"I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning, my lord. The flight is at 8. Do you need me to purchase anything from here?" Sumer Singh asked.

"No, so you'll be here by afternoon, I suppose."

"Yes, latest by around 1 o'clock," Sumer Singh hesitated. He knew Prithvi's decisions were as inflexible as his nature. But he had to try at least once to change his ward's mind. "My lord, are you still sure you wish to reallocate from Ayodhya..." he enquired in a low voice.

"What are you talking about, Baba? Move where?" Prithvi asked unperturbedly, leaning against the compound wall and idly studying the bustling scene in the midst of the square in front of the house.

Confused, Sumer Singh tried again. "My lord….you had called me day before yesterday and said you wanted to shift from Ayodhya, hadn't you?"

"Old age is getting to you, Baba," Prithvi said seriously. "I didn't do anything of that sort."

"But- But my lord, you did call me and say….you said you didn't want to put Nandini and her family in danger by staying there…I remember that clearly," the elderly man said urgently.

"Your mind is playing tricks, Baba. All because of old age, of course. It happens sometimes," a grave voice on the other line said. "Don't worry, and have a safe journey."

Sumer Singh listened to the engaged tone on the phone, still baffled by the conversation. Had he really imagined the conversation that night? After all, he had been asleep when he had received the call. But he remembered every word of that terrible call. So why was Prithvi pretending that the talk had never happened, and what had changed Prithvi's mind so soon. Or had he actually dreamt the whole thing?

But why was he worrying about it….everything had turned out for the best. They were not going to move away from the house.

Sumer Singh smiled as he felt a dreadful load being lifted off his chest .


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

Nandini reached the bottom of the steps, halted and took a deep breath. Why was she feeling so nervous, she thought distractedly….she was only going to going for a walk with Prithvi….it wasn't anything to be anxious about….so why were her hands clammy and her throat dry….

Would he like the fact that she had opened her hair….would he even notice it….

She sighed and walked across the room towards the door, resisting the urge to check her reflection in the mirror again. He was waiting outside the gates, with his back to her, and he seemed to be talking on the phone.

"Nandini, are you going outside?"

Nandini swung around and saw her mother come from her grandfather's room with some packets of camphor in hand.

She nodded uneasily. "Yes, I – I thought I'll just -," she began, feeling stupidly guilty and badly wanting to tell her mother that she was going for a walk with Prithvi but feeling embarrassed to say it.

"Could you take this camphor and give them to your grandfather on your way," Sarojini asked, holding out the packets.

"Sure, ma, I'll give them to grandpa. And actually I'm going with - "

The phone started ringing, and Sarojini hurried to the stand to answer it. Nandini waited indecisively, but as she watched, her mother got into excited conversation with her cousin sister and Nandini's aunt. Knowing that her mother wouldn't be keeping the phone anytime soon, she turned around and walked towards the door slowly.

As she stepped out the door, Prithvi turned around, returning the phone to his pocket with a grin on his handsome face. But as his eyes fell on her, the grin gradually faded away, and Nandini felt her already warm cheeks starting to flame as his gaze casually followed the silken hair flowing around her shoulders and falling below her arms….

Feeling confused and strangely breathless, she pretended to be looking for her slippers to evade his appraisal, and so didn't see the sudden faint gleam of something possessive that blazed in his eyes for an instant.

When she looked up again, he was standing with a very bored air and she hurried over to him before he could become irritable and change his mind.

"So where are we going?" he asked disinterestedly when she reached him.

"I have to go to the temple to give grandpa this camphor. You haven't been inside the temple so far, have you? You can come now," she said, her face radiant with enthusiasm.

"No, I'm not interested in visiting temples. I'll wait outside," he said evenly.

"Alright," she smiled, covering up her disappointment, and they began to walk towards the temple in silence.

Nandini struggled to think of something to say, to start a conversation. But, without warning, her mind flew back in time to an extraordinary night some months ago…when she had walked across this very land towards the temple….and had come out to see a stranger standing beneath a tree…

He had said he didn't like visiting temples; but that night he had been praying outside….she was sure of it…. she knew he had absolutely no recollection of the unexpected meeting that night ….but then she was also sure that her imagination wasn't good enough to have conjured it up ….

