When? Why? How? Where? When? Why? How?

Nandini looked bemusedly at her eager friend. "Vrinda, shouldn't you leave a second for breathing in between all those questions?"

"Who cares about breathing!" Vrinda squealed. "I am just dying to know everything that has been happening between you and Prithvi?"

"Nothing has been happening between him and me," Nandini mumbled, blushing hard. She dearly wished she could have crossed her fingers, but it was impossible as her hands were currently residing on top the desk on her friend's demand.

"But that's not possible. You two looked so….so….right together," Vrinda said earnestly.

"That's just your imagination talking," Nandini said flippantly, trying to conceal her happiness. "I told you already. His bike was in the campus and he had to come by the bus. We met at the bus stop," she said, glad that she could be truthful about one thing at least. "And I didn't come with you two in the car because it would have been very bad manners to leave him alone like that."

"Really? That's all there is to the story?" Vrinda asked, highly disappointed.

"Yes, there isn't anything the way you think," Nandini said uncomfortably, and her glum friend finally settled into silence.

"There may not be anything between you two," Nishi began, causing Nandini to look at her hopefully, "But I just found it so cute - the way you both were walking together. Like Vrinda said, it just looked….right, you know."  

"You both are just being silly," Nandini smiled weakly, hating the subterfuge. She wouldn't be able to conceal the truth from them for long. The only question was how long …

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

A girl's sigh lingered in the air as an indifferent Prithvi walked down the corridor towards the stairway, after having spent a maddening hour with two overenthusiastic engineering professors in the staff room.

If she wasn't already waiting for him downstairs, he would drag her out of the classroom to get out of the college before any of the eccentric faculty members caught hold of him or any of those irritating girls asked him out again.

"Prithvi!"

That sickeningly familiar male voice was just the thing needed to complete the wreckage of his mood.

Ignoring the first few calls, he continued to walk towards the entrance. Then at a particularly loud yell, he clenched his teeth and turned.

"Long time since we've met. How are you doing?" Suvek enquired with forced courtesy as he walked up with a smile barely fixed to his face.

He had been thinking frantically for the past two and half hours and had decided that he may have simply imagined the nuances of the unpalatable scene he had witnessed.  It would be worthwhile to make a last ditch effort to become friends with Prithvi. It could help him find out whether anything was going on between Prithvi and Nandini, and it would also boost his popularity among the staff, considering the way the faculty was fawning over his rival.

"Had been doing nearly okay, but my day completely went into the dumps just a second ago," Prithvi retorted gloomily.

Suvek felt a moment's puzzlement before the implication of the statement dawned on him. He flushed with humiliation but determinedly carried on the conversation.

"My friends and I were just about to go to the canteen for some coffee. You should join us too," he said, striving to make the offer sound friendly.

"Thanks, but I've been trying to avoid it."

"You've been trying to avoid coffee? Any health issues?" Suvek asked, almost eagerly.

"I wasn't talking about coffee, I meant I'm trying to avoid you," Prithvi corrected.

He had had enough. No more of this. Appalled at the outright degradation he was being subjected to, Suvek finally gave vent to the bitter anger that had been burning up his insides for long.

"No one in this college messes with me until they want to thrown out of here, Prithvi" he said malignly. "The obsession that everyone in this institution has with you is temporary. Don't depend on that and mistakenly think that this is your college to behave any which way you like."

"Do I give the impression that I think this college is mine," Prithvi asked in surprise. "That's very insensitive of me. I shouldn't have forgotten that I had given it as alms to your family."

"You dare to talk like this because you don't know who I am and what I'm capable of-"

"You've been incapable of understanding until now that I find your sight nauseating. So you're right, I don't have any great hopes for you," Prithvi admitted.

"I was only trying to be friendly because Nandini's my friend. And it's my duty to make sure that she doesn't become friends with the wrong people in her innocence."

"I was wrong about you being a spineless piece of trash. You still are a piece of trash, but you do have nerve to tell me all of that, however foolish and fatal it may prove to be," Prithvi said amusedly. "But this conversation will have to end here, because I'm starting to get really bored."

Suvek felt the first beads of preparation on his face as the horrific threat uttered so casually sank into his mind.

Swallowing hard, he hoarsely said, "I want you to stop behaving as arrogantly as though you own this institution, and keep a distance from Nandini too if you know what's good -"

His voice fumbled as Prithvi's eyes turned into shards of ice, and he became aware that he was sweating profusely now. In a second, everything he had said seemed like the words on his own death warrant.

