Seven Lives Together-The Mughal Warrior

Chapter 3

  The Hunter Game

  Suraj was trying if he can read any of the inscriptions. He couldn’t. He moved further and tried to clean another stretch of the creepers. He found something which looked like opening to a cave with steps. Saira was standing close to him and also saw the opening.

  ‘Are these steps to a cave?’ exclaimed Suraj.

  Saira observed, ‘It seems these are steps to downstairs of a building.’

  Ayaaz and Aditi heard this and quickly came to them. Suraj cleaned bit more creepers and weeds paving the way for more visibility of the structure. As he tried to walk on the stairs, Saira warned, ‘Don’t try to go inside. You don’t know what is inside.’

  ‘Saira is correct, Suraj,’ Ayaaz said, ‘inside is dark, and the stairs might be broken. You should just watch from outside.’

  ‘And what if there are snakes there?’ Saira said.

  ‘Have you ever come to this area or seen any such structure Ayaaz?’ Suraj asked.

  ‘Never, but this is interesting.’ Ayaaz replied.

  They saw two men were walking towards them. Actually they were going somewhere on the same road. One was looking like a tribal, a man in his early thirties, dark skin, and average height but well built. He was carrying few instruments; probably he was going to shove something. The other looked like a villager; probably he lived in some village on the outskirts of the jungle. The man was in his fifties, tall but thin. He was wearing a turban and was hanging a bag on his left shoulder. He was carrying a bunch of palm leaves with coloured inscription on them.

  Ayaaz stopped them. He knew the local dialect. He took them and showed them the remainder of the historical spot and asked if they knew anything. The villager was actually a local Ayurvedic doctor who was in the jungle in search of medicinal plants and roots. The tribal man was his guide to find out those specific plants for him. The physician looked at the area and coolly told he was not aware of anything. The tribal man showed some interest. The physician understood the tribal language and translated as the tribal man gave a long speech for about five minutes.

  ‘What did he say?’ asked Ayaaz.

  The physician laughed as he translated his long discourse into a small sentence, ‘he is saying the palace was built by Arjun of Mahabharata.’

  ‘Has he gone mad?’ Suraj exclaimed, ‘Arjun existed probably three thousand years ago. I can’t think this is remaining of a three thousand years old palace.’

  ‘Maybe he is confused,’ Saira suggested, ‘there might have been another king named Arjun here in the past. The poor guy can’t distinguish between history and myth.’

  ‘But he is also saying that there is a tunnel from here which opens at some nearby river.’ The doctor commented.

  ‘Have you ever seen the tunnel or been through it?’ Ayaaz asked him as the physician translated that into the tribal language.

  ‘No, I have never been through the same,’ the tribal man answered, ‘my great-grandfather has told me about the tunnel. But I have seen the other side of the tunnel which opens near the river. I have been through it only for a small distance. It is dark and horrifying.’

  ‘Let them go,’ Suraj suggested, ‘we can visit again here to explore this after our hunting game is over.’

  ‘Yes,’ Aditi said, ‘you see, the sky is now clear. We have already wasted significant portion of the day.’

  Saira looked at the sky. So did Suraj and Ayaaz.

  ‘Time has come to part ways,’ Suraj suggested.

  ‘What do you want?’ asked Aditi.

  ‘Can you see this way goes uphill?’ asked Suraj.

  ‘Yes, so what?’ Aditi said.

  ‘Before the road reaches the mountain top, it is bifurcated into two different roads.’ Suraj continued, ‘The right one can be seen clearly from here, where as the left one has taken a curvy path, winding its way around.’

  ‘Which one do you want to follow?’ Ayaaz asked.

  ‘Any one--- may be the right one.’ Suraj said.

  ‘I think we should go in the left direction,’ Saira objected.

  ‘Why?’ Aditi asked.

  ‘There should be fewer animals on the mountain top.’ Saira said.

  ‘You are not right,’ Ayaaz said, ‘anyway we can make a toss and choose to be fair to all.’

  ‘Right,’ Aditi smiled at Saira, ‘I also don’t want to hear we won because we went to a better part of the jungle where there were more animals.’

  Suraj took a Mughal gold coin and tossed. Finally, it was decided Suraj and Saira would go on the left side. Ayaaz and Aditi rode their own horses and started on the right side where bifurcation of the road started. Saira and Suraj said goodbye to both and went on the left connected way.

  Ayaaz warned while going, ‘Don’t go too far Suraj, any animal will do.’

  ‘Is it all-right if we hunt few mice or birds?’ Suraj joked.

  ‘No way,’ Aditi shouted, ‘anything smaller than a rabbit will disqualify you both. Hunting of Leopard, Cheetah or even Tiger will give you bonus points.’

  ‘Have we already agreed for such terms?’ Saira questioned, ‘whoever returns first with proof of hunting wins the game is the standard set by all of us.’

  ‘Ok, ok,’ Ayaaz said, ‘we agree. Only problem if you come back with a mouse or even a rabbit, our reputation in front of the guards will go to ashtray. Please keep this in mind.’

  Ayaaz and Aditi vanished among the woods.

  Saira’s horse was walking at a normal pace as Suraj was closely following her. Saira started gossiping.

  ‘What do you do with the meat of the animals after killing them?’ she asked.

  Suraj looked at her in disbelief, ‘You are not new to hunting. There must be jungles along Ganga near Allahabad.’

  She smiled as her horse started even slower than before, ‘Yes I go just for practice, but I never kill them.’

  ‘What type of hunting game is this?’ Suraj was astonished.

  ‘I use arrow which is not like normal arrow. It has a small pin attached to it, which is dipped in a liquid taken from some root. As soon as the arrow hits the animal, it becomes unconscious for few hours. Then I usually wait till they regain consciousness and vanish in the forest. Few times I have brought them home to keep as a domestic animal.’

  Suraj was so much dumbfounded that he abruptly stopped.

  Saira also stopped her horse, got down, and came to Suraj. ‘Do you actually kill the animals? I thought you would be a vegetarian like me.’ She asked.

  Suddenly few Chital deers ran across the road and vanished among the woods.

  Suraj was not prepared, ‘See, we lost the golden chance. We could have killed one of them and gone off with the trophy.’

  Saira smiled. Suraj could not believe how her smile could be so much mesmerizing, but composed himself. After all, she was his friend’s sister and her father was Purujit’s colleague. He knew the history how Niyaz had kidnapped her mother when she was a little girl. The poor girl grew up practically in the absence of a father. Purujit was also never happy on Ashfaq’s decision to be separated from Nadirah, but he never interfered in his friend’s personal life. He knew Ashfaq and his sons had the kind corner in their hearts for this girl.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Saira was composed, ‘we will get another chance. We shouldn’t be in a hurry after all this is just a game. We should enjoy the game. Winning is not that important.’

  Suraj tried to understand what she said. For some time, he forgot whether they have come either to win or to enjoy the game. ‘I think enjoying the game starts after winning. What is the fun in losing?’

  ‘Loosing?’ Saira asked, ‘to who are we losing, your own sister and my own brother?’

  ‘You are right Saira,’ Suraj tried to convince her, ‘but yet this is a game. Your own brothers will praise you if you come first.’

  Saira was not showing any clue to move. She tied her horse to a small tree on the side of the road. Then she cut some grass with her kn
ife and put in front of the horse as Suraj helplessly looked at her.

  She looked at the sky and pointed, ‘Look at the Sun; it has already crossed the mid sky. It is the lunch time.’

  She went beneath a mango tree and spread a mat as Suraj also tied his horse to another tree where it could graze. Saira took out two banana leaves kept neatly folded in a bag, and placed adjacently like two plates. She then took the water pot, took Suraj’s right hand in her hands and washed. He was helplessly obeying as she was totally in control. He sat near her as she sat in front of the banana leaves and started serving food on both the leaf plates.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ she consoled him, ‘the other side must be having lunch somewhere. We are not falling behind.’

  He sat down near her for consuming the meals. It was an ideal picnic spot. The mango tree above was full of fresh mangoes. Few dropped on the area around them. The spring breeze was so mesmerizing that he felt tired. He would have actually slept had she not continued talking with him.

  She started again, ‘by the way, what do you do after hunting the animals?’

  ‘Frankly speaking,’ he tried to organize his words, ‘I rarely get time for such games. Most of the time I spend practising war or go to wars with my father.’

  ‘Still what do you do with them whenever you go for hunting?’ she was not in a mood to stop talks.

  He was thinking what to say, ‘what do you think we should do to the animal we kill today?’ he counter questioned, ‘suppose we are struck at a place say for days,’ he took a break and thought whether he is going beyond boundaries.

  ‘Suppose we couldn’t go back for some reason,’ Suraj tried to convey his point when Saira started, ‘What can happen?’

  ‘Say we are lost, and it takes days to find a way out,’ Suraj again continued, ‘this is just a hypothetical situation.’

  ‘So what?’

  ‘We need to cook the animal we kill,’ he said, ‘just to survive.’

  ‘Are you, not a vegetarian?’ she was surprised.

  ‘I am,’ he said, ‘most of the time, but sometimes I eat non veg.’

  ‘I am a strict vegetarian,’ she said.

  He looked at her in disbelief. She understood his gaze.

  ‘My mother is also vegetarian. My uncle Iqbal is also a vegetarian. What do you think? Muslims are by default non-vegetarian?’

  ‘No, but mostly,’ he said as three more Chital deers ran into the woods, ‘see we are still not prepared for hunting.’

  He got up and indicated her to start the expedition again. She slowly started gathering the mat and dishes. She was clearly not in a hurry. Poor Suraj was helpless. He was sure his sister Aditi and Ayaaz must be striving desperately to win the game.

  They continued for about an hour and half into the deep jungle, but without any luck. When they were not prepared, two times deers passed near them. Now when they were fully prepared, not a single animal could be seen. As if all animals have gone to another jungle for holiday. Yes, they came across few rabbits, which they consciously avoided as she went on gossiping.

  ‘I am afraid we may have to return with bare hand,’ he said, ‘we need to focus on hunting rather than talk.’

  ‘Gossip!’ she said, ‘see, not a single animal has crossed our line since we started after lunch and you are blaming me for the gossip.’ She looked displeased.

  ‘Sorry Saira, I said we are gossiping, not you.’ He tried to repair the damage.

  Her anger was only temporary. As soon as he finished, she started again. She talked about her military training, stories about Allahabad and even her mother’s experience with Niyaz etc. Suraj gave in. Thank God they we are not going for any war, just a competition with a friend and sister.

  ‘There must be something; we are not noticing any more animals.’ He said.

  ‘May be the tribal people are eating so many animals that there is scarcity of them,’ she opined, ‘you see, we have not come across a single human being after we parted way from Aditi and Ayaaz.’

  ‘Yes, you are right,’ he was surprised, ‘have we come to the wrong place? We have not seen a single tribal area.’

  ‘You are right. We thought only animals have gone on holiday to neighbouring jungle,’ she laughed, ‘now I think even the people here have also gone out somewhere.’

  ‘The tribal people have abnormally small hutment usually surrounded by tall trees,’ he tried to find a reason, ‘many times those are practically not visible to outsiders.’

  ‘You may be right, but don’t they ever come out from their hutment and just stay at home throughout the day? There is nobody around. What will happen if we are lost?’

  ‘Oh my God,’ he screamed, ‘we forgot Ayaaz’s advice. We totally forgot.’

  ‘What?’ she asked.

  ‘Didn’t Ayaaz advise us for breaking a piece of a tree, digging a hole and putting some branch having colourful leaves or flowers whenever we change the way.’

  ‘Oh yes,’ she said, ‘and we have already changed direction three or four times.’

  ‘Three or four?’ he asked, ‘I don’t remember. I forgot to count while talking to you.’

  ‘Again you are blaming my gossiping,’ she complained.

  ‘I am not blaming Saira,’ he clarified, ‘I meant we forgot to keep count of changing path. Do you remember?’

  ‘Neither me,’ she confirmed, ‘but I am sure we can remember the turning points if we try.’

  ‘Try!’ he asked.

  ‘I suggest we go back, at each change cut some tree branch and come back again.’

  Suraj looked at her in disbelief, ‘Are you nuts? We have already wasted so much time.’

  ‘Wasted?’ she asked.

  ‘No, no, I mean there is hardly any time now. We have not even tried to shoot an arrow to some animal. How much time is left till dusk?’

  Both looked at the sky trying to locate the position of sun and estimate the time.

  ‘Look there! Look there!!’ Sarah screamed while pointing at the hill top, ‘we can’t see the mountain top!’

  He looked at that direction.

  ‘The mountain top was green till now,’ she explained, ‘now it has become black and white!’

  ‘Silly girl,’ Suraj murmured.

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘Nothing,’ he said while watching keenly, ‘actually it is raining over there.’

  ‘Raining?’ she was worried; ‘Aditi and Ayaaz both are there. How they will handle?’