He didn't remember it and she couldn't forget it, Nandini thought and sighed imperceptibly. Why was she thinking of it again….it had just been a chance meeting….so commonplace that only a fool like her would have thought it special.

Nandini realized with a start that they were very near the entrance to the temple, and they hadn't spoken a word as yet. That was quite natural for him, but why was she behaving like she had something stuck in her throat. He must already be wondering what he had let himself in for by coming with her.

When they were at the door, she turned to him nervously. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Fine," he said, and leaving him standing outside, she entered the temple's precincts. She handed over the camphor to grandfather, offered her prayers to the deity and hurried back towards the outside.

Prithvi had been standing beneath a huge tree, with his arms crossed and dark head lowered in thought. As she reached the entrance, he looked up and Nandini came to an abrupt halt, transfixed by an unexpected jolt of emotion as she met his silent gaze.

She didn't have any lamp in hand, and it was broad daylight….but apart from that two months may not have passed at all…He was standing below the banyan tree, and she was at the door….just like they had been standing that night…. And once again, he didn't say anything, but simply stared at her.

Then a woman brushed past her on her way out and Nandini was shaken out of the strange spell of the moment. She quickly looked away, and stepped outside, and then stole another glance at him. He was looking elsewhere himself, and his fair face seemed to be slightly flushed…perhaps because he had been standing in the early afternoon sun.

"Where are we going?" he asked abruptly.

"I- I thought we'll just go this way…it's the prettiest part of this locality," she said uneasily, wringing her hands in tension.

"Your grandfather said the temple has been in your family for hundreds of years," he said, as they began walking in the direction she had indicated. "But I suppose that was just another of his tales, because this building can't be more than 22-23 years old."

"That's just how old it is," she said, impressed by the accurate estimate, and forgetting the awkwardness in the atmosphere. "How did you know its exact age?"

"Because I have eyes and a brain."

"And don't forget, you have so much humility too," she said enthusiastically.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" he asked irritably.

Nandini chuckled. ""He wasn't making it up. The idol inside this temple is more than 400 years old…..but this isn't the original shrine. The actual one was also small, but ma says it was a very famous temple. People used to come from all over the country to offer their prayers, and the temple festival was a beautiful sight to behold," she said wistfully.

"So what happened to it?"

"We were forced to abandon it," she sighed, "and move the idol to this new temple. The old shrine has been locked for more than 20 years. No one even goes near that area now. Prakash and I have only been able to look it from the outside. I wish I could just see the inside once," Nandini said sadly.

"But why was the temple closed down?" Prithvi frowned.

"I'm not really sure," she replied thoughtfully. "Grandpa doesn't talk and he becomes sad if anyone asks him about it….so I never tried to find out. Even ma doesn't know the whole story properly. Whatever transpired….it took place before her marriage, and grandfather…and my father also didn't like to talk about it."

"Nandini!"

Nandini and Prithvi turned around to see a woman standing with a little girl in the courtyard of a pretty house at a distance away, waving at her happily.

Nandini grinned and waved back, and threw the girl a flying kiss, the girl giggled and gave her a kiss in return. When the mother and daughter had gone back into the house, they resumed their walk.

"That was Joshi uncle's house. He, his wife and their daughter live with his parents," Nandini said animatedly. "He is a very good singer and whenever we have any functions here he sings old hindi songs. His wife is also a kindergarten teacher like ma. Bose uncle stays in this house, and he just loves to eat sweets. When he comes home with his family, we make sure we have lots of delicacies. Prakash's friend Manish stays in that house, he is very naughty but is really intelligent and always tops the class. And that building there is the –" she finally stopped her monologue to see him looking intently at the swanky watch on his hand

"Am I making you late?" she asked uncertainly. "I don't want to come in between any work you have."

