Part 7 Restless Khushi

Khushi admired the man in the chariot even though she didn't like the judgment he had given to the case. Yes, she didn't like the judgment of marrying the rapist. In the modern world, it would be considered as PUNISHMENT to the girl who got raped. But in ancient times, this was how it would have worked. Everything related to women had been connected with CHASTITY and chastity was purely a matter of BODY no matter if she was pure by heart. Girls were taught to be male-dependent. They had no independence to decide their future except for the Royals. They even refused to study. Khushi knew that. Yet, she admired him because she liked the reason for his ANGER.

Arnav noticed her watching him with a slight smile.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, whisking the whip.

"Even though I don't like your judgment, I admire your anger," she said, without hesitation.

He looked at her oddly.

"Why don't you like my judgment? I ordered him to marry her... what else do you want me to do?"

"You ordered him to marry her... what if he is already married?"

Arnav pulled the saddle and stopped the chariot, looking at her shockingly.

"Or, what if she loves someone?"

Arnav was stunned. He came to the composure.

"Whatever... we can do nothing after she lost her chastity,"

"She is the victim and she is the one who should be punished?"

"What are you saying?"

"He forced her... she is hurt... but now, she has no choice but to marry him and be submissive to him. What kind of judgment is this?"

"But, what else she would do if the marriage doesn't take place?"

She sighed.

"This is how our society works. The girl would have killed herself if I had not given the judgment even if she loves someone or he is married. That's why I handed the responsibility to the village head to observe their family. If you don't believe me, I will take you to her. You can ask her about it. I'm sure she would be peaceful by my judgment. To save herself only I gave such judgment"

"I accept" She raised her hands up because she knew Arnav was not wrong.

Even in modern India, she had seen many women in the same category.

"The much I know, no one would admire anyone's ANGER," Arnav said, concentrating on the road.

"The reason behind your anger is undoubtedly admirable... what a wave of anger...! I was stunned. I got to know you respect women. That was what makes me admire it"

Arnav faced a tough time hiding his smile. That was the first time, a girl daringly said she ADMIRED his anger. He felt shy even though she didn't say she admired HIM.

"You know what? Our country girls won't fall in love easily. They would marry the man whom their parents fix for them. So, the girl would not have fallen in love"

"Oh...ok, girls won't fall in love... what about MEN? Won't they fall in love with beautiful girls? I see all the girls are so attractive"

Arnav looked at her as if she was a ghost.

"Why are you looking at me like this?"

"This is the first time; a girl is accepting other girls are also beautiful"

"Just because I don't say that, the truth can't be changed. Your country girls are so beautiful... especially, their long and thick hair"

Arnav could not hold himself from looking at her silky hair that was flying in the air. He could not conclude that she was really a spy. She looked so cool. There were no symptoms that made the person a spy. At the same time, he could not let her be free because she was not their county girl. He could not believe a girl could be so brave without training. He was thinking about Khushi.

On the other side, Khushi was thinking about the environment. It was PLASTIC free, CHEMICAL free, and POLLUTION free. The air was so pure. She inhaled it deeply. How lucky these era's guys were...! She sighed inwardly.

She traveled with Arnav enjoying the sceneries. They reached a village in the late evening. They saw a few old men sitting under a tree. In no time Arnav stopped the chariot, they came to him.

"May I know who are you?" An old man asked.

"I'm Arnav..."

Cutting him,

"Oh... you are a friend of our Prince Aparajit, right?"

Arnav nodded yes.

"We have heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you. I'm the head of this village. My name is Prithviraj"

"Oh... that's great (Pointing at Khushi) She is a government guest from a foreign country. I'm taking her to the capital. I would like to stay in this village tonight"

"No problem... we will arrange for your stay. Or, you can stay at my house" one among them said.

"Thank you, so much"

"Let's go..."

Prithviraj came and climbed on the chariot. Khushi was amazed, seeing his ability. He smiled at Khushi.