  ‘Nothing to worry, they went to the east,’ he explained, ‘this one is in the west.’

  ‘Thank Allah, all are safe.’

  He looked at her while she was still watching at the hill top, ‘Suraj, see again. More and more green area is changing hue.’

  ‘No Saira, the rain is coming rapidly towards us. Now please change the direction of your horse and start running away.’ Suraj warned and turned his horse back as she followed him. He was continually looking back at every turn to check if she has not fallen behind. They ran and ran on the winding way, forgetting which way they came in the first place. By the time heavy rain actually came to them he stopped below a gigantic banyan tree. She also stopped, got down from her horse and stood close to him. Suraj took a large sheet from the packet hung on the back of the horse before tying them both with two adjacent aerial roots. He then held the sheet above their head. She in the meantime unpacked her bags, took a towel and first wiped off Suraj’s drench body before wiping her own.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he assured, ‘I hope the rain stops soon, and we can start again.’

  ‘But we have come in a different way,’ she was scared now, ‘can we still recognise which way we came?’

  ‘I hope we can recognise. Anyway, the heavy rain could have easily wiped out all the trails had we remembered and acted upon the advice of Ayaaz.’

  ‘Anyway, we have forgotten to do that. But we can be sure next time to follow the advice.’ She suggested.

  ‘Are you afr
aid?’ Suraj asked.

  She nodded, came closer to him and looked up in his eyes, ‘Not at all, as long as you are with me.’

  He felt happy. After all, he was a Rajput fighter from a warrior’s family. Self-confidence is the first sign of a brave soldier. He felt contended on Saira’s remarks. His body language showed that clearly.

  ‘Now I realise why last few hours we never came across any tribal on the way.’ He remarked.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Unlike us, these tribal people have terrifically strong intuition,’ he explained, ‘they watch the reaction of animals and birds, find out indication of adverse weather and take precaution in time. It is possible that they predicted the heavy rain and remained in-door.’

  She thought for a while as if she was accepting his opinion and said, ‘That means the animals also knew that heavy rain is coming and stayed at some safe place?’

  ‘How the animals will know Saira?’ Suraj asked, ‘they are animals, not human. Tribal people may be uncivilised, but are human. They have brains.’

  ‘You told now tribal people consider the reaction of animals and birds predict weather!’

  ‘Yes, yes. You are right,’ he agreed, ‘I think animals do not anticipate, but just follow their instincts. Their instincts are better than ours.’

  Continuous rain made the weather cold. Unknowingly Suraj said, ‘We should have brought some madira (wine) to fight the cold climate.’

  ‘Do you drink?’ she asked.

  ‘Sometimes,’ he replied, ‘but I am not a drunkard. Do you drink?’

  ‘Are you nuts?’ she replied, ‘I am a woman.’

  ‘I was just joking.’

  ‘I know.’

  They couldn’t know how time flew away. They were just standing below the large tree for a long time, and it was hard. He discovered few aerial roots of the banyan tree, entangled with one another, hung parallel to the ground. The entangled roots worked like a bench. He tied the sheet to other vertical aerial roots making an angle so that rain water could drift off easily. Thus, they got a warm small space to get some rest. Saira arranged few dried bushes. They were moist, but after some effort they caught fire making a lovely warm fireplace, a perfect for the occasion. There was no need for the madira (wine) when a beautiful girl was sitting so close and gossiping. The situation was enough to make any young bachelor intoxicated. He controlled himself. She was not an ordinary woman. She was his father’s best friend’s only daughter and his friend Ayaaz’s only sister. She was the daughter of heroic Nadirah, who could kill brother of a state Governor to keep her respect. And he was the only son of one of the bravest and most reputed Rajput generals of the Mughal Army, highly trusted by Akbar the Great, the Emperor of India. He was supposed to provide protection to women from unwanted and anti-social elements, not become an anti-social factor when opportunity comes. He controlled himself.

  The place they were resting was funny. Lots of water were flowing from the higher ground, but they were vanishing sharply in the downward slope somewhere in the jungle. Rainfall slowed down, but not entirely. One side of the sky became clear, bringing hope of a clear sky before the end of the day. With that hope, also appeared a beautiful and large rainbow on the sky. The coloured sun rays entered the shower streams creating a variety of colours.

  Saira pointed out the rainbow, ‘See how enormous the rainbow is.’

  Suraj looked again at the rainbow, this time through the waves of flying hairs of Saira. It was so fantastic and unique. One gigantic rainbow was multiplied into hundreds small exceptionally beautiful rainbows. This beauty should be observed, not destroyed by touching with lustful desire.

  He couldn’t describe the scene. He didn’t have enough words to express his feeling. He just murmured, ‘Beautiful. I have never seen such beautiful rainbow in my life.’

  She looked at him, ‘Definitely this is not the first time you are watching a rainbow.’

  He couldn’t say how lovely the rainbow looks while looking through her unbraid hairs. He said, ‘Yes it is rare when you are sitting on a bench made of aerial roots in deep forest. One side there is rain and the other side there is this beautiful sunray and rainbow. It is different and unique.’

  ‘It looks more attractive when you are hungry,’ she said and got off from the roots holding a small sheet over the top to keep her from the rain. She went to her tied horse and removed a jar from the pack hanging on its back. She came back to Suraj and sat near him on the aerial-root bench and took out few pieces of homemade snacks.

  ‘Now tell me how the rainbow looks while munching these snacks,’ she pushed some into his mouth.

  ‘Awesome!’ he said.

  ‘How come the same rainbow suddenly became spectacular once the snacks are inside your mouth?’ she laughed.

  ‘These snacks are awesome,’ he explained once he could eat them, ‘your cooks are absolutely genius.’

  ‘This was not made by our cooks,’ she protested.

  ‘Then who made this?’

  ‘I!’ she laughed again.

  ‘You can make so beautiful snacks?’ he said, ‘I will not mind to stay on these aerial roots for days if I am assured plenty of this.’

  ‘All right,’ she said, ‘once the rain stops I will go back and make bags full of these snacks. Just do not go out from this place. I will give the details of the area to the servants, and they can easily find you out.’

  ‘What will you explain?’

  ‘I will explain, a crazy tall young man is sitting on the entangled aerial roots under a giant banyan tree with a large cloth hanging above his head, to put a roof. He is looking at the one and only beautiful and distinctive rainbow which no one has seen before. He is munching snacks and has forgotten that he is out for some game called hunting game.’

  Both laughed.

  She said, ‘Sorry I didn’t make this, my mother did. She always cooks variety of snacks when I come to see my brothers. These are preferred snacks of Ayaaz and Kareem.’

  ‘These are my favourite too,’ he added, ‘next time please make some more for me. I will come to meet you and have these snacks.’

  ‘She will,’ said Saira, ‘she has extremely high opinion about your family. One day your father had saved her reputation.’

  ‘But he couldn’t save her marriage,’ he said gloomily.

  ‘That is alright. For her, the honour is more valuable than her marriage. She is perfectly happy in my uncle’s family. Iqbal is both my uncle and a father figure for me. I have never missed a father in my life.’

  ‘Does she still sing?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, but not for outsiders. She sings for her own and family. She has even composed few songs praising your father.’

  Suraj remained silent. There was no sign of rain to stop; instead it continued indefinitely. They could see a small river clearly which till now was almost invisible. It was full of water with strong current. It looked like the flooded Ganga or Yamuna; ready to burst into cities and villages angrily. They remembered Ayaaz’s ideas about rain and small unnamed rivers in the jungle.

  ‘Thank God we were not sitting on the river bed,’ Suraj said, ‘otherwise we could have easily swept away.’

  The rainbow disappeared. Whatever little sunlight was seen on one side of the sky also disappeared as black clouds again occupied the area. Sun probably decided that enough is enough; let’s wrap up for the day.

  ‘We need to leave the area now,’ he said looking at the sign of dusk.

  ‘How can we?’ asked Saira, ‘we don’t remember way back to the base.’

  ‘We can’t live here forever. You are also right, during day time probably we could recognise the road even though we forgot to save marks on our turnings, now it may be difficult.’

  ‘It is impossible at night,’ she commented, ‘not only difficult.’

  ‘It is not wise to walk in an unknown jungle at night,’ he was concerned, ‘you saw so few animals during the day. Once the rain stops, most of the animals
will leave in search of food. They can move easily in dark, but we with all our weapons are ineffective at night.’

  ‘You are a soldier,’ Saira said, ‘you must have been trained if you encounter such problems.’

  ‘Yes, we try to find a safe place to spend the night.’

  ‘Where can we spend the night?’

  ‘If only we can get some tribal village,’ he said with a tone of disappointment, ‘we have not come across a single tribal village on our way.’

  ‘You told that their hutment are unusually small and can be easily hidden behind tall trees?’

  ‘Yes,’ he was optimist, ‘if we can try and get at least one tribal village, both our problems will be over?’

  ‘What is the second problem?’ she asked.

  ‘Finding a way back,’ he answered.

  ‘That is the first problem,’ she argued, ‘then what is the other problem?’

  ‘Finding a suitable place to spend the night safely,’ he answered, ‘can you guess which place can be safe other than a tribal village? At least we can find some humans there.’

  ‘See, it is now virtually impossible to find a tribal village before evening. And night is already at our doorstep.’ She continued, ‘Can’t we spend the night here?’

  ‘Do you think this is a safe place?’ Suraj looked intently at her in the fading sunlight.

  ‘Yes,’ she replied.

  ‘How?’

  ‘For me every place is safe as long as you are with me,’ she said as she slowly placed her hand on his shoulder.

  Suraj felt the love of her touch. He was thrilled but remained silent. He could see her dependence upon him given the background of her family and his father’s contribution. He promised himself that, if required, he would give up his life to protect her. He looked up at the banyan tree. There were few entangled aerial roots parallel to the ground providing a wider surface than the roots they were sitting. He climbed upon and stepped on the entangled roots. It seemed as if God knew many years before that these two souls will spend a night here. He created those roots and entangled them to provide a safe and comfortable bed.

  ‘Do you know how to climb a tree?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ she answered with a smile, ‘how do you think I should know?’

  ‘Because you are already trained in so many things; horse riding, sword fighting, bow and arrow, so I thought you might have known.’

  ‘Do we need to climb there?’ she asked, ‘what is wrong here? We are sitting so comfortably here since last few hours.’

  ‘That is too low and may be dangerous at night as it will be easily accessible by predators.’

  ‘There are also animals like Cheetah who can easily climb there.’ She said.

  ‘Yes, but not all animals can climb. At least we have less chance of being a non-veg feast of some animal tonight if we choose this place. And I must admit I am not a particularly skilled climber of trees. I can just manage. I want to learn this from my father whenever we both find time.’

  She took out a long fabric and made several knots. Suraj found few still dry logs which were under a large stone. The logs were large enough to provide light whole night. He arranged them to make a circle. After lighting the logs, he took one part of the knotted cloth, tied with the aerial-root and came back. Saira put her legs on the knots as he gave her support and helped her to climb the bed made up of aerial roots. He brought both the horses and brought them inside the fire circle, ‘Now these poor fellows can sleep properly at night.’ He said.

  ‘You are not tying them,’ she said, ‘wouldn’t they disappear at night?’

  ‘No, they wouldn’t leave the luxury of warmth of the burning log in the cold, rainy night anywhere in the jungle. They are animals but still possess some understanding. I shouldn’t tie them so that they can save them if attacked at night.’

  The horses stood quietly near the fire. He took out the bags from their back and kept on the aerial-root bench. Then he took out their weapons and handed them all one after one to Saira. She kept them neatly on both sides of the ten feet long aerial-root bed.

  ‘Do you still have some yummy snacks left?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes, plenty of them, enough for our dinner and morning breakfast if we survive this night.’ She laughed.

  ‘I am a soldier,’ Suraj said showing his faith, ‘and you also know how to fight.’

  Both tried to organise for the night. The natural aerial-root bed was not particularly large, and respect demanded that he maintained respectful distance from any woman and not intrude inside her bedroom. What do you do when the bedroom is so vast that the blue sky is the roof and the horizons are its walls? He proposed that she be on the bed, and he will settle down below on the aerial-root bench where they spent the afternoon and protect her. She didn’t agree.

  ‘You also need rest,’ she pleaded, ‘you need energy for tomorrow.’

  ‘I can’t,’ he argued, ‘who will watch for the wild animals if I sleep.’

  ‘We will cover in shifts,’ she suggested as Suraj looked at her.

  ‘Do not look at me like this,’ she said with a smile, ‘my mother has handled wild animals in the past. You can’t find such wild animal in this jungle. She even killed that demon.’

  He looked at her in disbelief, ‘which jungle was that?’

  ‘The jungle was Allahabad, and the wild animal she killed was Niyaz.’ She said with a pride in her face, ‘I am her daughter, and she has prepared me to face and fight any wild animal who attacks me.’