 "Let me simplify this for that single grey cell in your head," Prithvi said quietly, wintry rage simmering on the brilliant features. "This bit of land I'm standing on right now is mine, but only for the moment. Nandini is mine – forever. That's all you need to know and understand."

He turned on his heel, then halted and looked disdainfully at the pasty-looking youth in front of him. "And before I forget. I don't like the mere trace of something repulsive coming within miles of what's mine. Even a useless ass like you would have someone back home who cares for your wellbeing. Don't make them lose you for no reason at all."

The ruthless undercurrent in the tone and words chilled Suvek's spine, aggravating the unsteadiness in his legs. "You can't scare me off like that. I don't g-give up easily," he mumbled with a parched mouth.

"Then you must accept my condolences in advance," Prithvi smiled coldly. "Because you see….I don't give up….ever."

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

Nandini uneasily glanced behind at the small group of students. Prithvi's hand brushed against hers accidently, causing her to jump and she scuttled a little away.

"Should I move to the other side of the road? Will that make you happy?" he asked cynically.

"Please don't get angry now. I'm just nervous because I think those people at the back are staring at us," she said worriedly.

"That's not surprising, considering the way you keep jumping every time the distance between us becomes less than 5 feet," he said irately.

"Not five, just three," she said consolingly, and chuckled at his expression.

Just then a muffled movement to the right of the road caught their attention, and both came to a gradual halt, trying to decipher the source.

They found it without much trouble. Far off from the road, in the middle of the thicket, a man was leaning under a tree, with his back to them. Only the side of his head was visible, which was a nest of matted grey hair; the rest of his torso was covered with a blanket. How had the man wandered into this isolated place, Nandini wondered.

"He must be a drunk or worse," Prithvi said brusquely, almost answering her thoughts. "No beggar would be stupid enough to come to such a secluded place."

"I'm not sure why, but I don't think that man is a drunkard," Nandini said hesitantly.  She remembered the lunch box that her mother had packed for her. Since she was going home anyways, she might as well give the food away to the vagabond.

Just then the man shifted a little, and an ochre robe was visible underneath the blanket.

"I think that's a holy man," she said slowly.

"Ah yes, your favourite people – the religious conmen," Prithvi smirked.

"They are not always the same," she said exasperatedly, while excavating her bag for the steel box that held food.

"What are you doing?"

"Ma had packed some food for me in case we had all the lectures. I'll give it to that man there. He seems to be very old, and there isn't any place nearby from where he'll be able to get anything to eat."

"You stay here, I'll go and give it to him," Prithvi said sharply.

"So you can make fun of him? No, thank you," she said firmly. "You will stay here and think of good insults for me until I return."

"I already have 10 good ones ready," he rejoined.

Nandini giggled as she veered off the path and walked down the slight slope towards the old man.

When she reached the covered figure, she looked around for something she could empty the chappatis and vegetables, and perceived a rudimentary plate made of leaves near the man, almost covered by the blanket.

She went down on her knees, gently shifted the coverlet, and kept the food on the organic plate. Sensing the need to keep some money too, she had begun to hunt for the purse in the bag when the man spoke suddenly, startling her.

"I don't need money, the food is enough," a frail voice said, and the blanket slid down a little to reveal a dark, winkled face….an oddly familiar one.

Then all of a sudden, Nandini recalled where she had seen this man before. He had come to their locality weeks ago to beg for some food and clothes. She was struck anew by the luster on the craggy features, and the peacefulness radiating from the thin frame.

"But if you wish, you could keep a coin at the feet of the lord," he said hoarsely, shifting the blanket to reveal the framed pictures of some gods that had been set up against the trunk to his right.

Nandini smiled and nodded and dug out a coin from the side-pocket in her bag. She started to keep it near the photos, then paused and stood up.

"I'll be back right away," she assured the man and quickly walked up to the road where Prithvi was waiting with an impatient frown. She realized affectionately that he had been watching her like a hawk all the time.

She hurried to him, and standing on tiptoe, waved the coin around his head.

"What are you doing?" he spluttered, backing away.

"Removing the evil eye, now stand still," she said severely, and speedily repeated the action two more times. While he was still muttering furiously, she spun and walked to the tree, prayed for a moment and kept the coin in front of the gods.

