Diwakar Jalaan was a very happy man this afternoon. It had been a long time since he had had the pleasure to talk to such a brilliant young mind that held so much potential. And even more than that, a student who appreciated the subject for its own sake, and not for the rewards it would fetch him.

"So it's decided, the meetings will be held twice a week," he said. "And we can discuss the detailed study plan in our next meeting."

Prithvi nodded.

The professor hesitated for a minute. "I wanted to ask you this before but it slipped my mind. You have a strong resemblance to someone I knew a long time ago...and your name..." he looked down at the forms in front of him, "it's familiar..."

Then he looked up straight at Prithvi, who knew exactly what was coming.

"Are you related to Adityaraj Singh Rathod?"

Prithvi didn't answer for a long moment. And then just when the professor was staring to think that he had asked a wrong question, he responded.

"He was my father," Prithvi said unemotionally.

"I knew it!" Jalaan exclaimed.  "You are so much like him, and not just in your appearance, your personality too. I met him very long back, when he was only a few years older than you are at present. And we only interacted once, but his personality was such that a single meeting was enough to impress itself on the mind."

"I couldn't believe it when I heard of his family background. You would never have deduced it from his behaviour. He treated the lowliest of people with utmost courtesy and respect, and even though he was younger than me, I am not ashamed to say that I was inspired by him," Jalaan beamed. "And he had such a magnetic personality! He would just walk into a room and everyone's eyes would be on him. But unfortunately, I could not interact with him again." He sighed heavily. Then he looked up at Prithvi hopefully, "Is he in Shamli too? I would like to speak with him again."

"That might be a little difficult," Prithvi said dryly. "He's been dead for almost 20 years now."

"Dead!" Jalaan repeated in shock. "But he must have been so young! How did he..."

"Accident," Prithvi replied tersely.

The professor waited expectantly for more details, but Prithvi met his enquiring gaze in silence.

Seeing that no more details were forthcoming and assuming that the boy was finding the topic too distressing to discuss, the professor sympathetically said, "I understand it must be very painful to talk about your father."

"Not really," Prithvi said impassively. "I didn't know him at all, so it doesn't make a difference."

Jalaan was a little taken aback at the apathy in his voice, but then he could see the logic in what the boy had said. Prithvi must not have been even a year old when Adityaraj passed away, so his unsentimental attitude was perfectly understandable. And sensing that Prithvi did not wish to discuss his father anymore, he moved to more practical topics.

 "The principal wishes to meet you. And after that we'll have a walk around the institution. I'm sure that will put to rest any doubts you may still have about joining this college over so many others," he said proudly.

Prithvi looked at the elderly man smiling at him with so much hope that he would soon be convinced that he had made right decision in coming to Shamli. Little did the professor know that almost nothing could convince him of that...

*********************

 Nandini had managed to reach her class just before the lecturer and sat in the first empty spot she saw in the front benches. Then she had speedily scanned the faces in the back rows for her friends. But they were nowhere to be seen.

Nandini wondered where they were. It was very unlikely that both would have taken leave on the same day. Had something happened on their way to college, she wondered fearfully. 10 minutes had gone past when Nishi and Vrinda came running up to the door and upon receiving a curt nod from the professor they hurried into class and sat in one of the benches at the back.

Once lecture was over, they came to where Nandini had been sitting. Nishi sat down on her left and Vrinda on her right.

"Where were both of you?"

"Nishi's car broke down. I am so happy it did," Vrinda said ecstatically and Nishi also smiled dreamily.

Nandini looked at her friends in total bemusement. "Why was that a good thing?"

"Suvek!" Vrinda yelped. "When we were coming to class, he saw us and actually talked to us."

"Congratulations you two!" Nandini grinned.

"But that's not the important part, Nandini," Nishi said enigmatically. "You haven't heard the exciting portion."

"You mean something more wonderful happened?" Nandini laughed.

"Yes...simply wonderful," Vrinda sighed and then gave her a victorious smile. "He was only talking about you, Nandini."

"About me?" Nandini asked, surprised. "What was he talking about me?"

Nishi started to answer when Vrinda shushed her briskly. "I want to tell her!" she said mulishly.