  The rain stopped. Sky became blue again with moon appearing and distributing light over the dark forest. Stars also appeared, and the sky became vibrant again. The log beneath their bed was burning emanating smoke giving some warmth to the horses as well as guests on the first floor. Both horses were not moving away from the burning log. Suraj was right, they would never run away. He kept prepared a small burning log hanging on a branch where he could reach quickly. He also arranged some dry straw and made few bundles of them.

  ‘What are they for?’ Saira asked.

  ‘Wild beasts in Allahabad are not afraid of fire,’ he commented, ‘rather they also know the use of fire. But the innocent wild animals can be scared away with the help of fire. We may not have to use weapons unless attacked by them.’

  ‘Do we try to hunt any wild animal if they come close to us?’ she asked, ‘for the hunting game?’

  ‘No,’ he said, ‘unless they attack. Killing any animal at night is against Rajput tradition. Night is for the rest.’

  Both slept in shifts. For the first time in his life Suraj was sitting so close to a sleeping young and beautiful woman. He tried to maintain as much physical space as possible, but couldn’t as the God-made bed was not large enough to avoid closeness. Saira slept keeping the head towards him. Unlike Suraj, she was behaving as if she knew him for years, and he was just another family member. As night increased, wild animals started their activity. Horses were almost safe as they were resting with burning logs on all sides. Still he kept a firm vigil with bow and arrow ready to strike at the slightest hint. Horses could feel anytime some wild animal was coming near that area and showed that they were feeling uncomfortable, but never tried to walk out of the circle. Perhaps they also understood their owners are competent enough to save them.

  Saira didn’t wake up Suraj till the morning sun covered him with a warm blanket and birds announced another working day with various types of songs. When he didn’t see Saira near him his hands automatically went to his weapons. He didn’t find her weapons either. He started coming down. The burning logs were already turned into ashes and horses were not around. He tried to get her footsteps on the wet grass, but they were high enough to hide any mark of their walking on them. He couldn’t decide where to start the search. He climbed a small hill and looked at all sides. The small unnamed tributary, which was practically flooding last night, was almost dead and dry now. Sky was bright blue with no evidence of heavy rain of last night.

/>   His bow was loaded with arrow ready to attack. The swivel gun was hanging from his waist band, and the sword was also hanging from the other side of the waist. His face was red with anger; not towards the wild animals but at himself. Wild animals can attack anyone when they are afraid or hungry. It is their natural instinct. How can he, a brave and skilled fighter, turned into such deep sleep on a tree inside a deep jungle that he couldn’t get the slightest clue when the girl was snatched from near him?

  He walked further and crossed the small hill. The bow and arrow fell down from his hands as he stood standstill. He could see only the backside of a woman with long freshly washed hairs. She was putting her wet clothes on a low level part of a tree to dry. The horses were happily munching the grass to fill their breakfast quota. She turned towards him with a bright smile. Just one day before she was coming with him with all the make-up and looking like a princess. Today she was without any make-up and was looking like fairy! She came slowly towards him as if nothing had happened since yesterday. As if they are not lost in the jungle; they didn’t spend the night on a tree and now they are just enjoying the morning spring sun in their own backyard? Suraj stood dumbfounded looking at her poise. He was looking worried: to get a way back home.

  ‘There is a cascade on that side. You slept so late last night, so I didn’t want to bother you. Poor horses were standing inside the fire ring all night. I brought them here for grazing. I also took a dip in the cascade. You also get a bath and change the clothes, you will feel refreshed.’

  ‘You should have told me Saira,’ Suraj cautioned, ‘there is a danger in every step. I could have come to protect you.’

  She said nothing, just looked at the bottom of a tree where her bow and arrow and the sword was kept. He understood.

  ‘You know I am bathing in public for the first time in my life. I know you would have stood at a respectable distance. The cascade is extremely small; waters are clear and only waist deep with hardly any current.’ She told everything in one breath before Suraj could raise further questions. The girl who was so shy with him just yesterday morning was now talking so much as if they knew each other since years.

  Suraj walked towards the cascade as she also walked with him holding her weapons.

  Their journey continued.

  It was a hot midday sun. Suraj’s horse was following Saira’s. They tried to recognise the way they came yesterday, but it was terribly confusing. Whatever they were calling paths were not actually paths, but were a little bit cleaner patches than the rest. Sometimes, there were wide open fields with few trees and one could cross that from any side. If you come back after few minutes, it would be difficult to distinguish from which side you came earlier. This was the reason Ayaaz had told them to save some evidence which could be recognised.

  They met some tribal on the road and tried to talk without success. Suraj tried to use the sign language for the first time in his life, and even Saira couldn’t know what he meant from his signs. So she didn’t imagine the poor tribal person could comprehend anything. He first wanted to ask how to go out of that large jungle. Then he thought the man could have never gone outside the jungle. So, he asked where his village was; showing his both hands like the shape of a hutment. Someone in the village might know their language or way to reach out of the jungle. They probably could pay someone to help them or can get some food. The man was dark-skinned and looked about forty. He kept his bow and arrow and axe on the ground and made some sign language for about five minutes. Both Suraj and Saira tried to get at least some of his instructions and then memorise something. At the end, they realised they have understood nothing. Suraj tried to convince him to come along with them. He pulled his hand and brought towards his horse. He resisted. He tried to pay him some coins. He looked at those coins and didn’t look to be impressed. Probably he didn’t know what the coins were.

  There was no reason to push. Ayaaz’s recommendations had been ignored once, but never again. The jungle was their territory, and they were not afraid of any noble or powerful individual of any high position. They just do not care. Being unsuccessful, they said good-bye to him and tried to go in the direction he indicated. After travelling for hours, they realised no progress had been achieved. They were probably making rounds and rounds and this way they might spend the rest of their lives inside the jungle.

  Saira stopped below a large mango tree. Suraj also stopped and got off the horse. Both the horses got some time for grazing. She looked visibly tired. She sat beneath the tree and started drinking water, which they had collected in the morning from the cascade. Suraj was willing to move further before taking a break, but dropped the idea because of her. He unloaded his and Saira’s bags from the back of horses, put a sheet and kept the bags on the ground.

  ‘We need to gather some food,’ she said, ‘our stock is diminishing.’

  ‘No problem,’ he agreed, ‘we can get fresh mangoes. I can see some orange plants also, and there are so many varieties of fruits. There will be no shortage of food here.’

  ‘Please do not eat any fruit which you don’t recognise,’ Saira cautioned, ‘it may be fatal.’

  ‘I know how to know whether some fruit is poisonous.’

  ‘How?’ she asked.

  ‘Just watch if birds are eating them,’ he said.

  He went and collected some fruits; some oranges, green mangoes (as they ripe only in summer) and some strange fruits. Saira cut them into pieces with a knife and served on a platter. While eating, her eyes found a deer in the bushes. There was a baby deer also, and it was drinking milk from its mother. She pointed at them with her finger. Suraj’s hands went automatically to his bow and arrow. Saira caught his hands.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she asked.

  ‘Sorry,’ he admitted, ‘I didn’t consciously want to chase her. It is against our tradition, to kill female animals with babies.’ He laid down the weapon and concentrated in the food.

  ‘We have to hunt some animal anyway,’ he said while eating.

  ‘Why?’ she explained, ‘we have already lost. Aditi and Ayaaz must have gone home with their prey. They might have cooked and eaten its meat last night.’

  ‘Returning with bare hand will add salt to the injury, sorry I meant insult,’ he reasoned, ‘we should get some animal even if we have lost. Who knows they also might have been lost.’

  ‘I doubt,’ she said while putting a green mango in her mouth, ‘Ayaaz has better knowledge about the jungle.’

  ‘He has no practical knowledge,’ he commented, ‘he has never been to this jungle before. We always go together, and we have been to extremely small jungles only, never been to such enormous jungle.’

  ‘So, do you think they are also lost in the jungle like us?’ she asked.

  ‘There are three probabilities,’ Suraj said as he finished his eating, ‘first one: they have gone home yesterday with their prey. The second is: they are also lost in the jungle like us and are thinking that we have gone home yesterday with some prey.’

  ‘Very funny,’ Saira laughed, ‘what do we gain if they are also lost?’

  ‘At least we have a chance to win if we go-back today with a prey.’

  ‘What is the third probability?’ she asked.

  ‘They have sent people to look for us.’ Suraj went to wash his hand.

  ‘Now you are right,’ Saira also went to wash her hands, ‘this is the only probability, I can think.’

  ‘You have so much confidence on your brother?’ he asked.

  ‘You are being jealous,’ she smiled, ‘I have faith on you also.’

  ‘Confidence on not finding a direction to go out of the jungle!’ he teased.

  ‘No, faith on you,’ she said, ‘bad-luck is not in your hands, but being optimist and fighting confidently to be out of bad-luck is in your hands. That is exactly what you are doing now.’ She kept her hand on his shoulder.

  Suraj also became passionate and kept his hand on her shoulder, ‘Saira, you are my in
spiration.’

  Suddenly he became aware and took his hands away from her shoulder. He felt uneasy with his own manners and looked down. Then he went to untie the horses. Saira smiled as she understood his situation and went to pack up for a new journey.

  Both started their journey again, with the hope of finding a way back home or a way out of the jungle. The only human being they met so far was not of any help. Suraj was a little bit tense, not for being lost, but because he was aware about Saira’s impression on him. She was considering him as a terrific Rajput warrior. He was trying his best to live up to the status, but failing miserably. First he failed to win the hunting match for her. Next he failed to find a way out of the jungle. Ayaaz must be trying to locate them. From the bottom of his heart, he wanted he could find a way out of the jungle before help arrived from Ayaaz.

  Saira, on the other hand, was cool. She was exceptionally realistic. She still had lots of confidence on Suraj as well as herself. In spite of all the pain, she had not lost her beautiful smile, which was the real driving factor for Suraj.

  Both continued sitting on their own horses. Few times Saira noticed animals from a distance, which Suraj probably didn’t notice. She didn’t seem to guide her fingers eagerly towards the animal. Suraj also saw few deers, but his hands didn’t go to his bow and arrow. They simply went on. There were no plans to find a way back home anymore. Anywhere they find a way seemed to be going out of the jungle, but also there were so many of them going in different directions. It was indeed much confusing. If they followed any of them, probably they would be roaming the rest of their life. They were tired of everything and desperately wanted to be back at home and relax on their bed, which was an awful distant dream. It was already afternoon. Home might be far away, but the dreadful night was fast approaching. Last night they were lucky to get a natural bed formed by the aerial-roots of the giant banyan tree. They got a decent cover from the pouring rain. There was a wall made of fire throughout the night. At the beginning, it seemed an unsatisfactory arrangement. Today was not better, and when things became worse, last night’s situations looked fabulous. It was actually like a picnic. It was a quiet and restful night with a promise of a better tomorrow, the tomorrow which was yet to come.

  Now the strategy was to find a village of tribal people. This would ensure a safe night and some cooked food. The only tribal they met couldn’t help them as he didn’t understand their language. There must have been someone in the village that might have visited outside world and knew the language of civilised people. They decided that if they found someone who didn’t understand their language, they would not waste time in trying to communicate. Instead, they would simply follow as eventually, the man would go back to his village before night.

  ‘This strategy will certainly work,’ Saira was hopeful, ‘we should have followed the only tribal we met today.’

  ‘That wouldn’t have worked,’ Suraj replied.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because that was pre-noon and he must be going out to work. Dusk is the only time we should follow them.’

  They found a trail with foot-prints of people. Although there were not many foot-prints, yet it was the last ray of hope for the day. They were standing on the foothill of a small mountain. The trail was going from one end of the hill to another and winding around the mountain like a serpent. Definitely there was a tribal village somewhere near, but it was difficult to know which part went to the village. There was also a way going towards the top of the hill, but no village was apparent there. It was possible sometimes people go up the hill for collecting food, and their village was situated somewhere on the bottom of it.

  They decided not to go further as they were not sure which side the village existed. Evening was not far away, and they needed to get some tactics for all circumstances. In the worst case, they needed to find a safe cover like last night. There was no banyan tree around today. Suraj thought as they were near the hill, a natural or manmade empty cave would be a better option. They let the two faithful horses graze and finish their dinner before evening. Saira went behind a large tree and changed her clothes. Suraj looked at the other side, to locate a shelter. He didn’t find anything suitable. Only positive thing was that the weather was pleasant, and the sky was clear.

  Saira came to him after changing her clothes. She was tying a turban on her head and wearing a less glaring trouser like dress. He looked at her new fashion without uttering any comment.

  ‘Am I looking like a man?’ She asked with a smile.

  Now he understood what she was doing behind that large tree.

  ‘Is there any reason for which you are preparing?’ he teased.

  ‘I will be taken seriously with these weapons if I look like a man. And I am also feeling safe.’

  ‘Why do you think there will be a threat from the tribal people? In case someone tries to misbehave I am always there to make a suitable reply.’

  Saira felt satisfied with his answer but still insisted, ‘Seriously, do I look like a man?’