"Namaste" Khushi said joining her hands.

He reciprocated it and guided Arnav to his house.

"Shall I ask you something?" Prithviraj asked Arnav in a low tone. Khushi sharpened her ears.

"What?"

"We heard something about our Prince Aparajit. Is that true?"

"What did you hear about him?"

"Our Prince is disappointed with the king as he wanted him to marry Harampur Princess Chandrika and she is presently staying in our palace. That's why our prince is not staying at the palace..."

"Is it?" Arnav asked as if he heard about it just now.

"Don't you know about it?"

"How do I know?"

"You are one of the best friends of our Prince. Then you should have known about it"

"I became one of his best friends, it's because I won't interfere in his personal matters and discuss them with anyone," Arnav said casually.

"We are the citizen of this country and eagerly waiting to see our Prince's wedding but what we hear don't give us hope"

"He is a Prince. He is not like us. He has much more responsibilities on his shoulder. He has many reasons to leave the palace. He could not be staying at the palace and spending his time"

"I just am eager to know about his wedding proposal"

"As you heard much more about the Prince, you should have heard about the reason too. Don't you?"

"Of course, we do... it's because Prince Aparajit considers Harampur Princess Chandrika as his sister"

"How do you know?"

"What's the big deal? They played together when they were kids. At that age, our Prince would not have any idea to marry her. So, he would have considered her as his sister. If it is not so, why doesn't he want to marry her?" He questioned him back.

"Anyhow, the truth will come out one day... we have to wait till then"

Prithviraj sighed as he understood Arnav would not spill the beans.

They reached Prithviraj's house. Arnav got down from the chariot and extended his hand towards Khushi to help her to get down but as he didn't expect, Khushi got down, pressing his shoulder, giving him a shock.

They were about to enter in, they stopped hearing a quarrel.

"Listen, there is no use in crying. I need an heir to this family. He is our only son. How long could we wait to see our grandchild? I'm a good mother-in-law but when it comes to my grandchild, I can't get compromised... understand?"

Arnav and Khushi understood the issue clearly. A mother-in-law was demanding an heir to her family from her daughter-in-law. Khushi sighed. Some issues could not be avoided no matter what.

Prithviraj excused himself and rushed inside. Within a few minutes, the house became silent. Prithvi greeted them. Khushi went with Arnav. The house was so spacious. There was no fan but the house was so blowy. There was no current but the house was so bright due to big size lamps.

Prithvi introduced them to his wife and daughter-in-law. Khushi could see wetness on his daughter-in-law's cheek. Khushi felt bad for her.

They served dinner to them. Arnav and Khushi ate it.

"You can stay with my daughter-in-law. My son is not at home," Prithvi said.

Khushi nodded ok and went to the next room with his daughter-in-law.

"Your good name?"

"Ganga"

"I'm Khushi"

"Let me change the sheet. You can sleep on the bed"

"You take the bed. I will sleep on the floor" Khushi said.

"No no... I never slept on the bed. Only my husband sleeps" She smiled.

Something kicked Khushi's mind. Husband and Wife sleeping separately?

"Does your husband let you sleep on the floor?"

"Haan... he won't disturb me..."

"Didn't disturb mean?"

"He sleeps on the bed and I'm on the floor"

Khushi was looking at her speechless. She had a doubt whether they intimated or not.

"In our country, husband and wife sleep together... hugging one another," Khushi said observing her face.

"Chiiiii...." She blushed closing her face with her palms.

Khushi was clear. This girl... no no, these guys had no knowledge about sexual relationships. That was why she hadn't conceived yet. Of course, there was no satellite TV or social media to teach everything to people. It seemed the girl would not have any friends to talk about intimacy. Didn't her mother teach her anything? Or, her mother too would blush like her? Poor she... Khushi was restless. She didn't know what to do. But, she so wanted to do something.

To be continued...