Then she bowed down to the saint, and stood up. But before she moved away, the man spoke in a soft undertone.

"This depth of kindness and generosity are unusual in a girl so young. But there's more. Spiritual courage....and power to heal - not the body, but the heart and mind. A time will come, when you will have to call upon them. No matter what happens, you mustn't lose faith in yourself, and in your love."

Nandini stared at him in mute astonishment, unable to know what to make of the extraordinary remarks, and how to respond. Ultimately, she just nodded and began turning away.

"I have something that belongs to you," the saint continued kindly, stalling her steps with incredulity. He reached into the cloth bag near him, and pulled out something in a clenched fist. When he held out a gnarled hand, his thumb and index finger were grasping a red thread.

"But I hadn't tied one. Actually, I haven't tied one for months," she said timidly. She wanted to insist strongly that there had been a mistake, but those eyes were so compassionate, so wise, that the words remained stuck in her throat.

"You had tied it on a night some months ago. It had fallen off, don't you remember?"

Nandini almost stepped back in shock. Goosebumps rose on her hands and neck and her exquisite face reflected every bit of the stormy disbelief and confusion inside. She slowly extended a trembling hand and took the thread.

"Love can change everything. It can even bring the universe to its knees," the man said gently, and she looked at him in mingled awe and fear. "The world, however, can be cruel, and ignorant of its purity. But no matter the circumstance, you must never deny him the love in your heart…..he has had very little of it so far…."

"Nandini!"

Startled badly at the impatient snarl, Nandini twisted to see a rather angry looking young boy striding down the track towards her. A terrible ache swiftly spread through her chest and she had to battle tears as she watched Prithvi. But she forced herself to move before he reached them, not wanting him to mock the saint. She quickly put aside the thread into her bag, joined her palms and bowed again in respect to the old man, and then swirled to meet Prithvi midway.

"What was the deep conversation about and what did he give you? Did he ask you to marry him or something?" Prithvi asked irately, when they drew closer.

"Yes, he gave me a ring to propose but I told him he'd have to ask my grandfather permission first," she quipped, but even as she spoke, her hand looped around his warmly while she gently propelled him back towards the main road. It was the first time she had reached for his hand, and he looked at her in adorable confusion.

"What's with the sudden change in attitude?" he raised his brows.

"Those people from the college have moved ahead," Nandini said brightly, latching onto that excuse. She glanced back at the blanketed figure under the tree, thought of the thread in the bag, and fervently hoped that Prithvi would forget to ask her about the thing she had been handed over by the sage.

And suddenly, she couldn't wait any longer to know.

"Prithvi, before you came to stay here, had you ever been to Shamli?" she asked softly, gazing at him intently.

He had been looking at the approaching highway before she spoke, and his gaze remained fixed on the road after the question had been asked.

"Yes, only once. I had wanted to check the college out before joining it," he answered casually, after a moment's hesitation.

"So what happened during the trip?" she asked lightly, though any hope she had of hearing the truth was dwindling fast.

"Nothing much. I wasn't in any hurry to get back home. So I just wandered around for a while until the bus came," Prithvi said coolly.

She wondered fleetingly if he would turn the tables by demanding to know how she had known of that journey. It would be easy to get away temporarily by saying Sumer Singh had spoken of it.

But he didn't ask or say anything, and unwilling to prod further, she remained quiet until the slight awkwardness in the air receded, and companionable silence returned.

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

Sumer Singh held the sapling while Nandini turned over the soil carefully in the brick structure situated in the centre of Ayodhya's courtyard with a small hand shovel.

"I had been thinking about this for so long. We had a tulsi in our house when I was growing up, you know. But somehow I could never do it in our previous residences. Now seeing it being planted, I feel at peace," Sumer Singh said gladly. "Nandini, I'll do my best to take care of it but if I forget -"

"You don't need to worry about it, uncle. I'll take care of it, and I'll light the evening lamp too," she smiled.

"How blessed this house is….that your sweet steps will sanctify it every day," a spirited male voice said behind her and she jumped at the loud volume and spun around, as Sumer Singh muttered something about the devil.

Sankatmochan settled down on the steps with a huge packet of chips, beaming from ear to ear.

"Oh hi Mochi bhaiya," she greeted with a purposeful tint to the words.

Sankatmochan shrieked. The packet dropped from his hands, which he then used to cover his ears.

"Very good, Nandini," Sumer Singh said approvingly.

