As a rule, the prince and the princess always fall in love.

****

Maya had never thought she would get goosebumps on seeing a temple, but she did feel a current of bliss travel down her spine.

The temple was square in shape, built upon a large plot of land. Surrounding the temple was a garden, a little pond and various statues of the Matrikas. The shikhara of the temple was shaped into a trident. The whole architecture was red in colour, reminding Maya of the sindur that was associated with femininity in her culture.

Aadi allowed her to appreciate the temple in silence, waiting for her to express some form of awe verbally that was otherwise visible on her gaping face. Her warm eyes had dilated, and she stared at the temple with childlike interest.

"I never thought I would feel this special here."

"The youth of today don't easily appreciate divinity."

Maya frowned at his words. It pricked her faith a bit too deep. "Uncle, I do respect the Mother figure or else I would not have asked you to tell me about this place. I do love her, but I don't know why I have to explain it."

Aadi flushed at her words, pursing his lips in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I was just giving a general outlook. It wasn't meant to be personal."

Maya crossed her arms, her lips curved up at one corner. "The youth do know how to connect to the Divine. Why, isn't your priest of my generation?"

Aadi smiled in fondness which Maya deduced to be owned by the still unknown priest. "Yes, he is a good man. A man I would gladly love to have as a son."

"Or even a son-in-law, perhaps?" Maya joked.

Aadi's wrinkles deepened. "I-I mean, why not."

The two climbed the stairs of the temple while conversing.

"It is true that people nowadays get swayed by temptations easily and give up their faith. A lot of religious conversion has happened during the pre-independence years. Some did it to escape oppression and some did it out of greed for a lucrative offer. Some were forced to convert."

"You are right, yes. You got me." Aadi ruffled his hair. "But maybe you are different. Maybe you are like this priest. He is such a nice man!"

"I would be grateful if you do not start a matchmaking game here."

He chuckled. "That's the habit of old people, but I won't cross my boundaries."

Aadi opened his mouth to add something more, but then sealed his lips.

"Did you want to say something?"

"You are tempting me to reveal all the secrets. And when those secrets aren't even mine, I don't know what to do." Aadi took a deep breath. Maya noticed that his palms had gone sweaty. "He is a nice man, but very unfortunate."

"I have been hearing this for a long time. And what I feel is, I should never mention it in front of the priest, should I?"

"He has named himself as unfortunate on his own. Who are we to talk or not talk on it? But the matter is sensitive, and I would suggest that you keep away from things that don't need a place in your article. You have been sent here by an old friend of mine and I only wish for your good."

But it was in Maya's hands to decide her own fate, and that in the hands of Kalika too. Maya, by now, was determined to find why this priest was doomed to be jinxed. And yet, be presented as a man of virtue.

Upon reaching the mandapa outside the garbha griha, two priests welcomed Aadi with hugs. Maya noticed that one was taller in height, more younger and lean, with ebony eyes as dark as the night sky.

"How are you, Shekhar? And Manas, you look as gloomy as ever."

"He is upset because Hrishav scolded him. He messed up with the flowers."

Shekhar, the taller one, now landed his eyes on Maya. "I don't seem to know you. Are you a relative of Aadi Babu?"

"I am his acquaintance, yes," Maya replied before Aadi could. "I have come here to write an article on Devipuram. Can I meet the head priest?"

"He cannot be disturbed while he is worshipping the Mother in the garbha griha."

The somewhat cold reply came from Shekhar's fellow friend and priest, Manas. He was a bald man with a thick black stubble and round blue eyes. He was really fair, almost milky white with a tint of pink on his cheeks.

Maya scrutinised the man from head to toe. He was not in a good mood. After all, as Shekhar told, he had just gotten a chiding from his senior.

Maya couldn't help but compare him to a grumpy snorting pig.

Manas looked considerably older to Maya and Shekhar, most probably in his late thirties. That means, he is older to the head priest too, she concluded. Maybe it had hurt his ego to be disciplined by a man younger to him day after day.

"I shall wait when the head priest is free. Even if today is not possible–"

"Oh no! Don't take his words to heart." Shekhar shot Manas a glare. "Behave yourself with women. She is a guest in Devipuram." Turning to Maya, he said, "Please take a seat. We will give you the prasad too. Aadi Babu, how about we chat for a while?"

