It took around a week's haggling by Vaishali to worm out a permit from Ms. Veena, with subtle help from my lawyer Mr. Jaswani who had finally laid down his arms in deference to all the pouts and puppy dog faces made by her. We had been finally allowed to go on our secret rendezvous with a catch that we could go only if Mr. Anil Sahani the assistant of Mr. Jaswani tagged along with us.

Outwardly we had nothing to hide so we happily, agreed. Mr. Anil was quite a pleasant companion and seemed to have travelled a lot around Rajasthan. He pointed out all the interesting sights to both of us and especially made sure that we were kept well fed. He made it like a picnic trip for us. The four hours trip seemed to pass us by pretty quickly.

At my request we even stopped by Chand Baori but didn't enter as we were short of time. A promise of a future visit was elicited from 'Anil' as he wanted us to call him considering he was only a few years older than us. Vaishali and I had exchanged knowing glances on the significance of the monument as I sighed with nostalgic memories.

The hired Jeep dropped us on the outskirts of Bhangarh as the roads inside the village were quite narrow for the jeep to go through easily. I was kind of disappointed seeing the scenery outside which was now totally in the grasp of modernization.

Bhura our milkman was there to receive us with a huge grin on his face and along with him were few men and a whole troupe of kids of all sizes and shapes. The little monkeys were too excited to see visitors from 'the city'. A lot of giggling and jostling followed till Bhura shouted at them to shoo off, but they were persistent enough to move only a little distant away but still near enough to catch whatever we said.

It had been a long time since I had last visited a modern Indian village and had almost forgotten the scene with the welcome committee of kids always on the ready, as if they had been posted there especially as scouts to warn others about any intruders. Few had run off with the news of our arrival, shouting it out in the streets for all who would care to listen.

The result was that hardly a few steps had been taken by us and we had virtually the eyes of the whole village on us. Few idle men stood on the doorsteps to take a good look at us so they would not be left behind in the discussions which would later take place under some banyan tree or at the chaupal (community space). The shy ladies who were not privileged enough according to the hierarchy of the society to openly gape at us stood looking down from the terrace with their veil covered faces which was opened strategically to uncover only one eye.



A small Chaupal

In all we made quite a procession to Bhura's house and felt no less than the politicians who visited the village right before the elections with gifts of promises. Our visit was also quite promising considering we would leave behind much fodder for talks which would last for weeks and also make Bhura and his great grandfather the talk of the village.

As we traversed ahead we saw a huge plot of ruins left unused by the villagers.

"This is sacred land. No one is allowed to build house over it. It was said to belong to a Rajput chieftain who brought glory to our village by fighting for Maharana Pratap." he said seeing our curious gaze on the two beautifully carved pillars lying on the ground.

The name Maharana Pratap sent shivers down my spine as I looked at the ruins with more care. They were from the same era I had travelled to.

"What was the name of the chieftain?" I asked filled with curiosity.

"Hmm... Pratap Singh... something like that" Bhura replied vaguely filling me with disappointment. Both Pratap and Singh were commonly used prefix and suffix in the surnames of the Rajput clans.

"The people from the archaeological department have started work here and would soon take away these pillars. Nothing of our heritage will be left behind. The village headman was suggesting that we could all gather money to build a boundary wall around it and make a temple here as the children of the next generation won't understand the sentiments. .. but that is yet to be seen. After the archaeological department leaves and we are able to gather enough money for everything. We can petition the government for it ... that's what others were saying" rattled off Bhura like a news channel and I sense him feel quite important at that moment.

Bhura's house was quite small in comparison to the space given to the dairy. It was a two storeyed house with a moderate chaupal (a raised platform) in the front. Two huge Neem trees graced the entrance which served the purpose of giving shade to the people who wanted to do some outdoor living. Four charpai's (woven cots) had been spread below with proper covers on them in our welcome I noticed, while one was being occupied by what seemed like an ancient man.

The neem trees refreshed my memories of my rendezvous with 'him' on maasa's terrace and brought a tiny prick of an ache along with them. As we sat on the charpoy's we were welcomed with a cool drink of chaach (buttermilk). It brought back the feeling of Deja vu. The feeling of longing pushed at my heart as I tried to control my emotions.

"What happened Lekha?" asked Anil who had been quite all this while, observing all quite keenly. I had a mild suspicion that Mr. Jaswani had asked him to give a second by second review of all the incidents taking place here. Apart from being our safety escort he also was to act as a reporter of Mr. Jaswani.

"Nothing... just reminded me of my Grandma "I lied gesturing towards the tall brass glass of Chach in my hand. Vaishali on the other hand just gave me a sympathetic smile of understanding.

"Bhura sa... can your great grandfather tell us something about the chieftain who lived in that land" asked Vaishali on a cue from me. I didn't want to be the one asking all the questions, so as not to draw too much of attention towards me.

Bhura repeated the question to the old man lying there in a loud voice. It seemed the man was quite deaf despite the hearing aid he seemed to be wearing or the people were so used to shouting out their words to him that they forgot the utility of the aid.