"Very good?" Sankatmochan exclaimed in shock. "It causes me physical agony when girls call me that."

"But this girl truly considers you her brother," Nandini insisted. "And I'm already feeling proud that my brother is going to become a famous author soon."

"You heard about my book?" Sankatmochan asked happily, picking up the packet again and apparently forgiving her for the crime she had committed. "It is all true. I am writing a book on the purity of love."

Sumer Singh snorted in disbelief.

"Such a wonderful topic to write upon," Nandini smiled, struggling not to laugh. So this was why Prithvi had been so embarrassed to talk about it….

"Isn't it? But its very hard work," Sankatmochan complained as Nandini turned her attention back to her task.

"Don't be disheartened, bhaiya. I'm sure all your effort will bear fruit," she said soothingly, whilst taking the sapling from Sumer Singh.

"Your faith has put new life into me," Sankatmochan announced. "But now I must change the topic slightly and enquire if Prithvi is aware of this 'planting-tulsi' event. Because he strongly dislikes these kinds of things," he warned as Nandini planted the seedling in the earth

"Prithvi will not object to this," Sumer Singh said confidently.

"Which means you hadn't told him in advance," Sankatmochan smirked.

"He'll surely not mind," Nandini said earnestly, albeit with not much certainty.

"I shall greatly enjoy the scene when he sees this," Sankatmochan said gleefully. "For once, I won't be at the receiving end."

As that ominous statement hung in the air, she abruptly felt the delicate tingling of her skin that was mysteriously connected with the arrival of the love of her life.

"You don't have to wait for long to see Prithvi's reaction, he's coming," Nandini sighed, leveling the earth around the sapling. "It's all done now, uncle."

When Sumer Singh didn't say anything, she turned to see him looking stunned. At the stinging silence at the back, she felt compelled to swing around. An astounded Prithvi was standing right behind Sankatmochan, who too appeared to be shocked.

"How did you know Prithvi was coming?" Sumer Singh asked after a minute.

"I – I heard him," Nandini stammered, disconcerted by the reaction to her simple statement.

"You didn't!" Prithvi said angrily. "You must have seen me when you turned to talk to Mochi."

To increase her bewilderment, Sankatmochan burst out laughing and Sumer Singh also chortled; although it did help break the tension.

"The poor girl is wondering what's wrong," Sumer Singh said sympathetically. "You don't have to be worried, Nandini. You see, when Prithvi was very young, I started teaching him how to move without making a sound. Just, just for fun," he clarified urgently. It was far from the truth. He had been forced to teach Prithvi that skill to keep him alive. "I had been trained in it during the time I was in the peacekeeping forces. And I used to make Prithvi practice it every day until it became second-nature to him."

"My dearest brother mastered the art so well," Sankatmochan carried on merrily, "that even his tutor has not been able to detect his steps since. So we were a little surprised when you did it."

"I'm telling you both it was just a fluke," Prithvi snapped, glowering at her.

"It was no fluke, I heard your steps loud and clear," Nandini protested earnestly, getting into the fun of it all in happy relief.

As the other two men laughed, she giggled at his angrily flushed face.

"Nandini,"

She turned around to see her mother standing at the door to Vrindavan. Sarojini smiled at the men, and then looked at her daughter.

"Nandini, if you've finished, go and keep the pickle jars on the terrace. I've kept both on the table."

"I'd told grandpa I'll help him with the books after this, but I'll do it in half an hour," Nandini said, walking towards her house through the small gate.

"Half an hour it is," Prithvi muttered under his breath, as Sumer Singh and Sankatmochan got into a squabble about the crumbs littering the steps.

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

The sun's crimson rays were becoming dim when Nandini stepped into the terrace with the second pickle jar in hand. She walked towards the corner overlooking the backyard, moving aside the clothes drying on the ropes with one hand. She had just set down the jar near the first one, when she experienced it again.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," she said out loud.

"You knew it again? But how?" Prithvi scowled darkly.

Nandini muffled a laugh and turned around and gave him a puzzled look.

"I don't know," she said innocently. "I was thinking about something, and suddenly -" her voice trailed away and she looked at him very worriedly, and then whispered, "Out of nowhere, all the elements of nature……"

Sheltered from external eyes in the protection offered by the drying clothes, she twirled lightly on the spot in front of his bemused eyes, and her luxuriant black locks shimmered in the light. "The earth, skies, fire, wind, rain….they all proclaimed – "Here Comes His Highness Prithviraj….the king of the world," she announced with exaggerated pompousness, and then gave a deep curtsy to complete the effect.