  ‘Why do you want to look like a man?’

  ‘Men have more freedom.’ She replied.

  Suraj’s face told that he didn’t know what she meant. Independence for a woman was a novel concept in the medieval age.

  ‘Yes,’ he commented, ‘someone may think you as a man if he looks from a distance, from the back-side probably.

  He was not ready to consider her as a man even in his dreams.

  They saw a lonely woman who got off from the hill and started walking towards the winding side of the hill. The woman was in her early twenties and with proper height. She was draping a cotton sheet around her waist, and that was the only clothing. She was at a considerable distance and was holding a bunch of logs on her head. Suraj and Saira couldn’t remember from where she emerged as they were engaged in discussing Saira’s new look. Suraj asked Saira to call her.

  ‘My voice is not so loud to reach that distance,’ she didn’t call the tribal woman, ‘why don’t you call her?’

  ‘No, it looks awkward,’ he was uncertain as she was not properly dressed as per the dress code of the civilised world outside the jungle. Saira understood his reluctance.

  ‘This is the last chance for us to get a tribal village today,’ he said.

  ‘Yes,’ she complimented, ‘otherwise we have to spend the night in worse shape than last night.’

  Suraj quickly brought the horses that were happily enjoying their happy feast of green grass but quietly obliged without any hassles; just like obedient soldiers. Both jumped on their own horses and went in the direction of the young tribal woman, in order to follow her to her village. It was not long to bridge the gap between them. They maintained some space and followed her slowly. She looked back at them few times, but neither Suraj nor Saira tried to communicate with her. They had experience with the tribal man in the morning where all manner of communication failed. Surely this woman couldn’t communicate with them. They required finding some mature or elderly person in their village whom they expected would have seen the outside world. They were not wrong.

  The woman started to walk fast, as quickly as possible, occasionally looking back at them. Then she shouted loudly.

  ‘She is probably calling her family people to help her in carrying the logs,’ Suraj said, ‘why don’t you go and help her?’

  ‘She will think that I am a man and may be afraid of me.’ She replied, ‘Had I known that we will have to follow a woman, I wouldn’t have dressed like a man. I thought, we will encounter some men.’

  It was not long to realise what the woman was shouting for. There was sound of beating of drums. Men started to gather under a tree at a distance. The distance was enough to realise clearly what was happening. They were standing in a circle with their back towards them. Almost everyone was carrying a bow and arrows hanging on their shoulders. One elderly man was saying something occasionally pointing fingers at Suraj and Saira.

  ‘Finally we could get the trib
al village,’ Saira said happily.

  Suraj didn’t reply, he was looking serious and was desperately trying to make out what was happening. He didn’t know their language, but their body language disturbed him. He turned towards Saira and said in a commanding voice, ‘Saira, run.’

  Saira turned her horse back but couldn’t decide which way to go. He looked back towards Suraj and saw hundreds of tribal men both young and older started running after them hurling abuses and pointing the loaded bows at them. Suraj didn’t waste time and started running on his horse. Saira couldn’t decide which way to go. Apparently going down the hill would have been easy to run away, but Suraj decided to move above the hill. Saira couldn’t understand the logic and ran after him. She tried to keep her horse parallel to his so that she could advise him to go down the hill rather than up.

  ‘Hi,’ she called him without taking his name, ‘why don’t we go down instead of up?’

  He looked at her, ‘We are on our horses, and they are all on foot. They will be soon feel tired, and we can still carry on our horses.’

  ‘You are right,’ she said, ‘but why are they running after us? What did we do?’

  ‘I don’t know? Just run. Don’t stop.’

  ‘Maybe there is some misunderstanding,’ she suggested, ‘let’s stop and try to explain them.’

  ‘That is not possible,’ said Suraj.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘We don’t know their language.’

  ‘Maybe some of them might know our language,’ she suggested, ‘we should try.’

  ‘By the time we get one who knows our language, both of us will be killed. Just run.’

  They ran up the hill, among the woods. The angry people behind continued the chasing. Sometimes they were shooting arrows, but both were at a sufficient reach beyond their shooting range. There was a winding path up the hill. There was no time to consider where they were going. There was no time even to keep track of their path. The sun was going fast towards the west and spraying beautiful colours throughout. Unfortunately, none of them was in a position, to appreciate and admire the natural beauty. Suraj desperately wanted the sun to disappear as soon as possible so that darkness could bring them the much needed protection. He wondered why these people after them were not getting tired.

  Suddenly he heard Saira’s scream and a thumping sound. He looked back. Saira’s horse was lying in a pool of blood and Saira was hanging holding the arm of a tree. He moved back. There was an arrow pierced in the chest of the horse, and it was dying. Saira was still screaming even though she was not injured. He couldn’t imagine how any tribal people could run so fast after the running horses to come so close. He looked around and saw a young man standing not far away and staring at them. He had a loaded bow in his hand, but he was not aiming at them. Suraj quickly took the bow and swiftly loaded an arrow. The young man was saying something pointing at Saira. He couldn’t understand what he was saying, but just guessed that he might not strike again. There was no time to think, but there was enough time to react. He hung his bow on his shoulder and kept the arrow in the quiver. Then he took Saira in his both hands and quickly made her sit on his horse. He looked at the tribal man as he instructed his horse to run again, the guy was just pulling off. He was alone. Apparently this guy took a shortcut to reach them quickly while others were following through the way Suraj and Saira escaped. He could hear the roar of the other people and was quick to run away.

  Saira was sitting in front of Suraj with both hand wrapped around his neck and legs hanging to his right hand side. If he could stay for a moment, she could switch to a decent position. It looked embarrassed when a young woman was sitting so close to a young man almost wrapped around his body. Saira felt uncomfortable, so did Suraj, but who in the vast jungle was going to see them? The sun was about to set. The tribal people who were chasing them were far behind now. He didn’t want to take the chance. They didn’t know any way in the jungle, but the local tribal people knew. At least one person managed to come to them in a shortcut way and killed one of their horses. They even didn’t get time to decide whether the horse was still fighting for his life or already dead, poor horse. The road was not going uphill. Suraj looked around. Probably they had already crossed the top of the hill. After all, the mountain was not particularly high. The curvy road started down the hill. He slowed down.

  Saira started, ‘I still don’t understand why they are attacking us.’

  ‘I can now imagine.’ Suraj replied.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The woman we were following to her village, thought two men are following her.’ Suraj said.

  ‘What?’ exclaimed Saira ‘is she blind?’

  ‘You don’t realise you have been dressed like a man. She genuinely mistook you as a man.’

  ‘How are you so sure?’

  ‘I didn’t know what those people were talking loudly as I don’t know their language. But, I could watch the reaction of the man who killed your horse.’ Suraj said.

  She didn’t say anything but just looked at his face. He was looking at the other side but could feel her breath.

  ‘He was going to attack you after attacking your horse,’ he continued, ‘when he heard your cry, he was shocked. He then watched you be sure you are actually a woman and quietly went back.’

  He stopped his horse, and both got down. She stood on the ground but didn’t leave her hand from Suraj’s shoulder.

  ‘The horse needs some rest,’ he explained his action even though she didn’t ask him.

  ‘It is possible that they have stopped chasing,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, but I am not hundred percent sure.’

  ‘Why?’ she asked, ‘the man must have gone back and told his people that I am a woman.’

  ‘When they started chasing us, they were all in one group,’ Suraj explained, ‘then they have formed independent groups. The man might have told one or two groups. What happens if another group which till now doesn’t know that you are a woman?’

  ‘That means we need to be more careful,’ she said, ‘I am so stupid! I thought the danger is over and started talking loudly.’

  ‘That’s ok,’ he assured, ‘they can hear a woman’s voice if they reach us secretly among the woods. That is fortunate for us.’

  ‘Have you seen those forming groups?’ she questioned his judgment, ‘you mightn’t have got time to look backwards.

  ‘That is the basic principle of the war,’ he replied in just one short sentence.

  ‘They are not civilised.’ She said, ‘they are not even trained properly like you.’

  ‘They may not be civilised, but they are human beings and obviously smart.’ Suraj continued, ‘this experience is handed down from one generation to another for hundreds of years.’

  She nodded in agreement, ‘You have a swivel gun. Why didn’t you use that? Did you forget?’

  ‘No, but I just wanted self-protection. I didn’t want to kill them. Tomorrow we might also go to them, and they might take us as their guest if they realise their assumption was wrong. If we eliminate even one of them, the relationship will never be possible.’

  ‘You are not only a talented warrior, but a staunch diplomat also,’ Saira praised him, ‘you could have just made few blank fires and they would have gone away.’

  Suraj smiled as she appreciated his diplomatic acumen, ‘They will be afraid at the gun-sound only if they know what guns are, and that guns are more dangerous than bow and arrow. Blank fire will not work. In the worst case, I may have to kill some of them with the gun, which I do not want.’

  ‘You are right.’

  They felt relaxed. The tribal people were now probably sure that two men were not following the solo tribal woman. In fact, a man and a woman were following her. But they couldn’t go back to them to ask for shelter for the night. The decision could be fatal if their conclusion became wrong. Suraj instead decided to get some suitable place like last night where they could spend the night. The moonlight was not en
ough to provide a reasonable visibility of the jungle. He created the fire and kept a small burning log ready to face any emergency while Saira gathered some dry leaf so that they could make a fire wall. The only wild animal that were resistant to their armaments were the wild elephants that lived in this jungle. So far they had not come across any, and they didn’t know which part of the jungle the elephants lived. In fact, they didn’t know which part of the vast jungle they were now.

  Saira suggested, ‘if we don’t find a suitable place here, why can’t we go further down the hill?’

  Suraj stopped searching for the appropriate place and started thinking.

  Saira continued, ‘There may be a chance that we can find another tribal village this side. I will sit in front of you on the horse holding a lighted log. You will keep your swivel gun ready to fire at the predator.’

  ‘Good idea,’ Suraj said in a light tone, ‘at least people will see there is a woman and give us shelter.’

  ‘We need to get some village before the villagers go to sleep,’ she suggested.

  They carried out the plan immediately. She held a lighted small branch and sat in front of him. He held the swivel gun in one hand and held the bridle of the horse in the other. Both were hungry, but the necessity of a safe shelter was more than satisfying the hunger. The narrow but curvy road was going down the hill. It was difficult to see ahead of the curve. They were slowing down at every curve whether the road ahead was safe. The horse was walking at a normal pace. Saira was constantly looking around for any signs of light and human voice. Suraj asked her, ‘what are you up to?’

  ‘I am dreaming, that we can see lights and sound of songs and dance somewhere on our way.’

  ‘We are still inside the deep forest,’ Suraj reminded her.

  ‘I know,’ she continued, ‘that’s why I am expecting this. I have heard that after a busy day tribal men and women put up lights and then dance together. If so, we can see some lighting and sound of collective songs. You can hear the sound of collective songs from a distance, particularly when the atmosphere is not noisy.’

  He laughed at her innocence. She turned off and stared at him.

  ‘Yes, you are right. Tribal men and women like to dance and sing together,’ he explained, ‘but only on occasions, not daily.’

  ‘Maybe that time is tonight.’ She was optimist.

  ‘Let your dream come true,’ he said as the horse continued walking at a steady pace.

  It was a starry night. The sky was clear without a single cloud anywhere. It was difficult to believe that just one day before there was so much heavy rain, and they were lost in the jungle.

  ‘How long we will continue?’ Saira asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ he was clueless, ‘till we reach a village or at least a site like last night.’

  There was neither a village nor a proper shelter on their way. They continued for about another half hour, hoping something would appear on their way. Saira religiously kept her ears open to hear any sound of tribal songs and continuously looked around to find out any signs of lights. She felt pain in her neck after sometime. Suraj was continuously scanning the surroundings for signs of any dangerous animal with whatever light was available from the burning log and half moon. Only indifferent was the horse that continued walking relentlessly. Poor animal lost a friend and couldn’t still show any emotion.

  Saira got tired but still continued watching for her dream village. They were not destined to move for the entire night. Something should happen on their way.

  ‘Something will happen; good or evil. Bad! No, why bad? This idea shouldn’t come to my mind,’ she thought and tried to distract her attention, but the word ‘bad’ didn’t drop from her mind. Her mother Nadirah has told her repeatedly, ‘think of good, miraculous things will happen. Think of bad things….’

  ‘No, no evil thing should happen.’

  She felt she was shaking. She sat straight confidently and thought, ‘No, I am not afraid. I am not shaking.’

  Shaking still didn’t stop. Suraj was sitting behind her with minimal space but still trying to keep the possible decent gap without touching her body so far. He bent forward on her few times. She looked back at him.

  ‘Sorry, I couldn’t maintain balance.’ He said.

  She saw Suraj was also shaking.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked.

  ‘Sorry Saira, I couldn’t maintain balance,’ he tried to explain with a sense of guilt, ‘may be the road is not consistent, so the horse is not walking steadily.’