"Fine," Nishi snapped, looking put out.

Nandini smiled and put a comforting arm around her. "That's okay, Nishi. I'll listen to her version and then you can tell me what actually happened," she said with a mischievous sidelong glance at Vrinda, and they both giggled.

 "I'll tell you the truth too," Vrinda claimed, and lifted Nandini's other arm and put it around her shoulders. 

 "I know you will," Nandini smiled affectionately. "So tell me with all your special effects."

Vrinda beamed and began her story with relish. "Well....Nishi and I were almost running to reach class and just then we saw Suvek coming from the other side with two friends. So naturally we stopped, and we thought he'll just smile and walk past. But then he actually came to chat with us."

Nishi looked at her watch. "We have another lecture in 10 minutes on the ground floor. Lets go, we can talk on the way."

The three girls moved out of class and started to walk down the corridor.

"So where was I..." Vrinda frowned, "Oh yes! So he came up to us and then -"

She abruptly stopped talking, and stopped dead. Puzzled, Nandini and Nishi followed her hypnotized gaze. Prithvi was walking down the steps with the professor. They were deep in conversation and he did not see Nandini.

Nishi looked as entranced as Vrinda, and a couple of other girls also were gawking.

Nandini looked from one friend to the other, chuckling.

"Who on earth is that," Vrinda asked dazedly, once the two men had gone down the stairs.

"That's Prithvi," Nandini chirped.

Her friends turned to look at her disbelievingly.

"That's Prithvi?" Nishi asked feebly.

Nandini nodded.

Vrinda turned Nandini around to face her with an unusually serious expression and grasped her by the shoulders. "You listen to me, Nandini. You must befriend him, no matter what he says or does, no matter how mean he may be. You will not give up...you hear me, girl."

 "Calm down, Vrinda," Nandini said, alarmed.

Vrinda took a few deep calming breaths. "I'm fine now, I'm fine...Sorry, got a little carried away," she said sheepishly.

"Little?" Nishi asked sarcastically.

"So what were you saying about Suvek."

"Suvek?" Vrinda asked in disgust. "Who's that! Forget him." 

Nandini shook her head in amusement.

"You are so lucky, Nandini," Nishi said enviously. "Your aunt wants you to befriend a guy who looks like that."

"I wish I had an aunt like that," Vrinda moaned. "All my aunt does is tell me that no one will marry me if I don't mend my ways and learn how to cook and do all that household stuff."

"It's not only your aunt who says such a thing, Vrinda," Nishi consoled her.

Vrinda looked at Nishi sympathetically. "Does your aunt also tell you that no one will want to marry you?"

"No, she tells me that your friend Vrinda will never find anyone who would want to marry her," she retorted and then ran in circles around Nandini, who was laughing helplessly, while Vrinda chased her.

***********************

Sumer Singh went up to Prithvi's room with a cup of tea, and found him standing at the window, gazing outside.

"Tea, my lord."

"You can keep it on the table, Baba."

Sumer Singh set the cup down on the table and started to walk away.

"The professor knew father."

Sumer Singh froze in mid-step, then turned around and saw that Prithvi was still looking outside. "He knew your father? But how...when did he meet him?

"I didn't ask for details," Prithvi said tersely. "He said he had met him many years ago, but had not seen him since. He didn't know that father was no more."

 Sumer Singh hesitated and then asked a little tensely, "What did he say...about...him?"

"What everyone else – almost everyone - says," Prithvi said dismissively and then was quiet for a short while.

"Baba.."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Was he really the way everyone says he was..." he asked offhandedly.

But his tone did not fool the elderly man, who looked at him lovingly, and felt his heart contract at the longing behind the casual question to know the truth and believe it.

"He was much more, Prithvi. Much more than anyone can say or describe," Sumer Singh said in a slightly trembling voice.

Prithvi didn't respond, and then turned around and said briskly, "There was a message from the ashram today. I must leave for a few days."

The abrupt change of subject did not surprise Sumer Singh. But the new topic seemed to make him slightly angry.

 "What do they need now? And why do they come running to you whenever they hit a roadblock. When will they learn to handle their problems themselves?"

"It must be something difficult, Baba. They would not have asked me to come otherwise."