She looked up from the bow with mischief sparkling in her beautiful eyes, and laughed at the adorable sight of irritation fighting amusement on his charismatic features.

Then evidently deciding that whatever punishment he had to mete out for that rash act involved catching hold of her first, he swiftly moved towards her with a grim smile.

Nandini moved back a step and sternly wagged a reproving finger. "Hadn't you promised you'll stand 10 feet away from me?"

He halted and glared at her with frustrated eyes, and then moved back a couple of steps.

"Is this far enough for you? Or maybe I could ask the neighbours to let me stand on top of their houses to talk to you," he asked scathingly.

It was true that the clothes lines were giving ample cover, and nearby houses weren't very close by or as tall, because of which their terraces were lower and quite empty at present. But even so....

She looked at him in exasperation. "What if someone sees us?"

 "No can see us here," he dismissed her fears, "But you can put a lid on the paranoia. I'm leaving now, I had only come to –

"To prove that it was an accident that I knew you were nearby when we were downstairs, because you don't like the idea of a mere girl casting doubt on your expertise," she reasoned cheekily, and chuckled as angry smoke darkened his features.

"It isn't all that big a feat," Prithvi retorted tersely. "You've spent all of the past few days thinking about me, so such trivial hunches would be natural," he shrugged.

Nandini bristled at the casual arrogance of the statement, while also feeling more than a little self-conscious at the truth in it.  "I have not been thinking about you," she insisted, raising a stubborn chin, and sweetly added, "Why would I….when I have so many other people to dream about."

His face hardened with an abruptness that made her throat go dry, and she instantly wished she hadn't uttered such a lie. But it was too late. Before she could grasp what was happening, he clasped her arm and fiercely yanked her towards himself.

"I don't want to hear something like that again. Not even as a joke," he said roughly.

The grip of his fingers was agonising. Lost for words, Nandini looked at him with troubled eyes for a moment. She felt no alarm, only a funny twist in the heart at some unnamed sentiment in his features….

You must never deny him the love in your heart…..he has had very little of it so far…

She gazed at him searchingly as the old bittersweet ache alongside a rush of love flooded her heart.  Then she sighed impishly. "I wish I knew how to deal with that temper."

Prithvi's hands fell from her in a startling flash. "You don't have to deal with anything. You are still free to change your mind," he said grimly, and turned to walk away.

She clutched his arm around the elbow before he could move away. He looked away in annoyance, but didn't thrust her hand away. With an indulgent smile on her soft pink lips, she moved closer and hugged him warmly.

"Even if I change my mind, my heart won't agree," she whispered against his chest.

"You're worried about people noticing us talking. But this is okay?" Prithvi said grumpily, but his arms wound around her and cuddled her closer. His fingers caressed her right arm, silently apologising for the pain inflicted earlier.

Laughing softly, she tilted her lovely face upwards and looked at him with tender warmth.

"I've decided that I don't care if anyone sees how happy I am," she answered lovingly, and mischievously added, "But if you are looking for another terrace to stand on, I'm sure Neelu aunty would happily let you into her house."

"Don't talk about that woman!" Prithvi said, sounding sickened. "She is the most - She's been ambushing me almost every time I step out of the house. She even tried to pull my cheeks once and if Baba hadn't come in between I swear I would have – "

"She tried to pull your cheeks?" Nandini said in astonishment, and then as the imagination of the ludicrous scene and what might have followed had aunty succeeded, she started laughing.

"It's not funny!" he said irritably, flushing. And she was suddenly beset by the absurd, and very dangerous, impulse to pull a fair cheek herself.

 "No, it's not," she agreed in a choked voice, repressing her laughter.

"Prithvi! Where are you brother?" Sankatmochan's voice bellowed from somewhere.

When Prithvi muttered a volley of abuses, she severely said, "Don't use such horrible words."

"Okay, but give me a minute. I'll smash his skull and be right back," he murmured, touching his forehead to hers.

"I need to go downstairs too," she said ruefully. "If I take any more time, ma will come up to look for me."

Nandini waited as the moments ticked past. But he didn't release her, and she couldn't pull away.

And lightheaded in the love-induced illusion of safety, they helplessly snatched just one more precious second for themselves from the selfish clutches of time.

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