  She realised she was not shaking for fear, even Suraj was shaking. ‘It is alright,’ she said, ‘there is nothing wrong.’ She was not at all feeling guilty as Suraj was unintentionally bending out on her.

  ‘No, it is not alright,’ he said in a trembling voice.

  She didn’t expect this from him. ‘There is nothing wrong Suraj; I can see, perhaps the road is not seemly after all this is not a road at all even though we are calling it a road.’

  The horse started shaking too vigorously. Suraj held her shoulder with one hand. The lighted branch fell down from her hand on the ground and illuminated the path. Both saw a large snake was escaping to the side of the road. Saira’s eyes became wide with fear. Suraj realised the situation, held the arm of a tree for support in one hand and hands of Saira with the other, leaving the bridle. The horse fell down making a grunting sound. Suraj stood on the ground holding Saira strongly. The burning log came in contact of some dried leaves and started a small fire on the ground illuminating the area. The horse was lying on the ground and still shaking with foams coming out from its mouth. Saira looked at her and felt like crying.

  ‘Can we get some herbs for its cure?’ she asked.

  ‘There is no hope,’ Suraj confirmed, ‘the horse is dying.’

  Horses die in battle fields. He is not new to this. Probably for the first time in his case the horse was dying because of snake bite. Spare horses could be available in battle fields. Now there was none. He had never felt guilty when his horses died in battle fields. That was the way of life. Now he was feeling the pain, not for the fate of the horse, but for himself. He was in the midst of a deep forest, with a young woman to take care of, and the burden of two animals to carry.

  ‘Load of two animals to move!’ Suraj was frightened at the thought. Saira’s horse was killed, and he took out all the baggage the horse was carrying and loaded on his horse. Then he and Saira both rode his horse. The animal never complained. He also never praised the animal. Animals do not speak. They don’t have emotions. He had seen his father Purujit, spending hours with his horse, and talking to the animal. He was treating his horse as a human being. Rich people gave tips to the servants in recognition of their works. Very few recognize the work of the animals. Why? The servants can speak and animals can’t. Suraj felt sorry, not only for his own tragic fate but for the dumb creature whom he had never appreciated. He knelt down near the head of the dying horse. The animal was still shaking, but slowly now. There was but little life left. Suraj looked in his eyes. Saira also knelt down near him and lovingly kept her hands on Suraj’s shoulder. She understood that Suraj was emotionally broken down. The eyes of the horse were fixed at Suraj’s. Probably he was asking him. ‘I served you at the cost of my life. What did you do for me?’

  Two drops of tears fell from Suraj’s eyes on the face of the horse as he was gently moving his hands over his body, ‘Thank you, thank you my friend. You have given up your life for me when I am in real danger. You are a true friend. Sorry I didn’t give you a name. Your name is ‘Dost’ (Hindi definition of friend).

  The horse probably responded. His shaking stopped, and his eyes were closed. Saira pulled his hands from the body of Dost and moved her hands on Suraj’s back to comfort him. Then she went and plucked some wild flowers and spread over the body of Dost. Suraj was still in a kneeling position. She knelt near him and held both his shoulders and gently squeezed them. The gentle squeeze showed a magical effect. H
is guilt feeling eased. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into his eyes and said, ‘So far I have never given any name to my horses. Today I have decided a name for all my future horses.’

  ‘What is that?’ asked Saira.

  ‘Shukriya,’ He said. (Shukriya is Hindi word for Thanks)

  ‘This is a beautiful name,’ Saira said, ‘you will unknowingly say thanks to a faithful friend throughout the day.’

  Suraj stood up, so did Saira.

  She unloaded all the bags hanging on horseback and unpacked them, decided which items were more urgent and made few bags. Suraj was helping her, but she was taking the decision. Like an experienced and sincere housewife she prepared few bags of basic provisions so that they could carry on their shoulders. The fire log was almost finished. He arranged another small branch and lit a fire. He hung most of the bags on his shoulder while she also carried few. Suraj held his swivel gun in ready position. He had fought many wars and faced many dangerous situations in his life. Every time there were people around to take care. Tonight he was there solely to take care of Saira. In the war field, fellow soldiers and servants would take care of his injuries. Even if they were also injured. Suraj had always taken them for granted. He could realise their feelings and could feel a deep sense of gratitude towards them. Saira was not at all looking tense as if she had faced such situation before.

  She smiled as both started walking carrying the heavy load. Suraj was surprised at her stress free manner. Either she had faced worse condition than this, or she had so much confidence on Suraj’s courage that she was feeling secured in a most dangerous situation. The former was clearly not true.

  ‘When I go back to Agra,’ he started, ‘I will say thank you to some soldiers who have in the past were by my side during the war and taking utmost care of mine when they were also injured and needed care.’

  ‘Why are you remembering them now?’ Saira smiled as if she knew the answer and asking to test him.

  ‘I have rewarded them for their service,’ he admitted, ‘but now I think the reward is not enough for such gesture.’

  ‘Do you want to give more reward to them?’

  ‘I will personally go to meet their families and thank them from my heart.’

  She didn’t make any comment, but her smile was the symbol of approval.

  The road was going downside of the hill, so in spite of the heavy load the trip was not that tiring. Saira was holding a stick and was constantly knocking the ground so that snakes if any on their way would show up and they would not step on them. They walked for about an hour and halted at a cross road. It was difficult to decide which way to go. He kept the bags down and brought some broken branches to put so that they could recognise where they changed the way. On was going further down the hill. The other was a curvy road and seemed to go upwards towards their left. The former was comparatively cleaner, but the latter was full of weeds and grasses. Suraj thought for a while and pointed towards the road going downside, ‘This is the obvious choice.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she thoughtfully said, ‘my intuition is, let’s turn this way.’ She pointed her finger at the other road. He didn’t debate but carried all the bags and started walking on the way Saira pointed at. The route was extremely curvy. After some time, they came across stones which seemed like steps. The steps were going further up. It was terribly hard to carry heavy loads and move up.

  ‘Are you all right?’ he enquired, ‘you should pass on your loads to me.’

  ‘Your both hands and shoulders are full,’ she said with a smile.

  The steps now became wider. It was now clear that they were not usually built steps rather were manmade. Saira’s eyes glowed with hope, but Suraj was sceptic. He kept all the baggage on the floor and took the torched log from Saira. He then hung the swivel gun with his waist band and took the rod also from her. The steps were covered with wild creepers. He knocked few steps to be sure that there were no snakes. Then with the help of the torch he closely examined them.

  ‘There are no human footsteps,’ he reported.

  Saira was still hopeful. She came close to him and tried to find a hint of human. There was nothing. She tried to be logical, ‘these are stones, and how do you think there will be footsteps on the hard surface?’

  ‘If humans have travelled on this way in the recent past, the tangled creepers would have become less dense.’

  ‘It is possible that extremely few people use these steps,’ she was still not losing hope.

  Suddenly she found a dirty cloth few steps above. She pointed her finger towards the cloth, ‘See, something is lying there.’

  Suraj went up on the steps and held the fabric with one hand, ‘It is torn cloth.’

  They decided to go up on the steps. Trees on both sides of the stairs formed natural walls. Saira broke some tender branches and placed on the steps so that they could remember the way they travelled. The road ended after almost another two hundred steps. It would be wrong to say the way ended. Rather it opened to a cave, a cave of tremendous hope and alertness too. Suraj looked at Saira. She also looked at him. Nobody uttered a word as if someone in deep sleep at midnight would be disturbed. He looked at the sky and tried to calculate the time from the position of the moon. The opening of the cave was small and inside was dark. It is not always safe to jump in without ascertaining what is there in. He leaned in with the torched branch in his hand. The interior was almost empty, with few dry leaves lying around. Contrary to his apprehension, there were no wild creepers or weeds within.

  They decided to go inside. At last they found some place they can spend the night. Suraj brought all their bags and kept inside the cave while Saira used one small tree branch as a broom and started sweeping the floor so that a bed or beds can be prepared. Only a fraction of the cave was lighted with the torched log. She felt safe as she moved to the inner side of the cave.

  ‘Suraj, see! The cave doesn’t end here!’ She shouted at her discovery.

  Suraj quickly came to him as he kept the last bit of luggage inside the cave. He took the fire log from her hand and tried to explore the cave.

  ‘Looks like a tunnel,’ he suggested, ‘we can explore it tomorrow morning.’

  Both were dead tired. Suraj arranged few more logs and torched them. He kept few on the steps near the door and one at the entrance to the tunnel. Fire is the only deterrent against wild animals. Last night was different when they both spent the night on the aerial roots of the banyan tree. One slept while the other kept watch. Also, the horses were standing below inside the fire circle, and the sound of their restless move would have given proper sign of onset of danger. Unfortunately both the faithful animals laid their lives serving their masters.

  Suraj of course told Saira to take the first nap and offered to keep watch. When the morning sun rays warmed their bodies they realised both were in deep sleep. Fortunately they were still safe. The burning logs were almost extinct leaving a layer of ashes on the floor. Suraj woke up and looked at Saira who was sleeping on the other side of the big cave. She responded with a fresh and contented smile. She was already up few minutes before and sitting quietly to let Suraj to enjoy his sleep. Her captivating smile kick started another day for Suraj, a day full of energy, hope and fulfilment. He folded his hands and thanked God. Purujit’s family was a spiritual one and each member of the family spent some time in the morning and night praying to God. Suraj made no exception. All the life he had prayed mechanically in the morning and evening asking favours from God. Today, when he needed the favour terribly seriously, he didn’t ask for it. Rather he thanked God for finding the cave last night, for a deep sleep even though there was no bed, for not being attacked by predators and ultimately for the encouraging smile of Saira. He didn’t blame the luck for the sufferings in the jungle. He became determined to face life like a brave soldier. He felt God has a reason behind everything.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ Saira interrupted.

  ‘Yesterday you
discovered a fountain where we could get a bath,’ he said, ‘today also we have to get one.’

  ‘We were planning to explore the tunnel today,’ she reminded him.

  ‘The tunnel is going upside,’ Suraj tried to be logical; ‘we need to find water which probably should be on the down side of the mountain.’

  ‘Why so?’ she asked.

  ‘Water has a natural tendency to flow downwards,’ he explained, ‘how can we expect water if we go up?’

  She was not convinced, ‘We have enough water for our drinking, and we have the whole day to find a source of water and take a bath. Please wash your face and let’s see what is there in the tunnel.’

  Like an obedient boy he got up and went to the side of the cave which was the beginning of the tunnel. It was not that dark as he expected last night. The ground was not dirty as he thought before. The entry into the tunnel was through a small hole. He went in as Saira still remained in the cave. He went pretty far and came back.

  ‘The tunnel does not seem to be quite dark,’ he reported back, ‘I can see the light is coming through somewhere. I probably could find out if I go slightly ahead.’

  Saira didn’t say anything, just started putting the baggage from the cave to the tunnel. Suraj was surprised, ‘Strange girl! How can she take so quick decision?’ He thought.

  He didn’t debate and took the bags from her hand. Finally, he took her hand and helped her to climb inside the tunnel.

  They started their journey for the third day. Even though it was a bright cloudless day, Suraj torched a log and Saira carried it. Who knew how far in the tunnel they would have to go. What would happen, if there is no light deep inside the tunnel? Had it been the first day, they would have decided not to go through the unknown tunnel. After struggling for last two days, they felt confident enough to explore and find a way through the unknown world.

  There were holes on the sides of the tunnel at irregular intervals. It was curvy, so it was difficult to see far even though the light was enough. The tunnel was going up. There were upward slopes as well as steps. After walking for some time, they heard the sound of water flowing. The sound was soothing. They were perspiring because of the tiring journey in the upward going tunnel. Even though there were isolated openings and enough sunlight was lighting the tunnel, the air flow was minimal. Their drinking water was almost over as they were drinking regularly.

  ‘Am I the only one to hear the sound of water?’ Suraj asked.

  ‘I can also get the sound.’

  Both continued the walk. Shortly the tunnel ended and opened to a narrow cascade. Actually it was not the end of the tunnel as it was still continuing after the cascade.

  ‘God is so friendly?’ exclaimed Saira as she saw the clear and sparkling water flowing on the rocks. She looked at Suraj with a smile on her face, and commented, ‘You said water flows downwards, see it is flowing downwards.’

  ‘And we didn’t have to go downside of the hill to get water,’ Suraj laughed at his own idea not to go in the tunnel as it was going uphill.

  Both kept their luggage on the ground and quickly descended in the water. The gentle cold water absorbed all the tiredness as both started taking bath. The water was only waist deep but current was strong. Saira had to hold Suraj tightly with one hand and played with the water with the other hand. For a short time, she forgot that she was taking a dip in the cascade with a young man. The man whom she didn’t know few days ago. She soon realised and felt uncomfortable. She tried to arrange her clothes. Suraj was consciously looking at the opposite side while continuing the lending his support to Saira for her safety.

