore. But if I go, I'll set fire to your life as well. I hope you realise you're not the only one with influence and connections."
Uday laughed. "Suicide? You give yourself too much credit. You love yourself too much to take that step. Even if you kill yourself, I doubt you'll be able to serenely embrace life in hell knowing that your moronic husband will be reading those letters before your embers cool down. And the media will lap it up. And your children and grandchildren..."
"No...no, they must never...no!" Janki spluttered, shuddering.
"They don't have to," Uday comforted. "All this is not pleasant for me either, trust me. Look...I believe we can reach a compromise that won't put too big a strain on your conscience..."
******************************
Nandini wiped her tears and hissed, "I'm crying because I don't know what sins I committed in my past life to endure your presence. I don't want to look at your face or talk to you. But why would that matter to you," she derided. "The only wishes that are important are yours!"
He detachedly mused that she was chosen a good day to unleash the virago. On any other occasion, he would have shredded her into bits with his words. But happiness had muted his temper, and the watery shine in her eyes was singlehandedly blocking a crowd of stinging responses.
Sighing, Prithvi inched ahead and tenderly grasped her face in his hands. "I know you're angry, and I -"
She angrily pushed his hands away. "Don't touch me. I can't stand it," she spat. "Speak your mind and get out of here. Or just tell me what it will take for you to leave me alone."
Curbing his spiralling impatience, he calmly said, "I told you... I had nothing to do with this plan to bring you here. I didn't even know about it."
With the author's tirade painfully fresh on her mind, Nandini fiercely countered, "Your relative was responsible, wasn't he? There must be something in your blood that stops you from sparing a thought for the feelings of others. I can't believe I felt bad when Kedar uncle said my father had not wanted anything to do with your family," she muttered disconsolately, "I understand it now. I see why he took that decision. He was right...nothing good can come out of knowing any of you. There must be something rott -"
"Shut your mouth," he warned icily.
"I will not," she retorted, undaunted. "You're a selfish, spoilt brat and -"
"I'm not a spoilt brat. You are," he cut in roughly. "You want to be pampered by everyone you meet. Everything should go your way and everyone should dance to your tunes. If they don't, you use your tears to force them to obey. What comes across as your innocence is actually your immaturity and foolishness," he deplored brutally. "Not an ounce of common sense or any grip on reality. It's a miracle you can string two thoughts together without needing a break. "
Hurt and angered beyond belief, she lashed out, "I prefer to be foolish rather than cynical and heartless like you. I used to feel terrible when I thought about the hardships you've faced. But now I think you deserved every bit of that grief. You're a curse on everyone who knows you. No wonder your own family couldn't love you," she taunted spitefully.
As he gazed at her disbelievingly, something appeared to shatter in the depths of his black eyes.
Despite an abrupt misgiving, however, she was successful in maintaining an unrepentant look. Until he broke the silence.
"Whatever I may be...I've never made a mockery of our relationship. You've done that every time you said you loved me," Prithvi said quietly. Then he turned on his heel and slowly walked away from her.
*********************
Interrupted in the middle of their tense conversation, Uday and Janki looked at the girl who was closing the door.
Nandini had returned. When she turned to face them, they looked at her with disparate emotions. Janki was alarmed by the misery on the young girl's face, but Uday only felt a resigned sadness.
Janki rose and walked to her. "What's wrong, Nandini?" she asked concernedly, putting an arm around her. "What did that young man say? Did he do anything -"
"Don't be absurd," Uday interrupted sharply. "He wouldn't have done anything to harm her."
"Then why is she crying?" Janki asked him grimly.
"He didn't do anything," Nandini whispered huskily, not looking at either of them. "I'm upset about something else."
"Janki, I need ten minutes to speak to Nandini in private," Uday stated firmly.
"You can talk in my presence," Janki said, frowning.
"I cannot," Uday apologised.
The soft warning in his tone put paid to further arguments. "Okay, but just ten minutes. Nandini, I'll be in my room. Just call out if you need anything," she said gently.
Nandini nodded silently.
When the door to Janki's room had closed, Uday courteously gestured at an adjacent chair and lightly said, "Nandini, please sit down."
She obediently walked to the chair and seated herself.
Without preamble, Uday thoughtfully said, "I have to talk to you about Prithvi. I want you to know why he had to leave Shamli, and why I brought you to this place. Will you listen?"
Feeling very small, Nandini conceded with a nod, keeping her eyes on the floor.
"Thank you," Uday smiled. "But before I tell you anything, I need to ask," he paused, then pensively enquired, "What has Prithvi told you about his mother?"
Puzzled by the question, Nandini looked at him. "He rarely discussed her... but I - I know a few things," she adjoined confusedly. "I think she was ill quite often. She was also very depressed...and she died when Prithvi was a child."
"She didn't...apparently," Uday sighed.
"She didn't - What do you mean?" she asked uncomprehendingly.
"Sumer says Rajyavardhan Singh came to Shamli in the evening one day. He says you were witness to his arrival," Uday prompted.
"Yes, I saw him, but I was asked to leave," she mumbled awkwardly. "I don't know what they talked about."
"Rajyavardhan came to Shamli to tell Prithvi that one of Priyamvada's oldest servants had seen her in the precincts of a temple, boarding a bus that was heading to this region - Agnivarsh. That is why Prithvi left Shamli the very next morning," Uday reiterated gently. "On that same day, he met the woman who spotted her. Her story created sufficient doubt... and so he arrived in Agnivarsh and began an exhaustive search for Priyamvada."
"Personally, I thought he was being misled," Uday said candidly. "I couldn't think of any reason Priyamvada would remain incognito for years. Especially when she has a son like Prithvi. So I arranged a meeting with that servant to investigate, and I have to admit, she was quite convincing," he confessed. "But she also told me something that Prithvi hasn't shared with anyone. She claims Priyamvada recognised her," Uday halted and keenly looked at Nandini. "You can imagine the impact of that information on Prithvi."
Nandini stared vacantly at her tightly interwoven fingers. They were freezing. Her whole body had turned to ice...
Uday solicitously continued, "I will not belittle the depth of your grief by saying you should forgive and forget immediately. You have the right to be upset because Prithvi didn't tell you the truth, and he had forbidden Sumer and that friend of his... Sankatmochan from telling you. I don't know why he couldn't be frank and -"
"I know," Nandini whispered. "I know why he didn't want to tell me."
Prithvi had grieved over his mother for years. She'd seen raw pain and an entrenched, guilt-laced reverence in him every time he mentioned his mother or looked at her photos. It had taken him very long to open up a little and let those emotions surface in her presence. And then to learn that his mother might be alive after all, and to face the possibility that she had willingly abandoned him...
It could traumatise anyone... hitting at the most basic sense of self-worth and ego.... fuelling an agonising insecurity...
He had called her up that night, but she'd been too furious to give him a chance to talk.
Her heart turned over again as she remembered the cruelty of her most recent rant. She had pulled out all stops to hurt him as badly as she could.
"I'd hoped you would understand," Uday said, pleased. "I truly apologise for taking such a huge liberty and engineering a meeting in this town. But I was getting worried. Sumer says the boy is in an appalling state but won't share his feelings with anyone. I think you were the only person who can bring back some happiness and optimism into his life. Do it as a favour to me... but please, help my child..."
***************************
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