"But you will not go this time. I will go in your place and take care of whatever it is they are facing."

"But -"

"No, my lord. It's decided," Sumer Singh said firmly. "This is why you couldn't take admission sooner. And you've just started with the course. I will not let them interfere with your studies again."

**************************

Nandini quickly freshened up and had her lunch after reaching from college, as her tuition children would be arriving soon. They were coming after a break of some days and from now on tuitions would be held three days a week till their final exams.

Sarojini sat by her side while she was eating. "Nandini, Sumer Singhji told your grandfather this morning that he has found three cardboard boxes under a bed in one of the bedrooms on the ground floor. He wants us to check if they hold any items of value and if not, he said he'll dispose them off. After your tuitions, just go to Ayodhya and see what is in the boxes."

"Okay maa," Nandini replied and then speedily finished with the food and cleaned up the kitchen.

The four students came in at 3:00, two boys and two girls. They laughed, fought over who would sit next to Nandini, and blamed each other for real and imaginary pranks to prove themselves as saints in the eyes of their much loved teacher. Nandini played around with them happily for some time, and then finally settled down to some serious studying.

An hour and a half later the students were leaving, and Nandini walked over to the gate with them, making them promise to do their homework. Then she made her way to the adjacent house and rang the bell. After two minutes, Sumer Singh opened the door and invited her in warmly. Prithvi was sitting at the huge dinner table, which had huge opened books covering its surface, writing something. He was still dressed in the navy blue shirt and jeans that he had worn to college.

"Hi Prithvi," she greeted cheerily. "So how did your first day go? Did you like our college? And did you look for me in the canteen?"

"Do the job you came for and go away," he returned without pausing in his writing.

Sumer Singh started to chide him but Nandini whispered, "It's alright, uncle. I've become used to how rude he is."

Prithvi took a break from his papers to glower at her and Sumer Singh laughed. Then he took her to the little room by the side of the kitchen, showed her the three big boxes that were lying between the bed and the table, and left to give her some privacy to go through her family's belongings. He had kept an extra cardboard box for her to carry the valuable articles if any back to her house.

Nandini thanked him, sat down on the floor cross-legged, and began sorting through the items. An hour later she had finished going through the boxes. There were some old newspapers, a few diaries, and many ancient toys that had belonged to her, Prakash and some even to their father. A few were broken and would have to be discarded. But a number of them were in good condition. She decided to take these and distribute them among the children of some relatively poor neighbours. Then she studied the diaries. All of them seemed to be her grandfather's. Three of them held day-to-day accounts of their family's expenditure and income. The fourth one was different. She glanced through it and saw that most pages were blank, but there was some writing here and there, scattered through the book.

"Did you manage to find them, Nandini?"

Startled from her musings, Nandini looked up from the diary to see Prithvi standing at the door, leaning against the door frame, with his arms crossed. She hadn't heard him arrive and wondered if he had been standing there for a while, watching her. The thought was strangely disconcerting, but she managed to cover up her confusion and with a puzzled smile asked, "Find what?"

"Your adoption papers, what else."

"Adoption papers?" Nandini repeated, horrified. "But I am not – why would you say such a thing?"

"Well, the rest of your family seems alright. So, I guessed they must have picked you up from somewhere," Prithvi shrugged.

Nandini sighed in exasperation. "Can't you ever be nice to me? Things could be so much easier for both of us if you were not so mean to me all the time," she said forlornly and placed the old diary into the box along with the others.

"And to think I had just forgiven you for that awful joke you played on me yesterday," she added resentfully, "Do you know how much that hurt me?"

She was putting all the other good articles she had found into the cardboard box, and did not see the fleeting look of amusement that passed across Prithvi's face at her words.

 "Now that you've raised the topic," Prithvi said slowly, "there was something I'd like to know about yesterday evening."

Surprised at his tone that didn't sound sarcastic, angry or frustrated with her for the first time, Nandini looked up again and suddenly felt a little nervous.

Prithvi was no longer standing at the door; he was walking into the room. He strolled over to the table and leaned against it casually, and rested his dark eyes on her beautiful, upturned face.

 "What do want to know?" Nandini inquired apprehensively from her seat on the floor.