  They continued the journey again in the tunnel after their marvellous and soothing bath. The tunnel’s upward journey stopped and now it was just plain and smooth going.

  ‘I am now thinking why we are going in the tunnel,’ Suraj started rethinking about their decision to go into the tunnel.

  ‘Because we have nowhere else to go,’ Saira replied, ‘the tunnel must have opened somewhere. Who knows it will lead us to the right path?’

  ‘What if we hit a dead end?’ Suraj was sceptic.

  ‘What do you mean?’ she asked.

  ‘The tunnel can stop near a big wall,’ he explained, ‘which means we may have to go back from where we came.’

  ‘Going back will not be difficult, as there is no variation or cross-road all the way we have travelled in the tunnel so far. My gut feeling says this tunnel has been used by civilised people and must have a proper end.’

  ‘You are probably right,’ Suraj supported her study, ‘the way the steps have been paved, it seems to be manmade or at best modified.’

  Gradually they felt the presence of smoke. It was not the smoke emanating from the torched log they were holding. Rather it was coming from somewhere. The smell was sweet.

  ‘There must be a fire somewhere in the jungle,’ Saira said.

  Suraj smiled with confidence, ‘This time you will be wrong,’ he said, ‘can you know what this smell is?’

  ‘Yes, this is the smell of burning of ghee (melted and clarified butter).’

  ‘You are right,’ his eyes glowed with excitement and satisfaction, ‘finally we have arrived at a proper destination. Saira your gut feeling was right. We have done a right thing by coming inside the tunnel.’

  ‘You are right, but how?’ she was confused by sudden optimism of Suraj.

  ‘This is the smell of burning of Ghee,’ he explained, ‘definitely someone is performing a religious ritual which is not far away. This fragrance will not travel miles. We are, in fact, very close to some human beings who know the area. They may help us find a direction for our rescue.’

  She was convinced as both continued their journey. The tunnel started winding again. Finally, they came to the place. They could see the backside of a man sitting cross legged on the stone floor. There was a small fireplace and a man was sitting there and was adding small wooden pieces to the fire. Suraj slowly kept the bags on the ground. Saira also did the same. He didn’t utter anything and stood straight so that the man would not be disturbed.

  The man probably could understand someone was standing behind him. He stopped what he was doing and stood up, still keeping the backside towards them. Then with a loud burst of laugh he suddenly turned around and stood face to face.

  A sudden scream came out from Saira’s mouth as she tried to control her volume. Unknowingly she moved quickly near to Suraj and wrapped her hand around his waist. Suraj couldn’t speak though he didn’t seem to be afraid.

  ‘Welcome to couple,’ the man said.

  Saira looked at Suraj. In fact, both intently looked at each other. She wanted to tell him something, but couldn’t. Her eyes conveyed her message, ‘This was the same Tantric or Aghori monk who had delivered his prediction few days ago and then had vanished in the jungle.’

  The man could understand the language of their eyes and said, ‘Yes, I am the same monk who came to your site that day.’

  Suraj got-back his poise, bent forward and saluted him by touching his feet. She also followed suit. The monk blessed them, ‘You people are tired and probably hungry. The first and foremost requirement of an empty stomach is food. Please come, I have prepared food for you.’

  He took them to a nearby cave where there were few deer skins lying on the floor. Deer skins were the standard sitting mats those days especially for the monks. Suraj sat on a mat. Saira initially went to sit on another mat but came and sat close to Suraj on the same mat. Sadhu laid two banana leaves in front of them and served piping hot food. He also sat on the opposite side with a banana leaf served with food. There was nothing unusual with the food but those were tastiest for hungry stomachs. The monk didn’t utter a word during the meal. Some religious people keep absolute silence while consuming food. They believe consuming food is a sacred act like meditation.

  Saira’s initial fear for the Sadhu vanished by the time they finished eating. They were in no mood, to continue thei
r journey immediately after that. The zeal to fight the odds in the jungle brought them lots of energy. That enthusiasm soon gave way to fatigue as soon as they got a safe place to retire for some time. Monk took them through a door which was opening to a terrace outside the tunnel. The terrace overlooked the valley almost one hundred feet below it and was surrounded by small altitude stone walls. Few chairs were carved out of stone. They sat there, Saira sat down again close to Suraj, and the monk sat in front of them.

  Monk started, ‘Life is abundant.’

  ‘Yes,’ Suraj nodded.

  ‘How many days you guys are in this journey, in the jungle?’ he asked.

  ‘Probably he has not realised that we are in trouble’, Suraj thought as he looked at Saira before replying, ‘Last two days.’

  ‘What fortunate event has happened to you during last two days? I mean how many occasions God has favoured you?’ Sadhu enquired with a smile.

  ‘Favour from God?’ Both Suraj and Saira looked at each other with surprise.

  Last two days were probably most miserable days in their lives.

  Suraj thought.

  Firstly, they were lost in the jungle, and still now they are trying to find a way out without any sign of success.

  Secondly, there was heavy rain, and for the first time in their life, they slept on the nature-made bed formed by aerial roots of the banyan tree. Suraj had slept outside the luxury of his father’s palatial home while going on military expeditions. But his beds were always prepared inside the tents fully served and attended by servants. For Saira, last two nights were the first experience outside a home in her life.

  Thirdly, they failed to interact with the only tribal man they found on their way. Had he understood what they want, he could have guided them to find a way out of the jungle.

  Suraj was silently counting with his fingers.

  Next, when they were about to get a tribal village they were attacked by the tribal people themselves. The tribal woman mistook Saira to be a man and apprehended she was following her for improper motives. Instead of welcoming the duo as guests, as they usually do when outsiders come to them, they chased them away.

  Saira’s horse was killed by the tribal man. It could have been worse. Luckily the man heard Saira screaming and was convinced that they have mistaken her as a man. They were left with only one horse.

  Suraj mentally counted, ‘Five unfortunate events.’

  Suraj’s horse was bitten by a poisonous snake and died. The end of their only horse came at a time when they needed it the most.

  He observed Saira was also using her fingers to count. The monk was sitting patiently with a smile on his face.

  They spent hours to find a suitable place to spend the night before they found the cave. That is number seven.

  Suraj was convinced with his replies to the monk. He was trying to articulate his words. He didn’t even dare to call his name. He could have addressed him Sadhu, which is not a name, but another meaning of the word monk. His answers would be in negative. God did not support them during last two days. Rather they had faced the worst. He wished if he could talk to Saira privately before answering the monk. He felt as if he was going to appear some exam. He looked at Saira helplessly. She probably understood his predicament. She was also probably counting the number of bad-lucks they had faced during last two days. Suraj had counted up to seven. Her count might be six or eight. He saw a satisfied smile on her face.

  Suraj finally decided to start. Before he could say something, Saira started.

  ‘God helped us find a bed made of Aerial roots of a banyan tree, when we had least hope of finding a place to spend the rainy night. We had not anticipated that we have to spend the night in the jungle, so we didn’t have a tent. The bed was large enough, to accommodate both of us. It was covered with thick and leafy branches in such a way that we felt as if we were under a big roof. It saved us from the heavy downpour. Even our horses spent the night below our bed and enjoyed the warmth of the fire ring for which He gave the idea to Suraj. Who can even imagine such a safe night deep inside a huge jungle? We were prepared to face the predators, but none came.’

  Suraj was surprised. How could Saira describe the event as fortunate when they spent the night outside their comfort zone? He looked at her in admiration.

  The monk smiled and nodded in acknowledgement, ‘That is number one. My name is Satyanand. Swami Satyanand. You are undoubtedly fortunate. Is there any other event you can consider as number two?’

  Suraj was now prepared to speak out the second one, which was not lucky for them. Again before he could start, Saira started, ‘Luckily we were not extremely close to the tribal village when they chased us. We could run off easily. We both could have easily been killed even though we were better armed than them. They were in hundreds and could have easily outnumbered us. First we thought they are coming to greet us. Luckily we could realise in time they were coming to attack us. These are number two and three.’

  ‘How can she describe all adverse events as fortunate ones?’ Suraj thought again, ‘Sure they came out of that danger. That doesn’t mean we were blessed.’

  Satyanand was happy. He could see from his body language. Saira looked confident than before. This is the mystery of life. One was a man and a fighter. He had fought real wars in his life. He should look more confident than her in dangerous situations. Of course, he had handled them with courage and also got success. Still he didn’t have the courage to express them as positive events. On the other hand, Saira was almost an ordinary young woman. She might have gotten some military training, but didn’t have any real war experience. She would never get that experience throughout her life. After all, it was a man’s world.

  ‘Number four must be negative,’ He thought and decided not to talk about the next incident, ‘Let me see how she is describing the murder of her horse by the tribal man.’

  He smiled and looked at her, to communicate for starting the next incident.

  ‘Next one I was the luckiest. God was so gracious to me.’ Saira started again.

  Suraj looked at her in disbelief.

  She continued, ‘The tribal youth who killed my horse, could have killed me also. We had no idea why they were chasing us to attack. I screamed. He immediately stopped. We thought the tribal people are uncivilised, but God has given them intelligence. In fact, God came to my rescue at that time. He realised that I am a woman and stopped the attack. He took the decision even without the advice of his leader and retracted. Practically I got another birth. We also felt sure that the attack will be over once he conveys his people about our situation.’

  Satyanand replied, ‘That is number four and five.’

  Saira stopped. Probably she was thinking how to describe the next event.

  Suraj started, ‘My horse carried both of us. On the way, he died of snakebite. For the first time in my life, I realised that I have never been grateful to animals who serve us. I gave a name to the horse before it died and said thank you from the bottom of my hearts. I felt tremendously calm after that, even though its death was a tremendous loss to us in that situation.’

  ‘That is number six,’ complemented Saira. Satyanand appreciated with a big laugh.

  ‘Suraj was not being able to find a suitable name for his war horse, which he found,’ she added, ‘he will call his war horse Shukriya (Thank you). This is number seven. He decided, he would meet the families of soldiers and servants who had personally served him in battle fields even though they were wounded, and would say thanks to them. Of course, he will do this after going back. He feels exceptionally happy after this decision. I am sure he will feel much better when he actually does that.’

  ‘This is number eight.’ Suraj said as he remembered he was counting up to seven with his fingers for all the unfortunate events during last two days.

  ‘We lost all hopes to find a suitable and secure place for spending the night. We decided not to use the downward path on a cross road even though t
hat seemed a better idea at that time. We are now happy for our decision, which led us to the cave, and we got a much-desired sleep last night. This is number nine.’ Suraj said.

  Saira added, ‘Today morning we were looking for a cascade for bathing and also for drinking water. We thought we might not get water if we travel in the tunnel as the tunnel was going uphill. We were planning to go back and move downside of the hill in order to obtain water. Somehow we felt like going up in the tunnel and found the waterfall. The cold and sparkling clear water took away all our fatigue and we also collected enough drinking water.’

  ‘That was number ten, and I have no more fingers left,’ Suraj said in amusement.

  Satyanand laughed, ‘You have taken the right decision by acting upon your guts rather than logic. I know this place. There is no source of water for a long distance on that side.’

  Suraj looked at Saira in recognition. It was, in fact, her decision to come in the tunnel while he was planning to go on the opposite direction.

  ‘I think your blessed events have already outnumbered the unlucky ones by now,’ Satyanand asked.

  ‘Since long,’ Suraj confirmed. He decided not to discuss all the unfortunate events that happened to them. He might have already known that with his divine power.

  ‘We can still get more fortunate events after that,’ she said, ‘like meeting a talented person like you and getting delicious home cooked food when we were extremely hungry.’

  ‘God is so helpful,’ Satyanand said, ‘counting bad-luck is simple as they are numbered. Counting good-luck is difficult. When you start to recognise your good-lucks and count them, you can’t stop counting.’

  ‘God always gives whatever you need,’ Satyanand said again.

  Suraj counted, ‘We wanted to find a way out of the jungle day before yesterday, but we were not successful. God sometimes forgets to answer the prayers.’

  ‘I said that whatever you need is granted by God,’ Satyanand clarified, ‘but whatever you seek is not always whatever you need. Many times you don’t realise what you want and make a blunder in asking something different. God knows your ignorance and ignore such prayers. Whatever you need is sometimes different from what you ask for.’

  ‘How?’ both Suraj and Saira asked at the same time.

  ‘You wanted a way out of the jungle, is that correct?’ Satyanand asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Suraj replied.

  ‘I will let you know which route will help you both out of this jungle,’ Satyanand said, ‘I can even send someone with you who will help you to the house of Ashfaq Khan. Is that all-right? Do you need anything after that?’

  ‘What is after that?’ Suraj asked instead of requesting him for a guide.

  ‘Your trip will be over, and you will continue to perform your profession; may be some war or rebellion against the Emperor,’ Satyanand said with a mischievous smile, ‘Saira will go back to Allahabad after few days. It is also possible that you both will never meet each other never again.’

