Aviram :

"I, AVIRAM Raghuvanshi..", My voice trembled slightly.
But I knew, there was no route to escape, no going back.
I gulped nervously, drawing in a deep breath.

With my head bowed down, before the ancestral statue of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita, I knelt.

"Go ahead, Bhaisahab.", Vinay said standing right behind me.

We were in the interior of the ancient abandoned part of the palace. This used to be the main Puja room. The place where my ancestors had once stood. This was where I had been crowned the Raja of Jodhpur.

And this was where I was going to give up on the title.

Purohit ji stood in silence.
He was not just unhappy, but also angry.

"You cannot give up on your duty as a Raja! You cannot give up on your Raj Dharam for a woman!", He had shouted at me, enraged.

Yet, I did not find the will to watch Devika go through any more humiliation and pain.

She was not in the palace.
The servant had already asked her to reach the Gurukul Academy, she would be finally taken in.

I looked up at the statue of gold.
The idol, centuries old, beamed back at me.

Forgive me. Forgive me for breaking the law.

The Lord seemed to look at me with the same kindness that he always did.
I was dressed in the royal dress today. The sherwani of gold zari, the crown of the King, the ancestral mukut on my head.

"I, Aviram Raghuvanshi..", I stared, "In my complete senses, give up on the throne of Jodhpur. I give up on all rights to political decisions and I give up on all the privileges of the king."

I stood up.

Santosh walked down before me.
His eyes forcefully lowered.
I knew he too thought I was a fool in doing this. That I was breaching the code of law by doing this.

I removed the crown from my head.
I felt like a part of me had been stripped off me.
Drawing in another deep breath I kept it on the brass plate before me.

"With this, Aviram Raghuvanshi, has given up on his throne.", Purohit ji said.
His tone gave away his displeasure.

I stood in silence for moments.
Suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.

"Son, always follow the Raj Dharma. You are a king before anything else.", My father had said as he lay on his death bed, holding my hand.
"I will..", I had replied sobbing.

And yet, today, I was breaking that promise.
I had become the rule breaker.

I took a step back, folding my hands before the statue.

"Now, there shall be the crowning of the new king.", Purohit ji said.

I turned to glance at Vinay.
His face beamed.
Of course, this was his dream.
His vengeance for the years of being called the 'dirty blooded'. I had never degraded him, yet I was the one who paid the price of my father's disregard of him.

Is this how you serve justice, Lord?

I wondered as I walked down to the door.
I should have stopped and watched his moment of glory with a big heart, but I could not.

I paused for moments as I heard the Purohit say,

"Take your oath as the King."

Before Vinay could start, I walked out.

•

Devika :

"I, Devika Leela Aviram Raghuvanshi, take the oath of obedience and complete dedication to the Gurukul.", I said finally.
I could almost hear my heart pacing wildly.

A dream come true! Thank you! Thank you Devi Maa!

"I take you as my disciple.", Gurumaa said, beaming.
I immediately bent and touched her feet, with reverence.

Finally, justice had been served.
The beast could not ruin my dreams!
Gurumaa had called up to the palace and asked me to come here. She said she had received the video footage that I had sent for an audition a few days ago and was impressed.

And hence, I was here.

"Come, join my other students.", She said smiling widely.

So much happiness just because I was her disciple? Am I that good?

I joined the others in the dance practice.

A new song started.

Aaj ibadat, Aaj ibadat roo-ba-roo ho gayi..
Jo maangi thi.. Jo maangi thi.. uss dua se.. guft gu...ho gayi..

I suddenly felt my heart skip.
A sixth sense had been invoked it felt.
I turned to my right.

It was him.
In the darkness beyond a pillar.

Mere maula.. mere maula.. Tera.. shukriya..

•

Aviram :

She looked at me, and I froze.

She wore a beautiful red saree today, her face glowed. The sparkle of joy unmissable in those hazel brown eyes.
The room, lit with dim orange and yellow lights, and her looking back at me, looking at etheral.

I felt drawn towards her by some invisible force.
I walked into the hall.

Dard ke andheron se.. aa gaye ujalo mein..
Ishq ke chiragon ka.. Noor hai khyalon mein..

The lights fell on my face as she stared back at me.
Suddenly all my ache and pain vanished.
I abruptly realised, probably the title of King was not what I ever wished to have.

It was acceptance in those eyes.
The eyes that looked at me, as if dazed.

Everyone around her stepped aside, head bowed.
I stood before her.

Om mangalam bhagwan vishnu.. om mangalam garudwaja.. om mangalam pundari kaksham.. mangalay tano hari..

And the song faded away in the oblivion.
And absolute silence fell.

For moments, our eyes locked.

Is everything okay? - she seemed to ask, as if reading through me that something was amiss.

Everything will be - I tried to say.

"I thought this was my Dance Academy, Your Highness.", Amma's sharp voice pulled us out of our trance.

She averted her eyes, and looked down.

"Indeed.", I replied, raising the box I had in hand. A box of wood.
Devika looked at it, perplexed.

"Then why are you here?", Amma asked.
"I thought your student would need her ghungroos back.", I replied.

Devika looked up at me, taken aback.

I could not help myself from smiling.
I carefully opened the lid of the box and placed it before her.

I saw, how her eyes welled up with tears of a lifetime.
She raised her hand, reluctantly running it over the ghungroos. The one that had been shattered.
I had got them sewn back.

She carefully took the box from my hand and touched it to her forehead, with reverence.

"These are my ancestral ghungroos..", Devika whispered, looking at Amma.
Amma nodded.
She glanced at me, slightly uncomfortable.

The reason was obvious.
She had neither expected me to accept her deal nor that I would ever show up in her Academy to gift my wife anything.

Devika glanced at me.

"Thank you..", she whispered.
My heart skipped a beat.
I felt a surge of dopamine through my being.
As if all my tragedy had been sucked out with just that one word.

A tear escaped her right eye.
I immediately raised my hand to wipe it, as a reflex.
But she wiped it off herself as she shut the box back.

I smiled back, awkwardly.

Amma walked away.

"You see? Beast ji, my Gurumaa understands my worth.. she called me back here.", Devika said proudly.

I drew in a deep breath.
Trying very hard to pretend that it hurt my sentiments or something.

"Huh! You and your so-called laws. Art doesn't follow any such laws, understood? True artists know that.", She said proudly.

Indeed. Art does not know boundaries, no laws can ever bind it.

I had taken the word from Amma and Vinay that no one shall let Devika ever know of how, and why she was called back.

I knew she valued her self respect the most.

"Thanks for this..", she said now forcing her 'I hate you but anyways' smile,
"But no thanks because your daughter broke it."

I nodded, apologetically. She kept the box on a table right beside her.

I turned to leave.
She suddenly called me from behind.

"Beast ji!"

I turned back.
And before I could realise, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my body.
For moments I froze.

"I was joking.. thank you so much. You repaired what I thought was irreparable..", I heard her whisper against my chest. Her head rested on my shoulder.

I was barely breathing.

"Thank you..", she whispered again.

And I realised, I had lost everything - yet I had found everything that made me whole.

•••

Tu jo choo le pyaar se
Aaram se marr jau
Tujhe jeet jeet harun
Yeh pran pran varun
Haye aise mai niharu
Teri aarti utaru..

Saaiyaan..

•••

Songs : • Aaj Ibadat - bajirao mastani
• saiyaan - kailash kher

Long chapter XD

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