"No, I was just trying to see how long you could talk without pausing to breathe," he said seriously. "Three minutes…I think you may have set a record."

"I don't talk so much and even if I do, that's only because you're not talking at all," she said indignantly.

"I don't need to say anything. You talk enough for a dozen people," he said dryly.

"That's not….well actually, that is true," she giggled ruefully, "But I only wanted you to know the people who live here and try and be friendly. You'll see how nice they are."

"Is there anyone in this world whom you don't think is nice?" he asked sarcastically.

Nandini grinned. "There wasn't anyone like that before…. But then, many weeks back, two people came to live next door to us," she said mischievously, "And one of them was very short-tempered and conceited, and he was always very mean to me."

"So that's what you think of Baba," Prithvi said thoughtfully. "He'll be terribly upset when he comes to know."

"I wasn't talking about Sumer uncle," she said, horrified at his deliberate misinterpretation of her words. "I was talking about you."

Prithvi shook his head regretfully, looking at her increasingly anxious expression. "It's too late to lie. Once Baba returns, I'll let him know what his precious Nandini thinks of him."

"Please, Prithvi….don't tell him anything like that," she said earnestly, genuinely worried.

"Of course I will. Because you see, the tenant you were actually talking about still finds you very irksome. And after all, like you said, he is very mean."

"No, no, he isn't," Nandini said quickly.

"Anyways, I feel like an hour of my life has been wasted with your useless talk about the dull people who live here."

"Dull?" Nandini said exasperatedly, "They aren't dull at all. They are all really nice and wonderful people. You haven't even tried to know them."

"Why do I need to?" he asked coolly, "I'm not going to be here long enough to care."

Nandini felt as though someone had doused her awake. He was right….why was she irritating him by talking about the people who lived here….how did it matter to him…he was only going to be here for some more days…

"I'd forgotten that," she said faintly, her eyes downcast.

"You forgot something you were waiting happily for?" he mocked.

Stricken with guilt and shock, Nandini looked at him beseechingly, and once again she was consumed by regret at the lie she had said in a fit of anger. "I'm sorry I said that, Prithvi. I really am…I didn't mean it," she said earnestly, with clear remorse and anguish in her beautiful eyes.

"It doesn't matter," he said indifferently, "Didn't make any difference to me or change anything."

Unwise tears were very close to spilling but she forced them back, and they walked in silence for some time.

"So where is this old temple of yours?" he asked after a pause.

"It is slightly inside that forested area near the ground next to our house. Do you want to see it?"

"I've already been half bored to death," he brooded, "so I suppose another few minutes won't make any difference."

Too glad that he was interested in something about her family's history and relieved at the change in topic, she ignored the jibe and pointed to a side road overgrown with vegetation. "We need to go this way then."

"I haven't been to the temple in some months now," she said cheerily, as she stepped over a tangle of weeds. "I used to come here with my father when I was little. He used to bring me here once a month, it was almost like a picnic. And he always used to carry fruits with him in case we felt hungry and we used to sit under a tree near the temple and talk about all silly things or he would tell me something about the flowers and trees in the forest."

"But the tree under which we sat was the only one in the area that he could not identify," she laughed. "And so he had come up with the story that it was a tree from heaven, and would only flower when something miraculous and wonderful was going to happen."

And Nandini stopped in her tracks as memories flooded her mind….

Suddenly, she was 9 years old again and her father was helping her over the rough road, talking and pointing out flowers and small creatures, and then unexpectedly bursting into a song to make her laugh….

"What's wrong?"

Startled, Nandini swung around to see Prithvi looking at her curiously.

"Nothing," Nandini tried to smile, though she didn't meet his gaze so he wouldn't see the sheen of moisture in her eyes.

"We can go back if you wish," he said, studying her pale face, and somehow looking as though he had sensed the reason for her sudden gloom.

"No, I'm alright, and we've almost reached...the temple is just around that bend in the road.

Prithvi had been walking at an arms distance from her so far. But as they began walking again, he silently moved closer to the visibly distressed girl, though he was still careful not to let his hand graze against hers.

