Enchanted – Chapter 53

In the royal palace of Sitaara district, Sameera was pacing in her grand lavish room

“Sameera, it’s time for you to stop thinking along those lines. This is about your younger sister Meera’s family. She is Vikrant’s wife, and Vikrant is our son-in-law. You know how deeply Meera and Vikrant love each other and how much Meera adored Geetanjali as her elder sister. Your interference could create problems in her life.

Moreover, you are well aware of how devoted Vikrant is to his brother—he will not tolerate anything that harms him.”

“Really, Mom? Was it Meera who had anything to do with the Khurana Royals? No, it was the bond between Dad and Maan, strengthened by the friendship Maan and I shared. You knew how much Dad always wanted our relationship to be sealed, ensuring our royalty extended further.

Dad, are you going to stay silent now too?” Sameera snapped in anger 

“Sameera dear, please sit down. The Royalty has been sealed with Meera and Vikrant marriage and they have formed a bond by naturally falling in love. Maan never fell in love with you dear”

“Maan never wanted to fall in love and that is why we were best friends. Our frequency matched, our class matched, our taste of sports and clubs matched. I went to London, trusting on you two that you will initiate our marriage talks. But ”

“Maan was not ready for marriage and that time Savitri Devi decided to have a commoner like Geetanjali to be his wife” explained her father

“And now, Maan is irrevocably in love with that middle class wife of his. It is very clear, whoever would be his wife, he would have fallen in love with her”

“No dear, it was not easy for him to fall in love even with Geetanjali. But Geetanjali being the complete opposite of him, her innocence and chirpiness made him fall for her. Or there can be any reason and he is irrevocably in love with her and the fact is she is his wife and you should not think of him.”

“Why… Why should I not? Geetanjali is no more”

“Sameera you should not dear because now it is Meera’s family and Maan does not consider that Geetanjali is no more. He will never accept you”

“No, now I am not going to rely on any of your advice and not sacrifice my life long wish. I don’t care if Maan will ever love me or not, I will make my path to become Mrs. Maan Singh Khurana. The Rani Sahiba of Kalsia. That commoner got that title”

“Have you not been trying that since you have been back. For the last four years you have created extreme incidents to separate them, nothing happened. And mind you Sam, Maan and his security team are sharp like eagles, if he figures out all those incidents in series were your doing, he will ruin you. That time only Meera will be able to help you. So stop where you are. You have already done extremes” Scolded her father

“And you think, I did all those extremes to back out at this stage when Geetanjali is nowhere to be found? I have at last made sure she is out of his life. Now only for me to get entry into his life is left. The last stage and you think, I should back out”

“Sam, if Savitri Devi, who is supporting you and who you used for all your plans, comes to know your real deed, do you think will ever let you tie knot with Maan”

“Ohh, now she thinks that her selection was wrong and she should have made Maan tie a knot with me.”

“That’s because of all the games that you played. You have done extreme sins Sam, stop now dear”

*********

It was evening, and as usual, Maan was at the exclusively designed bar counter of the mansion. The bartender kept handing him his drink, and he sipped glass after glass, lost in thought—revisiting their past, connecting the dots through his own analysis, and piecing together the information provided by his highly capable team.

Smile formed on his face as he reminisced the days when they had just been back from the honeymoon tour.

In the whole one and half month, when they had been on tour, Dadima had realized how wrong her own thinking was with regards to Geet. Maan’s happiness lied with Geet and she had already seen Geet’s selfless love for her grandson. 

She had realized that when she had found Geet for him her ultimate wish was Maan’s happiness above anything. And it was all so true. Only after Geet came to his life, Maan had started leaving a life for his happiness. The thought of royalty had blinded her. How can Maan’s happiness come, if only Geet loved him. For Maan to be really happy, he had to fall in love with Geet. Geet had fallen in love with Maan long back but Maan’s happiness actually came alive when he fell in love with Geet.

He remembered how beyond their expectation, they got such a warm welcome from Dadima. But their world had brightened when Dadima had not only welcomed Maan but also Geet with full warmth.

He remembered how Geet had been happy with the whole family around and Dadima being so sweet and caring for her.

*******

That day, Geet was about to leave the room in jiffy when he had got hold of her wrist and swirl her to fall directly in his embrace

“Maa-aan, let me go”

He instead, secured her even more firmly in his arm, his hands, one holding her bottom cheeks and other the small of her back

“And you think I got hold of you, to let you go. You are not going anywhere” he had declared

Geet knew he would now not let her go. So she sweetly traced her hands up from his belly to his chest and then her hands started their game with his shirt’s button

“They are all waiting for me. I gave them my words”

“Your nights are mine and only mine. Don’t give words when you know things are not in your control” he said pulling her closer, squeezing her back, hard, within his palms

“Aaaaa” she looked up at him 

“You manhandle me” she pouted

“And you love it” He said, pulling her sharply into his arms, holding her even closer.