Manas left on his own towards the smaller shrines that were surrounding the temple, while Shekhar and Aadi climbed down the stairs and headed towards the pond. Maya was left alone and she sat at the foot of one pillar, running her hands over the engraved designs.

This is so beautiful. A true work of art.

The floor of the mandapa had swirling patterns akin to the outline of blooming flowers. There were five such symbols, with the tiny fifth one in the middle. The sweet fragrance of petals mixing with milk and honey came to her nose. It soothed her mind.

"This place is so much better than Calcutta. Away from all the ruckus. But I wonder, what about this flood of bad luck?" she murmured to herself.

Absent-mindedly she traced the square symbols carved on the pillars, admiring the work of the builder. She was so engrossed in it that the sound of footsteps did not alert her.

"Prasad?"

She jerked out of her thoughts. For a moment, she was just blank and lost. The man in front of her was equally surprised. After some time, he repeated with a blush.

"Prasad?"

Maya gulped. She felt something really odd.

Something about first sights. First meetings. Something on those lines...

"Are you the head priest?" she asked, taking the bowl of prasad from his hand.

"Yes. I am Hrishav, the head priest."

Maya had truly never expected to meet someone this exotic looking in a village that had no existence on the map. He had light ochre-brown eyes, a tanned complexion and long eyelashes like a pretty woman's. Maya felt the urge to compare him to Krishna.

"May I know your name?"

"I am Maya, an acquaintance of Aadi Babu."

The head priest sat across from her. He wore a pure snow-white dhoti and had a red uttariya over his left shoulder. A thin line of hair ran down from his chest to his navel, and Maya quickly looked away before her gaze could travel to points not meant for her to have a glimpse of.

She felt a sudden change in the ambience, even in her body. She could hear her heartbeats, going dhak dhak as in Bollywood movies, and her body feeling warm and her eyes fluttering a bit too frequently.

Maya thought it best to eat the prasad.

"When did you arrive?

"This morning. I was eager to visit this temple, so came after having my breakfast."

He smiled affably. "I have put Maa to sleep today. She will again wake up in the evening when I will serve her some snacks. You can meet her then, if you wish."

Maya wanted to giggle at his words. He spoke as if the goddess was his kid whom he would ask to have afternoon naps and feed snacks when she would wake up hungry.

"I shall meet her some other time. I feel too tired today."

"Oh! The puja is completed?"

Shekhar called them. Aadi Babu was following him. Maya got up alarmed, having noticed a sudden dullness over Uncle Aadi's face. His beady eyes didn't glimmer as before, and his lips were frowning. On seeing Maya though he regained his earlier composure and put up a smile.

"She wanted to interview you, Hrishav, and know more about the history of your family. She is writing an article on Devipuram for the Anandamurti magazine," Aadi said.

"Ah, I know about this magazine. I heard about it from my brother."

"I told her that your sister is a doctor, and your brother runs a business. I think she is impressed to know that unlike most men, you have taken up priesthood," Aadi said.

Blood swarmed to her cheeks. Maya's squeaky little heart was enjoying a newfound spring. "It is not something a man nowadays would choose. So I do support you for this unique decision."

Hrishav humbly bowed. "It was my duty as the eldest son. My path was well decided even before my birth."

Maya felt herself being pulled to look into his eyes. They were so charming and magnetic. As he talked with the other three men, Maya gladly observed him– his dimples, his thick brows, or his shyama hair.

Just don't jump into the ocean for him, okay?

And anyways her parents would not want her to marry a priest, that too of some small village. This was an impossible union.

"Let me show you the shrines. There are the idols of many more deities there. Come with me."

And like a happy girl Maya followed Hrishav, and like a fortunate man Hrishav showed her the way.

****

Maya flopped over her bed without even changing. She felt tired after being in the sun for such a long time. Hrishav had earnestly pleaded with her to stay, and that tinge of red on his cheeks and the nervous, timid smile forced her to give in. Thus she came back to the house really late, almost at five o'clock in the evening.

The next two hours went along with mundane life. Maya jotted down the experiences of her first day in Devipuram, called her boss to inform him that she was positive about her stay here, and then gossiped with her mother. The mother and daughter were having a funny, good time when sounds of sobbing and shouting from the floor underneath caught her attention. Immediately she cut the call and went down.