As they passed the bend, a clearing that was almost circular in nature came into sight. And in the midst of this area stood a grey stone temple, ancient and weathered by hundreds of years of sun, wind and rain.

There were weeds growing in between some cracks in the stone, and the ground in front of the structure was overgrown with grass. And yet….the magnificent building seemed to exude an unmistakable aura of spiritual power…..its facade enchanting enough to almost mesmerize the senses. The door to the temple was barricaded with a huge lock, which was wrapped with countless amulets and talismans.

The girl and the boy halted in their tracks, and stared at the structure in silence. In the comfortable warmth of the sun's rays, a cool and scented breeze was playing around the surrounding trees and plants, while multicoloured butterflies flitted across the grass and the wild flowers that were growing abundantly all over the place.

"It's beautiful, isn't it," Nandini said softly, turning to look at Prithvi. He didn't respond, but continued to stare at the temple's walls, looking strangely disturbed.

He slowly moved a few steps ahead, his brilliant eyes taking in the haunting grandeur of the place….

"Why did they close it?" he asked after a few moments.

Nandini walked a little ahead herself, and tried to remember everything her mother had told her.

"Ma only knows that one day seven priests from a distant place came to our house more than two decades ago. And they said that their astrological calculations had revealed that our temple had been desecrated by something evil that had happened there. My grandfather tried to argue that no such thing had happened, and that the temple was as sacred as ever. But they were very powerful and renowned priests and they warned my grandfather that many misfortunes would befall our family if we didn't close this temple," she said, looking at the padlocked door sorrowfully.

"They insisted that a new temple should be built and the idol should be taken out from the old temple and installed there," she continued. "There was a huge 2-day ritual ….and they locked the gates of the temple with many talismans. And they warned everyone not to ever open the doors and go inside…." She turned to look at him, and saw that he was staring at the walls, lost in some thoughts of his own.

Nandini swung around slowly on the spot and reveled in the splendor of the wilderness...and hundreds of more cherished memories came back to her...

She looked around for the tree that had been a witness to all fun-filled moments she had shared with her father….under which they would sit for hours while he told her amazing stories, enacting some of them hilariously.

Nandini walked towards the right hand side of the temple and then she saw it. She strolled towards the tree, vaguely registering that something was different about it.

And then it dawned on her…..what was different about the tree…

She stilled in shock and cried out in joyful surprise.

At the sound, Prithvi turned around swiftly, and speedily made his way towards her.

"What is it?" he demanded sharply, making rapid strides.

"That tree….I've never seen it bloom before," Nandini said delightedly and rushed towards the tall tree. The leafy branches were laden with dazzling white blossoms, and there was a carpet of flowers on the ground near its trunk too.

"You yelled for that!" Prithvi said furiously, and she turned around quickly. "I'm sorry about shouting like that," she said ruefully, "But its just that I've never seen it like this….I think it has flowered after a very long time….I'm sure it hasn't for more than 10 years."

"Fine, but don't do it again," he said curtly.

She happily spun around towards the tree again and ran towards it, while Prithvi also slowly strode in its direction.

Reaching its shade, Nandini picked up a flower and examined it ecstatically. "These flowers are so beautiful….white and lovely… I've never seen anything like them…and so fragrant too….But look at that one on that branch, it's unlike the rest. It's almost pink and looks so pretty. But it's so high up," she said forlornly, "I'll never be able to reach it. Anyway, I'll take some of these white flowers home…to show ma, grandpa and Prakash. They'll be so excited to know this…"

She went down on her knees, and holding up one end of her dupatta as a basket she began to pick up undamaged flowers from the ground.

"This is the tree my father and I used to sit under. He could never carry a tune, but used to sing loudly while we walked here just to make me laugh," she smiled at the memory, picking up the wild flowers and putting them one by one into the makeshift container made by the soft cotton garment.

A gigantic tree had fallen a little distance away, probably uprooted by a storm, and now Prithvi walked over to the fallen trunk and sat down on it, watching her amusedly.