Geet smiled and  placed her forehead on his chest “Maan, thank you”

“For? Not letting you go” he teased. She hit him on his chest “Shut up!”

She looked up at him “For the world tour. You made me see a complete new world of our togetherness”

“Ohh, you mean us having business parties together and you meeting my business friends” he said acting innocent, as if not understanding her hints

Geet looked up at him in anger, pushed him away, turned back, folding her hands on her chest

“I am not talking to you.” Maan embraced her from behind and placed a wet kiss on her cheek.

“So, what togetherness are you talking about?” he asked swiftly, twirling her to be back in his arms

“Let me go” she struggled to get away from his hold but in vain

“Let’s recreate the togetherness, what say?” he raised his eyebrows, mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“Nooo” she said but the smile and redness of her face totally defied her ‘No’.

Next moment she was picked up in his strong arms and a few moments later she was thrown on bed and he was on top of her . He had slowly uncovered her with his wet and deep kisses all over her. Her buttons and clothes slowly came down, turning the playful night to the passionate one.

Maan chucked remembering his moments with her. He downed his drink in one swift gulp and set the glass down with a firm, resounding thud on the tabletop.

“Bhai stop. Don’t drown yourself in drink this way”

Maan turned to the direction of the sound  “Vicky?” he said, still confused. Is Vicky actually there or is he hallucinating?

“Bhai, you have to get hold of yourself. I have some information for you” Vicky had urgency on his face.

Stumbling Maan got up “Bhai aram se” Maan showed him his hand, pausing Vicky from helping him.

“I am fine. We will discuss it tomorrow. I need to go to my room now, Geet must be waiting for me”

And Maan left for his room. There, in his room he asked sorry for being late again and then laid in the lap of an imaginary Geet. Sleep immediately took him into its embrace.

Maan woke up early in the morning, around 4 and went for a workout. His mechanical day has started and he will work with two hundred percent efficiency till the late evening.

At the breakfast counter Vicky was already waiting for him

“Good Morning Bhai”

“Good Morning. So what brings you here” Maan was back in his formal, no nonsense mode.

“Bhai, we have some very substantial progress”

“Yes, I am aware of it. I have been working closely with Mr.Shekhawat. They are working in coordination with local police. We are very close. Anything new?”

“Bhai, we should be happy that we will finally trace Babhi’s whereabouts. I am worried, why do you still indulge on the drinks, every evening”

“Now you will lecture me?” Maan gave him a sharp look

“No Bhai, sorry. Bhai, Dadima is in her own guilt. She realizes the pain you are in and is taking it upon herself for being the cause of it.”

“I hope she was not. I wish she was not the reason for Geet’s disappearance in darkness like this”

“She has figured out something more and that is making her even more guilty of what wrong she has done. She wants to meet you, Bhai”

Maan took a thoughtful pause for a while before speaking

“Okay. I will visit Kalsia. Not sure if I have anything to say to lessen her guilt. I can’t tell her that, it’s okay. Because it is not at all okay, Vicky”

“Bhai, she is very restless to meet you”

Maan shied. Nothing he did these days was from the heart. He was completely functioning mechanically. Dadima came on priority list so he simply called his PA to adjust his couple of days appointment.

Maan and Vicky left for Kalsia.

On the other side, Geet was living a simple life in an ashram, grappling each day with the weight of her decision to leave Maan. Was it right, or was it wrong? Had she deprived him of the joy of being with her during this precious phase of her pregnancy? Yet, no matter how much it pained her, the thought of his safety outweighed everything else.

She gently placed a hand on her growing belly, tears welled up and silently rolled down her cheeks.

Maan and Vicky reached Kalsia. Meera came with her one year old Veer in her hand. Smile formed on Maan’s face as her took Veer in his arms

“How is my boy doing?” he said, throwing Veer in the air, and then catching him safely within his palms

“Bhai, he has just leant to take steps and he wants to run everywhere” reported Meera.

Maan played with Veer for sometime. It relaxed his stressed out brain. Later he handed Veer to Meera and went to meet Dadima

Maan knocked the door 

“Maan,!!! For how long I have been waiting for you son, please come in”

Maan gave a tight smile and entered. Went to her and hugged her “How are you, Dadima”

“How can I be when my dearest grandson is so sad and when I am the cause of his pain”

She said taking a seat on the luxury pulse sofa and signaled Maan to take his seat

“You called me for something.”

“I really wish we can get Geet back in your life.”

“She will soon be with us,” he said confidently.

“Did you get any information?” She asked, knowing once again it was his illusionary confidence. Geet’s body was found in shattered condition, is there even a chance that she would have survived?

“Not confirmed but very close “

“It has been seven months,Maan.  Sachai se kab rubaroo honge aap”

“You don’t want her back?”