A plump woman with a bulbous nose was sobbing as Nathu was scolding her. Aadi Babu tried to pacify the man. Maya felt shocked too– the otherwise shy and sublime Nathu, as she had deciphered him to be based on first impressions, turned out to be capable of fuming.

"Why did you go there again? Don't you know that she doesn't belong to our level now?"

"Love knows no bounds, Nathu. I love her as much as I love you."

"You don't love me!" He banged his fist on the wall. "You don't think about our reputation. We might not be well off but at least we have respect in the society!"

"Nathu, don't shout at her," Aadi Babu intervened. "And Anandi, you will have to cut ties with her. How long will you go on meeting her in secret?"

"What is the matter here?"

The three adults turned to Maya. Each was taken aback at the sight of her.

"Well, you all were talking loudly enough for me to have heard the stuff. It's a complex situation, you know."

Maya cleverly pretended to have heard the whole conversation. Aadi began sweating, while Anandi hid her face behind her aanchal.

"Now what will memsaheb think? That we sit and eat with veshyas?" Nathu thundered.

What?

"But she is my cousin," Anandi said. "We have always been so close."

Maya's mouth hung open.

"But she did drugs, Anandi!" Aadi Babu shouted in a whisper. "She is to be blamed for her own fall. Recklessly spending money, being in bad company, and then being sold to be a veshya. Why, it's only karma!"

"But Lalita is feeling guilty," Anandi defended her cousin. She hiccuped between her incessant sobs. "She repents for it. They don't even let her enter the temple."

Nathu rubbed his eyes. Maya noticed that he was getting emotional too.

"Did you all love her?" Maya asked somewhat meekly, shuffling her feet. "I hope I am not intruding."

"You have heard it all. What's the use of hiding now?"

"Right, Aadi Babu," Nathu said. "Memsaheb should know with whom she lives, whose cooked food she eats!"

"You aren't impure, and neither Anandi," Aadi Babu whispered.

"And for that matter," Maya interrupted. "Lalita's soul is also pure. The aatma is untainted, Nathu."

Nathu gritted his teeth. "She has sinned. She is suffering for those sins. And we cannot help a sinner."

"But one can always help one redeem." Maya walked up to him and looked into his eyes. "I don't know everything, but all I can say is, if a person has understood his or her mistakes, the world should help them stand up on their feet."

"But wisdom is shunned here. No one will look at us with good eyes if we try to be humane."

"I don't need anybody's approval for visiting her," Anandi said, gathering her courage after hearing Maya. "She is close to me. She always was. Yes, she didn't ever listen to my advice and her life went downhill. But now she needs help. I cannot bring her out of prostitution but I can give her food and money."

"I am not giving my part of the salary. Share yours."

"I have never asked you to give me your money."

"Ugh! Now shut up, you two. Shame on you!" Aadi hurled at the couple. "This isn't how you should behave."

Anandi wiped her tears and looked at Maya. "Is she going to live with us?"

"Yes. She is Aadi Babu's guest. She is very educated."

Maya felt as though Nathu said this to poke his wife and remind themselves that Maya was above them.

Nathu huffed, twisting his lips. The poor woman batted her eyelashes. "I am sorry, Nathu. Now don't be so angry with me, please."

He still stared at the walls.

"Please."

Anandi held his hand until Nathu's shoulders finally slumped.

"Can we have a good meal after this tense fight?" Maya asked jovially. "Don't argue with each other. Sort it out gently. I am sure you two will find a way."

"Memsaheb is understanding. She knows how a woman is."

"You should not be this soft, Anandi. I am your husband. I am worried for your security."

"Fine," Aadi whined. "Now let's eat and talk about better things."

Nathu went towards the kitchen and Aadi, while shaking his head, said he would come after having a shower.

Maya caressed Anandi's cheeks. "Don't cry. I understand it is tough."

"It gets difficult to balance. I love both Nathu and Lalita, and I cannot choose one."

Maya heaved a sigh. Then, suddenly, an idea struck her. "Anandi, where do the veshyas live?"

"In the slums near the outskirts of Devipuram, close to the borders of the forest."

Maya thanked her for the information and went towards the dining table.

She just knew what she had to highlight in her article.