"Once a vagabond was resting near the steps and he was woken up by my father's voice and he got really angry and yelled at us for disturbing his sleep, he almost got violent. My father waited for him to calm down and then offered him some of the fruits we had with us, and began asking him about his life. And after some time, he was singing along with my father too. And after he had left, my father said this was just proof that every person has some inherent goodness, and you only need to scratch the surface to discover someone's good side."

"There is rarely a good side to see," Prithvi said in a low voice.

"That's not true. Everyone has a good side, even you," she added impishly and chuckled.

"How do you know that?"

Nandini stopped in her activity and looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"How do you know I have a good side at all," he asked quietly, "with a brother like Indrajit and a father who…." he stopped mid-sentence and stared unseeingly at a spot on the ground.

He looked so alone, isolated from the rest of the world by an invisible but unyielding barrier…And Nandini felt so strong a rush of compassion and affection that she almost walked over to him and stroked his head….but she stifled the ludicrous urge…he would probably chew her hand away if she did anything like that.

Nandini walked over to the trunk and sat down far away from him, and when she looked at his striking profile, he suddenly appeared cold and remote. She felt her heart go out to him, and a tiny prickle in her eyes warned her that tears were close again.

How could he even think that he was anything like his brother….apart from their forbidding personalities, they were not similar in any way….

How could explain the feeling of utter safety and warmth she felt when she was with him, even when he had simply held her hand…or like that night when she had been in his arms….It had felt like she was secure in the middle of a circle of light and nothing could harm her.

How could she explain the absolute trust and faith that his presence inspired in those around him….She knew that for all of their arguments and spats, her grandfather had become genuinely very fond of him, as had her mother and Prakash. He hadn't told them about his plans to shift as yet, and she genuinely dreaded the day they would learn of it.

How could she talk about the happiness she felt when she saw him looking peaceful and content….

……and the confused tangle of emotions he could reduce her to with a gaze or a heart stopping grin.

Steeling herself to say what she was going to say, she stood up and nervously sat down at a feet's distance from him, half expecting him to get up and move away. But he didn't stir from his position.

"I don't know anything much about your brother….or your father," she said with a soft smile, "but I have a friend and I know some things about him…. I know that when he cares for someone he'll do anything for their happiness and comfort and to protect them. And though he can be very rude sometimes, he can also be very sweet. And even if he finds a girl extremely irritating, he would still risk his life to save her." she added with a twinkle in her black eyes. "What do you think of him now?"

"He sounds like as big an idiot as you," a red-faced Prithvi snapped, getting to his feet immediately.

Getting up herself, Nandini chortled and began following him, cradling the flower-filled bundle carefully.

"But you haven't let me finish my description," she said mischievously. "He always takes good care of me….and he is really thoughtful…..and did I mention that he is very sweet. So I don't want to hear anyone having anymore doubts about him"

"Shut up, Nandini," he said angrily, his fair face reddening all the more, and she laughed again.

"He can be very sarcastic and nasty, especially with me, and he plays unkind jokes too. And he also doesn't like talking too much and….but wait….was I telling you his good qualities or the bad ones," she wondered loudly, and giggled.

Prithvi turned around irritably and she immediately tried to look sorry and serious, but couldn't hold on to the expression and started chuckling again.

"I think I've dropped my wallet near that haunted house," he said coldly, "I'm going back there to check. And no – you wont be coming with me," he said grimly before she could say anything, "go back home."

"Alright," she said worriedly, "but be careful, there could be snakes there."

"I'll choose the snakes over you any day," he muttered audibly and strode back into the woods, ignoring her protests.

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

Nandini pushed open Vrindavan's gate with one hand, and stepped inside.
.
"Wait"

She turned around quizzically and saw Prithvi a few feet behind her. He had returned so soon, and she hadn't even heard him arrive.

"Did you find your wallet?" she asked, worriedly.

"Hmmm…These ones fell out of the bundle just now," he said brusquely, and she saw some flowers clenched in his fist.   

