I woke up to someone shaking me up while another person giggled. Even in my sleep mingled confusion I felt certain that I was not at the orphanage, as the whole atmosphere there was more decorous and people tend to stay away from me. I had turned into a somber person of few words after the death of my parents. When the jostling continued I opened my eyes slowly, to the laughter filled excited faces of my new friends.

"Wake up sleepy head, maasa has asked us to get ready for the morning aarti at the temple "

"But it's still dark outside "I grumbled.

"It's a special puja (prayer) for jija."

When I still didn't budge they threatened me with cold water. The thought of cold water in the month of February was enough I thought to pull out even the dead from the bed, I was but a mere human being.





A bath where cold and hot water was kept separately and mixed by the maids.

I was lead to a room where some of the ladies were having a bath. The hot water was being brought and mixed by maidservants for all the royalties. It smelled heavenly as if I had arrived in a rose garden. Some of the maids were rubbing ubatans (herbal mixtures) on the ladies for enhancement of the skin. I was a bit shy in the beginning, but seeing my friends tie what seemed like petticoats around their chests, I followed suit.

The morning rituals were done in well-maintained holes in the ground. I was quite surprised by the civility of it all.



The only thing I missed was my toothbrush. I was asked to use a datoon (a small stick from the branch of a neem tree chewed and then rubbed on teeth). I had seen people still use that in the villages of my time, and it is considered good both in terms of medical and the utility part, be it cleansing or shinning the teeth. The only drawback being, it was bitter in taste. I made up my mind at that instance that if I stayed long enough in this era, I was going to invent a toothbrush. Didn't think history would change drastically due to one toothbrush. Could well imagine my toothbrush no matter how primitive, being found later in a museum of our times.



The datun

With that happy thought in mind, I changed to a fresh but borrowed dress again. There was a maid to help us hurry with our dressing.

We reached the temple on time. Mahadevi sa smiled at us with satisfaction at our punctuality. But there was something else in her eyes, especially when she looked at me. I thought of our conversation the night before.

The next day was the day the wedding procession would leave the fort. Few important people were going with the bride's party, while the young ones, had to stay back. Mahadevi sa was also the one among all the important people to be attending the main wedding.

Had the princess already talked about the wishes which I had kind of made a prophecy about or had there been no word till now? Was that the reason why Mahadevi sa was looking at me so oddly. My train of thoughts was broken by the arrival of the bride princess, who looked so regal and immensely beautiful. I was star-struck, by her grace and beauty.



The princess - Heer Kunwari

The blowing of conch shell gave the whole atmosphere a hypnotic feel as if the Goddess herself had come on earth to bless and give courage to the princess who has to leave behind all things familiar and move ahead to a world quite foreign to her upbringing. Though there was an air of festivity and excitement for the young present, I could sense somberness in the moods of the elders. The bride was looking distraught, with red-rimmed eyes but somehow even that seemed to enhance her beauty. I saw Raja Bharmal (the ruler of Amer fort, Jaipur) with his wife standing near the princess. Even Rani Sahiba ( the queen is addressed ) seemed to have cried her eyes out. It seemed quite a different scenario from what I had expected from the chatter of my two friends. I looked sideways at them and saw that even they had sobered down from the perky girls of yesterday to the serious ones at present.

The puja (prayers)continued for long hours. The chappan bhog (56 varieties of food) presented to the Goddess was later distributed to all as Prasad (offering to God later eaten by the devotees).



The chappan bhog

I being unused to waking so early at dawn was ready to fall off to sleep any second. My mind was in a buzzed state of half-sleep. This is when I realized that there were so many green odhnis (veils) around me moving in all directions. The divine conclusion came to me that I was lost.

The humongous problem I now faced was, whether the guards would let me in. I had stayed all day in the jenana (ladies) section of the palace since the time I appeared in the alcove. I had visited the temple once but the shifts kept changing.

My nightmare came true, the guards from before had changed and the new ones refused to let me in and I could not see even a single familiar face in the crowd around me, who could vouch for me.

I tried to convince the guard that I too belonged from inside the palace but he wouldn't budge. The security seemed to be tighter as the main royal family was around. The wedding day was also approaching quite close, so there could have been attempts by the enemy to foil the plans for political reasons. I knew it was also more due to the way I spoke, I didn't have the right accent even if I tried hard to use the typical Rajasthani words I learned since my arrival.