"Why did you get so upset when I said we were going to shift from here that you seemed all set to shed crocodile tears?" he asked interestedly.

Nandini stared at him, bewildered and feeling oddly discomfited at the question. She had been partly resigned to the fact that he was probably going to mock her again with some comment, but this query had caught her totally unawares. Why was he asking her this? And he had known that she had been very close to weeping yesterday...

Nandini shifted uncomfortably under Prithvi's steady gaze, while he waited for his answer. "I - I was upset because...because...I thought you were leaving because of me," she managed to say somehow, and then wondered why she felt a guilty pang as though it were a lie.

"So it would have been alright if we were leaving for some other reason?"

"No, that's not what I meant," Nandini said hastily, feeling more and more flustered with each passing moment. "I didn't want you – I mean – you and uncle," she amended hurriedly, "to shift from here for any reason."

A split second later, her ivory complexion turned pink as she belatedly realized the significance of what she had just said in a rush.

Helpless to stop the color that swept across her face, Nandini looked down into the box, trying to pretend like she was searching for something in it, and praying feverishly to find a way out of this soup she had landed herself into.

"That's very interesting," Prithvi said contemplatively, "and why didn't you want us to move from here for any reason, Nandini?"

Nandini, who was still peering into the box to hide her blush, squeezed her eyes shut, wishing with all her heart that she could disappear into thin air. She could have said it was because they were Rajesh uncle's friends, but that wouldn't explain why she had wanted to cry at the thought of them leaving...she felt wretchedly as though she had been caught in a trap.

And Nandini decided that there was only one course of action left to her.

She quickly picked up all the remaining small articles together, put them into the box and got up to her feet hurriedly with it. And still not meeting his eyes, she mumbled, "I have to leave now."

But she had just taken a step, when with astonishing speed Prithvi moved away from the table and stood blocking her way. Alarmed and feeling unaccountably panicky, Nandini rapidly went back a couple of steps.

"Leave?" Prithvi asked in surprise. "Why do you want to leave? Don't you think this discussion is getting very interesting?"

Nandini scouted desperately in her mind for some reason to give...but it was difficult to think with a heart that was pounding, and this time there was no veil to conceal her flushed appearance from his piercing gaze.

"I need to...I mean I have to...to do some college work," she said agitatedly, keeping her eyes lowered.

"But we were just getting to be friends, Nandini," Prithvi said seriously. "Isn't that what you've wanted from the start?"

"I do...but I'll – we'll talk some other time," she begged, "I really have to go."

"That's too bad," he said with a regretful sigh, "but if you have to go then there is no other way." And he shifted to one side to let her pass.

Relieved beyond belief, Nandini mumbled a thanks and walked past him and out of the room as fast as she could without actually running.

"Nandini..."

Nandini, who was nearing the door, turned around anxiously. Prithvi had also made his way into the living room.

"Did I forget something?" she asked uneasily.

"No, I just wanted to say that do come whenever you have some free time," he said seriously.

"You know," he went on, not taking his amused glance away from her face that was clouded with innocent confusion and anxiety, "So, we can continue our discussion."

"Continue...the...discussion," Nandini repeated weakly. "I...errrr...I'll...I have to go," she said vaguely.

"Alright," Prithvi nodded. "But don't forget to come again soon."

He waited till Nandini had spun around and almost run out of the house. And then turned around to go upstairs, grinning to himself and muttering, "Should have thought of that long ago." 

**************************

Sumer Singh was tidying up his room when he walked into it.

"You seem pleased about something, my lord," Sumer Singh smiled.

"It's not much," Prithvi shrugged, "I just found the solution to a small, but irritating, problem."

Wrongly assuming that it had something to do with his studies, Sumer Singh didn't ask Prithvi what the problem was. "Well done, my lord."

"The solution is not permanent, Baba" Prithvi said mysteriously, "just a temporary one. But I think I'll be at peace for a few days at least."

Sumer Singh was a little perplexed but didn't interrogate. "Has Nandini left, my lord."

"Just a few minutes ago."

"You did not say anything nasty to her again, did you?" Sumer Singh asked sternly.

"Trust me, Baba," he grinned, "I've never been nicer."

**************************************