The old man nodded his head with a smile as he peered at us through the thick lenses of his spectacles. He started singing some kind of ballad in a soft croaky voice. All the local history seemed to have been converted into song making it easy for the generations to remember.

After the song got over I could see Bhura's face beam with pride, as hearing the song must have brought back memories of his proud past.

"You girls did not understand a single word, did you?" he asked with a grin despite knowing the answer.

We shook our heads in denial.

"He was singing of how our great chieftain along with his family went to join forces with Maharana Pratap and how another evil chieftain planning revenge on him burned down his house and fields." he translated with a smile.

"Maharana Pratap... How so? ... Didn't the ruler of Jaipur went to war against Mewar(capital of Maharana's kingdom)?" I asked curiously.

"It was after the defeat of Maharana Pratap when he had to abandon Mewar and live in the forest. Some of our chieftains although under the rule of Amer were divided in opinions about Rajputs sticking together. Our great chieftain was one of them. " he said with pride.

The old man started singing another song all of a sudden stopping all the conversation.

"He is singing about the bravery Of Maharana Pratap, of the battles he fought and his struggles while living in the forest all those years" explained Bhura.

I had read about the history of Maharana Pratap both in our history books at school and more thoroughly in the books I had borrowed from the library. I knew the struggles of his life as a forest dweller and how even there nothing could stop his generous heart from being the great ruler that he was. In fact, a little part of my heart was happy at the thought process of the chieftain. If indeed it was the same Bhangarh as the one I had stayed in I wondered if baapusa was the one who had joined forces or was it Udai bhaisa.

"Who burnt the house?" I asked, not only because I was curious but it was a sense of urgency which fluttered in my heart. I could not bear to think of anyone from the family getting hurt or their prized possessions destroyed.

"Oh! some chieftain from a place called Rajkot... no one knows the reason, but we guess he was close to the Raja of that time. We still don't accept marriage proposals from that area. It is a matter of pride. Some of this generation just does not understand these matters... they just think it as a matter to be taken lightly. There was this boy named Harish from our village who fell in love with a girl from Rajkot... They studied together in the coaching class in Kota... what then... the poor parents had to sell all and shift to the city. The children nowadays are so adamant... just don't understand the priorities. "

"The chieftain didn't ask you to follow..."started Vaishali in an argumentative tone until I shut her up with a glare. We had not come here to argue about someone's psyche but rather to learn about the facts of the matter and a fight over the difference of opinion would leave us nowhere. Even I wanted to tell them off for stretching an age-old feud to this extent, but then being in the good books was more important.

"There is a time and place for everything" I softly hinted to Vaishali in 'English' and received a frown from her in return and a large smile of approval from Anil. I wondered why he was acting so patronizingly towards me.

After hearing a few more songs and their translations by Bhura , we were offered an appetizing lunch by the ladies of the house. It was served in the same traditional methods of the yester years although Bhura was a bit hesitant keeping in mind our comfort as we sat cross legged in front of a small wooden table.

Too many nostalgic feelings bubbled inside of me as we were served similar food in the brass utensils instead of the silver ones. It was like a pandemonium of emotions creating havoc.

We thanked our hosts profoundly. I had even managed to write down the names from their family tree right till that era, trying to recognize any of their ancestors whom I might have actually met. One of the names sounded familiar but then again, I still felt unsure.

We were dropped to the jeep with the same reverence as when we had arrived and I had a feeling that since it was nearing dusk even more people had joined the congregation after being back from whatever places they had been working in.

"So, what did you make of it Lekha?" asked Anil smiling at me.

"I had expected a bit more information but they seemed vague." I answered not wanting to reveal my conclusions which had a different reference altogether for comparison and made quite a lot of sense out of all that, as compared to an outsider who must have found it quite vague.

Vaishali seemed to be deep in thought and for a change held her own counsel.

"So, you accept that the trip was useless" asked Anil as if he had anticipated that and just wanted me to arrive at the same conclusion as him.

This got my antennas on an alert as I didn't want him to get any ideas about stopping our future visits to the place if I later felt the need to consult the archaeologists.

"No ... No... not entirely useless. If you had actually noticed that the ballads the old man was singing, it should have been recorded as a national heritage which might be lost after him. I don't think any future generation will even remember the songs. The archaeologists they referred to might also be a great reference point" I countered quickly.

"Oh! I never really thought of it from that angle. So, should I get some books on the subject for your reference... You know I know quite a lot of people who collect rare books on the subject" he said with a smile trying to redeem the situation.

I simply nodded and shifted the conversation into a different direction now that the danger of cancellation of the future trips had been averted.

It seemed that Mr. Anil had read quite a number of books on the history of Rajasthan just like myself and I found conversing with him quite interesting. He seemed quite a likable person both in attitude and intelligence especially with the way he took care of both of us.

A bigger chapter for all you patient people ;-D

Note: A Chaupal is an outdoor place where people would gather to socialize or just sit around. It could be built in a common public place in the village or a private one in front of the house if the person had ample of space.