  The comment was a rude shock to both Suraj and Saira. Last two days they were struggling together to find a way out of the jungle. Now they could request for a guide who would probably take them on the safest route to Ashfaq’s house. They hesitated to request for that. They had already realised that Satyanand knew many facts about them and their families.

  ‘Of course this is not a serious discovery. Purujit and Ashfaq Khan’s families are two noble families of Agra and to know about them is just common sense.’ Suraj thought.

  Satyanand slowly got up and went to the fire pit. He placed few wooden pieces in that and added some ghee. The flames of the fire erupted again from the fire pit. The pleasant smell of burning ghee engulfed the tunnel and caves.

  Both looked confused. Suraj was not sure if he should count one more fortunate incident during last two days; a warm and sweet part of his personality named Saira. He looked at her. This young woman was with him since last few days. She trusted him so much. He had been so much careful to save her life. Her every utterance had given courage to him. Unlike many other women of the sixteenth century who were gripped with fear at odd situations, she had rather shown the capacity to advise him about various alternatives.

  ‘She is different,’ Suraj thought, ‘she is unique. In fact, she is one in millions. Once they go back to Ashfaq Khan’s house outside the jungle, I may never see her again.’

  He realised she was looking at him expecting he would take some decision: the decision of requesting Satyanand to send a guide to get them back to Ashfaq’s small castle. All they need is to utter few words and their work would be done. They have faced and fought with so many odds during last two days. Why suddenly uttering few words became so hard as if they were going climbing the tallest mountain of the world. They both realised that asking something was not the same thing as needing something.

  Saira gently placed her palms over his and requested, ‘We both are extremely tired. Can we beg him to let us to stay here for few days before going back?’

  He was spellbound. Her simple words had enough powers to influence him. He kept his other hand on her shoulder and simply nodded in affirmation. His gut feeling was that Saira’s decision couldn’t be wrong, and something incredible was going to happen.

  Saira gently took off her palms from his palms, went slowly and sat in front of Satyanand. There was only the fire pit between the two of them.

  ‘I am sorry to bother you,’ she said as Satyanand looked at him, ‘I have no motivation to annoy your Hindu God while you are doing prayer. You have shown enough concern to us both. Can we spend few days with you?’

  Suraj also came and sat beside her.

  Satyanand smiled, ‘you are welcome my daughter. You both can spend as many days here as you like. By the way, I am not worshipping any Hindu God. In fact, I do not worship any Hindu God. I worship fire, the symbol of energy.’

  ‘I am sorry, I didn’t understand.’ Saira said innocently.

  Suraj tried to explain, ‘Our scripture says that fire is energy.’

  ‘No my boy,’ Satyanand corrected, ‘fire is not the only thing which is energy. Whatever you see or experience is part of the energy. You both are also a form of energy. The air you inhale is a form of energy. The Sun which gives us light is also a form of energy. Energy is infinite. Energy is abundant. It is never created. No one can destroy energy. It just changes form.’

  Both Suraj and Saira looked confused. Satyanand understood that his message was going above their head. He smiled, and as a gifted teacher tried to simplify.

  ‘When you plant a seed in the ground, it germinates. You can’t get the seed once it is converted into a beautiful plant. The seed, water, air, light and soil all together change shape and become a plant. The plant generates flowers and fruits which is also another variation in form. The plant eventually dies and becomes part of soil again. That is another change in form.’

  ‘Do we humans also change form?’ Saira asked.

  ‘The scripture says our end is just a change in form,’ Suraj explained, ‘only the body dies, but the soul is immortal.’

  ‘No my boy,’ Satyanand clarified, ‘I disagree with the scripture. Your body and soul are both different forms of energy. Everyone sees the end of the body. In other words like the dead plant, the body of all animals become part of soil after death. People think that the soul is immortal. Actually soul takes much longer time to change form. It can remain in the same form from few hundred years to more than a thousand years. When finally it changes form, people call it Moksha or nirvana. The soul actually changes form and merges with infinite energy (mahashakti). It is like the water of river Ganga merging with the ocean through an estuary. Once the river water merges with the sea, you never identify the water with the river. Rather it is called sea water. It loses its identity of the river for forever.’

  ‘People say that if you do right karma you can achieve nirvana,’ Suraj replied.

  ‘You do right karma or evil karma, one
day your soul will change form and integrate with infinite identity,’ Satyanand clarified, ‘soul maintains its identity for hundreds or even thousands of years before the final nirvana. It moves across several bodies during its lifetime. When one body dies, it goes to another body; you call it rebirth.’

  ‘My grandfather was always saying that I was probably his father in my last birth,’ Suraj laughed, ‘if somehow the memory of my last birth comes back to me.’

  ‘Once the body dies and soul takes another birth, the memory of previous birth is lost forever.’ Saira said confidently.

  ‘How did you know?’ Suraj asked as Satyanand looked at her in admiration.

  ‘My grandmother is Hindu, and she has read lots of Hindu scriptures. She was telling me when I was a child.’

  Satyanand clarified again, ‘Yes, it is a common belief that once the body dies and soul moves into another body, the memory of the previous birth is forever lost. That is wrong. The memory is actually suppressed. The soul is another form of energy and is much powerful than the animal body. The memory can be activated. Very few people know how to activate the sleeping memory.’

  Suraj realised that Satyanand was not just joking. Probably he knew how to activate the memory of former birth. Satyanand could imagine what he was thinking.

  ‘You both might be thinking being lost in the jungle is an accident,’ he continued, ‘actually it was planned by the Infinite Intelligence. I didn’t plan to see both of you when you all were planning to enter into the jungle for the hunting game. But when I saw both of you, I could easily recognise. It was the intention of the Infinite Energy or Mahashakti.’

  Saira now realised why Satyanand blessed only Suraj and her when he saw them near the little palace of her father. She felt the smoky scenes are slowly making way to a clear path. She guessed where Satyanand was leading them, ‘I think we both knew each other since our last birth.’

  Both Suraj and Saira eagerly looked at him with a pleasant excitement as Saira moved close to her. Satyanand didn’t give the answer for some time. This increased their anxiety. His eyes were towards the other side of the tunnel. Two more young monks entered the scene and saluted him.

  Satyanand introduced, ‘This is Kripa and Shankar. They are my disciples.’

  Suraj saluted both and started giving his own introduction. Before he could start Kripa told, ‘You are Suraj and Saira. You both are meeting each other after so many years.’

  ‘We met each other for the first time just few days ago,’ Suraj corrected him.

  ‘You both are meeting each other for the first time in this life.’ Shankar clarified Suraj.

  Satyanand stood up, ‘Once you both have taken seven oaths together. Even if you don’t remember that, it is always there in your subconscious mind. Last two days, your subconscious mind, has led you to abide by some of those. Infinite Intelligence has brought both of you together again in this life. Your souls have got into new bodies, which have been named Suraj and Saira. Each time you both meet after a new birth, you should repeat those oaths again.’

  Suraj got up. So did Saira. He took her little finger in his hand and started walking around the fire pit. He said to her, ‘I promise to save you always under any circumstances.’

  Saira’s eyes moistened as she walked with him, ‘I promise to take care of you all the time.’

  They completed the first round. The second round started. Suraj said, ‘I will strive to keep you happy all the time.’

  Saira also promised the same thing as they completed the second round.

  They started the third round. ‘I will remain faithful to you, not only in this life but also in all future lives. I have complete confidence in God that you will be my spouse in all future lives till both of our soul attains nirvana.’

  Saira promised, ‘The moment I met you, I got a feeling that you are my husband. Only you will be my spouse in all the future lives. You are my nirvana. I do not need any other nirvana.’

  He started the fourth round, ‘I will earn enough wealth to live a happy life. I promise to increase and preserve wealth by fair means.’

  Till now Suraj was taking the lead and Saira was walking behind him. After the fourth round, she walked ahead of him and said, ‘Let God bless both of us with mental and physical powers so that we can accept any dangerous situations in life.’

  Suraj just repeated and walked behind her for the sixth round.

  ‘I promise to share all your happiness and sadness.’

  He promised, ‘As long as you are with me, I will face all the adverse situations with courage and bring you happiness.

  Together they started the seventh step, ‘We both are part of the same soul. No one, no religion, caste or tradition, can separate us. We will live together and die together.’

  Suraj then took her in his arms. Both then came to normal consciousness and saluted Satyanand for his blessings.

  Satyanand was overwhelmed as he kept both his hands on the heads of the couple, ‘This auspicious moment comes once in a millennium. The position of stars at this moment is rarest of rare. This position signifies that any type of exchange between a boy and girl to express their unconditional love will culminate in their wedding, a sacred bond between two souls, which will continue even in their future lives. I hereby formally declare both of you as husband and wife.’

  ‘I have been doing penance since so many lives or births,’ Satyanand continued, ‘and acquired immense spiritual power which I rarely use. My curiosity to gain more knowledge about the universe has so far stopped me from attaining nirvana or ultimate freedom when the soul like any other form of energy changes the shape and merges with the infinite intelligence. I know you both since your previous birth. I assure both of you that I will travel with you for at least next seven lives.’

  ‘How can we recognise each other in our future births?’ enquired Suraj.

  ‘You don’t have to worry for that,’ Satyanand assured, ‘even you both are born in different countries, Universe will get everything done so that you both can be together. It is not necessary that you both will meet at the marriageable age or before. It happened this time fortunately. It is possible that, by the time you both meet in your future lives, both are already married to some other persons. That wouldn’t affect your faithfulness. You will remember the past at sometime. Remember, sometimes there are time gaps between death of a body and getting another birth. Your souls can see this world with their eyes. This world is inhabited by humans, animals, birds, insects and plants. Apart from this there is another world which I can see. That is the world of souls without bodies. That may be the transition period between two lives. This means soul has been free from a dead body and awaiting another birth. At this stage, all souls remember just about one life, which they have just abdicated. They still behave similar way they were behaving when their bodies were alive. You both will remember about all the lives you have lived.’

  ‘Will I continue to become female all the time?’ Saira was curious.

  Satyanand laughed, so did all his disciples. Suraj also joined the fun.

  ‘Do you think male body is better than female?’ asked Satyanand.

  ‘There is more freedom for males,’ she answered with a smile.

  ‘Infinite Intelligence or God is neither male nor female. The scriptures have depicted the Infinite Intelligence as a male character as our society is male dominated. I can foresee that one day this male domination of society will be finished, and the world will ensure equality between men and women.’

  ‘When?’ Saira’s eyes glowed with excitement.

  ‘Have patience my child,’ Satyanand advised, ‘we are still in the sixteenth century. You will see the earliest part of the seventeenth century in this birth. The changes to the society may take few centuries. It will start in the twentieth century, and by twenty-first century both men and women will receive equal status.’

  ‘So long!’ she looked disappointed.

  ‘You both will notic
e that stage in your future life,’ Shankar, the disciple, reminded them.

  ‘Still if you want to enjoy the freedom of a male before society is changed,’ Satyanand continued, ‘you both can do so.’

  ‘My apologies oh saint!’ Suraj interrupted, ‘I am a reputed warrior and belong to a reputed Rajput family. I can’t show my face to anyone if you make me a woman.’

  ‘Don’t be afraid my boy,’ Satyanand assured him, ‘I am not a magician. I can’t transform a man to a woman. I told you before that the soul has no sex. Your own thinking process and imagination will lead to a male or female body in your next birth. If you both decide sometime during your long journey through different lives, the next birth will give you a different sex. Unless you wish so, you will continue to be in the same sex.’

  ‘I have some doubts sir,’ Kripa begged to ask.

  Satyanand looked at him with an indication of permission.

  ‘Will their personality change if Suraj becomes a woman, and Saira become a man at some future life?’

  ‘A girl is trained by the parents, and community to act like a girl,’ Satyanand replied, ‘similar case is with a boy. As people do not remember about their past lives, they easily adapt to the new life. In the case of this couple, they will remember their past life at some point of the next life. There is a possibility of confusion in their behaviour.’

  They remained silent for some time. Suraj was the first one to break the silence.

  ‘We both were trying our best to find a way out of the jungle. We didn’t realise this whole world is a jungle. You gave us the way to lead through this massive jungle.’ Suraj saluted Satyanand by touching his feet.

  ‘We were counting the blessings sometimes before. This is the greatest blessing of all.’ Saira said gratefully as she also touched his feet.

  ‘You both are tired,’ Satyanand suggested, ‘and there is a long way to go. Please take rest here. You may start your journey again tomorrow morning.’

  Kripa and Shankar took them through the tunnel. The tunnel seemed to be divided into two parts after walking for about five minutes. The left part was narrowing, and there were stairs. The stairs led them to a higher level cave. Practically it was a small room made up by digging the mountain. A wooden door assured privacy to the newly married couple. There was a bed carved out of stone. A window opened to the outside world.

