Episode 3 Gratitude!

“Sahiba! Tum jaanti ho tumne kya kiya hai?” her mother yelled at her,"Woh Rathoregarh ke yuraj hai, abhi tak tum sastra chalana sikh rahi thi toh humne tumhe kuch nahi kaha parntu iska matlab ye nahi ki tum ek Rajkumar ke sath laro."

She was listening to her mother quietly, her head down and her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry,” slow words escaped from her mouth.

“Maafi maangni hai toh jaake Rajkumar se maango,” her mother spoke.

She lifted her gaze to her.

“Ab aise dekh kya rahi ho,chalo mere sath,” she said, grabbing her hand.

"Par kaha?"

“Rajkumar Ravi se maafi maangne chalo!”

They moved out of the hut and saw him sitting silently under a tree, engrossed in a book.

They made their way to him.

“Rajkumar!” her mother called him. He lifted his gaze from the book to them.

He smiled warmly as he stood up and said,

“Ji kahiye.”

“Woh hum aapse maafi maangna chahte hai. Gargi se jo galti hui hai uske liye hum bahot sarminda hai,” she said, nervously clenching her hands.

She signaled her to say it.

Gargi lifted her eyes to her mother first, then shifted it to him.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, he spoke,

"Arre kaki! Aap humse maafi kyu maang rahi hain, aap hamari maa ke saman hain, aapko toh humein daatna chahiye, Ashram ke niyam ko toran ke liye!”

She was surprised by his words; she hadn’t expected him to be so warm.

He continued,

“Aur Gargi ne koi galti nahi ki hai, toh na toh aapki maafi maangne ki zarurat hai, na hi inhe.”

His gaze locked on her.

A small smile appeared on her lips, her heart feeling the warmth of his words.

Gargi’s POV

It was a late night, but I had just entered my room. Tomorrow is Janmastmi, that’s why we were all busy preparing for it.

I gently placed my mat on the ground and laid there, covering myself with a blanket—

And again, his thoughts filled my mind.

He’s the first man to praise my fighting skills.

Being known or unknown, he encouraged me to follow my dreams. From that day onward, I never got the chance to talk to him, but every time I see him, I feel thankful to him.

If he wanted, he could have taken advantage and gotten his revenge. But he didn’t, and I think it's because he knew that I wasn’t wrong. I didn’t do anything wrong to him, and he knows this very well.

Now, I’m realizing that not every person is the same.

The next morning, I walked out of the hut and saw that the chaos had already begun.

Everyone was busy preparing for the Puja.

Suddenly, I heard my mother’s voice—

“Sahiba!”

“Tu yahan kya kar rahi hai? Ja jaldi naha ke aa, aur phir dekh kya kya kaam baaki hai, ja jaldi."

I nodded and quickly filled the bucket and went to the bathing area.

Taking a quick bath, I got dressed in a yellow attire with a blue dupatta.

Then came the jewellery—earrings, bangles, necklace, headpiece. I then completed the look with a small bindi.

After getting ready, I walked out and spotted Vani busy making rangoli.

I went to her and said,

“Main sahayata kar du?”

She looked at me, smiled, and nodded.

We both made a big and beautiful rangoli at the center, where the puja was supposed to happen.

Then we made several small rangolis in other places.

After some time, everyone started gathering near the center, where we kept the rangoli, and stacks of diyas, flowers, and radha–krishna idols.

In some time,Guruji and Guruma came and the heavy sound of drums and conch announced the beginning of the Puja.

This time too, I prayed to God to give me the courage to fulfill my dreams,

even if the dreams are unacceptable to society and my family.

After the puja finished, the priest offered the aarti, and the ladies started distributing prasad and sweets.

As I was handing people the prasad, someone extended his hand in front of me. I lifted my gaze.

It was him.

He looked at me with the same steady eyes.

My gaze froze.

I couldn’t move.

"Prasad?", His voice bought me back.

I handed him the prasad and went ahead.As I took some steps, I turned to see him but suddenly, Vani's voice interrupted." Gargi, yaha aana!".

I took a deep breath and looked away.

The thoughts of him filled my heart with a kind of happiness.

A thousand beats began to race in my chest.

I made my way to the her.

After some time, the ladies gathered together again, with musical instruments, and began singing bhajans and dancing.

The younger girls were enjoying joyfully.

Vani pulled me to the center, grabbing my hands.

We both joined the circle where they had been dancing.

I also started dancing and singing.

The spirit high, the soul light.

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