"I did? I was holding them all so carefully….but you picked these up for me, that was so sweet of you," she said, surprised and delighted, and opened the dupatta for him to drop the flowers into it.

"Stop calling me sweet," he said angrily, and tossing the flowers into her collection, he stalked past her into the house.

Laughing, Nandini followed him inside and saw him disappear into his room.

"Ma, look what I found," she called out cheerfully.

Sarojini came down the stairway and saw her daughter standing near the table and emptying the little bundle at the end of her dupatta onto a newspaper.

"Where did you find these flowers, Nandini? They are so pretty," Sarojini exclaimed, joining her daughter at the table.

"The tree near our old temple...it has flowered, ma," she replied, her face shining with excitement.

"But that tree has been barren for as long I remember! This is a miracle…but how did you happen to go there today, Nandini?"

"I told Prithvi about the temple and he said he would like to see it," Nandini said, blushing slightly at the half lie, "so I thought-"

"That was a very nice thing to do," her mother smiled, "Did he like it?"

"I don't know, I think he did," Nandini said thoughtfully, remembering the intensity with which he had regarded the temple.

There was a noise at the door, and they both turned to see Bhoothnath ambling into the room from the outside, looking sleepy and jaded.

"Father, look at these flowers. They're from the tree near the old temple...the one that hadn't bloomed for so many years," Sarojini smiled.

Bhootnath froze in his steps. "That tree...but never in more than 20 years has it….but who got these flowers?"

"Nandini had gone there today, and that's when she saw it."

He hobbled towards them and stared at the flowers, and when he looked up, his eyes were watery but a smile was lighting up his face.

"It's a sign," he croaked. "I know it is. The gods are telling us that the temple doors will open again...I know it."

Nandini took his wrinkled hand in her own. "I'm sure that day will come soon, grandpa," she said tenderly.

Grandfather joyfully clasped her to his chest, and then releasing her, he began to pick up the flowers and examine them one by one.

Sarojini wiped her cheeks with the edge of her sari. "This is a lucky day for us. I'll make something sweet to celebrate," she gushed and hurried off to the kitchen.

Prithvi came out of his room, and without looking at her, he picked up the massive radio from the floor near the TV and kept it on the small centre table in front of the sofa. Then he walked over to the table and picked up the implements needed for repairing it, and went back and sat down on the sofa in front of the radio.

As Nandini made to follow her mother into the kitchen, grandpa ponderingly said, "This flower is different. All others are white, but this one is a different colour."

She turned around and saw her grandfather scrutinizing a blossom. Bhoothnath held it out to her and dropped it into her outstretched palm.

It was exquisite….not white like the rest, but a pale shade of pink…and somehow it was more fragrant than the rest…

She had seen this flower back at the temple, but it had not been among the fallen blossoms….it had been on a branch that was so far above the ground, that she knew she would never be able to reach it. In her exhilaration, she had even remarked on its prettiness…. how had it come amongst the other flowers…unless, maybe….

With a racing heart, she glanced at Prithvi hesitantly…But he was busily disassembling the radio and didn't return her gaze, but his face seemed to be faintly red….She looked at the flower again….

And all of a sudden, it felt like the most precious thing on earth….

Bhoothnath looked at his granddaughter quizzically. She was staring at the flower in her hand, with a gentle and tender smile on her lips….her ivory skin had turned the deepest shade of pink….and her eyes seemed to be sparkling with pleasure….

"Nandini, what are you thinking about?" he asked, confusedly.

Nandini came to her senses with a start, and saw her grandfather peering at her. "Nothing, grandpa," she said, blushing all the more. "I'm…I'll just go and freshen up before the Tulsi pooja"

Nandini closed the door to her room, clambered onto the bed and pulled the pillow onto her lap. Her heart still pounding, she looked at the flower again….and felt overcome with shyness as she delicately stroked its velvety petals.

With a dancing smile in her eyes, she whispered, "Actually grandpa….I was just thinking…..that maybe one of your demigods gave me this flower." And she laughed and buried her crimson face in the pillow.

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