“Of course, but only if it was possible. My heart knows how much I am repenting“

“ We have to make an effort to make it possible, right?”

“Maan, it hurts to see you sulking in sadness, come out of it dear”

“ That’s not possible till she is not back. You had to think of my happiness before you decided to compel her to leave me.” Maan was straight with his words. His pain of Geet’s disappearance and Dadima being one of the reasons behind it, was not allowing him to sugarcoat his words with her.

“I have found something and that’s only making me more of a sinner”

“Let it be, Dadima. My focus as of now is to find her”

“Please listen to me. I need to confess or else its weighing heavy on my heart”

“Okay. What do you want to say?”

“Maan, I had our family purohit come from his Matth. ”

“But he does not leave his Matth, that’s what I know”

“Yes, but on my request, he came. I gave him all the details of Geet’s birth and he analyzed it in detail from scratch.”

“Dadima, I am not interested in these things. I don’t want my life to run on what someone else says about my wife. My Geet is best for me, I know it and do not need to hear from anyone else to deny my belief or confirm it. Once someone told you that Geet around me is a risk for my life, what you did, Dadima – Risked her life. As it has no cost. Maybe not for you but she is priceless for me” His voice cracked

“Maan, Purohit ji shocked me with his words. He defied everything that was previously said. He said, Geet is the brightness of your life and her being around will only bring happiness and brightness in your life. Once she has entered your life, your life will be dark if she is not around you. And if her soul is hurt, it will bring the negative and weak side of your personality” I was shocked to hear a completely opposite view.

“I have felt it all, since she has been part of my life. Dadima, you need people to tell you about Geet in my life or judge her presence in my life. For me, nothing matters, just Geet in my life, rest the world is mine”

They stayed silent for long and then Maan looked up at Dadima

“Dadima, you have found in so many ways how Geet’s presence in my life is affecting me. Am just curious, did you also find out how my presence in Geet’s life affects her life.”

Dadima looked at him shocked.. She wanted to calm him down that her thoughts about Geet had changed. She never thought Maan would come with this point.

Maan gave a small laugh “Dadima. It’s not needed because I know my presence around her has only brought hardship and pain in her life. I do not need anyone to tell me this. Was just curious, if you ever tried to find it out. But it’s okay, we all have our priorities.  ” 

Maan then got the call

“Yes, Mr. Shekhawat”

“Sir, we have got a very strong lead. We should meet immediately”

“Great! I’ll be in Delhi in the next two hours.”

And Maan left from there immediately.

Geet had her own regular day in Ashram. In ashram, life was slow paced and everything and everyone’s role was defined. 

Similarly, Geet knew in the ashram how her daily life was going to be. Since she is pregnant, she has not been given charge of any other task. Her tasks revolve around taking care of her own routine and taking care of herself. 

Geet wakes up at 5 am in the morning. She freshens up and goes for the long walk by the river side. It’s not only Geet but most members of ‘Hamara Ghar’ are awake by now, actually most, half an hour earlier.

Geet freshened up, arranged her room and then came out to the open central area. Mrs Shikha was already waiting for her. They then left for the walk together. 

Geet was the youngest member and she was pregnant as well, so everyone here took extra care of her. Also, they found that she was too naive, so experienced ladies gave her the guidance. But none forced their ideas on her. 

They were all from different sectors of life, society and income groups. But they are all here, leaving behind their past life and strongly bounded by the bond of pain. They have all started their new life here, and are trying to find the meaning of their life and happiness in this new family. Here everyone had their job, earned money. The salary of each member was fixed and was equal in amount irrespective of what work they did. Each member had their own bank account and money was deposited there.. But that money was only meant to ensure they have something on hand in case they land somewhere in an emergency.

Everyone’s every need was taken care of by ‘Hamara Ghar’. Their healthy food, their decent simple clothing, their individual room and its decent basic facilities, like a simple bed, table and chair set, a wooden wardrobe and one side table in each room. Other than that, if someone has special interest in anything and they found peace in that and wished to pursue it, that specific arrangement for that person was also done by ‘Hamara Ghar’.

Now, from where did Humara Ghar get its income to provide all the facilities to all the members.

On a very high level – For years, members of Hamara Ghar have worked and set up their own business. There was a huge chunk of land owned by Humara Ghar, where various kinds of farming of spices and herbs were done. The farming was just the first step as from here the raw spices and herbs went to small self owned factories, they were processes to generate several products. These products were sold in the Hamara Ghar owned several retail shops all around the state but mostly in the local town and nearby. 

All this was run by members of Hamara Ghar. Additional resources were hired if needed.

Geet as of now had a very light job – i.e to act as help in the kitchen and small household work.

It may seem that Geet has set up her new life while Maan was wandering in the darkness. But only Geet knew the deep suffering she was going through each moment, which was only being balanced by the pure environment of Hamara Ghar and his Ansh in growing within her.