  It was the time just before sunset. Usually monks eat their dinner before sunset. The couple also finished their dinner with them before being led to their bedroom. Saira started arranging their bags and make a bed as Suraj jumped the window and stood outside. The window was actually a small opening on the wall of the cave. Outside was a small open, stony terrace. The weather was calm, and the sky was clear. They were at a considerable height, which ensured a clear view of the jungle below. Suraj called Saira outside and helped her to climb the window.

  As they sat together to enjoy the beautiful sunset Suraj held her hand and said, ‘Can you imagine the difference? Yesterday I was maintaining considerable distance from you. Today we are sitting close together.’

  ‘This is normal,’ she said, ‘you are an educated man from a cultured family. You are expected to maintain your dignity and show respect to women. By maintaining a respectful distance from any woman, you are showing dignity. By sitting close to your own wife, you are showing respect to her.’

  Suraj laughed, ‘You were my spouse in my past life also. We still don’t have that memory. Otherwise, I could have treated you as my wife even before this formal wedding. We are already wedded since our past life.’

  ‘Wedding in our past life will not be accepted by the society. So, a traditional wedding is required. We may still experience the problem as this wedding was conducted in the absence of our family members. We both are from two separate communities. What will happen if they don’t recognise this wedding? Who will believe that we were a couple in our past life? Even we don’t have that memory.’ Saira looked worried.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he assured, ‘both our parents are working for the Emperor Akbar, who has married Jodhabai, a Hindu Rajput. He has set the precedent, and we are just following it. Satyanand, Kripa and Shankar, will be our witness.’

  “Satyanand told, we can remember our past lives,’ Saira reiterated, ‘so why do we still can’t remember about our past life?’

  ‘We will,’ he assured, ‘when time comes. Don’t worry for that. We spent lots of time worrying how to find a way out of the jungle. What happened? When we found someone who can help us get a way out of the jungle our priority suddenly changed. Always believe whatever is happening is for some noble purpose.’

  Saira cooled down as both started to enjoy the beauty of the moonlit starry night.

  In the morning, Kripa and Shankar came to them.

  ‘We will assist you to find a way so that you both can go back from where you came,’ Kripa said.

  ‘Thank you,’ Suraj was grateful, ‘can we meet Satyanand and get his blessings before we leave?’

  ‘He has already left this area since early morning. He has blessed you both before leaving.’ Shankar confirmed.

  ‘Where has he gone?’ Saira asked.

  ‘He rarely stays here,’ Kripa said, ‘most of the time he travels to different places. We never know where he goes. We only know when he comes back here.’

  ‘How can we meet him again?’ Suraj asked.

  ‘You can’t decide when to meet him,’ Shankar said, ‘when he decides to meet you he will find and meet you.’

  Kripa and Shankar walked with them some distance in the tunnel. They were walking exactly in the opposite direction from the side Suraj, and Saira entered the tunnel.

  ‘You may have to walk around an hour in this tunnel,’ Kripa advised, ‘before you reach the end. The opening to this side of the tunnel has not been used for many years. It must have been covered with weeds and creepers. Please clean them and you will be able to go out.’

  ‘How can we find a way to home from there?’ Suraj asked again.

  ‘You will find out.’ Shankar assured as they bid farewell to the couple.

  The couple walked. Today the walk was not that difficult. They didn’t experience exhaustion while carrying the heavy bags and arms. Mathematics is sometimes wrong. The energy level of a man and a woman doubles when they join hands. It is multiplied when they become married couples. The energy level reaches at an incredible level when their souls are married to each other.

  The tunnel was not dark as there were holes at intervals which allowed access to sunlight. Gradually the light faded as the number of such holes gradually reduced to nil. Probably this part of the tunnel was entirely buried. Suraj lighted the wooden stick to make light. They walked till they reached the dead end. They found upward moving steps. The end was covered with thick layers of creepers. It was dangerously thick and can easily hide large venomous snakes. He started cutting them with his sword. It took a while to clear them.

  As they managed to walk out Saira exclaimed, ‘It is the same place we were exploring the day we started for the hunting game.’

  Suraj slowly went out of the tunnel, looked outside and confirmed, ‘Yes Saira, it is the same place.’

  Saira also came out of the tunnel and joined Suraj. The narrow unnamed river with waterfalls every few hundred meters were still alive with clear sparkling water.

  ‘Remember we were thinking of exploring this ancient structure?’ she continued, ‘we have almost gone to the other side of the tunnel and came back through it.’

  ‘This means we have finished the exploration.’

  ‘Not exactly,’ she said, ‘we should have asked Kripa and Shankar. Perhaps they know the history about this structure.’

  ‘We originally thought there may be some palace below the ground,’ Suraj suggested.

  ‘May be the two ends of the tunnel are two secret exits of the palace,’ Saira suggested, ‘I have observed there are diversions inside the tunnel. Who knows one of the di
versions might have gone to an old historical palace!’

  ‘You think the king who might have built the palace has built such long tunnel for a secret exit?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘my uncle Iqbal has seen such a tunnel from your house to some place near Yamuna.’

  ‘That’s true,’ Suraj confirmed, ‘but our house is not a palace.’

  ‘My mother respects your father as a king, so we can call your house a palace.’

  ‘If he is the king, then I am the crown prince,’ Suraj joked and hugged her, ‘you are now my crown princess Saira, which means future queen.’

  Sarah chuckled as she came close to him and wrapped her hands around his neck. Suddenly her eyes were fixated on the sky, ‘Look at those dark clouds!’

  ‘Where?’ Suraj said looking at the sky, ‘it is clear.’

  ‘Look at this side,’ Saira pointed at the west, ‘It is almost similar situation we saw on the day we started.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said casually.

  They decided to stay back in the tunnel till the rain cleared. Saira got a fallen branch of date palm and cleaned the floors of the tunnel using that as a broom. Suraj cleaned the rest of the creepers which was blocking the entry of the tunnel. He also brought few dry logs for fire, collected enough water from the unnamed narrow river. The food Kripa and Shankar had packed for them was enough for two more days.

  They were not in a hurry to go back home. What is a home? A man and woman decide to live together, and wherever they live becomes a home. The thunderstorm outside the tunnel looked so cute that the couple watched sitting inside the tunnel.

  The sky was literally pouring. The narrow unnamed tributary started overflowing. The sounds of half a dozen small waterfalls along the course of the river were competing with the sound of rain and storm. Lethargy grasped the strength of the couple. After all, this was the chance for the couple for some privacy and togetherness. Who knew when Suraj would be called to join his father Purujit and Saira’s father Ashfaq in Lahore? Both the fathers were fighting in the most difficult battle of their life: the war between father Emperor Akbar and Crown Prince Saleem. The war was tricky as it was between a father and a son. The reason was trivial. Emperor Akbar didn’t like prince Saleem’s choice of bride, Anarkali. Little did the two fathers knew, their own son and daughter have already married without informing them.

  Deep sleep is like death. Satyanand had foreseen that the soul of Saira and Suraj would travel through times. Saira had gotten the impression that one day her spirit will remember her past life. It might even reveal the future. She could hear the commotion outside the entrance of her house. She tried to wake up and listen carefully what was happening. It was so hard to get-up from a deep sleep as if all the energy had been drained out from the body. Probably her soul was wandering by getting out of her body and trying to come back to its abode. She could feel the struggle her soul was doing to enter the body and wake up. She could hear Suraj’s name. Probably he has come back from a fight and being greeted. Who was greeting him? The commotion was slowly getting clear. She could hear the voice of her step brothers; Ayaaz and Kareem. Even Aditi was saying something.

  Ayaaz’s voice was hoarse, ‘How can you dare such a thing with my sister? I have always treated your sister Aditi as my own sister. You got the chance to be with my sister just for two days, and you crossed all the boundaries of decency?’

  Saira woke up and sat properly. Invariably they have come into the privacy of their bedroom: a makeshift bedroom inside a tunnel without any door or window.

  Finally, Ayaaz was able to find them. When Suraj and Saira were lost in the jungle, the first thing they were expecting that Ayaaz would do anything to find and rescue them if they didn’t find a way back.

  She stood up and tried to explain the situation to her brothers, ‘Suraj is my husband.’

  Everyone, including Ayaaz, Kareem, and Aditi was taken aback.

  ‘Say that again!’ Ayaaz insisted, ‘I didn’t hear clearly.’

  ‘We both,’ Suraj tried to explain, but Ayaaz shouted, ‘you shut up. I am asking my sister to talk to me. Don’t come in between.’ Kareem moved near to her. He was looking poised, and his body language was assuring Saira not to be afraid. He gently squeezed her shoulders and looked at her lovingly. She was genuinely afraid of Ayaaz.

  ‘The Aghori monk who had appeared that day is Satyanand,’ Saira explained, ‘and he has performed our wedding rituals.’

  ‘She is now wedded to me,’ Suraj confirmed.

  ‘You,’ Ayaaz took out his sword, ‘you are a traitor and shall be punished.’

  Suraj also took out his sword for his defence. Aditi quickly moved and firmly stood in between the two rivals. Holding Ayaaz’s and Suraj’s with both her hands she said, ‘I don’t want both my brothers to shed each other’s blood.’

  Ayaaz kept the sword back, so did Suraj.

  Ayaaz tried to be normal.

  ‘We shouldn’t make a scene in front of our servants and guards,’ Kareem suggested.

  Ayaaz looked outside the tunnel, ‘They are all standing at a distance and can’t hear what we are saying.’

  ‘Can’t we just go back home and settle amicably?’ Kareem suggested, ‘why should we allow outsiders to know about sensitive matters about our families?’

  ‘There is nothing secret Kareem,’ Suraj clarified, ‘I have not eloped with your sister. I have lawfully married her.’

  ‘Lawfully?’ Ayaaz first spoke in a high tone and then lowered the voice as he was aware of the presence of servants and guards outside the tunnel. ‘How can such a marriage be permissible? None of our parents has given permission.’

  ‘Can we just go back home and discuss it privately?’ Kareem suggested.

  They all went out of the tunnel and pretended as if nothing has happened. After reaching Ashfaq’s bungalow, Ayaaz announced, ‘There will be no more game. We are all going back tomorrow morning.’

  Everyone was expecting this. This announcement was for servants and guards.

  Suraj insisted, he would take Saira with him. Ayaaz resisted.

  ‘What is wrong in such marriage?’ Aditi argued, ‘the Emperor himself has married Jodhabai who is not a Muslim.’

  ‘If you have not done anything wrong,’ Ayaaz responded to her, ‘why are you afraid to face my father and your father too?’

  The situation would have become strained. Iqbal Hussain suddenly arrived from Allahabad, and there was a little twist in the story. Ayaaz suddenly lost his authority on his step sister. Kareem updated Iqbal about the event. Ayaaz still looked angry while Suraj maintained his composure and sat upright throughout. Saira looked confident. Iqbal patiently listened without displaying any positive or negative emotion. He slowly went, sat near Saira and kept his hand lovingly on her head. He then looked directly at Ayaaz, ‘My son’s wedding has been fixed. I have come to take Saira. How can her brother marry without her presence?’

  Ayaaz was confused. He never trusted Iqbal, his father’s ex brother in law. All he wanted Saira not to be united with Suraj again. ‘Anyway,’ he thought, ‘this is better for the time being. Suraj can’t urge to get her with him. He can think of a better way in the course of time.’

  As Saira became ready to accompany her uncle, Iqbal turned to Suraj and said, ‘One day your father had saved her mother Nadirah from the clutches of Niyaz. I was always dreaming of inviting him to my family to honour him. The wedding of my son is the first celebration at my family after so many years, and your father is in the war field. Can I invite you both to join us?’ he said looking at Aditi.

  Suraj was so happy that he accepted the invitation quickly. He remembered how Satyanand was interpreting the life. Just when he feared of the unpleasant situation that Ayaaz would cause problems and wouldn’t allow Saira to go with him, he got another reason to thank God: the invitation of the wedding ceremony of Iqbal’s son. He thought, ‘At least Saira will not be with Ayaaz. Iqbal will always warmly welcome Suraj’s fami
ly.’

  Ayaaz was at first hesitant but finally said, ‘Uncle, are you not inviting us?’

  Kareem was surprised that Ayaaz will beg for getting invitation.

  For the first time, Iqbal spoke to Ayaaz. His tone was without any emotion, ‘Your father gave talaq (divorce) when my sister Nadirah was in dire need of his support. He never came to Allahabad to check how his daughter is growing up. It was only this year he remembered that he has a daughter. I will think over that.’

  He got up as Saira also moved to accompany him. Suraj gently squeezed her shoulder as he turned to Iqbal, ‘If you permit, I will like to take both of you in Nagin of Yamuna. Aditi will also accompany us.’ He continued looking at Ayaaz, ‘I will take sufficient number of trained armed commandos for Saira’s safety.’ Ayaaz looked at the other direction disgustingly.

  Ayaaz went in as Suraj and Aditi left along with Saira and Iqbal. Kareem came to bid farewell.