Till now you have read – Kusumita  a young girl from a poor family is forced to marry Nihaar Singh who is heir of a rich family of Delhi.  Soon she comes to know the reason behind their marriage as Nihaar has a dark past. His first wife had a mysterious death.

Indira Devi, grandmother of Nihar, notices the awkwardness in their relationship, and forces them to go on  their Honeymoon to Agra.

At night in the hotel, she finds Nihar looking at Taj Mahal, and he talks about being in love.

Part 5 : dew and the Mist

Kusum woke up early in the morning and was a bit worried when she could not find him in the room. But she was pleased also, for him being around her always stressed her.

Quickly she went to take a bath, and when she came out, she found Nihar in the room. He was desperately searching for something in his bag.

As soon he saw her, he stopped and meekly smiled. ‘Let me get ready too. We will go to the Taj Mahal.’ And hurriedly he went inside the washroom.

She was now suspicious, troubled by the ‘desperation’ which she saw on his face. She was curious to know what he was searching in his bag. Then remembered about her knife which last night she had kept below her pillow. Quickly she picked it and kept it inside her bag.

Her eyes looked at his bag again, she noticed it was open. Tempted to look into it, in one leap she reached his bag and tried to look for the item which had made him so desperate. Engaged in to discover something, she missed the sound of opening the door and almost screamed in fear when she found him very close to her. With a tint of anger in his voice he asked, ‘What are you doing?’

She stepped aside, and lied, ‘I was trying to close your bag.’

Unconvinced, he stared at her doubtfully. He then tossed his hair, and said, ‘Wait for me in the lobby. I will join you soon.’

Taking a deep breath, she quickly exited the room.

While waiting in the lobby, she remembered last night’s events and became thoughtful. Something was in his voice and his eyes, which troubled her last night even in her sleep, and now the desperation in his eyes while he was searching his bag. Eyes tell a lot; she had read somewhere. But here they were confusing her. Sometimes cold, a few times desperate, and many times sad. She decided to keep her doubts about him aside. Maybe his first wife’s death was accidental, as people say. But then a part of her asked her to be vigilant, and she convinced herself, ‘Yes! I will not be suspicious but I will not let my guard down.’

‘Were you talking to yourself?’

His shout brought her out of her self-talk mode. He stood in front of her.

‘No, No..!’ she was quick to deny.

‘Let us go!’, He walked away, and she followed him.

They came out of the hotel and got in their car. The ride to the Taj Mahal was of hardly a few minutes, but she felt like hours, as none of them uttered a word.

On reaching the monument, they parked the car and took the tickets.

It was a very awkward walk towards the main monument, like strangers tied together. The shoe tapping sound of the horses and the shouts of roadside vendors could hardly break the profound silence between them.

The white beauty enthralled her as she saw the first glimpse of it; mesmerised she walked towards it and sat on its parapet. Nihar also sat beside her.

After a while, he cleared his throat.

‘Kusumita, so what do you want to do with your life now?’

She thought it was a good way to break the silence but she had no trust in him to answer that question and stared at him blankly.

He gave a thoughtful, deep scanning, and asked, ‘Is anything troubling you?’

She wanted to say…’YESS…. very much…!’ But she shook her head in denial.

‘I don’t know but I thought so…’

She could no longer hold the emotions running through. She asked, ‘Last night I didn’t understand what you said about the Taj Mahal but looking at it now, I am speechless, totally stunned.’

‘If you are speechless then you do understand what I said…!’

She was surprised, and said, ‘What do you mean?’

He ignored her question, and got up, ‘Time to leave!’

His open-shut behaviour was now more a puzzle for her. She hesitatingly stared at his back as he walked away.

While returning to the hotel, Nihar suddenly asked, ‘Do you want to do some shopping? Maybe some gifts for Dadi-maa and Sneha?’

She had not thought about buying gifts but the thought of being confined inside the room again troubled her. She said,

‘Yes, why not?’

They went to a nearby market, and she bought a few gifts for everyone. Nihar then suggested watching the Local

Traditional dance program, which she willingly agreed, which was followed by dinner.

It was a very late night when they returned hotel.

Once in the room, again the frightening feeling returned. She tried to remind her again and again that there is no reason to be fearful. But she could not free herself from the clutches of fear and doubts. Though it was a tiring day for her she was not able to sleep. She looked at him who slept peacefully on Sofa.

The more she thought about him, the more she was confused. He is not at all what she had perceived about him. The whole day he was with her, in a very relaxed mood, and didn’t show any kind of anger or reluctance. Guilt encroached her conscience for doubting him. She then made a resolve not to distrust him again. Her heart and mind both were at peace with the resolution, and slowly the night caught her as she went into a deep sleep, to be woken again.

Her heart thumped loudly, as she sensed someone standing very near to her. Quickly she opened her eyes and recognised him. He was standing very close to her, and his eyes were fixed on her face. Alarmed, her heart skipped a beat, and her hand straightway went below the pillow to find her knife. The flow of fear traversed through her whole body, making her nervous and scared.

With wide shaken eyes, she asked, ‘What do you want?’

He moved away, and said, ‘Kusumita, Dadi-maa is not well, Mohit has admitted her to a hospital. We have to leave urgently.’

She took a moment to understand what he said, and nodded. Then she got out of the bed and rushed to the washroom. Opened up the water shower and stood below it. The coolness of the night cruised through her spine, shivering, she tightened her hands around her chest. The harsh sound of running water rhymed with her loud heart beats, broke  the deep silence of the night. She tried to control her thoughts going astray, and almost jumped when heard a loud knock on the door.

‘Kusumita, fast please…!’

Quickly she splashed water on her face and came out, and saw he waited anxiously. They came out of the hotel and proceeded towards Delhi.

While getting into the car she checked, her knife was very much in her purse.

Rakhi Sunil Kumar

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