I woke up in a dark room with only a lamp lit in the alcove. The first thing I remembered was the last rule of my resolution and felt a pang of pain in my heart. I had to keep reminding myself to be strong especially when I meet Rudra again.



An example of the layout (its an actual haveli)



Couldn't resist sharing another one I found :)

As I peeped outside the door I saw that the rooms on the first floor were built around an opening created by a huge veranda which was on the ground floor. There was a two foot pathway with railing all around connecting all rooms. I had missed observing all this in the afternoon. I saw a girl younger than me right across near the rooms on the other side.

"Listen... can you guide me to where Vasundhara is right now" I asked.

"Are you Lekha jiji (elder sister)?" she asked. I nodded and smiled back in acknowledgement.

"Oh! You are even more beautiful then what mamisa (maternal uncle's wife) told us" she said with awe in her voice. This made me blush and then my face lost all color. Rudra came outside from the room next to the one where the girl stood. I guessed that he must have heard what the girl had said.

"Bhaisa ... good you came. Jiji here wants to go to Vasundhara jiji. You can take her. I still have to light the lamp in this room" chirped the girl.

"No... No... Don't bother I will wait in my room for her. She said she would come for me" I said before Rudra could reject the girl's proposal and embarrass me once more.

I turned back towards my room and was about to cross the threshold when Rudra called out.

"Wait! ... I will take you to her"

I was taken aback by this but I didn't want to go anywhere with him. It would fail all the rules I had made for my survival.

"No need I can wait here. You go wherever you are going" I said turning back.

"You just wait there. I will come for you" he ordered, as he moved on the pathway towards me.

I stood still at that, as I didn't want to get into an argument with him in front of the girl.

"You are getting married to bhaisa... jiji? Mamisa told us. I am so happy that we will have a wedding in this house." The girl went on while I wanted to scream at her to stop.

Rudra came all round on the pathway and caught me by the arm, as if I might bolt and I would have too if not for the girl watching us.

We went down together on the stairs and were met with Vasundhara coming up the stairs from the other end. She looked pointedly at where Rudra held me and smiled.

"I was just coming to call you" she said as I snatched my hand away from Rudra and immediately held hers.

I dragged her back downstairs with me away from 'him'. I didn't dare look back to see Rudra's reaction.

"What happened to you? It seems you woke up very hungry" she joked. I just nodded my head.

The men had already eaten and it was time for the women folk of the house to have their meal.

We went in the corner of the veranda to wash our hands where the maid poured the water out for us.

We had to sit in a row outside the kitchen on a cushioned mat spread for the ladies with a low stool in front where the plates were kept. The plates were made of beautifully engraved copper.

"Don't start without me "laughed the girl whom I had met before.

Maasa and another elderly lady entered the room and I stood up in respect.

"So this is the bindani (bride) you found for our Rudra" she smiled looking at me.

I had to get used to being associated with Rudra it seemed. It felt like being branded as someone's possession even before the branding or marriage had happened. Maybe if circumstances had been different I might not have felt so pessimistic.

I moved to touch her feet.

"No ...no... dear ,daughters don't touch the feet. Any daughter of jeeja is a daughter of mine. You can call me buasa(paternal aunt). You must have met my daughter here Lajo "she said pointing to the girl I had met before. I smiled at Lajo while she grinned widely at me.

"How are you feeling now Lekha?" asked maasa.

"I am quite rested now maasa "

We moved back to our respective seats where a maid served us a simple but a delicious meal.

At night Vasundhara shared the room with me at my insistence as I felt odd in a new place, although she had her own room.

The topic of Rudra was completely avoided by some kind of mutual unspoken understanding. I got to know that Rudra had been staying in this household for past two years as he was being trained by baapusa, from the chirpy chatterbox Lajo. She would have gone on and on about everyone had her mother not stopped her. She also spouted out about how she would like to exchange her room with her great brother so that he could have the room right in front of mine. She was a Rudra fan that I was now sure of and that meant trouble in capital letters.

The next morning the household woke quite early and after bath the family gathered in the temple inside the courtyard for prayers. Rudra I found was missing and I felt quite curious at his absence. This time my curiosity was answered when the same question was put forward by our chirpy bird Lajo.

"Where is bade bhaisa (big brother) mamisa?"

"He had to go somewhere but would be back in two days dear" maasa answered but oddly she looked at me as if answering my question. I quickly looked down feeling caught though I had no reason to feel so.

The breakfast was served the same way as the dinner outside the kitchen separately for us after the men had theirs. There were other male members too apart from Udai bhaisa and bapusa, whom I had been introduced to at the temple before.

After breakfast maasa asked Vasundhara to give me a tour of the house. I could now admire what I had wanted to and missed because of that arrogant man.

The veranda was the center of the main house and it was surrounded by rooms. In the middle of this veranda was a big planter which had a tulsi(basil) plant planted in it. The best place I loved in the house was a three seater swing hanging from the ceiling.



The swing :)





Every wall had beautiful murals hand painted on them. I specially loved the mural on the outside entrance wall to the house. It depicted the scene of a king riding on an elephant. The temple in the courtyard though small was big enough for the family and was made completely of marble. It had Goddess Durga as the main deity. Each and every corner was an artist's paradise. I wished I could take some photographs of it.

I was later introduced to the horses in the stable by Udai bhaisa.

"I wish I could ride" I sighed.

"Your wish is my command my master" replied bhaisa striking a pose of an obedient genie.

Both of us girls laughed at that. He took out a lump of gur (raw brown sugar) and asked me to hold it out in front of a beautiful brown horse.

"This is called making friend's using a bribe" he explained in a dramatic whisper as if the horse could understand him.

I felt a ticklish feel as the horse took the 'bribe' from my palm but I stuck on.

"Look at her Pari (the horse's name meaning fairy) this is Lekha your new friend" he said introducing the horse to me instead of vise versa. I gave a big grin at this odd introduction and even the horse snorted as if she too understood the humor behind it.

I was helped to climb on it by Udai bhaisa and Vasundhara after lot of fumbling with the skirts as it didn't spread out properly to cover my legs but the horse was quite patient with me. I was told later that it had been trained for maasa before but due to her rheumatism she was unable to ride much.

I took a small round of the courtyard with bhaisa holding the horse by the leather strap. It almost felt like I was taking a pony ride in a park in my time. It was just a trial ride for me while the lessons were to start the next day.

The next day after breakfast I helped maasa in the kitchen as she taught me how to make a simple meal using the limited things this century had. When she made me grind a chutney using stone mortar and pestle I wished I had a food processor with me. We take such things so much for granted in our times.

After kitchen duties I went out in the courtyard for my riding lessons. Udai bhaisa had work to do so I was assigned a young boy who was only a little older than me. His name was Suraj and was a distant relative of the family and had been introduced to me before. He was said to be one of the best riders of the areas around and could do acrobatic stuffs too.

Maasa had pre warned him not to try teaching me any of his acrobatic moves. I found him to be a good teacher and a fun one too. He made me lose my hesitation for horses in a short while with all his talks. I also loved the way he talked to the horses as if they were friends. I had never seen anyone like him.

I could by the end of the lesson, ride my horse without the need of Suraj holding the strap to control the direction the horse moved. He promised to teach me how to gallop the next day.

The excitement of learning to ride made me forget my pain. I had a pain of a physical kind to worry about now. In my enthusiasm to learn to ride the horse in a short time I had made my body work harder than it was used to.

Suraj got chided by maasa as he brought me back inside the house, despite me trying to save him from her anger.

I slept quite deeply after a long time that night. I was all wasted out.



One more done... I am getting fast. :D

So guys enjoy ,vote and comment !!!!